Metal Gear Solid Delta - A Virtuous Mission

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Subsistence.

The HD and Master Collections.

Snake Eater 3D.

And now, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Multiple ways to enjoy the greatest game ever made!

I spent the last two weeks playing through Delta and, as expected, I had a wonderful time. Snake Eater remains sublime, and I only have good things to say about the remake.

But not everyone shares in my enthusiasm. There has been some hand-wringing about the stylistic choices made in Delta - some touch-ups here and there, minor elements added and removed, and the effects of graphical enhancements that have rubbed people the wrong way. There has also been concern about whether Konami should be fucking with MGS, given its visionary and driving force, Hideo Kojima, is no longer involved. Ultimately, some have questioned the need to remake Snake Eater at all, especially considering a perfectly good HD remaster is widely available on modern platforms.

Fair enough. Valid points, mostly. But I, the Snake Eater-liker, couldn't be happier with the renewal.

Not every game needs to be revisited and modernised, but in general I welcome remakes of old favourites, as long as they are true to the spirit of the original. I know not everyone feels the same, and it's sensible to question the value of remaking something that is already great. 

For me, a remake like Delta serves three purposes. Firstly, a repackaged classic provides new motivation to play, some extra impetus to go back to something well-loved. Secondly, I appreciate the convenience. I don't want to dust off old consoles and deal with inevitable hardware issues, just so that I can have the purest experience possible. I want games that will work on today's systems. I also want the convenience of modern controls, menus, shortcuts and the like, as long as they're not too invasive and don't negatively impact core gameplay. And lastly, I appreciate experiencing the familiar through a slightly different lens, even if it's just a prettier one.

It's important to note that Delta hasn't replaced the original. There is no erasure here. We can still easily access the Subsistence version via the Master Collection, available across all major store fronts. Delta simply provides a new way to enjoy Snake Eater, and it's a very faithful and impressive one.

I consider all the differing versions of Snake Eater to be part of the same whole - different aspects of a greater experience, each offering something unique and worthwhile. The Master Collection ports were perhaps a bit lazy, essentially the HD remasters but on modern platforms, but simply having easy access on the consoles that are hooked up to the BIG TV makes them worthwhile.

Given the level of care that has clearly gone into Delta, and the reverence Konami has shown to the original, I'd be well up for further remakes. I replayed MGS1 last year, so that's still quite fresh in my mind, but I'd be keen on a MGS2 revisit. The tanker protagonist-switch can confuse and upset a brand new generation of gamers! It may be blasphemy to some, but I wouldn't mind a brand new MGS either. The foundations are more than solid, and there's a rich fiction there for the picking; while I would have some concerns about a new entry without Kojima, the MGS universe should not go to waste.

Perhaps in time, Kojima and Konami will find a way to work together again. It's not as if Kojima has strayed too far from the MGS formula in his new ventures - I've yet to play Death Stranding 2, but from what I've seen it very much reminds me of Phantom Pain - and Konami, despite being premium-console-title-averse, was willing to make a return to this space just for this franchise. Perhaps, in time.

While the future of the series may be uncertain, its past and present is well looked after in Delta. Of course, I hadn't forgotten how good Snake Eater is, but still, it was nice to have my adoration reaffirmed. I was excited to sit down each evening and continue my playthrough, and then relay events to my daughter the next day. MGS sounds even more ridiculous when you try to explain it to the uninitiated. "So there's this 100 year old sniper who's dead, but he wakes up to fight you and powers-up using photosynthesis. Also, there's this guy who shoots bees at you..... Yeah, that's it, this all happened during the Cold War."

I've been inspired to dig out my numerous copies of Snake Eater, flip through manuals and consider this masterpiece in its multitude of versions. I removed the mini Shagohad model from the Limited Edition and drove it around a bit while making tank sounds; I dipped into Snake Eater 3D and have also added the PS2 version of Subsistence to my Mercari watch-list, as I somehow don't own a copy. I'm also greatly anticipating the MGS Delta lottery, coming to a Lawson Japan near you very soon. I will not stop spending until I win the main prize of a Boss-in-a-box tissue box, or maybe I'll just grab one off Mercari and avoid accumulating dozens of unwanted clear files, handkerchiefs and other lesser goods. Seriously, look at this thing:

This kind of shit is why people move to Japan!

Anyway, I'm over the moon with Delta, and was pleased to hear that it has performed rather well, having already shipped over a million copies. Hopefully this success will justify other Metal Gear Solid projects, be they remasters, remakes or perhaps something completely new. Regardless of what does or doesn't come next, it's nice having MGS back in the limelight, back where it belongs.