Guy Savage Who?

Guy Savage MGS3 snake eater delta

Guess who'd never heard of Guy Savage until last week?

It is me, the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater-liker. I had no clue who or what Guy Savage was until I saw a very confusing repost on Bluesky last Friday.

"Guy Savage nightmare game confirmed for MGS Delta Snake Eater, developed by Platinum Games". I read that post multiple times in an attempt to untangle the meaning, and could not make head nor tail of it. Who or what is Guy Savage? Is the mention of Snake Eater a copy/paste error? Platinum Games, what? My head hurt, so I decided to treat the message as nonsense. None of my business. I resumed scrolling.

But he kept appearing on my feed. Guy Savage this, Guy Savage that. I eventually found a link to a news story and all was revealed. I was confused, a tad embarrassed, but mostly fascinated by this bonus mini game that had somehow eluded me for twenty years.

For those who are unaware (embarrassing!), Guy Savage is a hack-and-slash mini game hidden in MGS3, which only appeared in the PlayStation 2 versions. It's triggered when you save after the torture scene, quit and then reload, which is evidently something that I never did. Apparently, this mini-game was built utilising a cancelled prototype of Zone of the Enders 3 and it was intended as a teaser for a full game, which never materialised. 

All of this was news to me. Me, who considers Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater to be the greatest game ever made.

I first played MGS3 on the PS2 back in the spring of 2005. I wasn't terminally online back then. I wouldn't have dreamt of checking game FAQs on my Motorola clam-shell, I no longer bought game mags, and my social group was even less likely to know about Guy Savage than I was. Basically, I wasn't in a position to know about in-game secrets. On top of that, I was still in the university-to-post-uni period of my life where games were something that I just casually enjoyed. They weren't a big part of my personality. I was far more into music, movies and not knowing what the fuck I was doing with my life. News of secret modes would not have reached me. That being said, it's very strange that I didn't learn of Guy Savage's existence in later years.

Anyway, that's my excuse out of the way! Cheers.

Once I'd moved past the confusion, I was genuinely excited to learn something new about my all-time favourite game. It's also further increased my anticipation for Delta, which is out this Friday. From what I've experienced first hand, Delta appears to be faithful to the original, and Konami has shown Snake Eater the reverence it deserves. Most of the reviews I've read echo this, even if some people are kicking up a fuss about graveyard lighting. Deeply exhausting people.

I have prior form when it comes to missing widely-known secrets in my favourite games. I learnt that Sega Rally Championship on the Saturn has a fourth course (Lake Side) and a third car (Lancia Stratos) just five years ago, despite having owned a copy since the mid-90s! A damning assessment of my gaming ability - the course and car are unlocked by finishing first in Arcade mode - and further proof that I don't listen to people when they tell me things.

It makes me wonder what other secrets might be hiding in the games I claim to love. Can Aeris be resurrected in Final Fantasy VII? Can someone be killed to stop unfavourable Triple Triad rules from spreading in FFVIII? Can I play as a rotund Drake in Uncharted 2? Who knows.

I suppose secrets are far harder to miss these days. We are all so online - especially you - that we're bound to stumble upon discussion that would bring hidden modes to our attention. Achievement and trophy descriptions are liable to semi-spoil any major mystery and it's unlikely that any modern publisher would choose to remain shtum about extra content of any sort. If it's in the game, you're bound to find out about it. Just like the latest version of Guy Savage!

Overall, I consider this Guy Savage discovery to be a personal win. Sure, my ignorance has been exposed, but I'm happy to have learnt something new about my all-time favourite. Rest assured, I'll be quitting to the main menu after the torture scene in Delta, so that I may enjoy one last secret in a game that has been delighting me for years. 

I say "last", but you never know.

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