What is it?

The third game in the Metal Gear Solid series.  A prequel to the whole franchise starring Naked Snake aka Big Boss.

What’s it about?

This game has you playing solid snakes, clone/father, naked snake. His job is to infiltrate Russia to save a Russian scientist only to come in contact with his former mentor – The Boss.  Things go wrong, she supposedly betrays you, a nuke goes off and you’re thrown into a series of events that have you fight her and her Cobra Unit consisting of bad ass members including a pyro astronaut, a living bee hive man, a WWI sniper, that, and a ghost. Despite all that it works.

What’s it look like?

The detailed forest is a complete change from the previous two games with animals both dangerous and not for you to hunt and eat. The game looks great with the characters having such a unique design.  The art design is impressive as always and the final Boss fight is one of the most gorgeous things in gaming.

How’s it play?

This is a tricky one.  The original version played well enough, but the top down camera didn’t suit the new open-ended environment.  The re-release subsistence fixed this issue.  The game play works well with CQC (hand to hand) being complicated and satisfying and the sneaking being the best in the series so far.

Is it worth it?

Yes, if only because the soundtrack is sublime.  Kidding aside, the game play, story and overall theme just lends this to being a masterpiece of a game. 10/10.