Summary
After years of rumors and speculation regarding its existence, the remake ofMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, dubbedMetal Gear Solid Delta, was finally confirmed earlier this year. Since the official announcement and reveal trailer, fans have been treated to some in-engine footage showcasing the significant visual uplift that developer Virtuous is giving toMetal Gear Solid 3, which is all the more apparent given that the PS2 original still holds up as one of the best-looking games from the 6th generation. While players have a glimpse atMetal Gear Solid Delta’s visuals, one thing that’s not yet clear is how the remake will attempt to toe the line between honoring its source material and upending player expectations.
2023 has been a year awash with quality remakes, each of them carefully balancing nostalgia and innovation in how they bring classic experiences to a modern audience. BothDead SpaceandResident Evil 4’s excellent remakes from this year carry over much of the DNA of their original games, but they also implement new features that make them exciting for series veterans. One area that may prove difficult fortheMetal Gear Solid 3remaketo get right in this regard is the boss fights, especially considering that the game has one of the best boss galleries in a series known for them.
Metal Gear Solid Delta Has to Do Right by MGS3’s Iconic Boss Encounters
Each game intheMetal Gear Solidseriesis practically defined by its rogues gallery and boss encounters. At some point during Snake’s briefing (whether referring to Solid Snake, Raiden going by his original code name, or Naked Snake), he’s given a rundown of the threats he can expect to have to overcome before eventually making it to each game’s version of the titular walking nuclear battle tank. These introductions aren’t just a warning, either – they’re a veritable “who’s who” of each respective game in the series and serve to hype up the moments when players eventually encounter them in battle.
Every one of theMetal Gear Solidseries' boss fights are the highlights of their individual games, and each encounter is absolutely bursting with series creator Hideo Kojima’s unique and signature approach to turning common game mechanics on their heads. It begs the question, then, of how a remake of what might be the best game in theMetal Gear Solidserieswithout Kojima’s involvementcan live up to the expectations set by its source material. After all, if the initial boss fights already upend player expectations, the developer ofMetal Gear Solid Deltais stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of how to rework them for both newcomers and veterans.
In terms of modern remakes that approach this subject carefully, theResident Evil 2andResident Evil 4remakes are great examples. Both games treat their initial source material with reverence but also find clever ways to toy with veteran players' memories, using their own nostalgia against them in certain scenarios. That said, the boss fights in these games are largely the same, except for incorporating the new mechanics that each remake introduces to help bring the gameplay into a modern context.
In comparison,Metal Gear Solid Deltadoesn’t have this same luxury, and presenting the boss fights exactly as they are inMetal Gear Solid 3or altering them significantly is sure to stir controversy among the fan base for different reasons. Memorable moments such as The Sorrow’s boss fight where Snake has to come face-to-face with every act of violence he’s committed or the notorious sniper battle against The End are so ingrained intothe experience ofMetal Gear Solid 3that they’re practically “sacred cows”, yet to leave them as-is will fail to excite longtime series fans. In terms of its boss encounters,Metal Gear Solid Deltais going to have to carefully balance reverence and originality.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)
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Discover the origin story of iconic military operative Snake and begin to unravel the plot of the legendary METAL GEAR series. METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER brings unprecedented new graphics, immersive stealth action gameplay and sounds to its riveting story as players once again return to the world of METAL GEAR.Rival nations are secretly developing weapons that could threaten the future of mankind. Deep in the jungle, an elite soldier must combine stealth with survival to infiltrate the enemy and stop a weapon of mass destruction from triggering the largest full-scale war the world has ever seen.
