Alongside my love of films, TV and music is my passion for video games. In this new personal series of blogs, I’m going to talk through my top 5 video games of all time and discuss what’s great about them, what they mean to me and how they might have inspired me in my career as a filmmaker, sound recordist and sound designer.
This week, we’re starting with number 5 in my list of all time favourite video games; Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater – Plot Summary
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was an action/adventure stealth game released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2. The plot follows CIA operative Naked Snake on a mission to rescue a Soviet scientist, Sokolov, and stop the development of a nuclear-equipped superweapon, the Shagohod. However, Snake’s mission is complicated when his mentor, The Boss, defects to the Soviet Union and joins Colonel Volgin, a rogue GRU officer. Betrayed and wounded, Snake returns to the Soviet jungle for Operation Snake Eater—his task: defeat The Boss, dismantle Volgin’s forces, and destroy the Shagohod. Along the way, he encounters elite soldiers known as the Cobra Unit, gains the trust of double agent EVA, and uncovers a conspiracy involving the secretive Philosophers organization.
With the main setting of the game being in the jungle, the game mechanics revolve around surviving and finding ways in which to defeat enemies in the jungle environment, whether it be using Snake’s camouflage suit technology, or hiding in the environment and plotting how and when to strike.
What Makes it So Great?
There’s so many things I love about this game so where to start?
Gameplay is so fun! Surviving and hiding in the jungle using the camouflage suit technology was so much fun to use and was immensely satisfying.
Very intricate, detailed storytelling. The story is so well told over a long period of time with really fascinating characters, especially the boss fight characters!
Some really fascinating easter eggs and secrets littered throughout the game. One of my all-time favourites was a ‘secret’ way to beat one of the game’s boss fights, a character called The End. The End was an old sniper, hiding in the jungle trying to take out Snake. The main route you can take in defeating him is to defeat him at his own game and take on a gruelling sniper battle, eventually taking him out with a sniper rifle yourself. However, a really fun way to defeat him was to turn off your PlayStation 2, change the date on the system to 2 weeks into the future, boot the game back up and when you load the game, a cutscene begins showing Snake waking up from a sleep in the jungle and finding The End laying dead, having waited so long for Snake to show himself he literally dies! How wild.
The music and the sound design really immerges you in the environments and the aesthetic of the game. From the authentic subtle crunches of leaves and gravel on the ground, to the big swooping musical score for intense action sequences.
What it Means to Me
There’s certain games, films and television shows that live with you forever and this is certainly one of them for me.
I’m a big fan of the James Bond films and it was clear from the very beginning that Snake Eater was inspired by the 60s Bond films, adopting the aesthetics and espionage nature of the Bond from the 1960s very well. The game even has an original song called Snake Eater, along with a title sequence for it created in the style of a James Bond film title sequence. They even made it interactive too, where the player can control graphical movements on the title sequence and even trigger whispered “snake eaterrrr” background vocals by pushing a button on the controller. Oh, and the song is an absolute banger too so definitely seek it out if you haven’t heard it! If you love the old-school bond anthems of the past you’ll love it.
It’s this attention to detail why I love this game and it’s stuck with me for so long. I was tremendously excited when a remake was announced a while ago, entitled Metal Gear Sold Delta: Snake Eater, which basically remakes the game from the ground up whilst retaining all the things we loved about the original. I can’t wait to play it! It will be a fascinating nostalgia trip combined with the latest console technology.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is out August 26th 2025 for PS5 and XBOX Series and the original Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is available to play on most modern consoles, including PS5, PS4, XBOX Series, PC and Nintendo Switch.
Dan Guest
Sound Recordist
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