It's hard to deny that Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater has its work cut out for it. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is as iconic as they come, and necessarily left massive shoes to fill for any remake efforts. Now that Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater has officially taken on the challenge, it should be careful not to cut one of the original game's most iconic moments.
Any remake of a game as acclaimed as Snake Eater will be initially met with skepticism. Among the prevailing criticisms, many simply ask if a remake could possibly live up to the original, as well as the purpose of trying to do so in the first place. Thankfully, the developers behind Delta have been very transparent about why Snake Eater is being remade. Apparently, the primary motivation is to refresh younger generations about the classic game. If this is the case, Delta can't skip out on Snake Eater's ladder sequence.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Needs to Nail the Ladder Climb
Metal Gear Solid Remakes Face an Uphill Battle
Metal Gear Solid has never been known for being very self-serious, despite the heavy subject matter that the series often chooses to tackle. Snake Eater walked this line as well as any other game in the series, and Delta is certainly expected to follow the same standard. In fact, Metal Gear Solid Delta's faithfulness to the original has been a guiding principle since development began.
Likewise, there is no denying that Metal Gear Solid Delta has achieved more realistic graphics than Metal Gear Solid 3. However, developers should be careful not to walk this principle of realism too far in the opposite direction. After all, there is the noteworthy risk of compromising some of the "sillier" elements that made the original so special. In fact, one of the game's silliest moments is also one of its most somber.
Why the Ladder Climb is Important to Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
Snake Eater takes the classic Metal Gear approach to boss battles, in which players are stacked up against a group of exceptional soldiers one after the other. The End is a 100-year-old sniper, and one of the most intimidating boss battles in Metal Gear Solid 3, assuming players don't exploit his old age to bypass the whole affair. After defeating The End, players are quickly faced with an even more intimidating obstacle. Ironically, that obstacle isn't a soldier of any kind, but a very long ladder.
There's no hyperbole in that statement, as the ladder climb takes more than two full minutes. Most of this climb happens in near-complete silence, with only a subtle breeze to accompany the player. Eventually, the vocals of Snake Eater's titular theme song begin to play, and they are never joined by any instrumentation whatsoever.
This may sound funny on its face, and in fairness, the ladder climb is indeed one of the most memed moments in Metal Gear. However, it also carries a great deal of significance in the game's narrative. Importantly, the confrontation with The End serves as somewhat of a midpoint for the game, and the ladder climb is itself an intermission before the latter half of Snake Eater. Some may feel the length of the climb is a waste of time, but cutting it down would risk cutting the true power of the moment.
With the player being isolated to such a degree, and for such a long time, they are forced to use that time to reflect. This long moment of silence contrasts with the many bombastic scenes in the game, and is inseparable from the game's themes of powerlessness. Despite the inherent humor of the ladder climb, its importance cannot be understated. If Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater really wants to recapture the heart and soul of the original, it should be careful not to compromise on this balance.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 85 /100 Critics Rec: 89%
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The core experience of the original, evolved and more immersive than ever.
A remake of the 2004 game METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER, with the same gripping story and engrossing world, now with all new graphics and 3D audio that enhance the jungle atmosphere. Get ready for the ultimate survival stealth action experience.
The Cold War Crisis that started it all
In the middle of the Cold War, Naked Snake, the man who would later be known as Big Boss, infiltrates the Soviet Union to escort a defecting scientist, Sokolov. However, the mission ends in failure when Snake's mentor—The Boss, a soldier known as the mother of special forces—betrays him, and Sokolov is captured by Colonel Volgin of the GRU.
One week later, Snake returns to Soviet territory to rescue Sokolov and eliminate The Boss—a mission that will mark the start of a new legend, a mission that will mark the start of a new legend, against the backdrop of the ever-changing march of history.
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- Metal Gear Solid
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Developer
- Virtuos, Konami, Konami Digital Entertainment
- Publisher
- Virtuos, Konami, Konami Digital Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Shooter, Adventure, Stealth
