Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
If Metal Gear Solid 2 seemed like it had a tough road ahead, then Metal Gear Solid 3 was essentially an up-hill battle especially considering even more drastic changes like a sandbox-style setting with survival elements and no radar, which had been a series’ staple dating back to the original Metal Gear titles. “Snake” was back at least but it was fairly clear that this wasn’t the Solid Snake from the first two games.
Sales-wise, it actually performed worse than its predecessor – it was released in November 2004 and sold over four million units as of March 2010 (while MGS2 released in November 2001 and sold over seven million copies in 2004). Nevertheless, it was considered a commercial success, garnered universal acclaim from critics and is still, even by today’s standards, one of the best games ever made.
