PRESENTATION:Hideo Kojima has always been a genius when it comes to making cinematic video games, and this game has to be the greatest example of that. Right when the game starts you are hit with some of the excellent scenes, that just never stop coming in the game. This is a very well put together game, with a great story. Sometimes the dialogue may get a little... unrealistic and stupid, but it usually on the money.Everything in the game is present nicely, with no real faults.

GRAPHICS:The graphics of MGS3 are definitely great, if not some of the best on the PS2.The outdoor environments are filled with all the nice graphical touchups that just up the ante graphics wise. Lighting is realistic, shadows are soft, and foliage is realistic, along with some nice bloom effects to top it off. Character Models in the game all look excellent, painted with little details that just make them that much better. Characters that get shot up show it on their clothes (which could even help you distinguishing hurt enemies).The game has one minor fault, and that is near the end of the game, you can see that textures start to get spread out, and some places look a little bland, but that is it, and it’s only during cut scenes.

This game sounds excellent in all aspects- Music, Voice, and Effects.The Music you hear in the game is great, whenever it is playing, it seem to match the mood of the scene, which is nice. All of the music is well done, but, there aren't that many songs you hear in the game,but that is fine with me, it doesn't deduct from the game at all.The Voice acting in this game, as I stated before, is for the most part, good. It does however have its drawbacks. Sometimes, you feel the voice acting doesn't seem quite fitting with the moment, or it is just plain bad. But those moments are rare, and don't make the game bad at all.The sound effects in the game are excellent. All the guns in the game sound realistic, and act realistically. all the types of grenades sound like you would expect them too, adding to the experience. the ambient noises in the jungles immerse you into the world, with animals sounds, rustling grass, wind, rain, rivers, etc. it all really adds immensely to the games immersion, making you feel as if you were there.Unlike the other Metal Gear games, in Snake Eater, you are put in a jungle environment. This completely changes the game play dynamics from indoor sneaking, to outdoor surviving. In MGS 3, you have a Stamina Bar that will slowly decrease with any actions you do- running, jumping, hanging, climbing, etc. In order to restore this Stamina bar, you must eat food, which you find in your environment.You can kill any animal you find, from snakes, to frogs, to alligators, and eat it to regain stamina. Certain food types give you more stamina than others, and food also goes rotten after a while, so there is a bit of a strategy to be had there.The next big game play improvement is your ability to blend in with the environment. You start out with a few camouflaging uniforms and face paints, and pick more as you progress through the game. Every type of terrain in the game calls for a different camouflaging, which makes you switch camo allot. You have a camo index that tells you how visible you are to the enemy, if the camo index reads 90%, the enemy will walk within inches of you and not see you, but if it reads 10%, they will spot you from Medium to long distances, and if it reads -10%, you are actually making yourself stand out. I found myself changing camo quite often, just to stay hidden.Combat in the game remains very much the same form MGS2, pressing the square button to fire, and going into first person with L1, but a new Close Quarters Combat system has been integrated into the game this time, called CQC. CQC is only capable of doing if you have a one-handed weapon equipped, along with your combat knife. You get within grabbing distance of an enemy, and from there, you have a choice of what to do. If your press and hold down the circle button, you will grab the enemy and get him in a strangle hold. From there, if you hold down the L3 button, you can interrogate the enemy, and get some secret information (some important, some funny) out of him. If you walk up behind an enemy and press circle and direction on the analog stick, you will throw the enemy on the ground, knocking him out. CQC is very much fun, and useful when in… close quarters.

There is one small problem here though, and that is the camera. You can tell the camera is still being used like you are inside a building, as it is not easy to see the entire world around you. When you are in a huge jungle, that is something you need to be able to do, and is where MGS3 lacks in game play. The game is still highly enjoyable game play wise, this is only a minor defect.<BR>REPLAYABILITY:Usually, there is always something you unlock in the MGS games, which makes you want to play through them again. Because of the sheer volume and open endedness of MGS3, there is allot of stuff you can miss, like certain weapons (I never found the shotgun throughout the whole game, and almost missed the sniper rifle), and certain Items (I missed allot of the hidden face paints, one of which is a zombie face paint). As you can see, there are many reasons that make you want to give the game another run-through, and yes, one of them is the infamous Snake vs. Monkey modes, where you have to find and capture Monkeys. Yes, you read that right. Monkeys.

Snake Vs. Monkey?
FINAL SCORES: out of 10
PRESENTATION: 10
GRAPHICS: 9.5
SOUND: 9.5
GAMEPLAY: 9.5
REPLAYABILITY: 10
FINAL WORD: If you have a PS2, and are looking for one hell of an adventure, you owe it to yourself to buy this game.
FINAL SCORE: 9.7