Konami, much maligned publisher and holder of many a squandered intellectual property, have finally announced the worst kept secret in video games: Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, a remake of the 2004 (ouch) classic, Metal Gear Solid 3. The reveal trailer shows Naked Snake in all his muddy, bi-ocular glory. It’s him. It’s really him.
Releasing on Playstation, Xbox and PC(!) Konami are being joined in development by Virtuos (no relation to the Virtuous Mission) developers who have previously worked on the excellent remaster of Final Fantasy X/X-2 and the recent, somewhat disappointing remaster of The Outer Worlds, as well as several ports of games such as XCOM 2 and Nier Automata.
Surprising basically nobody, Konami have confirmed that series creator and narcissist auteur Hideo Kojima will not be involved in the development process after his dramatic exit from Konami around the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Kojima has previously gone on record saying that as long as there are fans of Metal Gear, new games will be made without him, and while I don’t exactly have the greatest faith in Konami after the abomination that was Metal Gear Survive, released images of familiar environments from the original upgraded for modern systems look promising.
Sadly, regular artistic contributor Yoji Shinkawa will also be absent from development, but given that he is currently working with Kojima at Kojima Productions, perhaps this isn’t a huge surprise.
Wisely choosing not to mess with success, the original voice acting has been retained. While I would enjoy a fresh take on the material, the original performances were totally perfect and any recasting would probably be met with hostility from the fanbase. That, and this game was developed twenty years ago (ow ow OW) so many of the original actors ageing would be noticeable by now.
Though the remake may be a ways off, fellow Metal Gear fans won’t have to wait long for more content. Konami have also announced “Volume 1” of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection, a bundle of the first five games from the series, set to release this Autumn. That’s Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Hopefully this is basically a re-release of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection which included the updated Substance/Subsistence versions of 2&3. This is great for accessibility, as all of these games were removed from circulation back in 2021. The more people that get to play these classics, the better! Here’s hoping a Volume 2 containing later games in the series is soon to follow, as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is still locked as a PS3 exclusive, and as much as I love this series I’m not setting up my huge original PS3 every time I get the urge to see Solid Snake with a moustache.
If this remake does well, can we expect more Delta edition remakes in the future? I sure hope so. Metal Gear fans are finally (snake) eating again, but time will tell if we’re eating a Calorie Mate or a rotten python. Or a tree frog.
Boss Rush Mode 