Back in 2004, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater was released for the PlayStation 2 and became a stealth gaming classic. Director Hideo Kojima and team created something that mixed real-world Cuban Missile Crisis history with a bizarre-but-intriguing sci-fi tale. That creative combination grabbed the imagination of eager gamers while earning critical acclaim as well.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a faithful remake of that revered title, incorporating improved graphics, voice performances, and a new control scheme. But what will new players encounter in this revitalized reboot?
The story centers on a CIA agent/soldier named Snake. He’s a former Green Beret assigned to a special operations group for something called the “Virtuous Mission.” Taking place in the mid-1960s Cold War era, the mission was supposed to be a quick, undercover snatch and grab of a brilliant WWII scientist—stealing his genius away from the nefarious Soviets.
All Snake had to do was use his incredible stealth skills to remain undiscovered and, without killing anyone, grab the scientist and go. But a team of people with strange supernatural powers stop that from happening. So Snake’s swept up in a bloody tug-and-pull conflict between the KGB and other dangerous killers—including his beloved mentor, the Boss.
Visually, Konami’s gamemakers have brought the original game up to 2025 specs. Graphics are crisp and clean. (More on that below.) Players can use the original game controls if they desire, but Metal Gear Solid Delta also updates things so that controls work much like a modern third-person shooter.
Another element to note, gameplay-wise, is the fact that the long-winded story can sometimes feel a bit hokey. Characters repeatedly make choices and statements that you’d never find in a contemporary game. One villain even goes so far as to proclaim, “Very well, I’ll explain it before I kill you,” during a torture scene.
You can play the core single-player version of Metal Gear Solid Delta without an internet connection. But the gamemakers have stated that an online multiplayer mode called “Fox Hunt” will soon be made available. Fox Hunt is a stealth-focused mode involving teams that use camouflage and non-lethal weapons to complete objectives.
Metal Gear Solid Delta focuses on a hero who must work through numerous deadly challenges to do what’s right.
In essence, that’s what the game pushes players to think about, too. It promotes the supposition that everything, from politics to heroes to friends, is fungible and relative. “Yesterday’s good might be tomorrow’s evil,” a central character declares. Where, then, should our loyalties lie? the game asks.
In addition, stealth gameplay can be a major part of experience here. The game leaves the door open for the gamer to decide how deadly their version of the central hero will be.
That said, no matter how you slice it, this game is a pretty violent and bloody adventure.
Even when Snake tries to resolve situations stealthily or works to incapacitate enemies with a tranquilizer pistol, others do not. The hero is regularly cut and shot. His bones are broken; he’s strung up and tortured with electric shocks. His eye gets shot out with a pistol. And the game’s updated graphics make the splashing and spurting bloody effects more visceral and realistic. (Snake has a “healing interface” that allows him to surgically repair his wounds.)
When the hero decides to engage violently, though, he can rip, tear and blast with the best of ‘em. Players can use knives, pistols, and various rifles and machine guns to kill. We see throats slit and spattering effects. Men are shot in the legs and torso. A character is set on fire and then shot.
Characters also unleash destructive abilities that have been endowed to them through nanotechnology, genetic manipulation and exposure to radiation. (Someone states that even Snake has been empowered by the radiation from a nuclear blast.) One character can unleash thousands of volts of electricity, for example. Another person spews hornets from his mouth. A third character can communicate with the dead and assume the dead’s abilities. Etc.
There’s also some sexual imagery in the graphically boosted mix as well. We see a woman’s clothed breast groped, and a guy’s crotch is cupped and squeezed. One female character strips to bikini-like underwear. She and Snake embrace and kiss (and further activities are implied).
And it’s even stated that one villain derives sexual pleasure by torturing and tormenting others. We’re shown the healed scars on a woman’s back that attest to that.
There are also advanced weapons systems that create massive explosions that destroy areas and kill people.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a classic game given new life through heightened visual graphics and improved game mechanics. But that “classic” label on this M-rated title certainly doesn’t equal a problem-free blast from the past.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
