Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater [PS2]

Camera Obscura Of all the things that are going so amazingly well with the rest of the game there is still an issue with the camera system. The top-down view is still in effect with the possibility of going motionless for a first-person view. While in the regular view it's possible to move the camera around with the right analog stick and lock it in place with the R3 button and this is a huge help, but it's still a drag to not have the option to move around with a first-person or third-person perspective. Since MGS2 came out we've also seen Sam Fisher getting sneaky in Splinter Cell.

With the new growth in other options for dealing with this type of gameplay the same camera system that's been in use for the past six years is looking dated. While the game manages to be the best form the game has taken of all three of the Solid games the new developments in other games show that there is still room for improvement overall. It's entirely possible that the current system is as good as the game can handle with all of the graphics and detail on the PS2 and that we'll have to wait for a PS3 Metal Gear Solid game. After seeing the hits in performance that the Splinter Cell series took when moving to the PS2 it's not too difficult to console one's self with all of the things that have been achieved here with MGS3:SE.

Another issue with the camera is that when Snake crawls into the grass he gets a forced first-person perspective with the view mostly of blades of grass and the obscured area beyond it. It makes sense in terms of providing the experience that when one is hiding in the weeds that's all they can see, but if that's true, then why isn't there a fog of war in the rest of the visuals as well? The top down view has always afforded peeks at the area that Snake couldn't possibly see by himself.

Again and Again and Again... Like a bit of an unruly pet on a leash, the camera system can be tamed pretty easily and with so much other good, no, fantastic, stuff in the game it can be forgiven. So much so that beating the game once is just the beginning. As an extra bonus for the game, there is a little frog statue in each and every area of the game that has an uncanny resemblance to Kermit the Frog. He can be found behind rocks, underwater, up on ledges and several other places and by finding all of them and shooting those players will get something very cool. We'd love to tell you what it is, but we didn't have the time to find them all and Konami wasn't talking. And if it all gets to be too much there's always the Snake Vs. Monkey mini-game for snapping up the pesky bipeds from Ape Escape.

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