Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
This review contains spoilers
A few things I need to get out of the way: If I think about it, I will update this review once the online portion comes around, but it won’t change my score because Metal Gear is primarily a single-player experience for me. And despite it being my favourite franchise (my first ever e-mail involved it), I haven’t actually played in a long time, outside of dabbling in a Metal Gear Online revival server a bit ago. Also, this game’s a 10, to be clear. Metal Gear Solid 1-4 all are. 5 would have been if it had a better story that wasn't buried underneath some nonsense. So that’s where I’m coming from here.
I’ll get the bad out of the way. There’s a little PS2 era clunkiness (though mostly it’s fine). The Pain is a great character but the fight isn’t fantastic because water is stupid and man was not meant to be in water. And I could do without the curing bit because while I understand it encourages you to be better at the game, at some points (like during bosses), it’s kind of annoying. I know that’s partially just a skill issue, but I’ve never felt like it added anything. With that said, none of that is the end of the world.
There’s some great quality of life upgrades--camo and radio for example, much easier and less time in menus). Music still hits hard. Really pretty, excellent sound design. Also, since it’s a faithful remaster, it keeps the directing of Kojima, who gets away with making cinematic games because he actually understands cinema and can frame a shot. The sneaking/gunplay is still as solid (ha) as ever, but if you’ve only played Metal Gear Solid 5 for some reason, don’t expect the open nature of that, because really, MGS5 does have the best pure gameplay, but this is more bite-sized and linear, though there are obviously different ways to tackle infiltration and sneaking.
I put most of the good in one paragraph because this isn’t an official review where I need to care about format, but also to emphasize THIS paragraph… because it’s about what ultimately makes Metal Gear Solid Delta a 10 for me, like many of its predecessors. It’s the story. God damn. I care most about the story, which is why MGS5 is my least favourite of the Solids (though still amazing) and MGS4 is my favourite. I could WATCH this game and still think it’s a 10. Delta—and the rest of the franchise—has two modes, basically: grounded political narrative and over-the-top ridiculousness. The grounded nature is evident, with how it reinterprets real events, throws in some complete fiction and makes political statements about loyalty, country, war, etc. But then you got The Pain and his hornets, Volgin and his electricity, etc. Throw in supernatural elements like a field becoming white flowers just for an epic battle with your mentor (followed by red), or the entire thing with The Sorrow, etc. It shouldn’t work but it does. It always has. Then you got the fact that it explains why Big Boss became the way he was, and you feel for him. It still breaks my heart even though I knew what was coming.
It’s been so long since I’ve been able to Metal Gear fanboy out, and I’m so glad I’ve gotten to do it again.
I’ll get the bad out of the way. There’s a little PS2 era clunkiness (though mostly it’s fine). The Pain is a great character but the fight isn’t fantastic because water is stupid and man was not meant to be in water. And I could do without the curing bit because while I understand it encourages you to be better at the game, at some points (like during bosses), it’s kind of annoying. I know that’s partially just a skill issue, but I’ve never felt like it added anything. With that said, none of that is the end of the world.
There’s some great quality of life upgrades--camo and radio for example, much easier and less time in menus). Music still hits hard. Really pretty, excellent sound design. Also, since it’s a faithful remaster, it keeps the directing of Kojima, who gets away with making cinematic games because he actually understands cinema and can frame a shot. The sneaking/gunplay is still as solid (ha) as ever, but if you’ve only played Metal Gear Solid 5 for some reason, don’t expect the open nature of that, because really, MGS5 does have the best pure gameplay, but this is more bite-sized and linear, though there are obviously different ways to tackle infiltration and sneaking.
I put most of the good in one paragraph because this isn’t an official review where I need to care about format, but also to emphasize THIS paragraph… because it’s about what ultimately makes Metal Gear Solid Delta a 10 for me, like many of its predecessors. It’s the story. God damn. I care most about the story, which is why MGS5 is my least favourite of the Solids (though still amazing) and MGS4 is my favourite. I could WATCH this game and still think it’s a 10. Delta—and the rest of the franchise—has two modes, basically: grounded political narrative and over-the-top ridiculousness. The grounded nature is evident, with how it reinterprets real events, throws in some complete fiction and makes political statements about loyalty, country, war, etc. But then you got The Pain and his hornets, Volgin and his electricity, etc. Throw in supernatural elements like a field becoming white flowers just for an epic battle with your mentor (followed by red), or the entire thing with The Sorrow, etc. It shouldn’t work but it does. It always has. Then you got the fact that it explains why Big Boss became the way he was, and you feel for him. It still breaks my heart even though I knew what was coming.
It’s been so long since I’ve been able to Metal Gear fanboy out, and I’m so glad I’ve gotten to do it again.
Mini Review: I could do without curing your injuries and while The Pain is cool, the fight isn’t fantastic, but honestly, this game’s still a 10 and reminded me why Metal Gear’s my favourite franchise. The sneaking is great. Music’s great. Looks wonderful. Solid quality of life upgrades. But honestly, the reason I always come to Metal Gear? The story and how it handles ridiculousness and grounded seriousness. I felt the same by the end as I did the first time I played it.