Metal Gear Solid Delta looks so good that it's easy to forget it's an older game. When creeping forward in the game's very first small area, you imagine a wide, connected world in front of Snake. That is the case, only it's separated by dozens upon dozens of loading zones. It is a harsh reminder that this game was originally developed for the PS2, and unlike the complete reimagining Silent Hill 2 received last year, Metal Gear Solid Delta is a faithful recreation of 2004's Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. And fans wouldn't want it any other way.
While the survival horror genre has changed and matured over the course of two decades -- necessitating some modernizations for Konami's other recent remake, Silent Hill 2 -- no other series has captured the same atmosphere and gameplay that Hideo Kojima achieved with Metal Gear Solid, and MGS 3 is often considered to be the best of the bunch. Any changes the new team make to an acclaimed Kojima adventure are going to be harshly scrutinized, and for the most part, Metal Gear Solid Delta has played it safe.
A new "modern" camera perspective accompanies the updated visuals. Instead of fixed camera angles that frame each area like a movie, the camera hovers over Snake's shoulder as he crawls through grass and hides behind walls. Likewise, a yellowed filter that presented the game like a vintage movie has been removed by default. Both of these features are present as options, though -- Delta is trying to appease brand new players while satisfying a discerning crowd of die-hard fans.
With no other series advancing MGS's stealth-action formula -- and that formula being so tightly linked to the difficulty and design of each area in the game -- it makes sense that Delta has chosen to be an authentic remake. The gameplay doesn't feel as if it has aged a day. Crawling through grass on your belly to sneak up to a witless guard before slamming his body into the ground still feels tense and satisfying in a way that few other games have managed. Caking yourself in mud to be able to crawl past stationed guards has your neurons firing and natural dopamine coursing through your veins.
Those archaic-feeling loading zones also neatly segment each challenge, and each area often has multiple routes on top of hidden secrets and objects for you to find. Playing through the game once feels like a bombastic action blockbuster, but then it invites you to replay it via additional secrets and unlockables. On replays, it becomes a choreographed play, only your Snake is a fourth-wall breaking miscreant that manipulates guards in a variety of ways.
Hiding in a cardboard box is always good fun, but Delta allows you to play with the NPCs in a variety of ways that might not be efficient, but are certainly enjoyable. You can hide magazines on the ground to distract a patrolling guard before popping out from the grass with a weapon. Bonus points if Snake is disguised as a crocodile. Snake has an entire arsenal of weapons that are mostly optional, but they're there for you to experiment with as you replay and master the game.
Even the minor plot holes that crop up over the course of the story can be solved if you manage to unlock alternate dialogue and scenes with the game's characters. Those characters are dripping with personality for you to uncover, and while there aren't that many forced codec calls with your overseers, you can optionally give them a buzz whenever you like to get to know them better.
It feels as if Kojima watched through classic spy and action movies, fused the best parts of James Bond and Rambo, and asked what else one could do in that position. Snake has loads of tools at his disposal, but what's truly impressive is the flexibility each has. Hunting for animals sounds like a relatively useless activity, until you realize that you can throw a live snake at enemies to cause chaos.
Thanks to being so faithful to the original -- while also looking visually incredible -- it's hard to say that Delta has any real faults. It promises to be the definitive version of a classic game, and that's essentially what it has achieved. But underneath Kojima's playground of activities and cast of quirky characters there's a surprisingly thoughtful story about global politics that manages to feel relevant, despite the years that have passed since the original game and the Cold War setting.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a genuinely stunning remake of a game that deserves to be played in 2025. While the original experience has been modernized, how much is still intact while feeling so refreshing two decades on is what's amazing. If Metal Gear Solid 3 is a vintage movie, then Metal Gear Solid Delta is the rare 4K remaster that does the original justice.