Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - still made of beans

Pictured: Naked Snake in front with his mentor, The Boss, behind. All credit to Yoji Shinkawa and Konami.

MGS was another series I never quite gave a shot. I’d played MGS5 when it came out, roughly 2/3 through, and never returned to it. My original feelings on it hold still, but that’ll be its own discussion.

The MGS series is well known, well loved, and well discussed, but I’d never really gotten gripped by it.

I decided after a long while to give the series a shot, but I started it chronologically rather than by release date. MGS3 is the game I started with, and it set the bar higher for me in hindsight. You play as the legendary Big Boss (known currently as Naked Snake) on his first missions, taking down some new soviet weaponry.

MGS3 is quite similar to MGS 1 and 2 in terms of gameplay, though some of the bosses are a little convoluted here too. Not every boss is infuriating, there’s a few interesting tricks you can get away with, though I won’t spoil them here.

Naked Snake is a joy to play. He’s skilled, serious, and kind of dense. He’s an awkward man who doesn’t know his way around women but will shove someone aside if it means he can inspect their original model mint condition handgun.

MGS3 is my favorite in the sense that it’s a campy spy movie escapade, and despite its issues it makes for a great experience. The next entry, MGS Peace Walker, is far more mixed to me.