The game was provided by Konami for review. Thank you!
Video games have come a long way in the last 20 years, quickly evolving into near hyper-realistic environments, complex gameplay elements, and impactful storytelling. However, there are still games that were released back then that are enshrined for one reason or another. Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid 3 is one of them. It’s intense, cinematic storytelling paired with sandbox gameplay felt ahead of its time, and the refinement still makes the game feel on par with many newer releases.
So, I was excited when Konami announced a full-on remake of the original release. I had my worries, due to the high $70 price tag, and I went into this review being very critical. I wanted this experience to feel worthwhile, even if I already played the original. I wanted to know if I would feel like $70 is worth it for a remake of a game I already own and was just re-released in the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Volume 1. Even still, this game made me do something I rarely do: Start a new game+ of my own accord. I am one of those people who usually feel like once a game is completed, I’m done, and I move on to the next. I still try replaying for reviews, but it’s usually to check if anything has changed rather than out of personal desire. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater made me want to go back and play again of my own desire, and that in itself is a testament to how amazing the game is, and why I feel like this is a remake worth getting.
The bulk of the changes in this remake come in the form of visual overhauls and quality of life improvements. We have modern enhancements that made their debut in Metal Gear Solid 4 and Peace Walker, like an over-the-shoulder camera and crouch walking, and a wealth of visual changes that bring an ultra-realistic sheen that we have grown accustomed to with big AAA projects. This includes the game’s object permanence, which keeps any cuts, bruises, and bullet holes permanently stuck to Snake and whatever camo he has on throughout our playthrough. I had forgotten about this feature initially, but as I swapped the camo layer on, I saw some cuts in the fabric and not others. Once I had remembered this feature, I thought it was awesome, and I enjoyed seeing the changes and how Snake would end up once the game had ended. It ended up feeling like the changes enhanced what made Snake Eater iconic instead of changing it, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for. A multiplayer mode called Fox Hunt is coming post-release, so that's an extra bonus to look forward to.
There are no story changes or new content in Metal Gear Solid Delta, and usually, I would be a little upset about it. I feel like most remakes should offer something new to entice gamers who have already played the games before. But Metal Gear Solid hits differently. It still feels like it belongs on modern systems, so keeping the content and story unchanged was something I ended up appreciating.
For those who haven’t played Metal Gear Solid before, this is the first game chronologically in the series, detailing the origin of Naked Snake (aka Big Boss). He is sent on a mission to infiltrate Russian forces and escort Dr. Sokolov to the USA, as he wants to defect. However, things don’t go as planned, as Colonel Volgin shows up with Snake’s mentor, The Boss, and he will inevitably have to stop Volgin, destroy his horrific nuclear weapon, the Shagohod, and kill The Boss.
It’s an intriguing story that revolves around real historical events that happened around that time period (the early 1960s). The fallout of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the ongoing Cold War between Russia and the USA is consistently referenced and woven in, which I enjoyed. There’s a lot of exposition and explanations, which are told with blurry background footage and a voice-over. I generally don’t mind this, but since I’ve already seen and heard it all before, I was anxious to get back to gameplay or other cutscenes that feature that glorious new visuals.
Speaking of the visuals, I just want to reaffirm just how beautiful they are. The detail in character models, enemies, environments, lighting, everything just works so well together. I was almost in constant awe of the attention to detail all around. The object permanence was another nice highlight, and I was pleased to see it extend past bullet holes and cuts to environmental changes like fallen leaves and mud. Compared to the original release, it’s wildly different in terms of color tone, detail, and fidelity, but it never felt like it ruined what made the game so iconic. If anything, it just enhanced the experience. I appreciate that the Survival Viewer was also updated to see some of these changes to the camo and Snake himself.
That feeling carries over to the gameplay, where the changes enhance instead of modify the experience. We still have to go through contained areas to get to our objective, which usually involves getting past an assortment of foes in our way. How we get past them is completely up to us. We can sneak by, subdue them, hold them hostage, kill them, distract them, and we have a wealth of tools at our disposal. Of course we have the usual guns and knives, as well as CQC (Close Quarter Combat) techniques for silent takedowns when we run out of ammo. We can also move bodies and take ammo, grenades, and medical supplies off of them, which end up helping a lot down the line.
But those are just the more obvious ways of getting past enemies in a game like this. We can sneak by and use the environment to mask ourselves, using specific camo that works best in different environments, but we can go further. Areas are filled with animals, and we can use some of them to help us. The smaller animals, specifically, were fun to use. There was one time I had to get past a group of enemies blocking the exit I needed to go to, and I decided to use a poisonous Tarantula I captured earlier on to help me. Once I had a clear shot, I threw the Tarantula at one of them, and after a couple of seconds, they got poisoned and collapsed. The other enemies went to check up on him, and I was able to sneak right on by. That’s just one example of a non-conventional method of getting to our goal. One of my other favorites was distracting them using a provocative magazine. Setting the book down and watching them come over and squirm as they look through pages of half-naked women was both hilarious and useful.
These kinds of interactions are a testament to the humor that Kojima and his team wove in with the original release. The story and setting are dramatic, but there are many moments that are just ridiculous. Watching a young Ocelot twirling his guns for a solid minute will never not crack me up, and there’s something about Snake’s deadpan, oblivious reactions to what’s happening around him that is quite entertaining. Even the discussions about movies between him and Para-Medic are wonderful, though Major Zero’s obsession with James Bond was the highlight of those radio conversations. It doesn’t take away from the seriousness, but adds to the entertainment value as a whole. This extends to the Easter Eggs that can be discovered just by interacting in ways most people wouldn’t think to, like how one would make Snake throw up.
We also have to keep Snake’s stamina up so he can operate effectively. To do this, we will have to scavenge for food, which we can find throughout the world or by killing animals to eat their meat. It’s a little obnoxious to have to keep going into the Survival menu and eating food, hearing Snake exclaim how much he likes or dislikes the specific meal being fed, but it doesn’t hurt the experience.
However, the controls can. There are two ways to play Metal Gear Solid Delta, the New and Legacy styles. The Legacy style is the one we are more familiar with from the original release, while the New style features an over-the-shoulder camera and feels more like Metal Gear Solid 4, Peace Walker, and The Phantom Pain. I enjoy the New style a lot, and it was great to play through Snake Eater in a new way, but there were times the controls got in my way. These primarily happened when it came to taking cover behind an object or wall. Sometimes I would just not attach, while other times I would easily move away from the wall and get noticed. It felt rudimentary compared to other games nowadays, where it feels more natural.
Even still, the new control scheme helps make sure Metal Gear Solid Delta feels fresh and new, without changing what made the original so enjoyable and iconic. There are so many small details that can affect the game in different ways, and even change cutscenes or boss fights. There’s also a solid amount to unlock to give us new tools during the game. Getting new titles can give us new camo and weapons, but the real motivator for me to get back in and play New Game+ is the Secret Theatre. I don’t want to go into too much detail because they are best experienced, but there are new videos here, and the first one just hooked me.
I also appreciate the Ape Escape minigame making a return. It’s small in the grand scheme, offering 10 stages where we just have to stun and get the apes as quickly as we can. It’s a nice little distraction, and I appreciate Konami bringing back content that was missing in the modern re-releases of Snake Eater, but my main motivation to play was the rewards for completing all the stages.
Now, playing Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater on the Steam Deck is a mixed bag, and one I would say is where I wish we had half stars for our Steam Deck reviews. It’s one of those games that technically plays on the Steam Deck, and I’d say that if you only have a Deck, it can be played, but there are some extreme sacrifices to make it run. Because of that, if you have any other more powerful handheld or desktop PC, I would say play it on there.
The game fluctuates its framerate, but it will generally stick to 20 - 35 FPS, depending on the area you are in at the lowest settings. Going into the game, I thought it was going to be harder to run in outside areas, with some inside areas running better because they are closed off. However, I actually saw the opposite happening, and I can only imagine it's because the inside areas are more detailed, while the outside is primarily fauna and trees.
As for trying to increase performance, there isn't much we can do. The 20-35 FPS range is with the game on the lowest settings. All we can do is lower the resolution, which does help performance a little, but even at 960x600, there are still drops, and it looks blurry. There are two different upscalers to use, TSR and FSR, and while FSR does help a little more, it also shimmers heavily when moving the camera around.
These low settings also make the game look like there are no shadows. Turning shadows up to medium brings them back, but tanks the framerate. Turning Global Illumination up to medium doesn't harm the framerate as much, but it makes the game look orange. Turning them both up to Medium is how the game should actually look with this remake, but the framerate tanks even further, so it's unplayable.
I would still say it's technically playable for those who only have a Steam Deck, but it won't be a solid 30 FPS. This is one where we would be much better off using a more powerful desktop PC or handheld, or streaming to your Deck through a more powerful PC or cloud service.
Since this is such a huge release, I wanted to take a look at how the game is running on more powerful handhelds. I chose the ROG Ally, to represent the initial Z1 Extreme handhelds (Legion Go), the ROG Ally X for Z1 Extreme or 7840U/8840U handhelds with more RAM, and the AYANEO 3 for Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and the upcoming Z2 Extreme APU handhelds that have over 24GB RAM (like the Xbox ROG Ally X).
On the ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme APU and 16GB RAM, I was able to get the game running at above 30 FPS on the lowest settings in outside areas and around 30 FPS in inside areas. There could still be moments later in the game that cause some minor drops as well, but it's definitely more playable. However, there is a weird issue where the low settings look worse than the Steam Deck on Low, and Medium/High settings look like the Steam Deck's low settings. I believe this is a driver issue, but since there are no new drivers to download yet, I can't confirm completely.
On the ROG Ally X, with the Z1 Extreme APU and 24GB RAM, the performance and visual issues were largely the same with the ROG Ally. The performance didn't improve with the extra RAM or enhancements from the Ally X, and the unreleased driver could be the culprit behind the visual issues. I would wait to play on the Ally devices until a driver helps the visual problems, because there is no way the game should look like this to be playable.
On the AYANEO 3, with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU and 32GB RAM, I was able to play at Medium settings and stay over 30 FPS the whole time. The game looks great here, with some minor lighting issues that could be attributed to a driver update that hasn't been released yet. Still, it's very playable, and bodes well for the upcoming handhelds that will be utilizing a Z2 Extreme APU like the Xbox ROG Ally X.
The game does have an accessibility tab, where we can change the behavior for readying weapons, opening the equipment and weapon window, grabbing and interrogating enemies, text size, a center dot display. and different color correction modes for the UI. We can also change the language cutscene subtitles text size, color, and background, toggle in-game subtitles, camera shake, showing headgear during cutscenes, changing magazine region, and adjusting sensitivity and whether the camera is inverted.
The game does support 16:10 resolutions, and it has cloud saves and controller support. It does have HDR settings and recognizes the Steam Deck OLED screen.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a fantastic remake, and I feel Konami did it justice. Choosing not to add or change the existing content helps preserve what makes up the legacy of the original. The updates, while minimal on the surface, make the game feel fresh with stunning visuals and a new way to play that brings in a new perspective. The gameplay still holds up to today's standards, so just focusing on a new over-the-shoulder camera and some quality of life changes are perfect for a release like this. Even with some minor control issues here and there, it's a blast to play through the game in this new way, while still having the old control method and top-down camera as an option.
I would not recommend playing this on the Steam Deck personally, though I would say it can be powered through if the Deck is your only device to play on. The more powerful handhelds are getting there, with the AYANEO 3 making it playable while looking fantastic. This bodes well for handhelds that will have the Z2 Extreme APU, like the Xbox ROG Ally X.
Still, as a fan of the series or a newcomer, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a game worth playing through.
このレビューはPC版に基づいています。
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Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a great remake of a still enjoyable game that makes the right changes for a re-release, though don't expect to enjoy it on the Steam Deck.
