Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence [PS2]

Another wanted feature is used when creating a game: you can queue up to fifteen mission types, in any arrangement you'd like, to fight through, one after the other, until you've exhausted the list. You can specify certain sides that will fight through maps, such as the GRU, Ocelot or KGB, as well as the kinds of primary and secondary weapon types that can be used in each map. For the hardcore, you can literally restrict it to a knife fight and CQC (or close quarters combat) if you're so inclined. There are even special characters you play as.

Thankfully, the multiplayer mode takes full advantage of the third person view in the middle of a match, and the framerate is extremely stable and smooth. In fact, regardless of the number of people in our matches and whatever action they were performing, we weren't able to detect the slightest bit of lag through our numerous hours of play. The only strange thing we found were slight animation "cheats" where you could trigger a CQC combat accurately even if the victim was a couple of feet apart from your character, but these are minor hiccups that happened every now and then. There are a number of details from the single player game that stand out as well, such as blades of grass that break and flutter away as you run through them. This is easily what you'll wind up playing when you've mastered the story of Snake Eater.

Closing Comments
2004's Snake Eater was a fantastic but slightly-flawed game. Alternatively, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence goes a long way towards remedying the few problems of that acclaimed title with a brand new camera system that literally rejuvenates the gameplay. The online mode adds a ton of replay value as well, and has dozens of options to keep you returning to blow away friends late into the night. For fans of the series, the additional extras, including the two theater modes and original Metal Gear games are bonuses that are simply not to be missed. For the price and the extras, you can't go wrong with Subsistence -- even for those that have played and beaten the first game once or several more times, it still can't be missed.

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