Metal Gear Solid 3 Review

An in-depth review of Metal Gear Solid 3 originally released for the Playstation 2. Since the HD re-release is extremely faithful to the original I've decided to use footage captured from that version instead. Watching in 480p resolution should look very similar to the original release if that's what you prefer.
Other videos in this series:
MGS1: • Metal Gear Solid Review
MGS2: • Metal Gear Solid 2 Review
MGS4: • Metal Gear Solid 4 Review
Peace Walker: • Metal Gear Solid: Peac...

[@CANiHAVEaCHIP1]

One thing exclusive to the 3DS port of MGS3 is that after Snake loses his eye, the 3D functionality no longer works. That's just cool.

[@CANiHAVEaCHIP1]

I never tried killing The End early, but that kinda sucks if it's true. While I felt I was robbing myself of a great boss fight, some will still use it to save some time.

[@bigfecalpile5110]

IcyWolves, if you're talking about right after you get the sniper rifle and shoot The End in his wheelchair early, you can do that in the 3DS version.

[@TenseIntense]

In first person perspective, or in general?

[@CANiHAVEaCHIP1]

MGS3D IIRC uses the Peace Walker aiming camera, meaning there isn't any first person. If I'm right, this would mean it's game-wide.

[@bigfecalpile5110]

SMauler9 MGS3D uses first person, third person, and auto-aiming. You can switch between the aim modes on the touch screen.

[@Lockn3s5]

If you didn't know this already, the ecosystem of animals can play into the stealth mechanic as well. I would often capture spiders or snakes to throw at enemies to get them poisoned or distract them. Food as well as there are mushrooms which food poison or knock enemies out. If you try to run through the game in a pure stealth fashion without using guns, food and animals play a much larger role in approaching stealth. I much prefer to play this way. When interrogating enemies you can learn a radio number to call off an alert. You can also destroy food and ammo storage supply sheds to weaken enemies stamina and lower their ammo count in certain areas. And there is a crocodile hat that when positioned correctly will scare off enemies. Also gives a series of funny codec dialogue for every member on your team.

[@drownsinkoolaid4203]

I love calling Sigint while wearing the box, and Snake seems like he's ready to marry the thing. Seriously had me in tears the first time I heard it :D

[@robertgraydon146]

Didn't know any of these! Such a great game always finding new things

[@Shreccz]

No shit

[@Jamie-tx7pn]

@@Shreccz 22345343 IQ response

[@MrEffectfilms]

There's also a codec number to call that will play some music as well as restore your stamina.

[@mysterioso2006]

The fact that this game was made on the PS2 and looks almost as good as any game from the first half of the PS3's cycle is a true testament to KCE.

[@raresmacovei8382]

PS3 lifecycle: 2006-2014. So you think Snake Eater looks almost as good as any game from up to 2010 on the PS3? Come on. It's easily one of the best looking PS2 games, I'd give it that.

[@fbritannia]

@@raresmacovei8382 Maybe not the first half, but excluding texture resolution and polygon count I do think it looks almost as good as games up to 2008.

[@dmas7749]

@@raresmacovei8382: honestly it looks better than even some PS3 games found later in its cycle texture size and poly count are only two components of graphics, what counts to me more than anything is what they do with it

[@dmas7749]

@@fbritannia: pfft i didn't even read what you said before pointing out those two things

[@SamsarasArt]

Not only is it visually striking, the attention to detail in this game is equally impressive

[@Ryder.Draconis]

This is astonishing. You talked coherently and intelligently for 40 minutes on one game. You found 40 minutes of stuff to talk about without losing me for one second. Your ability as a writer is some of the greatest I have ever seen.

[@BigTiddy]

+Ryder Draconis His MGS 4 one is an hour. Yes. A FUCKING HOUR

[@jordanboone9427]

+JonnytheSmartguy Watch the dark souls commentary

[@Aetohatir]

+JonnytheSmartguy Dark Souls is SIX hours. SIX. Granted Dark Souls is a huge game... but... That must have been a book of a script.

[@hoganholo99]

On top of that, his DMC Commentary is about 4 hours long and while having his signature quality content; much of it is also just showing off how goddamn good he is at DMC

[@duffman18]

You should watch Super Bunnyhop's 40 minute video on MGS 3 as well (plus his videos on the other MGS games). They focus more on the story, whereas Matthew focuses more on the gameplay, so they perfectly compliment each other. Here's the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJCQm6x8bp1qg7M

[@BillyPalmerMusic]

"If I was him, I'd be more angry that my entire life made no sense"

[@SupremeToafu]

Good to know that we watched the same video

[@BillyPalmerMusic]

Toadtoad12345 Thanks for the reply - I was pretty worried back there. You can always rely on the sincerity of strangers!

[@DenDhur]

That part made me laugh😂

[@scribble71891]

Wow what a shitty way to go

[@princeperot4114]

Elizabeth B There's also the fact that he was still part of the Cobra unit during WWII, years before even the Boss went into space. It's not like he was a completely different person back then either since he still has his spacesuit and flamethrower in the photo of the WWII era Cobras.

[@d3lvn]

The End COULD be a leisurely boss fight that requires the player to utilize stealth and methodical strategy to overcome. Or, if you're like me, you could just run around the forest with a shotgun like Elmer Fudd, shooting an old man to shit.

[@SoFarSoGoodSoWhat14]

That was me lol, came across him by accident and ended up spending the rest of the fight chasing him from area to area

[@matheusribeiro7080]

@@trollofjom he says that on his critic. This boss could be cheese with the konami code. It shows his exact location on map

[@jaydengonzalez9336]

@@trollofjom I accidentally did that as a kid (8-9) cause he was too hard for me then, a week and a few days later I came back to him dead and I was confused for a bit.

[@yewtewbstew547]

The good old DSP method lol.

[@Coldfire242]

Lmao

[@Ryder.Draconis]

Those floating podiums are called WASP and they were developed in the 1960's. They didn't find a practical use for it so it got discontinued. But it was definitely something that could exist at the time.

[@fab006]

I REALLY have to disagree with you about the placement of The Boss's speech on loyalty and comraderie. She may not be aware Jack would end up having to kill her (though I'm not so sure even about that), but she most definitely knew that she was about to betray her country in general and him in particular. It seems to me she's deliberately trying to prepare him emotionally and distance herself by highlighting their relationship as soldier and instructor, rather than son and mother as Jack sees it.

[@SamsarasArt]

Well said, I feel the same way regarding what the boss said before defecting

[@_7thSage-9405]

I 100% agree with you 👍

[@wonderguardstalker]

It’s comically early

[@Sperium3000]

I think you were a bit harsh on the Snake Eater theme. The melody is bombastic, yet somber, and the lyrics are sung from the point of view of The Boss, the line "I'd give my life, not for honor, but for you" basically foreshadows the reveal at the end of the game. The theme wasn't used to celebrate the violence in the last boss fight, but to accentuate the connection between Naked Snake and The Boss.

[@NeverSaySandwich1]

Yeah I don't get the hate he has for it. The song is beautiful and fits with Snake and the Boss very well

[@garrycotton7094]

+Sperium3000 Just saw this comment after I posted the same thing - damn!

[@chromatosechannel]

+Sperium3000 It starts off pretty well. The chorus is good, and then it talks about eating tree frogs. That was really off-putting. The song is really good, but that one line about the tree frog... why??! :

[@NeverSaySandwich1]

jetlagsyndrome It is what you do in the game, same with eating crocodile

[@chromatosechannel]

NeverSaySandwich1 Yeah, true that. This is just me -- my opinion on this one tiny complaint I have with the song does not, in any way, change the fact that the game is really good --, but I wish they didn't sing that line about the tree frog. lol

[@Minerva_Devi]

I really enjoyed this video, but I'm very surprised that you didn't point out the extremely clever and subtle way that The Boss's missing child is proven to be Ocelot. Throughout the game, The Boss's main character trait is the fact that she is a mother or motherly figure. Snake and Ocelot (and later Solid Snake and Liquid who continue their battle) are often referred to as "Sons Of The Boss" and they feud as if they were brothers all throughout the game. They are rivals that respect and want to best each other, not enemies that hate and want to kill one another (the final plane scene where the bullet is shown to be a blank proves this). That theme really fleshes out their relationship and the fact that they share the same motherly figure (whether it be biologically or emotionally) adds a whole new layer to their characters. The Boss is constantly correcting and scolding Ocelot and it becomes more and more clear that she is treating him like a son. The only time the connection could ever be considered obvious is a single sentence during an early radio conversation between Snake and Eva where she describes that a lot of Ocelot's past is unknown and that his mother supposedly had a scar in the shape of a snake and that she was a legendary soldier (the snake scar wouldn't be mentioned until over 10hrs. later during The Boss fight). The more you know.

[@LucaEnzo]

This is fascinating. Thank you

[@SonofTiamat]

Wow, I feel stupid for never picking up on that. Good job.

[@tsukiryu]

Damn this flew past me during my playthrough too. Always wondered how the hell people knew they were related.

[@wyattspencer9904]

You do realize that solid snake is a clone right? MGS3 is technically the very first game in the series. Yes Ocelot is the bosses son but liquid and solid snake are clones of the now "Big Boss" at the end of MGS3. Also the first MG games are actually the final of the series MGS3 was actually a playable backstory to the whole thing.

[@drunkensailor112]

Finally explains how she stops Snake from killing/shootint ocelot in one of the scenes

[@yeetusyourmeetus]

If you didn't already know, the hovercraft guards are actually based on a real working hovercraft that was first successfully flown in 1955, know as the Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee. Ironically, rather than being jet powered like the ones in MGS3, they were functionally a little more like the Ciphers from MGS2.

[@maria_remedios]

The Cobra Unit: YOUR MOM A SPOOKY GHOST SOME FUCKING WEIRDO JONTRON AN ANGRY ASTRONAUT BEEEEESSS

[@ShyanTheLegend]

so is jontron the end or fury? And why? LMFAO

[@L33PL4Y]

ShyanTheLegend Clearly not The Fury since that's the "angry astronaut." He'd either be The End or The Fear, depending on who "some fucking weirdo" is supposed to refer to.

[@TheMadMadman]

ShyanTheLegend The End because he has a bird, like Jon.

[@maria_remedios]

TheMadMadman Bingo.

[@ShyanTheLegend]

got it after 6 months

[@JackChristmas]

It's weird how you bother to point out that The Pain doesn't fit the boss naming scheme, because pain is a sensation rather than an emotion, but neglect to mention that 'End' doesn't fit either. At least there are types of pain which are emotional, but extreme old age isn't an emotion at all, dagnabbit! Otherwise, excellent analysis. :-)

[@obviousoxymoron25]

I suppose one could say that that feeling of finality that feeling that things are Ending is an emotion. it's kinda stretching it yeah but y'know.

[@Asthenia64]

people don't feel any emotion when they're about to die?

[@JackChristmas]

Asthenia64 A circumstance where one would feel extreme emotion is not an emotion in and of itself. "The Joy" is an emotion; "The Really Awesome Birthday Party" is not. However you slice it, it doesn't quite fit with the naming scheme.

[@drownsinkoolaid4203]

I know the comment is old but I've been replaying this lately and I recall them mentioning ingame that basically The End represents hopelessness in a fight. Snipers are known for being deadly accurate and so the paranoia giving in to hopelessness of being shot makes some sense to me as an emotion. The End may not exactly be a very accurate name I can't really think of one that's more fitting without getting laughably edgy lol

[@justbny9278]

@@drownsinkoolaid4203 so you're saying that HE should be called The Fear and since The Fear is just weird really instead of scary he should be called The Awkward right?

[@peacemaster8117]

But Matthew, Kojima DOES speak English. He avoids speaking it in public but he understands it and writes it very well. I read somewhere that he's shy about how his English sounds with a Japanese accent, I don't know if that's true. How can you dislike the musical conclusion to MGS3? It's the best moment. It brings everything together.

[@Chompin]

+Peace Master It's a very corny song, for a not corny moment.

[@jacket2038]

However, listen to the lyrics. The placement of it gives it new perspective. It is sung from the boss's perspective and its inclusion makes a lot more sense once you know that.

[@Ape_Tero]

True, the song never bothered me, it made me picture the idea of the emotional secluded fight, while the song plays over it, muting their engagement as just something that happens in the field of war, and the fear of nukes blowing up across the globe, thus making the moment significant, but also saying "show's not over, you've still got ways to go" or something along the lines of "right now, you're just one among a sea of many", and kinda makes you recollect between MGS3 and Peace Walker.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

Peace Master he doesn’t speak English at all. Saying a few lines doesn’t mean you speak English. If he did understood English then he wouldn’t need a translator to say things to him and for him.

[@duffman18]

@@Chompin the whole of MGS 3 is meant to be like a campy corny 60s spy film, with not really many serious moments in it. So that song fits perfectly.

[@lewisdavidson571]

Comparing Mathew's MGS series to Bunnyhop's Critical Close-up is fair I think. Bunnyhop's is optimistic and focuses on experience while Mathew's is technical and precise. I'd love to see these two join up to talk about Phantom Pain & Ground Zeroes in a 10 hour long video, detailing literally everything.

[@JohnDoe-mb1uu]

I know how that guy plays the game. He relies on tranq and crawling on his belly because he doesn’t realize the affordances his environment gives him his logical mindset is actually his weakness in mgs3 He just sees game mechanics he doesn’t think outside his box

[@wuwei473]

​@@JohnDoe-mb1uuwhich guy

[@kevinmackey3166]

The cure menu would have made a lot more sense if the game were not paused while executing it. This would have forced the player to hide from enemies before using it, which is what you want to reinforce in a stealth game anyway, and would have made it much more difficult to use during the boss battles.

[@LeoKRogue]

+Kevin Mackey That's a really great point. Something I loved about The Last of Us was that time didn't stop when you were in your Inventory - and MGSV's iDroid accomplishes the same thing, but rarely requires you to make use of it in a tense situation.

[@justbny9278]

@aljxNdr knox no it didn't, it didn't even have a cure menu what the hell

[@Sidiciousify]

Or you know not be a bitch about it and just break "immersion" in a meta fiction. Fkn morons.

[@brentloy131]

“If I were him, I’d be more angry at the fact that my entire life made no sense.” Best line in the review

[@ISetYourFaceOnFire]

Probably one the greatest games I've ever played. Certainly one of my favorites.

[@XTORD1]

since i finished the hd collection since 2011 mgs 3 has always been among my absolute favourite games , always within top 10 atleast. I dont really agree with him that the boss fights is weak or the menu system is intrusive or whatever he say, i really tbh have no clue what he means with it . Point is i watched this when i went at elementary school as you call it and the well over 6 years later mgs 3 well it lived up the hype or the tributes i ssaw of it, sorry for long cmment but this game is fantastic.

[@ISetYourFaceOnFire]

Tord L I agree with him about some of the boss fights being weak. they weren't fleshed out enough. and having to navigate menus so many times kind of broke the immersion of the game. this is what he means. it sounds like you didn't have a problem with it. I personally didn't either,I looked past it, but from a game design stand point, mgs 3 would have been immensely better if you could heal and equip items in real time, rather than have to pause the game, and navigate a 1000 menus. still, a fantastic game i agree with u.

[@XTORD1]

ISetYourFaceOnFire fleshed out , you mean why they were , like they story for being there? in that way yeah i can agree. But then again i still felt each boss fight and how you defeat them was good if that makes sense No i didn have that much problem with the menu. I found them just ok, yes real time would probably be better, and as you say more immesely. But then again it was like 2004 or so. Well no game is flawless ,and for a stealth game like this ,is near flawess imo. Still thanks for explanation. Anyway this is was a would call a true masterpiece or art or whatever

[@rct2guy]

I think playing the Snake Eater theme over the boss fight at the end is one of the better implementations of music in a boss fight or game I've played. The first few silent minutes craft, as you noted, a very somber fight that indicates she isn't some ultimate evil like most bosses, but a true friend, which makes her death more meaningful. The slow move into the music creates a growing tension, and with the emotion that fills the Snake Eater theme, players are more likely to become filled with such emotion. However, most importantly, the Snake Eater theme finally finds relevance only during/after this battle. Beforehand, the song is simply a cheesy Bond-like tune, that sort of fits the theme, but, as you explained, is otherwise not too fitting or enjoyable. Players are trained to ignore the theme, as it plays every time they boot the game up, so its relevance is mostly forgotten until this fight. With the silence at the beginning, the focus is drawn onto the music as soon as it begins, and players this time pay attention to the song rather than ignoring it, just like Kojima has them do during the ladder sequence. Since the lyrics of Snake Eater are all about The Boss and her relationship with Snake, it's truly an impressive "wow" moment, where players are surprised that the song's true meaning had subverted their attention for so long (similar to Colonel at the end of MGS2). Its inclusion, in my eyes, is very relevant and not at all a mistake or blunder on the developers part.

[@ChaosAngelZero]

Also, during the fight with The Boss you'll start hearing an INSTRUMENTAL version of Snake Eater, without the "cheesy" lyrics. A complete 180º from the ladder to Heaven, where you listen to an a capella version of it.

[@EddieCarreteroSaborit]

+Mark Farmer this

[@GreenEyedDazzler]

It’s so embarrassing and unfitting.

[@josephsheldon8582]

@@GreenEyedDazzler it's fantastic, completely makes the fight.

[@Kyles45678]

agreed

[@myahmyah3196]

'''If I was him I'd be more angry about the fact that my life made no sense.'' I'm dying XD

[@Nigel222]

same

[@triplebog]

The cure menu should have been one of those gameplay menus that doesnt stop time; so you are forced to try to heal yourself during battle. It would have been really intense

[@x5NYx]

Yeah same with the camo change too. It all should've been real time. No pausing when scrolling through weapons and items also.

[@drownsinkoolaid4203]

I wouldn't mind it, but the bosses in particular would really need a rebalance, considering several can inflict status effects on you that would make it so annoying to deal with in real time.

[@RemiAutor]

Did you know those hover bikes were a real thing in the Cold War?

[@devyboo2]

he does now

[@RemiAutor]

oops. I didn't look at the date when commenting because I'm a person on the internet. I'm sorry.

[@AspelShuyin]

I have to strongly disagree about the use of the Snake Eater theme during the ending boss fight. While it can seem a bit cheesy, it's incredibly appropriate to play when things get down to the wire in the fight with The Boss. The lyrics are actually her singing to Snake.

[@Wattorok]

My exact thoughts. I think it suits the general theme of the fight really well and adds to the fight, which without it would only be interrupted by occasional "Prepare yourself!", "Run!" coming from The Boss. Also, other bossfight themes are mostly action-theme music whereas this one is really calm and meaningful to the entire scene.

[@jaytcache6580]

Bruce Wayne The song was perfect, ur right!

[@Evaquiel]

THAT's a review. How come i been watching IGN without knowing channels like this? This review matches the games quality and respect to the true gamers, or any art and enterteinment admirer. Thank you and keep up the good work.

[@icaro9554]

Holy shit, after seeing this review i just stoped to think about something, what if you'd review a game thats bad? i mean, like big rigs or something, if you're THAT harsh with MGS, i wonder how you'd be with a shitty game....lol

[@icaro9554]

Mantan911 is that zero ponctuation?:

[@icaro9554]

Mantan911 yea i've watched some reviews, i barely think of him as a gamer, he hates everything, he thinks that mgs is poorly written just because its campy, not gonna say that i HATE him, but his opinion to me doesnt count since he hates everything

[@icaro9554]

Mantan911 yea but saying that mgs is poorly written and not seeing ANYTHING good about the game is just retarded

[@Deepishpls]

Mantan911 Yahtzee is by no means a critic. He's an entertainer, his specialty is to cuss with an English accent. Matthew on the other hand, is a critic, his aim is to explore, not entertain. Matthew's videos are really entertaining in the end though, because of how objective and fair they tend to be.

[@Deepishpls]

Yes, but he is also very dismissive of games because *he* doesn't like their general setting, genre, development country. What I'm saying is that Yahtzee does not claim to, and does not do reviews, he is simply stating what he thinks about the games.

[@crono3015]

You complain about little hover crafts that were actually being worked on during that time, but you don't complain about a giant robot that's capable of launching nukes and is almost beyond today's technology....... SEEMS LEGIT TO ME.

[@szymonwarsocki3942]

Crono crono you speak?

[@DeMomcalypseLive]

Crono The thing about the Shagahod is that it's contextualized in the game, whereas the flying platforms aren't. You could just see the Shagohod as a heavily modified tank, whereas there isn't really an indicated origin for the flying platforns

[@CruelestChris]

@Greig91 Yeah, they existed. Minor qualifier being they never worked and were a fucking terrible idea. Would you like to stand on a really loud, really unstable engine with fuck-all fuel and a nice set of sharp turny blades right below your feet?

[@GalaadJoachim]

Just came here to say that. Those rotor aircrafts were the american Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee. -> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiller_VZ-1_Pawnee

[@DylanWThaane]

I'm surprised that you didn't mention The Fear's different tactics when he gets to low stamina. Doing a non lethal run makes him much more interesting/annoying. The Fear begins shooting the animals and fruit from the trees, then quickly running to try and eat them, re-filling his stamina. This can get pretty irritating, but it forces the player to chase The Fear; hence giving the traps purpose. Also, The Fury can be seen in the end cutscene of the Virtuous mission, he's in the back of the helicopter with The rest of the cobra unit. He says nothing and is basically background decoration. I still don't get the point of The Fury; if he has one, but he was shown before his fight.

[@ArkadyTunguska]

Dylan W When The Fear gets low on stamina, if you're quick, you can throw out some of your own food before he shoots any of the animals, he will immediately go for it which makes it an effective way to bait him out into the open in order to get a clear shot at him. That optional strategy made the fight more fun for me.

[@brunogonz86]

lobstertrainfilms Also if it is rotten or poisonous (can't remember wich one), he'll eat it, get sick and throw up, leaving himself open for more shots.

[@ArkadyTunguska]

Bruno Gonzaga Awesome, didn't know that. I'll try that out on my next play through

[@brunogonz86]

lobstertrainfilms Amazing how a game from 200(4?) can still surprise, a decade later

[@jacket2038]

lobstertrainfilms I might be a little late but thought I would share this nevertheless. If you use a fake death pill on the fear, you can make him think you are dead (he thinks the poison killed you) and he will walk up behind you and then look away. If you get up right around when he looks away you can throw a stun grenade. If you stun him, all lethal damage will do stamina damage, so you can unload a full AK magazine into him without him losing any real health.

[@jacket2038]

In the area where you can blow up the helicopter, there are several other choices as well. The food storage can be blown up to lower the guards stamina and causes them to vomit in the mountains. The weapons depot can also be blown up to severely limit the guards' ammo supplies.

[@DarthBaki92]

What? How can people think the graveyard-scene was any good or emotional in any way? You don't even have to press x to respect the boss! Ok seriousy, I love this game! And at the end at least one tear escapes my eyes everytime :'( And to the point that "we" as the player have to pull the trigger: That is not correct, I watched my friend playing the game for his first time and at the end he just watched the Boss suffering on the ground, while he ate fries...(I still can' believe that he did it). And after a while Snake kills her without his input.

[@AzureSymbiote]

Advanced Warfare reference? If so, good one!

[@RKNELIAS]

The funny thing is I don´t think the QTE of the funeral from AW was even trying to be emotional, it was just there to give a button to push to the player.

[@NoQuestions4sked]

lol

[@drownsinkoolaid4203]

He also missed when he said that The End is free of interruptions, which I found recently on my first non lethal run which took me a good while to beat him. If you take a while without getting into combat with him then Zero will call you up and say to use your binoculars or something to find him.

[@ocelot8611]

Some more boss battle tips and tricks: The Fear: Use fake death pill and revive once he's finished checking you and turns his back to you. Sneak up and crouch right behind him and equip the torch, his body will go up in flames and his health will almost completely run out without him even reacting. The Boss: WP grenades are the most effective against her, CQC her to the ground and drop one next to her. After a few seconds you can throw in another one and it will continue to do damage. You can use max 3 grenades against her in each window of attack.

[@ocelot8611]

NuclearBunny970 I tried sneaking up on The End with the torch as well, he reacts to going up in flames but it does no damage, probably because of his moss suit which absorbs heat and sun rays. This game indeed...

[@TheGeckoNinja]

Will Hughes lol wow i didnt know you can set the fear on fire

[@obviousoxymoron25]

Fun fact in Metal Gear Solid 3D for the 3DS in the early parts of the game you can switch to first person mode and things will be in 3D as per usual however after Snake loses his eye switching to first person mode the 3D will be turned off.

[@DeMomcalypseLive]

Edwin Chuni I wish the 3DS version was properly playable. Playing a third-person camera controlling game is cumbersome on 3DS, especially when it doesn't recognize the C-stick when playing on the new 3DS. And the frame rate is pretty bad, not unplayable, but not pleasing to the eyes, either.

[@brycesl]

Right before the fight against the Boss she says, "Let's make this the best 10 minutes of our lives, Jack." Which (to me anyway) gave off the impression that they were having a fun battle before her inevitable death. So I feel when they start playing the music at the end it can be fitting if you look at it from the right mindset.

[@alexradice8163]

Idk how it was a fun battle when snake is fucking crying over it but ok

[@PrismTheKid]

She was trying to cheer him up in her own way, I think They've both become masters of their own martial art, and in that way testing themselves against each other for that final time could be felt as a glorious or exciting moment. Her codename was also The Joy so it kind of makes sense that she wants their final moments spent together to be joyous

[@DillonTaylorVA]

"... I think it's worth saying that these little touches are one of the main reasons the Metal Gear Solid series is special to a lot of people." And one of the main reasons that The Phantom Pain is so incredibly disappointing.

[@breedcreed]

This game maybe the most epic of the series

[@monkatraz]

I mean, you were using the thermal goggles for The Fear. The thermal goggles are absolutely broken in MGS3.

[@brunogonz86]

Definitly. It ruins The Fear and The End

[@drownsinkoolaid4203]

The things break my eyes lol hurts worse than a 3DS

[@tjbattle7920]

"Giving players more challenges to overcome is better than asking them to do the same thing ones again" Im pretty sure the phantom pain and you are not going to get along.

[@seraphimlance]

The first time I played the game, I did it sans Thermals. Not sure why, it wasn't a conscious decision. It made it fucking fun. Especially The End, even made The Fear interesting.

[@Thebabybadass101]

I've watched each of your metal gear solid reviews like 3 times now. I wish you uploaded for frequently but I can understand since you probably have a life outside of these things and they obviously require a lot of editing and such. Keep up the great work.

[@MrBorderlands123]

What do you mean? The guards in the hovercrafts are there because there is a fucking river beneath them, it would be counterproductive to subject guards roaming around a river which hinders movement.

[@michaeljaradeh6213]

The riverbanks were inches away from where they were hovering.

[@MrBorderlands123]

Michael Jaradeh Wew lad.

[@redzeppelin6]

MGS1 took place in 2005 and that game suggests the army has a metal dinosaur that shoots nukes and robots that are in your blood to control your body/ 2005 was almost 12 years ago. I had no problem suspending my disbelief in a game where a guy shoots bees out of a tommy gun and a old man with a mosin feeds on sunlight with a talking parrot as his spotter, that hover crafts would exist.

[@rudefeline6802]

I actually think the exposition from The Boss in the beginning about temporality of allies is genius on a second playthrough. You say that it feels conveniently placed because it is. It is her prepping you for the inevitable betrayal that happens thirty minutes later. She cares for you but has a mission she must follow through on.

[@NeverSaySandwich1]

You going to do The Phantom Pain?

[@ChaseFace]

+NeverSaySandwich1 I wouldn't expect him to. Konami probably disabled monetization for this video (as they do for all MGS videos on KZbin), and it probably wouldn't be worth his time. I think he's working on a Dark Souls 3 commentary video right now. That said, I'd be extremely happy if he did an MGSV analysis video.

[@Kakeraverse]

+ChaseFace He said he wouldn't buy Dark Souls 3 until it gets bundled with all the DLC

[@douglasmonroe7417]

+ChaseFace No Konomi can't control reviews for the MGS series on KZbin because they have no authority over KZbin channels. He can still post his review for the game. He probably won't because he no longer supports Konomi and I don't blame him. He probably didn't even buy MGSV.

[@ChaseFace]

Douglas Monroe I'm guessing you've never tried to upload any Silent Hill or Metal Gear Solid footage. They certainly *do* control reviews for any property they own. Look at Superbunnyhop's video about it where they took down his video on Hideo Kojima's departure from *_Konami._*

[@douglasmonroe7417]

Can't because I only have a PS4. It's much more difficult with PS4 than it is with a computer. I have a PSN account, it's just when I do gameplay footage, I'm able to use the Capture Gallery. That's why I don't have any videos on my channel.

[@JMG9519]

36:27 For this comparison, thank you for not being lazy and saying "Solid Snake is emotionless. Naked Snake is full of feeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllssssssssss" like that other guy who is making long videos deconstructing these games (I think his name is SuperBunneyHop.) It really ticks me off how so many people misunderstand Solid Snake, and act like Naked Snake is the most complex, emotional character ever (sadly, even Kojima is forgetting important parts about Solid Snake's character. In a recent interview, he said "You have to keep in mind that Solid Snake isn't a real human. Big Boss is a real human with true emotions.") I love Big Boss (especially in Peace Walker), but I love Solid Snake too.

[@thattypicalslimy8548]

Solid has emotions, he just cannot express them, when he tries bad things always happens, as seen in MGS1 and 4. He attempts to, but he represses them, until certain moments which I do not want to spoil. But big boss became the better character in my eyes.

[@lucasv5715]

Slimy_the _horrible_Guitarist MGS gay ending shows that Solid Snake is quite human.

[@superstinkybeans]

Kojima said that wtf??? Maybe he was responding to the fact that solid was aging abnormally? Solid’s whole character is about de-romanticizing war which I feel like is a very human trait

[@arsnakehert]

I think the whole thematic spilling of beans with The Boss right as the virtuous mission begins is to establish her as a mentor character not only to Snake in the past but to the player in the present, so you know she's _important_ when she shows up in the bridge

[@TehBranMuffin]

The reason "metal gear" is meant to connect infantry and artillery is done in the sense of a gear connecting pieces of machinery. It seems pretty forced in English especially since the metaphor isn't even carried out in the rest of his speech, and I have no idea if the metaphor was even there in the original Japanese.

[@drownsinkoolaid4203]

That always bugged me, you'd think a more fitting metaphorical name would be like "Metal Link" which they could carry over into a long winded monologue about soldiers being a link in a chain. I guess now that I'm thinking since gears connect cogs then it's like they're all part of the machine of war, but either way it really doesn't come across very plainly, which is fine for a game with a lofty philosophical idea, but not for this.

[@duffman18]

I swear I've seen or read about tons of Japanese animes where they have a mech like thing and call it a "gear" of some sort. So or must just be a common word in Japanese and it translates a bit weirdly to English because English doesn't have a equivalent word, or something

[@thunderspark1633]

"Pain is a sensation not a emotion". You are half correct/wrong, Pain maybe a sensation but what about the Pain of Loss? That is an emotion Technically? Besides the Codename's actually refer to the Emotion they carry into battle not to mention they are 'a metaphor for the arbitrariness of enemy lines in war'. Also his codename stands for the unbearable torment he felt while on the battlefield.

[@Jefferflakes]

thats call anguish

[@GlowingOrangeOoze]

I think that's what The Sorrow is there for. Also The Pain goes on about making snake feel terrible pain leading up to the fight, and he's not hurting snake's loved ones or emotions in any way like The Sorry did. And when you shoot him, he says "paiiin", clearly in this case referring to the sensation. I'm pretty confident his codename refers to the sensation of pain.

[@thunderspark1633]

GlowingOrangeOoze True, I really overlook that part even tough I have played the game itself.The Wiki says its name stands for unbearable torment even Sigint says this is. A torment is a sensation as well, so that point is really up to debate. It is not Emotional Pain the Pain's name stand for that is something I can agree on. Hideo Kojima must have had a different opinion/philosophy on that Pain is an Emotion. Or maybe Hideo Kojima considers sensation and emotion the same thing.

[@GlowingOrangeOoze]

Thundasius I see. I didn't know that stuff about Sigint. I bet this is one of those things that made more sense in the original Japanese.

[@believeit7818]

Thundasius the pain and the rest of the other bosses make up the most bizarre unit ever and you're arguing about their names..

[@k3lvinbr]

flying guards are just using models of the Williams X jet, amazingstuff.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Williams_X-Jet_Wasp.jpg that was made in the 70s but since the game say that russians had more tecnology than american they alread had it on the 60s

[@chevy-is-a-good-boy]

The best MGS, period.

[@christianscott123]

Ehh? If you say so

[@shpladau]

Alexander Radical Well what's yours.

[@djcreeps121]

I agree. Best story with not too much exposition shoved down your face, great gameplay and atmosphere

[@stupaod]

Subsistence with the updated 3rd person camera though, not Snake Eater. This HD version uses the updated camera. EDIT: I posted this before I heard him mention it.

[@CyrusBluebird]

What of the two Metal Gear games on the MSX2 before MGS? They are on the MGS3 Subsistence re-release, the HD collection & Legacy Collection. Not talking about the NES games btw, those are not cannon.

[@thecasualgamer5578]

17:50 he calls the missing link a "metal gear" because a gear is a piece that usually connects to other gears in a machine. So the metal gear is acting as a gear between infantry and artillery because it's an amalgamation of both.

[@dsilva369]

Something not mentioned in this review, MGS3 has the funniest codec conversations of the entire series. Paramedic's exasperated tone at Snake's repeated "can I eat it? " questions on every animal in the game always makes me chuckle.

[@idon896]

"And had the option of taking them out nonlethally" He says as he shoots him in the face. This is what makes your review so entertaining.

[@NeverSaySandwich1]

Playing the Snake Eater theme during the Boss fight was beautiful and fantastic

[@ZanzibarBreeze]

More cool MGS3 tricks and Easter eggs *Blowing up food stores with TNT will result in guards being hungry and they’ll eat rotten food if you throw it to them *Blowing up armouries with TNT will result in guards running out of ammo in Alert phases. *Using the croc mask in water will fool guards into thinking it’s an actual crocodile and not Snake *In the area where you fight The Boss at the end there are 3 Snakes slithering about which you can capture, they’re called Solid, Liquid and Solidus. *Capture snakes alive and equip them to throw at guards to make them run off. If the Snake is poisonous it can kill the guard *If you do kill The End early at the warehouse, the area where his boss battle would have taken place is instead patrolled by the Ocelot unit. *If you save the game and turn off the console whilst Snake is imprisoned in Grozny Grad the next time you load the game there is a hack and slash-mini game you can play called Snake’s Nightmare. *If you use R1 to look in first person during the torture scene The Sorrow will appear holding up the radio frequency you need to escape from the cell *If you use R1 to look into first person view during the final cutscene whilst the president is congratulating Snake you can see Ocelot outside the window giving you his pistol hand gesture *You can shoot Ocelot’s horse during his boss battle early in the game *There is a bug in the game where if you have a Calorie Mate and call Eva during The Sorrow boss battle she will talk about how much she likes them. The reason this is a bug is because when you call your radio team during The Sorrow’s battle, they’re only supposed to respond with “Snake?” and the phases they use whenever Snake dies. *You can shoot the ropes that support the wooden bridge early in the game. This will make the bridge perilous to walk across and enemies and Snake can fall off it *Call Sigint whilst hiding in a cardboard box for a hilarious radio conversation *Call Eva after falling into the cave after the Ocelot fight to hear information and rumours about his early life and rumoured parentage *Drag knocked out enemy bodies into electrified fences to see them get electrocuted (will count as a lethal kill) *Different camo types have different powers. The Sorrow’s spirit camo will make your footsteps silent. The End’s camo will regenerate your health and stamina quicker in sunlight. The Fury’s ammo makes you impervious to fire, etc *If you select “I like MGS2” at the start of the game then Snake will be wearing the Raiden mask during opening cutscene. To tease players into thinking they’ll be playing as Raiden again *You can capture or kill The Ends parrot during his boss fight. If you kill it (or eat it) The End will shout and curse your name. If you capture it and then let it go it will fly back to The End and give away your position

[@XTHEDARKMAGEX]

You forgot to mention that The Fury fight becomes harder as the fight goes on because the amount of shadows decreases because of the persisting fire. The boss fight is dynamic just because the longer the fight goes on the brighter the area becomes.

[@salsamancer]

My favorite entry in the series, easily. It has just enough gameplay refinement without going overboard like MGS4, and the focus on Big Boss's mission allowed the team the freedom to drop the baggage of MGS2's ending.

[@VictusPrime]

You could say that MGS3 is the most ideal Metal Gear game, a perfect balance between story, narration, cut scenes, gameplay, dialogue/codecs and likeable characters. But it's still not my favourite in the series, that's reserved for MGS2 and always will be.

[@SaberRexZealot]

1, 2 and 3 are the best in the series. You can take your pick from one of those and I'll totally understand why. 4 and 5 are polarizing as all hell.

[@kcufdnim2670]

2004? That's over 10 years... damn I feel old now xD edit: And the Hoovercraft guards make sense, cause as far as i know similar hoovercrafts were prototypes for the us army during the korean war and got scratched because the invention of helicopters :)

[@kcufdnim2670]

Haha found it :D en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiller_VZ-1_Pawnee

[@ledvogs7799]

I disagree with the idea that Solid and Naked are more similar than different. There is thematic overlap but characteristically they seem far different. There seems to be much less confidence in Naked and the fact he's relatively green shows. While Solid would casually flirt with every female cast member, the interactions between Eva and Snake one on one are painfully cringe inducing and on repeated playthroughs I have to skip them. His appreciation/obsession for guns also lends a similar factor that Maryl had in MGS1 in the excitement and allure of being a soldier like a rookie, while Solid could give less of a shit and wants to distance himself from the lifestyle. And stacked on top of all the injuries he receives and the betrayal from the Boss, Naked is almost written to be overly sympathized with just as to justify his later actions in the series. Meanwhile any misfortune that happens to Solid only strengthens him as a protagonist and a warrior, that by the time he is portrayed as a God-like badass stacked up against Raiden in MGS2 its not even remotely unbelievable. Basically it feels like the player is intended most to feel bad for Naked and his mission, while the player should revel more in being able to control Solid in his missions.

[@cannonfodder4000]

Umm, you're making the very same point Matthew made.

[@duffman18]

*couldn't give less of a shit

[@ocelot8611]

I'll probably get ripped apart for saying this, but I didn't find MGS3's ending to be that sad. Yes it was a little touching, but I don't get people saying it's the saddest moment in gaming history. I don't feel that the relationship between Snake and The Boss was really explored and done much justice throughout the game, it's just touched upon in the first codec conversation but it still seemed like a very one sided tutor/mentor type relationship and it was still The Boss that did most of the talking. Even when she died, all Snake said was "Why are you doing this?" and "Why are you giving me this?" (Patriot gun). I found The Boss a pretty stone cold character and it was difficult to find her likeable. She just coldly played her part out and showed little vulnerability before the fight. I think it would have been better if they just dropped subtle hints at what her real role was - she talks about the unfairness of what she was being forced to do, talking about her family or mundane aspects of her life back home, it would have given her some humanity and added a poignancy to the ending when we hear Eva's monologue reaffirming everything. But her birth scar turning into a snake was such a WTF moment, as were the white petals turning red. I found Sniper Wolf's death and Meryl's death in MGS1 much sadder, not just because they had better music and voice acting, but because those scenes were filled with poignancy and hidden messages.

[@Skullomaniaaaa]

I don't think you're intended to be so fixated on The Boss and her death. That's part of it, but the real tragedy is Snake discovering the true purpose of the events that took place, the way it's revealed to him, and that this was the turning point for the Snake you've seen throughout the game becoming Big Boss later.

[@clairej3291]

+Will Hughes Why does everything have to be explicitly 'developed' (what people usually mean by that is visually portrayed or loads of dialogue with full detail on both sides as if the audience are too stupid to understand otherwise) to have an impact? There was enough of their relationship backstory explained in radio and cutscenes and more than enough implied for the average player to understand, that is why most fans find the conclusion sad. Sometimes there's more to be said for silence than dialogue. The Boss is a character full of mystique, as you know, when you try to look at her profile on the radio and most of it is "???". The scar turning into a snake and slithering into the flowers and the petals turning red was NOT meant to be taken literally. That does not actually happen. It's done for cinematic effect and symbolism, for the viewer. Did you pay any attention to The Boss' speech? "There's only one room for one Snake and one Boss", "the one who lives will carry on the fight" etc. The snake leaving her body was a metaphor that the fight was over for her and she was free from battle. The petals turning red, I'm guessing (because it's open to interpretation) is a metaphor for blood You realise your own argument can be applied to Sniper Wolf as well, right? Solid Snake doesn't know Wolf from Adam, actually prior to the cutscene she dies, she's ust another one dimensional henchman trying to kill Snake - there is zero character development, people love her because of how well her dying cutscene is, with the Enclosure track playing. Solid Snake says nothing while she spills out her heart about her youth to someone who is not only the enemy but a stranger. Meryl's non-canon death is great and I do agree about voice acting. Lori Alan shouldn't have been VA for The Boss. Far too monotone. if they ever make a game on The Boss she won't be cast for obvious reasons.

[@ocelot8611]

+Claire J The problem with Snake and The Boss's relationship is that it was too one sided, that we barely got to experience Snake's side of it. I think the main problem is with Naked Snake as a character. He was intended to be more of an avatar to the player rather than a full fleshed out character like Solid, which didn't make sense given that Solid Snake was ultimately a clone of Big Boss and who was "programmed" to kill and wasn't supposed to show as much humanity or emotions. When Naked Snake was told his next mission was to assassinate The Boss he didn't seem to give a shit, gave barely any reaction and didn't seem to have any doubts or hesitations about the mission throughout the whole game. He could have easily confided in Eva, had dreams or flashbacks about them during the time he was asleep/unconscious after the torture/after encountering the Sorrow, anything of the sort to give the player some insight and feel of connection, foreboding and anticipation of the game's climax, instead we had to wait until The Boss appeared and she didn't really give much insight in her final speech. The Boss's scar looked silly to me since it looked like they cut open her whole chest. I can sort of understand the snake leaving her body as a metaphor, but still broke the immersion rather than letting the moment speak for itself. The petals turning red was supposed to signify blood? Um, yeah, so I guess he did kill her then. I just don't understand where all the "feels" about the ending are coming from, as Snake and The Boss's backstory was not very well told, no thanks to a weak and silent protagonist and his overly mysterious mentor. Sniper Wolf's death scene worked for its poignancy as well as its presentation. Sure, Wolf on the outside appeared to be a one-dimensional villain but we then discovered there was a reason for her being that way. She became a killer through being caught in a cycle of violence after losing all her friends and family - unlike Snake, who was cloned and born to kill. As a mercenary she fought in conflicts all around the world until she finally died all alone, in the middle of a snowfield on a remote island with only the man who killed her as the final witness to her life story. It was only until the very final scene of MGS3 that you realise the inhumanity of the whole mission, but it would have helped more if they had fleshed out The Boss's backstory/relationship with Snake beforehand. I just didn't feel anything when I had to kill her. For the record, I do think that MGS3 is a fantastic game, but it didn't take itself seriously enough at key moments.

[@Efim141]

Funny fact: there aren't neither jungles nor alligators in Russia.

[@nofuckars4278]

hYpNoXiDe then where does it take place

[@cockoffgewgle4993]

Don't they explain that the 'gators were part of a science project and escaped or some shit? And Russia apparently has some temperate rainforests. AKA jungles.

[@dm6182696]

Their are no jungles in Russia. Russia has forests but nothing like the jungle/ rain forest setting you see in the game. The entire setting of the game is made up. In real life, most of the area where the game takes place is mostly mountainous. And as the other guy said, alligators can't be found in Russia.

[@iplaygunz1]

If you take a look at pictures of those temperate rainforests, they definitely are not jungles and the flora does not match at all. It's not a knock on the game. The jungle is a fun place to sneak around, but there are no jungles in Russia.

[@dmas7749]

"aren't neither" is a double negative, but the use of "nor" is proper

[@CoolBob444]

One thing I want to mention is that if you pay attention during the CQC scenes between The Boss and Naked Snake, Snake gets a little better at fighting her everytime, all the way to the end of the game where Snake can actually counter The Boss during the final fight. Its the same with Snake and Ocelot, in their first encounter Snake is able to beat him with CQC, in the last scene where Snake and Ocelot are on the plane Ocelot is able to fight back in hand to hand, he doesn't win but he does hold his own, something I always liked about this game, that and Ocelots admiration for Snake/Big Boss. I can't remember if there were other scene where Ocelot thought Snake hand to hand but I still think the progression is there.

[@FalconV7000]

"If I was him, i'd be more angry about the fact that my entire life made no sense". Had me in stitches!

[@animeavery2159]

a cool easter egg at 18:02 is in the background you can see the main orbital frame jehuty from the zone of the enders games

[@EspireMike]

This series of reviews is incredibly well crafted and presented. You're a master, i hope you're making money using this talent!

[@Nison545]

Matt, when you suddenly use dry humor in your reviews, it is some of the funniest stuff I've heard in a while.

[@JohnnyV83]

I feel that the cure menu and the survival system overall adds weight to the damage taken and the situation/mission as a whole. It outright shows you and highlights the impact of serious damage that snake takes, and offers better encouragement for the player to make fewer such mistakes than a generic life bar would. The stamina / food system helps highlight how Snake is really in this for the long haul. So I disagree with the sentiment that these were bad decisions. Do they interrupt the gameplay? yeah. Should the cure menu be more interesting? I say maybe, because if it interrupted gameplay before, just imagine having to do mini QTEs each time you got injured (best case would be to separate healing into quick action and full action, quick action operating as it already is in MGS3; but only granting variable partial reduction of its part in the red bar, full action being with a QTE and granting full heal while leaving you vulnerable).

[@EvilBender47]

thanks for your reviews, great opinions, and iformations that i didnt even realize when playing mgs

[@Dimbo]

About the fight with The Boss. The Snake Eater theme used is the instrumental version, and you'd be surprised how much the lack of cheesy lyrics improves the music, it really fits the scene, but it would still be much better if it was completely silent.

[@paulhancock9942]

I have one thing I'd like you to reconsider. The Snake Eater theme song, if you pay attention to the lyrics, can be interpreted as The Boss's potentially hidden feelings for Snake. A lot of the statements seem directly towards him if you look, some very literally (Someday you'll eat a treefrog). Assuming this I thought it was appropriate it would play during the final boss fight even if its a bit cheesy

[@MoreImbaThanYou]

Since Matthew is a very pedantical reviewer, i have a bad feeling about watching him review my favorite Metal Gear, if not my favorite Game of all time. But since i like his videos, I will do so anyway.

[@whatsupbossanova]

MoreImbaThanYou I know what you mean.

[@DmitryChmelyov]

This game still looks great.

[@XTORD1]

still looks great? not only that is still damn good.

[@Matrix5TheTrapsComeAlive]

I love the extra tidbits of info Matthewmatosis reveals about the games. I'm a huge fan of the series and I never knew about the thing with The End dying of old age. Kojima is really someone to admire with the random little touches he and his team add to their games.

[@SiznaK]

Matthew, i truly love your reviews. Don't stop. I not only get nostalgic, I get schooled in my level of observation.

[@coolkidwithglasses6504]

Hey Matthew, I thought that this might interest you. The flowers at the end of MGS3 are called Star of Bethlehem and they are believed to poses a smell that heals sad memories, funny enough you can also found this flower in the Hunters dream in Bloodborne

[@KOTEBANAROT]

I fucking LOVE The End. I have a save state on my emulator set on the beginning of the fight so I could replay it any time I want. I so look forward playing this part on my 3ds. I love this boss so, so much, I really would like to see a game that takes and expands upon this concept.

[@KOTEBANAROT]

iamgodstar I dont care if its easy? Its fucking amazing in every way. I love how subversive it is of an usual boss fight, instead of small arena theres three rather big connected parts of jungle, instead of music - quiet ambience, instead of big flashy fight - slow, steady game of hide and seek. WHAT A THRILL, WITH THE DARKNESS AND SILENCE AND PARROT... THROUGH THE JUNGLE AND OLD MAN IS SHOOTING ME FROM EVERY SIDE IT SEEMS

[@stacybava4526]

This kid is like 12, don't bother trying to explain simple things to him

[@xXHarryR18Xx]

I love what you said about the story's of MGS2 and 3 trying to do different things. I love both games immensely. My mind is constantly changing on which of the two is my favourite.

[@b0tster]

Awesome! And I got to suggest you go over peace walker as well, I want to hear your opinion on it!

[@0smundSaddler]

Usually your reviews are very thorough and this one isn't much of an exception, but I'm very surprised you didn't mention how bad the puzzle during The Sorrow battle is. It isn't conveyed to the player in any way shape or form, even assuming a player had used the fake death pill, they probably wouldn't know to use the revival pill during the battle. It isn't conveyed to you remotely during the fight and being able to use it on the game over screen isn't something many players would attempt to do. I had to look up the solution after trying for 4 hours on my first playthrough. And players who reach the skeleton and hit continue are rewarded with doing the whole fucking thing over again. What it should have been was reaching the skeleton and hitting continue wakes you up, and using the revival pill skips past the fight in case you're on a playthrough where you've killed many guards for fun. Another thing you missed was how poor the AI is compared to MGS2 and how broken the first person leaning mechanic is. In MGS2 guards could see you if you used the L2/R2 lean to look around a corner in first person, in MGS3 they don't. This makes it ridiculously easy to get headshots by either laying down and leaning up, or being behind an object and leaning left or right. This trick pretty much breaks the whole game apart once you learn it and makes what was already a much easier game than its predecessor seem practically braindead. As for the AI itself, they seem to work together much less aside from the Ocelot unit, they're much worse at checking during evasion and caution phases, they move much slower and much more predictably than the MGS2 guards, and this makes the problem with headshots in MGS3 even worse. I honestly don't find the stealth in MGS3 enjoyable because it's so easily broken, even doing a self-imposed challenge it wouldn't be difficult. The different camera added in Subsistence only serves to make the game easier yet. I have to wonder if this was maybe an intentional decision to put the player in Big Boss's shoes as one of the best soldiers ever, or if the team were just way in over their heads with the new stealth system.

[@RealShaun]

What you described are exploits. Many games have them and they may break them. I, for one, think it's the most challenging MGS... in 1, you can simply "Judo" all guards, MGS 2 is on par i guess, and dont let me start on 4.... MK II anyone? Especially the "sneaking" in which you need to use the D-pad made it classy.

[@panagiac]

That's not right. I clearly remember to have solved it on my first try. How? Simple: The way Snake goes on the ground while dying is slighty different when using the Fake Death Pill. So if you use it before, you actually know that you can trigger L2 during a "Death Screen", because the fake pill works exactly that way. Every time you use it, in fact, you trigger a fake death screen too.

[@Jinars.]

You don't even need to be stealthy actually. In my playthrough if I got spotted I'd just run around searching for the next area since it acts as a checkpoint. If I got killed I would be respawned in the new area and the Alert would be reset.

[@VoidStuffer]

"It's in your face, it's exciting, and it's over in a couple of minutes." Wow we got a review of mgs3 and Matthew's sexual performance in one video!

[@superstinkybeans]

Flesh Blesser ouuuch 😂

[@Farcallo]

Agree with you on the ending. The music when snake shakes the hand of the president was so Beautiful.

[@DRaven-of2lv]

The end of this game is still a fuckin tear jerker, even after all these years.

[@x5NYx]

Still the best MGS ever! One of my all time top favourite games!

[@MrBorderlands123]

Sons of Liberty is the best. : - )

[@suwatsaksri7191]

Better than Phantom Pain

[@SOIBand]

For me it's MGSV, MGS3, MGS4,MGS, MGS2.

[@MrBorderlands123]

SOIBand Kek

[@SOIBand]

Matthew Etter matter of taste, all games in the series are awesome

[@rossoneri1085]

mgs 3 isnt ust the best mgs its the greatest single player game ever made

[@cynical8330]

I love how re-watchable your videos are to try and catch all of the jokes you make the whole way through.

[@EinFelsbrocken]

Matt; I'm just rewatching these for the like; dozenth time; and fuck; just wanna say: Absolutely awesome work that you delivered with this series.

[@deadmetalbr]

i've watched this review six pr seven times, and i only just noticed you left that arrow in snake's chest for, like, the whole game! cool!

[@CptKosher]

lol at 13:30 when he introduces eva

[@SeverdSeouL]

I'm surprised you didn't talk about Volgin basically telling his entire plan to Snake when he was being interogated

[@andtpfack8243]

A great review. So much depth and well explained opinions. No media outlet would be capable of such a review. Well done !

[@MrBorderlands123]

The lift aircrafts were based off of the Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee from the 50's.

[@jwhoff619]

Those hover crafts were real. They were never mass produced but they were real Russian tech.

[@Bishop38f8]

Can you link some sources? Because all I found were these from 1980s which is still 20 years after the game settings and really far away from what the game presents. Maybe if you delete the "*Those* hover crafts were real." I could agree with you, as Russia made some hovercrafts during cold war. Not a one person operated, flying one tho. www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2014/07/31/the_cold_war_era_lun_class_ekranoplane_was_a_hovercraft_soviets_hoped_to.html foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/is-this-giant-soviet-era-hovercraft-chinas-new-access-w-1609439614

[@oddballgamer]

Bishop38f8 The MGS world seems to have advanced tech such as nanos and AI in the 90s. So it wouldn't be a leap to say that they were used 20 years before, also it is around where they were being designed and tested.

[@w00ds98]

33:37 You were actually right there with the sorrow, sometimes in the game you can hit RB for the first person snake view of the cutscene, you can se the RB Symbol in the upper right corner when this is possible, but there are 6 points in the game, where the RB symbol is not shown, this is one of them and when you hit it you can see Volgin in a Ghost shape just like the sorrow.

[@bigfisher42]

can't wait for a review of MGS V, lots of stuff need to be said

[@HeyFella]

in my opinion 1. Sons Of Liberty (the meta narrative is just so brilliant in relation to the player) 2. Snake Eater 3. The Phantom Pain/Ground Zeroes 4. Metal Gear Solid 5. Metal Gear 2 = Guns Of The Patriots 6. Rising 7. Metal Gear (not as refined as MG2 and lacks a good narrative) 8. Peace Walker (this game just does not at all work for me, I don't even know why, it just feels so off for me, still good tho)

[@Linuxs108]

+LalidatorClan How about Portable Ops?

[@HeyFella]

never got around to playing that actually

[@lunettegaga]

+LalidatorClan Agreed. But I like MGS1 better than MGS3.

[@MarshallDork]

"turd person camera"

[@Tooopper]

To be fair, the music during the boss is the INSTRUMENTAL version of the Snake Eater theme. I personally liked the addition. Except for the build up to the chorus, the instrumentals are somewhat subdued when compared to its complete version with singer and all. Still, your point is valid. The absence of music drove the moment home, but the instrumental theme isn't that big of a letdown.

[@DomoGear]

Brilliant review, i've been replaying through the series as you've been releasing them and I couldn't enjoy them more. Keep up the ~solid~ work man.

[@nancyboyd6823]

This is my favorite game of all time, but there is one thing that always confuses me. And, that is ocelots actions. He is supposed to be inadvertently helping snake, but every situation with snake he tries to kill him. I can at least buy him wanting to put on a cover in some situations, but why did he put and transmitter in snake, and try to shoot him on the motorcycle? It makes no sense.

[@XxTastySnakzxX]

(EDIT: I think it may be) because ADAM (Ocelot) wasn't given the information about Snake (Name, Appearance, etc.), and he was just told to ask for the password that Snake had. Since Eva came in before Ocelot had the chance, she screwed up the whole operation by pretending to be EVE, and "siding" with Snake. Because of Eva's interruption, Ocelot had no idea that Snake was the American soldier he was supposed to meet, thus classifying him as "the enemy." I'm pretty sure about that, but I haven't played through the game in around 3 months, so I'm pretty rusty. :P sorry if I'm wrong.

[@nancyboyd6823]

I don't know about that. I think ocelot would have been smart enough to know snake was the agent( having been raised by the philosophers after all). But, after thinking it over for awhile, I came to the conclusion that ocelot probably just trusted snake's ability. Since he fought him earlier he knew his ability, and wanted to keep his cover as well he knew snake would do some of the things he did.

[@jaytcache6580]

I agree, this is my favorite video game of all time. Few games ever game me a better immersive experience, and I have replayed it many times and it's always fun. All the metal gears are good but i liked 4 a little less than the others. The boos battles in 4 were not that good.

[@nancyboyd6823]

Yea, i agree. While I like 4 a lot, it's bosses weren't very good. With the exception of the final boss( which is excellent) most of the bosses really lacked that personality that the others in the series had. Also they could be a bit tedious with how many bullets you had to put into them. And 4 also has the worst fight in probably in the entire series in the form of raging raven. God, I hated fighting her. I guess it was hard making great bosses in mgs4 after the genius bosses of mgs3.

[@ZerogunRivale]

I think at first, he wasn't trying to kill Snake. I think he jammed the bullet and did did a few other silly things on purpose. However, I think he became so obsessed with his rivalry at times that he just stopped caring and really wanted to see if he could best Snake.

[@zarconeus]

"Pain isn't an emotion." Who didn't hurt you?

[@justbny9278]

"It's a sensation" Honestly I'm not really sure myself if the line between the two is defined enough you can just separate them altogether but to Matthew at least pain doesn't count as an emotion itself

[@doofyyy27]

The great thing about this review is that you balanced both the intellectual content and the gameplay content. Usually on the internet you get either a long essay that reaches a little too far in places or a more general review that ignores the more in-depth thematic content. I hope you keep making reviews.

[@captainitalia811]

Fun Fact: The End Boss Battle was original meant to be a week long. In the end (Get it) they decided against this because Operation Snake Eater is only meant to be a few in-game days long, and it's just outright insane

[@XTORD1]

how the fuck were they supposed to make the fight vs the end one week long? yeah well i dnt relly care nice fact tough . Brilliant game.