I’m just gonna level with ya’ll, I didn’t think much of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004. But a new look at an improved gameplay feature in the upcoming remake, Metal Gear Solid Delta, might just be enough to convert this jaded fan who’s convinced the series peaked at Sons of Liberty. In a 12-second clip, Naked Snake can be seen swapping his camo from a foresty look to something more suitable for an urban environment in record time. It’s way faster and less cumbersome-looking than the camo-swapping of the original. Check it out:
Hell yeah, that’s a whole three seconds to swap camo with an in-game menu that looks pretty snappy. The original required you to pause the game, then select “camouflage” from a menu, then select “face” or “uniform” before choosing your desired pattern.
As I said earlier, at best I feel sorta “meh” about MGS3; the menu-diving the original demands of you to swap camo, eat anything, and treat your wounds is one of its biggest offenders in my opinion (alongside the boring, self-indulgent story and that god awful song). I found it very hard to stay engaged in the action when the game made me sort through menu screens so often, despite the camo being a genuinely neat idea.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots notably eschewed the whole eating and wound-healing stuff (for the better). It would keep the camo, though. And since it took place many decades after MGS3, there was a sci-fi twist on it that made things much smoother. In MGS4, Old Snake could just lean against almost any wall and absorb the texture via his nifty OctoCamo which, it turns out, was inspired by the natural camouflage abilities of real-life octopi.
The natural ability of octopi was also referenced in MGS4 via the game’s opening faux TV ads.
While some of us might be a little skeptical of this post-Kojima MGS future we’re entering with Delta, it’s nice to see Konami looking for opportunities to improve existing aspects of the game. Here’s hoping eating and wound-healing will be just as speedy in the remake, which arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on August 28, 2025.
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