Metal Gear Solid Delta | Same Snake, New Looks

Quick Overview

Metal Gear Solid Delta is a faithful, graphically enhanced remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, featuring updated controls and Unreal Engine 5 visuals, but its $70 price tag is questionable given the original's enduring quality and lower cost, especially since the remake's core experience remains largely unchanged.

Key Points: Metal Gear Solid Delta is a "shot-for-shot remake" of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, retaining the original story, cutscenes, voice acting, and music, with "major graphical overhaul" using Unreal Engine 5. The remake updates controls to a "New Style" with a third-person camera and modernized inputs, though it removes the ability to freely switch between third-person and top-down views, a feature present in the 2005 Subsistence re-release. While the new controls "reduce the game's overall challenge," guard awareness is "noticeably increased," and the tranquilizer gun is "nerfed" to compensate. Delta brings back content removed from later ports, including the "Guy Savage Easter egg" and the "Ape Escape Miniame Snake Verse Monkey" (or Snake vs. Bomberman on Xbox). The reviewer finds the game "somewhat overpolished" and "very bright and clean," recommending the "legacy filter" to "add back that texture" and desaturate colors for a more original aesthetic. Despite graphical improvements and some quality-of-life changes like "camo quick swapping," the reviewer notes drawbacks such as a "needlessly claustrophobic" camera, a "sucky" automatic cover system, and a "dumb, unnecessary, distracting effect" when using the stalking mechanic. The $70 price point is considered high, with the reviewer suggesting the remake is "not enough to make it a replacement for the original" and recommending purchase at a discount, as the "same content" can be experienced for a fraction of the price on current platforms.

Context: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, originally released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, is widely considered a high point in the Metal Gear franchise. Metal Gear Solid Delta is a remake of this beloved title, built using Unreal Engine 5, aiming to update its visuals and controls for a new generation of players while preserving the core experience of the original.