The Good Guys

OK, so let’s break down the major players starting with the good guys:

Major Zero: Commander of the FOX Unit, a relatively new unit whose future rests on the success of Naked Snake. Zero is on board as the head of the operation and the team’s movie nut. It is Zero’s suggestion to use Snake, someone with espionage training and Special Forces training, to carry out the task at hand.

PARA-Medic: Arguably the worst codename yet, Para-Medic basically covers the roles of Naomi, Mei-Ling, and Rose in the previous games. She saves your data and informs you of all sorts of nature tidbits and medical treatments.

Sigint: THE expert on all things cutting edge in weaponry, Sigint designed most of Snake’s gear. He also informs Snake of tidbits on weapons and ammunition. Finding Russian made stuff will really have him going if you’re not careful.

The Boss: While she does technically defect, she is still a good guy at heart. She has trained Naked Snake to be the warrior he is today. She is known as a legend among the militaries of the world. She and Snake both developed CQC and also is his birth mother.

Sokolov: The creator of the Shagohod. He is also a family man worried about his family in the U.S. and longs to see them again.

The Bad Guys

Volgin: He is a GRU colonel looking to overthrow the Kremlin and start his own regime. He is known as Thunderbolt in the West for his use of electrical attacks. Volgin is the current owner of the Philosopher’s Legacy and used it to create both the Shagohod and Groznyj Grad.

Ocelot: Leader of the Ocelot Unit, Ocelot still lacks real battle experience. Despite being handy with a gun, he hasn’t found that one weapon that makes him happy. He is also a triple agent working with the U.S. CIA. Ocelot is indeed Revolver Ocelot.

EVA: A temptress from the East, she is a Chinese spy sent to acquire the Philosopher’s Legacy.

The Cobra Unit

The Sorrow: A spirit medium that gathers combat info from the dead. He can also merge with dead soldiers to gain their abilities. He and the Boss had an affair and is the father her child.

The Fury: A former Cosmonaut, the Fury uses flames and a jetpack as weapons. He controls fire as if understands it on a spiritual level. He was severely burned upon re-entry into the atmosphere.

The Fear: A truly creepy man, he is also a master of traps. He uses a stealth camouflage that eats away his stamina forcing him to regenerate every now and then. He uses a crossbow with poisoned darts as well.

The Pain: A man who has suffered more bee stings than you and I put together and he has the face to prove it. He controls bees and even fires them from his mouth.

The End: Over 100 years old, this man is a sniper highly in-tuned with nature. He regenerates his energy the same way plants do. When he is not fighting, he is sleeping and awaiting his death. He has a parrot that constantly calls him “Grandpa”!

The Legacy

Here is where we talk about why we love this game, not about some file of money. But of course you knew that right?

To start with, the game’s boss battles were some of the most impressive battles seen to date. IN particular the sniper battle with the End is especially renowned for the huge amounts of possibilities to conclude it. There was the hunting approach, the laying of mines, the fast forwarding your PS2’s calendar, and there probably exist some people haven’t thought of. Then there was the battle with the Boss.

In a field full of white lilies, mother and son, mentor and student did combat to the death. It was particularly interesting, at least on the higher difficulties, how the Boss always made you beat her using CQC. But the most memorable part had to be the end of the battle where Snake is above her, gun in hand, awaiting the strength to pull the trigger. The tension of forcing the player to end her life, point blank was something else.

However, critics were mixed about the game. Some would praise the game than in a different paragraph slam it. A lot of the complaints came about the voice acting and the game’s translation. While it held up a lot better than Metal Gear Solid 2’s, the highest appeal fall solely on the fans. As for David Hayter’s voice acting, I’m going to chalk that up to his interpretation of Naked Snake.

Naked Snake, unlike the other Snakes, was not a genetically engineered soldier, but an actual human. He didn’t have the sharpness of the others and was often a little dumb, and the radio conversation reflected that. He had a hard time, but he was human. If it helps anything, Hayter was nominated for an “Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance”. Volgin however, I can agree was way too cheesy even for this series. And Sokolov… well he was just annoying.

Then there was Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. What was basically an enhanced version of Snake Eater; it included the long coveted 3D camera that Resident Evil 4 made popular. It also included the first adaptation of Metal Gear Online along with remakes of the original MSX versions of the first Metal Gear games, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. It also brought over the European Extreme difficulty, which is really freaking hard. The idea is that if you are seen by any soldier it’s game over.

Metal Gear Online lasted a mere year before servers were cut. That is not to say that the mode wasn’t a success, in fact, it was a success to the extent a PlayStation 2 game could be. The mode is to be brought back in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4.

There was even a special edition of the Subsistence package that contain a theatrical cut of the game’s cutscenes. It runs about three and half hours and includes enhanced sound.

Subsistence changed many tunes with both critics and fans.