While the past few days have provided many announcements, from exclusives to third-party releases, perhaps one of the most sought-after has been Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. As a remake of Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, it’s one of the most anticipated releases ever since rumors circulated of its existence. When PlayStation announced it would launch this year, there was excitement, followed by a healthy dose of skepticism.
After all, Konami hadn’t provided a release window since showcasing the title, much less narrowed down the year. It still hasn’t, even as rumors circulate of a delay to 2025, not to mention GameStop listing it for a November 2024 launch before pulling the same. While it remains up in the air and anything could happen, at least there are several new gameplay details available to tide us over.
Not only did Konami reveal a new gameplay trailer during the Xbox Games Showcase, but also ventured further into its improvements and new features courtesy of some deep dive videos. Here are ten new things you should know about Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater before it releases, eventually, on Xbox Series X/S, PC and PS5.
Revamped Visuals
If it wasn’t obvious enough from the initial reveal trailer, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater provides an extensive visual facelift to the original. Developed from the ground up on Unreal Engine 5, it touts realistic lighting, shadows, water effects, reflections and foliage. The various jungles and swamps from the original have never looked better, rendered as they are in extensive, excruciating detail.
Even details as simple as water particles shaking off when attacking an enemy in the rain or leaves flying up when knocking them down on the ground look great. Perhaps most important is the mood and atmosphere of the original being retained.
Improved and Updated Character Models
Of course, that’s not all – even the character models have received “countless” (per producer Noriaki Okamura) improvements and updates. The goal is to have them stand side by side with Metal Gear Solid 5’s characters in terms of detail, and thus far, it appears to be successful. Of course, that approach also applies to the various plants and animals encountered. Will it make you think twice before eating them? Probably not, but at least they’ll look great.
Finer Facial Details and Hand-Tuned Expressions
Not only are the textures and hair on point for various characters, but Konami even boasts finer details like facial wrinkles and pores. Eye and iris movements are also separate, while facial animations are “rich and emotive”, per the official website. Though facial capture has been used for maximum realism when capturing expressions, Okamura revealed that many were adjusted by hand. This was done to create the “same kind of expressive performances that people remember from the original cutscenes,” further retaining the spirit of the original.
Faithfully Recreated Cutscenes
If you’ve never played, much less seen Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, consider yourself lucky. Its recreation of the first game’s cutscenes was…underwhelming, to be polite. Thankfully, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater doesn’t suffer from this problem. Everything is 1:1 with the original in terms of cinematography and presentation. The few changes you notice are due to improvements to the lighting, animations and textures. Otherwise, they’re just like you remember them to an almost frightening degree.
Updated Battle Damage System
Like the original game, Snake will sustain damage from injuries and require patching up. Depending on the injuries, his clothes will suffer realistic wear and tear. Bullet wounds and bruises reflect in real time, providing immediate feedback on your physical state. However, the biggest change is that they now leave permanent scars. This provides a unique story for each playthrough, with each player having a different experience.
Yes, you can go around showcasing your battered and shirtless version of Snake, asking people if they want to know how you got those scars (disturbing as that sounds). Perhaps more importantly, this is another way to highlight those who make it through the game without any injuries, showcasing their stealth prowess.
Modern and Classic Controls
It wouldn’t be Snake Eater without the classic mechanics, and they’re all here, right down to the roll. Those who want that same legacy control scheme to emulate the original should also be happy because it’s also present and accounted for. However, contemporary players can also choose a new modern control style. As stated on the official website, “These intuitive controls let you focus entirely on the game and the immersive thrills of the survival stealth experience.” They’re yet to be fully detailed, but if the gameplay showcased thus far is on the modern style, then it should offer a fluid experience.
Legacy and New Camera Styles
The classic overhead camera is also intact, acting as your venerable eye in the sky, shifting when taking cover. However, as seen in the recent gameplay trailer, a new third-party camera is available that will follow Snake and naturally transition to an over-the-shoulder view when aiming. It’s intuitive and smooth, allowing for more precision, whether it’s tranq shots to knock out guards or rockets to take out that annoying helicopter.
Re-Recorded Lines and New Audio Options
The authenticity of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater has been touted since its very announcement, right down to utilizing the original game’s performances for its dialogue. However, given that the controls are different on current-gen consoles, Konami brought in the original voice actors to re-record some lines to teach players about the same. Since the developer doesn’t have to worry about audio compression as much, it can also deliver higher-quality performances with its audio in the remake. There are also additional audio options, with up to 7.1 channel audio. If you want to stick with the original two-channel audio, that’s still available.
Visual Filter
So you’re a fan of the improved visuals, animations, lighting and whatnot, but feel like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is missing that extra something that defined the 2004 classic. Okamura confirmed in a recent interview on the Official Xbox Podcast that a visual filter is applied on screen to “more faithfully recreate” the original’s look. It’s available with the Legacy Style camera, so it’s unknown if you can enable it separately with the new camera style as well. Regardless, it should help recreate the overall look of the original.
Tactical, Deluxe and Collector’s Editions
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater has three versions currently available to pre-order. The Standard Edition, known as the Tactical Edition, retails for $69.99 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S and features some “unique” digital items that will be detailed later. A physical Deluxe Edition is available, which includes a metal case, a special box, a FOX patch, an exclamation point sticker and separate character art for £89.99. However, it’s exclusive to the United Kingdom.
US players get the Collector’s Edition, which includes all the same physical goods, but it also packs in a terrarium with a Snake figurine, the fake ID badge used when infiltrating Groznyj Grad Northeast and a rubber patch based on the initial HALO jump. This is all contained in a large Collector’s box for $199.99.
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