Konami is again in an enormous manner currently, and loads of the world’s newly recharged discover of the Japanese writer comes all the way down to the upcoming Metallic Gear Stable Delta: Snake Eater. My time with Konami’s different fashionable trilpe-A title, Silent Hill 2, was a success, and whereas my time with MGS: Delta was quick however candy, it additionally didn’t disappoint.
Whereas no launch date has been penciled in as of but, the unique sport’s twentieth anniversary rolls round on November 17, so followers can solely hope that Delta is of their arms by then. In anticipation of the discharge, Konami invited me to play 90 minutes of the Snake Eater remake, and to date, it appears like a devoted remake of Metallic Gear Stable: Snake Eater with much more Hollywood aptitude, meant for brand new and outdated audiences alike.
My preview started with the grand opening of Metallic Gear Stable Delta: Snake Eater, concluding not longer after you meet with The Boss. This section sees Snake baptised as Bare Snake as he descends — in a extra epic style than ever earlier than — into the USSR in an try to finish the Virtuous Mission.
Digital Mission? You guessed it, that — and far of the opposite amusing, oft weird dialogue — remains to be current. Bare Snake remains to be David Hayter. Main Tom, The Boss, and Para-Medic have had literal facelifts, as has the jungle that Snake first HALO dives into at first of my preview. It is all very cinematic, very pleasing to the attention, and naturally, not lined in that brown-green filter that appeared to proliferate throughout the early 2000s. Within the Silent Hill 2 remake, Konami permits you to apply a 90s filter in the event you fancy it, in assist of tapping into that nostalgia. I did not see the choice to do that in Delta, however that doens’t imply it undoubtedly will not be there at launch.
Preserving outdated and new followers alike in thoughts, there was a legacy management scheme accessible to those that needed it, accompanied by the selection of an all-new management system that feels slightly extra intuitive to make use of. And in contrast to Silent Hill 2, which has been expanded, enhanced and constructed upon, MGS: Delta has not been so roundly up to date — no less than within the small portion that I skilled.
In dialog with Noriaki Okamura, by way of translator, I requested how vital it was to the crew that they protect the multitude of goofy easter eggs that may be discovered all through the unique sport. Assume again to The Finish dying of outdated age in the event you change the system clock, or tricking The Worry into consuming expired meals, and so forth.
Okamura said that “there can be no change, when it comes to these options,” earlier than explaining that the developer has tried to maintain the sport as devoted as doable to the originals.
This reveals. The settings alone felt indistinguishable from the unique sport, however splahsed with a brand new coat of paint and timber with climbable vines that really resemble vines somewhat than some sticks glued to a tree. The suspenseful music current all through the Virtuous Mission — the music that makes you’re feeling as if you’re going inclined by the jungle of a Bond film — stays. The long-lasting enemy markers — the ping of the exclamation mark that seems once they’re alerted — are nonetheless right here, in addition to your array of camouflage choices, greater than I can bear in mind, to play dress-up with.
Okamura, when requested about why the developer selected to remake Snake Eater of all of the video games within the collection (why not begin from the primary sport launched, proper?) claimed: “We discovered that a number of the youthful era have no idea the Metallic Gear Stable collection in any respect. These are video games which are actually vital to us and we might like them to have the ability to play [Delta]. We do not need the flame to exit and the Metallic Gear Stable collection to only vanish into nothingness.
“It is a well-loved and highly-respected sport, as nicely. And I feel that that may even be an enormous consider drawing in new followers as a result of it is such a fantastic sport. And personally, if somebody – a pal, or somebody youthful – got here to me and requested which Metallic Gear Stable sport ought to I begin from… There’s so many. I might undoubtedly advocate [Snake Eater] on a private observe ], since it’s the first within the chronological collection.”
If Konami needs to achieve solely new audiences, it’s undoubtedly getting in the best path by rejuvenating Snake Eater whereas preserving precisely what made it so gratifying to audiences within the first place. Ranging from the story’s genesis, somewhat than the primary sport within the collection… it would simply be a superb transfer, it seems.
Finally, Metallic Gear Stable Delta: Snake Eater is in strong form to date. I am desperate to see extra. If the remainder of the sport proves as devoted and as high quality because the quick mission that I bought to play, Konami could also be on to hit a house run for followers of the espionage motion collection, and newcomers to Metallic Gear Stable alike.
Metallic Gear Stable Delta: Snake Eater was performed on PS5. It’s set to launch on PS5, Xbox, and PC by way of Steam, although a launch date has not but been revealed.