Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is Konami’s latest effort to revive one of its classic franchises. After the landmark stealth series died rather unceremoniously with the hat-trick of an unfinished MGSV, an unsuccessful Metal Gear Survive, and creator Hideo Kojima’s departure from the company post Silent Hills‘ cancellation, this attempt at a revival was always going to have a lot to prove.

The original Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is an undeniable masterpiece. Metal Gear Solid Delta is an almost entirely faithful recreation of it, capturing much of the finesse, tension, and charm of the original game. However, that faithfulness is also its greatest weakness. In pursuit of perfect accuracy, MGS Delta leaves so much of the original Snake Eater untouched that it often fails to add anything new to the conversation.

A Cinematic Story Of Revenge & Redemption

The Virtuous Mission

In telling the story of Naked Snake’s rise to internationally renowned super soldier and his misgivings with his mentor, The Boss, MGS Delta is fundamentally unchanged. There are no new story scenarios or voice actors. Most of the cutscenes appear to be shot-for-shot remakes of the originals.

A few inconsequential lines have been updated here and there; for example, one of Para-Medic’s codec calls has been altered to include a cheeky reference to the recent state of the Godzilla franchise. But by and large, you’re watching the exact same story, told by the exact same performers, in the exact same way.

That’s not entirely a bad thing. MGS3 has always been praised for its conspiratorial, Bond-inspired narrative, full of deliciously elaborate twists and turns. That’s perfectly intact here, and watching it play out in HD is just as enjoyable, albeit not more so, than it is in the original game.

Metal Gear Solid has always attempted to be cinematic in its presentation, and this is no exception. There’s some genuinely creative camera work in the cutscenes – EVA flying through the sky on her signature motorcycle, the sky-high zoom-out on a meowing Ocelot searching for his prey – these things stand out in my mind, but most of them are not unique inventions of MGS Delta. They’re ripped straight out of the original game.

Even outside cutscenes, Metal Gear Solid Delta is undeniably beautiful. During the jungle sequences, the foliage is dense and detailed; the mountain sequences render craggy hills and dusty caves with incredible realism. The various edible animals slither and crawl with true-to-life animations, while the character models are expressive and dynamic—if a little uncanny at times.

But Delta pulls off these increasingly realistic graphics without sacrificing too much of the original Snake Eater‘s cartoonishness. Food still drops in rotating ration cans, The End’s eyes still pop out of his head, and the brassy “Alert” sound still plays whenever you’re spotted.

The performance isn’t perfect. Playing in Performance Mode on a base PS5, I experienced significant framerate dips during busier sections of the game. It was often distracting during big boss battles and complicated stealth sequences. I still think it was an odd choice to adapt Metal Gear Solid 3 first, though, and the cracks do show in some of Delta‘s story. It’s the first game in the continuity, but, of course, the third in release order, and it’s incredibly self-referential in that typical Kojima way.

In other words, there are a lot of Easter eggs and lore concepts introduced in Delta that seem out of place, especially if you’re not intimately familiar with the Metal Gear continuity. If the goal here is to woo newcomers daunted by the relative age of the original game, it’ll inevitably leave them confused.

An Evolutionary Step Forward In Stealth Gameplay

Operation Snake Eater

The Metal Gear series has often been credited with ushering in the modern stealth game genre. MGS3 took that a step further, evolving from the radar-watching and predictable marching patterns of the first two games to create a new paradigm of stealth.

Here, you’re not avoiding enemy lines of vision; you’re hiding right in plain sight, using the environment around you and an ever-growing collection of intricately patterned camouflage suits to make yourself invisible to the naked eye.

It’s a brilliant system, one that makes you feel like an apex predator stalking your prey – but you’re also greatly outnumbered, and if you’re caught, you’ll be overwhelmed in a second. Larger area maps give you room to plan your approach and alter your strategy, or quickly dive out of the way if an enemy notices something’s awry.

Gameplay has undergone more significant changes in MGS Delta, with a quick-switch camo menu making it easier than ever to blend in with your environment. The camera controls have been tweaked in the over-the-shoulder New Style gameplay mode to make it easier to spot threats and aim shots.

But the controls still maintain some of the “stickiness” of the original MGS3 – it’s easy to get locked into cover when you don’t want to, and the melee combat range is narrow. Grabbing and interrogating enemies is appropriately challenging, but immensely rewarding.

In MGS 3, stealth is supplemented by a pair of survival mechanics: a stamina meter that you must fill by finding your own food, and a complex system of injuries and treatments. If you let your injuries go untreated for too long, they leave permanent, visible scars.

It’s not enough to chug a health potion: if you’re shot, you have to remove the bullet, stop the bleeding, and disinfect the wound before applying a bandage. That adds an enjoyable bit of friction to the already-tense stealth gameplay, and forces you to scrounge and explore for the supplies you need.

As you work your way through the wilderness, you’ll amass a diverse arsenal of weapons and gadgets that allow you to define and develop your own playstyle. There’s a tool for every scenario, and each one is unique and enjoyable to use, adding a new dimension to stealth or combat.

The constant cycle of problem and solution is brilliantly paced, intensely satisfying, and thoroughly Bond-coded. Long survival sections are punctuated by explosive, tricky boss fights – “tricky” in the sense that there’s a hidden strategic trick to beating each one. You’re encouraged to experiment with your various skills and gadgets to discover them on your own.

I imagine it’ll be a revelation if you’re playing MGS3 for the first time. But if you’ve played it before, you won’t notice much of anything new. I found I knew my way around this new rendering of Tselinoyarsk like the back of my hand: I was picking up hidden items and finding Easter eggs without even thinking about it.

A Blow-By-Blow Remake Of A Timeless Classic

MGS Delta Is Faithful – But What Else?

Metal Gear Solid Delta is arguably the most complete version of Snake Eater available today, with the inclusion of the platform-specific Snake vs. Monkey/Bomberman modes, a revamped version of the Guy Savage mini-game, and the ability to play with multiple camera perspectives.

But beyond that, it’s not meaningfully different enough from any other version to justify a total remake. After all, the Subsistence version is available on modern platforms via the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection, and, unless its outdated-yet-excellent graphics puts you off, it’s every bit as good.

I may have been spoiled by Konami and Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake, which made significant changes while remaining faithful to the spirit of its inspiration. Refreshed puzzles forced me to pay attention instead of playing by instinct, while the new content ensured it’d be more interesting in conversation with the original game.

By contrast, MGS Delta appears to acknowledge that the original MGS3 is a masterpiece, one of the finest achievements in video game history, and a significant evolutionary step forward in the stealth genre. It captures the essence of the original to a T, but fails to expand on it.
As though they were restoring a painting, the remake’s developers almost seem afraid to damage it, as if to alter anything beneath its most superficial aspects would take something away from the original. The result makes Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater a gorgeous, even impressive, new version of MGS3 for the modern gamer, but ultimately an unnecessary imitation of a timeless classic.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

Reviewed on PS5

Systems

8/10

Released

August 28, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood, Sexual Themes, Violence

Engine

Unreal Engine 5

Pros & Cons

• An excellent stealth system that evolves Metal Gear gameplay
• A variety of weapons and gadgets let you adapt to any situation
• A well-paced, cinematic story centered on an irresistible international conspiracy

• Adds little, if anything, new to the original Metal Gear Solid 3
• Performance is unstable during boss fights