Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Verified”)
Current goal: Survive
MGS3 is a good game. It’s a great game, even. There, I said it. Even though constantly changing my camo and dealing with nature in this game really tests my patience, it’s still the kind of stealth challenge that could summon me to my ruin. And even though this story, I dunno, ain’t my thing, goodness if it isn’t entertaining. And while the Master Collection’s version may not feel like the MGS3 I played in the ‘00s, it, and MGS3 broadly, still has that alluring Metal Gear magic.
Read More: Playing Metal Gear Solid 3 Without Pressure-Sensitive Buttons Is Giving Me Literal Phantom Pains
There’s a remake of this classic title arriving next month, and I’m really interested to see what MGS3 can be in 2025. I’ve a feeling folks might find the game harder than they might remember it. You can really draw a line from MGS3 straight to Death Stranding. Managing battery meters, suppressors that wear out, needing to constantly tend to your inventory, what you’re wearing, what’s in or out of your backpack, dealing with stamina—MGS3 was doing this stuff long before Death Stranding was a baby in a pod.
So to wrestle once more with a game that’s often left me feeling very prickly, and to get a dose of the original’s magic before the remake, I’ll be jumping into the fictional Russian jungles as Naked Snake yet again. — Claire Jackson
