Developer - KCEJ / Kojima ProductionsPublisher - Konami
Designer - Hideo Kojima
Platform - PlayStation 2
Release Date - NA 17/11/2004 - JP 16/12/2004 - EU 04/03/2005
Genre - Stealth action
Mode - Single player
PEGI - 16+After the debut of Metal Gear Solid 2 on the PS2, with Raiden as the main character, the Cold War reinvents itself, now with Jack (codename: Naked Snake) as main character. This man also appeared in the previous chapter, as Pliskin. The game had just the same success (i.e. very high), or maybe even better. As before, it won the Best Game Award, for some reason.In this game, Snake infiltrates a Russian base, which is developing a war tank, named Shagohod, that could annihilate the United States. Along his mission, he's aided by Major Tom, codename Major Zero, a man who used to belong to the USA army, and who now works in FOX, an American Secret Services Agency, the paramedic also help him. She is a woman, formed in Medicine, and she has knowledge on every kind of animals and wounds Snake might find along his mission; and by The Boss, a woman who was the mentor of Snake, and taught him everything he knew. She was a legendary soldier, as she and her team were the ones who put an end to the World War Two.
This is how Snake entered the jungle: the first Halo jump in the world.His first mission, called The Virtuous Mission, is to rescue the man who built the project, Sokolov. He was catured by the Russian army, and he has been put under pressure, so he would build the tank for them. He was kept in an abandoned factory, in the middle of the jungle. Snake is then left in the wild to find Sokolov and bring him back safely to the United States. As he tried to do it, The Boss defected to Russia, and prevented him from accomplishing his mission. She took Sokolov with her, and left Snake badly injured in the wild. Some time later, Snake was rescued by the USA and taken to a hospital, where he was treated. When he was fully healed, he was sent back there, so he could complete his second mission, as he failed his first one. His mission now is to infiltrate the base where Shagohod is, and blow the entire project away.
The Boss, the truest Patriot of all time.As The Boss is not on his side anymore, Snake would need a new expert on weapons, camouflage, infiltration and combat techniques. That's when SigInt (Signal of Intelligence), the funniest man in the game, comes into play. But, be ware, he's not an expert on weapons, equipment and cutting edge technology. He is THE expert on weapons, equipment and cutting edge technology. he knows everything you need to know about guns and equipment. You'll be calling him often.During the game, you''l meet other people, like the Ocelot, an idiotic but talented man, ''belonging'' to the Russian army, and a woman that has been sent by the KGB to help Snake. However, the most dangerous man is Vogin, a Russian colonel who has electricity running on his body. He commands all the soldiers trying to stop you, and he's the one who'll try to stop with the Shagohod, the war tank.
Volgin, the colonel that tries to suppress you.The story is very sad in the end. You get to fight The Boss, your all time mentor, and you actually kill her (yes, it's a she). In the cut scenes after the battle you find out she defected for her country. She was given a mission she had to accomplish: kill you. She could not get back until she did it, and she wouldn't be accepted in her country again if she killed you. It was a dead end. She could only get back to her beloved country in a single way: dead. So, she waited for the perfect time to battle you, when you were ready for her. And she was killed by you, so she could get back. In fact, it's the more touching storyline I've seen in a game. Plus, you actually find out that probably she was Snake's mother. But she was murdered by her own country. As EVA said, «She was a true Patriot.»
EVA, holder of the truth and owner of a nice suit.As for the weapons, there are loads of them. From lethal to tranquilizers, grenades to mines, Snake will find tons of weapons. The tranquilizers are subdivided in the MK22, EZGUN and Mosin Nagant. These are, respectively, pistols and a sniper. The last one can only be found if you defeat a boss in a certain way. In the lethals category, there are many. A pistol, the M1911A1, many submachine guns, among them the powerful Patriot, which you get after defeating The Boss at the end of the game, and Scorpion. You also get a shotgun, the M37, which is relatively difficult to aim, but when you do shot an enemy, he'll be sent flying. There are many other weapons, like grenades, among them the frag, white phosphorus and stun, and there's also an RPG. There are others, it's up to you to find them.
http://The beauty of MGS3: guns on a beautiful sunset.Of course, Snake can't just rely on his weapons. His trump is the equipment. There are also lots of these, from the anti-personal sensor to the cigar, and you can also find the more useless cardboard boxes. The equipments are extremely useful, I used them more than the weapons, in fact. With them, you can prevent your enemies to come near you, as the Anti-Personal sensor will beep when people are near you; the Sonar detects bodies near you, so it's useful to detect both enemies and animals to eat. However, it only detects bodies that are moving. just make sure you don't activate the sonar when near enemies, as they will enter Alert Mode.The thermal goggles are a key item when it comes to invisible people, as you can see the heat from their bodies.Analysis time, people!Presentation - 10/10: Everything looks so perfect. It's the state of the art. 'Nuff said.Graphics - 10/10: Man, third best graphics on PS2 on my opinion. Beaten by God of War and Dragon Quest 8. The game's extremely detailed: the people, animals, plants, buildings... Every thing's just right, polished and sharp.Sound - 10/10: The intro song is beautiful, even won an award. Happily, that's the only song it has; a sneaking game is meant to be silent. Also, the voices, gun effects, animals sounds... every thing's just right.Gameplay - 10/10: Damn. This is where the game truly rocks. I'll let you find out why.Lasting Appeal - 10/10: Even after beating the game and knowing the story, it'll still be extremely addicting. And I'm sure you didn't get everything in the first time you played. There are tons of things to be found. Look in the cut scenes too.Total - 50/50: It's just fantastic.
