RecommendedSteam player
MGS DELTA is a safe, almost a 1:1 remake for sure. But being a game that is also one of a kind (in being overly specific more than anything) and incredibly hard to replicate, I do understand KONAMI. I don't really see how else it could have happened. While 1:1 reconstruction is a merit and an achievement on its own, it's important to note how extraordinarily well MGS3 uses the videogame medium; if it weren't for Kojima et al.'s meticulous attitude, this simply couldn't have been achieved. In other words, if you are indeed the average of the five people you spend your time with, MGS DELTA could not have been achieved without the original team and would have been doomed to mediocrity, even if Konami dared to expand upon the original and even if built in-house. That is not meant as an excuse, however. I would truly have appreciated it if there were new "small" QoL features, like being able to loot enemies without actually holding them and waiting for the animation, and/or ledge takedowns, etc., that really wouldn't hurt the logic of the game and would help the flow instead. Regardless, the new autosave feature & the addition of records and titles (and limitless saves for FOXHOUND) is very welcome, along with quick camo switch, a damn compass, skippable codec conversations (which also fixes the audio issues from the original), and new, slick animations for Snake. They could have gone more ambitious, but again, I can't say it wouldn't have hurt the game logic. MGS3 plays level by level, allowing you to memorize and master each section (and abuse it if you will). While the AI is not the greatest (and sometimes outright worse than its HD Collection counterpart) and there are occasionally logic-defying moments, within its own logic, MGS3 works quite precise once you figure things out and deduce how to make them work to your benefit. It can be hard to interpret the cone of vision of the enemies (although I would say it was always more likely to run into that issue in MGS3 compared to its predecessors) and it really boil downs to your camouflage meter (you are able to abuse AT-Camo in lots of situations). There's obviously a big difference between experiencing it for the first time and knowing exactly what to do. I found myself in the latter category; however, it really didn't hurt the overall experience as much as I thought it would. Perhaps I should state that MGS DELTA is also quite easy to trivialize, especially with CQC. A pacifist run (especially on Hard/Extreme) always felt easier than in other "stealthy" stuff like Dishonored, Deus Ex, or Thief. The camos and utilities you find later in the game trivialize it to a large degree; however, I would call that where the fun is. Foxhound (which is essentially a 0-alerts playthrough more than anything else) was always an issue, especially due to camera angles. Now, it's probably the easiest of all MGS entries but is still a decent challenge. There is some "bad stuff" carried over from the original. One of them is the last sequence with EVA, where she must follow you. If you take a quick detour to clear the area beforehand so she can follow you with ease, you'd be dead wrong. Her AI still gets stun-locked, and she refuses to follow if you steer away for a while. Commanding her can be incredibly stressful in a pacifist run, as by the time she makes her way up to you, enemies would have ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ woken up. However, this is also one of the rarer games where you can say, "I tranquilized her, carried her myself, and kicked her to wake her up." On the other hand MGS3 was also one of the rarer games where you could say ''I found my way through a cave by spamming flashbang and even smoke grenades''. It's no longer a necessity thanks to how UE5 handles the illumination. I know it's cherry picking but still... Boss fights are easier in some capacity. I found The Boss's CQC to be easily parriable (as long as you almost insta-click, which works every time). The Fury was the part where optimization (and the excess amount of VFX) did hurt the actual fight; knowing how easy it was, I had to spend much more time trying to figure out where he was, but one could say it's better for providing a challenge since he sets everywhere ablaze. The Pain is most definitely still painful; gotta give him that. I don't mind the removal of stamina drain tactic for The Fear to be insulting, it does make sense. Yet, both bosses and enemies lack proper balance adjustments to align with the new (and improved so to say) gameplay. While there are slight visual glitches and frame dips, I was actually able to run it smoothly enough, so I can't partake in the optimization debate. However, there was noticeable ghosting. It has a neat legacy filter (along with some other filters), a photo mode at launch (which is still a surprisingly rare feat), and a new rendition of "Snake Eater" which, unlike the majority I guess, I quite liked. But it shouldn't go without saying that with the tech of 2025, MGS3, especially its presentation, loses context. This is noticeable not only in the cutscenes (which all use the old animations) and I'll use two of the easiest examples I could give: The End's eyes popping out and Snake kissing but also in exaggerated gameplay segments. As much as I dislike stagnation, I understand the need for preserving a relic of its time, trying to restore it, and serving it to a broader audience. MGS games weren't available on Steam until about 2 years ago and MGS4 is still stuck ONLY on PS3. There is no point in asking it to run before it can crawl. Besides, remakes are more of a 50/50 thing. You either get a Silent Hill 2 or RE2 (and those are not free of sins either) or... you get RE3 and Rebirth, the latter of which is universally acclaimed but gives you a plethora of reasons to dislike it (or in my case pretty much hate it). If there's a breaking point where I must choose between the two: a brave remake that is its own entity but damned with mediocrity, and a 1:1 remake of what is deemed to be an all-time great, I must choose the latter. It at least doesn't create a time paradox! Overall, MGS DELTA surely deserves a shot to be experienced by veterans, and it's a strong starting point for newcomers. It really can be tough to talk about MGS without spoiling not only its presentation but also the gameplay (which is essentially what makes the whole experience unforgettable), as you'll notice the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ aspects both the story and gameplay have, and how flawlessly MGS executes them like no other game ever could. Footnote: The price, especially for EU, is egregious. I am skipping that part. ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ Please take a moment to check out my curator for more in-depth reviewsShow moreShow less
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