Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence

"Offers llittle more for those who played Snake Eater, but offers plenty for others"

Since its debut on the MSX system in the late 80's, the series has been nothing short of a success. Snake Eater is the fifth game produced and Subsistence is the third expansion pack for the game. Unlike previous expansion packs, this game doesn't have any VR Mission levels to test your sneaking skills. Instead, Subsistence has the main game, the first two Metal Gears, a mini game and features that were lacking in the NTSC distributions.

The main game (which will be referred to as Snake Eater) is set in the 1960's when the Cold War was reaching its climax of tension. You are in control of Naked Snake, a CIA operative who is also part of a top secret unit known as FOX. A tradition set since Sons of Liberty, the game has two missions. The first chapter known as the Virtuous Mission pits you into Soviet jungle to rescue a scientist who is being forced to work on a secret weapon which would make the Soviets the dominant force. As always, things go up a certain creek and another attempt is made. The main game known as Operation: Snake Eater, has you again trying to rescue the scientist and eliminate opposition as well as find out what the new weapon will do and destroy it.

One of the biggest traditions that departs in Snake Eater is that rather than being dropped off at the front door of the enemy base, climb a fence and dodge a guard on the inside and out, you are dropped a long way out in the jungle. Of course, being the 1960's you won't have high tech gadgetry such as the radar with visual cones and everything electrical requires batteries to operate. Another departure is that you must hunt for your food to regain stamina and health, rather than having rations scattered around the place for you to eat. Just to make it more challenging, various flaura and fauna is poisonous and eating them makes you feel worse. Medical equipment is also available and you will be sustaining injuries that will impact your health and your performance if left untreated. A broken leg will slow your walking, venom from snakes and scorpions will eat away your health and stamina. Stamina is something that you must also look over as it affects your accuracy and overall performance.

Another change from previous titles are the intelligence of guards. In Metal Gear Solid, hitting a guard makes them look around and carry on and nothing happens. In Sons of Liberty, injuring a soldier makes them call for back up. In Snake Eater, a missed tranquilliser dart that doesn't knock them out causes them to call for reinforcements. Also, the backup crew are alot harder to kill and they are harder to hit as they weave and shoot. Lacking a radar, closing in on a guard is risky as they have good vision (Even on the easiest setting) and attempting to hold a guard up for supplies requires you to creep up slowly or they will turn around and spot you first. Boss fights are a little more difficult compared to last time however stamina killing them (Where you deplete their stamina bar) often gives you a reward for doing so, rather than not counting as a kill at the end. Killing enemies also affects the outcome of a certain battle, but that is all I will say. Also, a certain boss you will encounter will not be your typical trapped in a room or invisible walls set up to prevent you from leaving and returning with more supplies. Instead, this boss will take almost several hours for the inexperienced users and a while for more experienced members.

For people who have never played a Metal Gear game before, this game could lead to broken controllers and tv's. For those who drink and breathe the series, Snake Eater will provide a challenge if it's your first try. The lack of radar and the lack of structures, boxes and other artificial barriers require you to be creative with what you have. You are given a camo index with 0 and negative numbers mean you stick out like a Dutch Brothel and 100% camo index number means you are completely invisible. You will also find items such as crocodile heads that you will use to fool aircraft patrolling the waters.

The game however is without its flaws. Particularly the camera. In MGS and Sons of Liberty, the camera was always at a bird's eye angle. In Snake Eater, the camera is fiddly. There are two schemes in which you can use: Classic and Subsistence. Classic is a pain because it tends to puts Snake on the edge of the frame and the Subsistence camera which is really a free moving 3rd person view with a way of centering it again. Both of these camera schemes are a real pain in the arse, especially when you are trying to stay out of the enemy's vision and trying to spot hazards that may be waiting to drop down on you in a tree. The game's graphics are a tad disappointing when compared to Sons of Liberty. Fire effects look like they belong to a Nintendo 64 game. It may also be because the game was run on composite and not on a superior connection such as component however it isn't as graphically as pleasing as Sons of Liberty. The difficulty of the game on top of the issues with the camera could leave veterans and newbies alike frustrated.

As with Konami's tradition of releasing expansion packs for Metal Gear Solid, Subsistence has some features that were only available for those in PAL territories including Demo Theatre and Boss Duel (Where you face off the bosses straight away) but it also goes one further by providing an additional disc where you can play the original Metal Gear and its sequel, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Those who remember the MSX version or have played it on emulator will remember how confusing to remember which button punches, fires weapons, using the transceiver, select weapons and items. Fortunately for the re-mastering of the game, the controls are more controller friendly and completing the game will give you access to boss battles and the infinite ammo bandanna. For the purists, the 8-bit music and text only cutscenes remain. The inclusion of the 8-bit games allows those who are frustrated with Snake Eater or want to take a break for a moment to experience how the series started. Since Snake Eater is set before the events of Metal Gear, this provides an excellent back story Metal Gear and beyond.

It is disappointing that Metal Gear Solid: Subsistence didn't include training missions however it is made up by improvements in camera work (While it is only a mild improvement), the inclusion of the original games should improve the lifespan of the game. For those who intend to complete every Metal Gear to learn the story behind it, then you should play this. The length of the game will require more than one sitting as you make your way from the swamplands to the enemy base and just when you think it's about to wrap up, the expression "But wait, there's more" is applicable. The slightly poor camera angle and hardness of the game will leave some people walking away in frustration but the rewards for persevering should numb that feeling. Rent if you are not familiar to the Metal Gear universe but should make a good buy if you are a Metal Gear fan.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/08

Game Release: Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (AU, 10/13/06)