- Статьи
- Culture
- Snakes and snakes all around: remake of the game about a CIA agent in Siberia is on sale
Snakes and snakes all around: remake of the game about a CIA agent in Siberia is on sale
One million copies in the first day of global sales: the remake of the third Metal Gear Solid is selling like pies, and rating aggregators give it a maximum average score close to 100 out of 100. The war of the special services, undercover intrigues, the threat of nuclear conflict, the United States and Russia in dialogue with unpredictable consequences — all this makes the old game in the new iteration a welcome purchase for any gamer. PC users complain about technical problems, so Izvestia waited for the flagship PS5 version to arrive in Russia. And they didn't regret it: it's colorful, dynamic, and topical — but also naive, absurd, and infantile, because even Hideo Kojima's rich imagination falters compared to how it really was.
Who is Snake?
An entire generation has grown up for whom the Metal Gear series is mostly a legend, a relic. With the exception of the latest high-tech parts, few people have played these games. Therefore, the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, a 2004 game, was eagerly awaited. Moreover, since 2018, nothing has come out in the series: Konami and Kojima went their separate ways, and without him, nothing good could come up. And the remake was done without him in the end.
Screenshot from the game Metal Gear Solid 3
Today, playing this game is a real pleasure (a copy of Izvestia was provided by the largest distributor, Achivka). Imagine: you turn off the TV where the news program was just playing, launch Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and become the American saboteur Snake (this is the call sign, not the real name), who is thrown into Siberia to avoid a nuclear war. No more, no less.
The situation is like this. 1964. Khrushchev, after the assassination of Kennedy, is trying to establish relations with the United States and prevent this very nuclear war. But there is a secret military coalition in the USSR that wants to overthrow Nikita Sergeevich and bring Brezhnev to power, and then everything can get out of control. At first, Snake's task is purely local: to find and take out the Soviet genius, but disgraced professor, copied from Sakharov. In the Siberian fictional city of Tselinoyarsk — or rather, in its vicinity — they are forced to develop a super-powerful nuclear weapon "Shagohod".
Screenshot from the game Metal Gear Solid 3
Snake goes to sharashka there and discovers that there is a conspiracy not only in the USSR, but also in the American special services, and in both cases there is an active recruitment of enemies from the opposite camp. Climbing through forests, swamps, catacombs, military bases and prisons, Snake resists all kinds of temptations and tries to save himself and humanity.
How did the remake of Metal Gear Solid turn out?
According to the description, it seems that all this is a very harsh and fascinating story. But when you sit down to play, you realize that this is a caricature, a grotesque, a comedy, and not only you are laughing, they are laughing at you. Let's start with the main character. Snake is the worst choice for such a mission. He is slow-witted, prone to inappropriate tirades and explanations. He is not used to surviving in the wilderness, he constantly eats something wrong, and he has to be treated for indigestion. He moves clumsily, unable to climb even a stone below his height. He flirts with all the girls who agree to talk to him. He is verbose, unhurried, unintelligent, prone to narcissism and inappropriate antics. Just watch the video for this article, you'll see for yourself.
Screenshot from the game Metal Gear Solid 3
The Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater screensaver parodies Bond's, but Snake is the exact opposite of the elegant philanderer from MI6. The only thing they have in common is that dangerous women like them both, although in Snake's case it can only be explained by fluids or some other magic that is not visible on the screen.
He has to save the world and complete the mission, but Snake spends most of his time chatting on the radio with his team. A special gift is when, after each save of the game, which is also done through communication, the radio operator discusses with Snake films from the 1960s, mostly bad and deservedly forgotten. It's noteworthy that Snake doesn't give a damn about movies, he's just chatting with a pretty girl and trying to show some empathy in these videos.
Screenshot from the game Metal Gear Solid 3
If Snake's allies behave more or less realistically, then his opponents are all caricature and grotesque. One endlessly plays cowboy and twirls revolvers on his index finger. The other one sparks electricity and punches the walls with his fists. There is a mutant beekeeper who controls a swarm of wasps. There is an old wheelchair sniper, whose will to live is held back only by the desire to finally kill someone else. It seems that we are fighting for the fate of the planet, but the comedy of the situation does not allow us to take the task seriously at all.
We need to treat this as a postmodern comedy, then everything will be fine. And Kojima has done a lot for this effect, the game is deafeningly funny at times. For example, when destroying the fourth wall, Snake's assistants tell an experienced warrior that if you click the circle, Snake will dive, and if you click on these objects, you will get a cure. Snake will stumble upon a mine, then the leeches will stick to him, then he will fall and break something for himself. Therefore, he always has a rich first-aid kit with him, and he must constantly apply tourniquets, drink antidotes, and do bandages. It's also a lot of fun.
Screenshot from the game Metal Gear Solid 3
Actually, there won't be much to play here. You'll just be watching screensavers for much longer — an example of one is not fully given in the text, look how long it is, even if it's spectacular. It's a very strange feeling when you turned on the game three hours ago, but you held the joystick in your hands for 15 minutes, the rest of the time there were screensavers. The levels here, as in the original game, are tiny, and there are few opponents. Technically, the game is made in the stealth genre, but you quickly realize that it's easier to shoot or euthanize everyone. To clean the victim's pockets, it must be picked up and put back in its place. If you do this twice, then two portions of "gifts" can fall out. The Soviet military has poor eyesight and minimal intuition, they are easy to neutralize, and you have to be a fan of the series to still use a disguise in the form of, for example, a cardboard box where you can climb in and pretend that it was there all the time. The trick is like Winnie the Pooh in a balloon, but it works.
To summarize. It's good that this remake is out. It seems to be for the anger of the day, but in fact it allows you to properly rest from this very anger. This is a joke in the style of not even "The Other Day", but the "Total" program, if not the "Dolls". The difficulty level settings allow even a beginner to have a lot of fun, and for professionals to try to go through the classics with new management methods. You can also collect a film library from the films mentioned by the chatty radio operator. There is probably something useful in the Deluxe version, but Izvestia did not have it, and the Day One version has a coupon for a white special agent's suit, which allows to enhance the parody resemblance to Bond. This game is surprising, discouraging, annoying, and at the same time quickly and permanently addictive. Moreover, it's still unclear if and when there will be a truly new Metal Gear, but this remake made it clear how millions of people love this series and are willing to pay a lot of money even for a 20-year-old game, albeit in a new and very high-quality package.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
