The Metal Gear Solid 3 remake, one of Konami’s worst kept secrets, has finally been confirmed. During the PlayStation Showcase event, which took place early Thursday, publisher Konami released a theatrical trailer unveiling the new title Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, promising a faithful recreation of Hideo Kojima’s original game while maintaining gameplay with modern graphics and an evolved “Seamless User Experience.” The twist here is that despite being a franchise heavily tied to Sony, MGS3 will also come to PC (via Steam) and Xbox Series S/X. This is the first actual entry into the franchise since Metal Gear Solid 5, which also marked Kojima’s departure from the company.
The trailer is a fully CGI-driven affair in which the protagonist, Naked Snake, crawls around in the swamps and watches a deadly fight between an alligator and a giant snake. All other details about the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater were revealed in subsequent tweets by Konami, beginning with a promise to stay true to the original narrative that served as the starting point for Naked Snake. A developer name was never mentioned, but a VGC report from 2021 claimed that external studio Virtuous – best known for support work on Horizon Zero Dawn and Uncharted 4 – was responsible. It’s odd that Konami simply refers to the studio as a “development team” rather than its actual name – I wonder what that’s for.
As mentioned, the remake is called Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater – pronounced Delta – which means change or a difference without changing the core structure. “The delta symbol (Δ) was chosen because its meaning fits the concept of the remake project.” The original PS2 game revolved around FOX agent Naked Snake, who found himself on a dastardly one-man mission to to rescue Russian weapons designer Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov and sabotage an experimental tank-like superweapon called the Shagohod. The gameplay revolved mostly around stealth, the introduction of a stealth ability that comes in handy in the forest sections, and a melee combat system called CQC (close range).
In addition to co-writing the story, Kojima also served as director of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, although it is highly unlikely that he would be involved in the remake following his bitter departure from Konami. The exit also saw his name removed from all Metal Gear series marketing materials, prompting him to re-establish Kojima Productions as an independent studio. It will be interesting to see if Kojima’s name is mentioned in an upcoming promo for the game, as Konami claims to be making a “faithful” reproduction. After all, it’s his story.
In addition, Konami is also releasing Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, which includes the first three original games – Metal Gear: Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and the aforementioned Snake Eater. Scheduled for release this fall/autumn, it will mark the return of the series to the latest platforms (unspecified).
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.
