Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater Review

A newcomer's take on MGS

Watch the review or…

Read it here!

Title: METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER

Release: August 28, 2025

Platform: PS5 PC Xbox X|S

Developer: KONAMI

Publisher: KONAMI

Genre: Tactical Espionage Action

ESRB: M

Reviewed on: PC

Time Played: 13 Hours

I always thought Metal Gear Solid was a straight-faced military stealth game, but what I found here was something far stranger. It mixed Cold War tension with over-the-top villains, cutscenes that went on forever, and gameplay that felt both brilliant and clunky at the same time. Delta is a reminder of how groundbreaking the series was, while also showing just how old some of its parts still feel.

Where it starts

You will assume the role of an operative for the CIA with the moniker Naked Snake, assigned to a highly classified covert mission during the Cold War in the early 60s. Using skills like stealth and close-quarters combat, you must navigate through a jungle and confront groups of enemy soldiers. Your primary purpose is to rescue a scientist who is forced to work on a project that could end the Cold War and usher in something far worse for the world.

Sneak or Fight

You start your mission with very little on your body: a knife, some food, and a tranquilizing dart gun. This forces you to hunt for your own food and new weapons in the wilderness. There will always be a number of guards moving around, and you can either sneak past them or fight your way through. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what would be easier, if your discovered or start a fight, reinforcements could be called in if you don’t take out the caller quickly enough, but if you want to sneak, you might be waiting a long time for the perfect window to slip through.

The Right Camouflage

Depending on the environment you’re in, your camouflage can significantly affect your visibility. There are even some pieces that can benefit your gameplay, like eliminating the need for bandages or providing unlimited hand grenades. When reviewing all of your available camouflage, you’ll see numbers indicating how beneficial each piece is to your current surroundings, making it easy to always wear the right camouflage. You can even find useful items to help improve your hiding skills.

Staying in tip top shape

When you’re hurt, you will pull from your stamina to restore health over time. The only way to regain stamina is to eat some food. Food in this game comes in many shapes and forms. From mushrooms to alligators, your diet has a wide range. However, not everything that can be consumed should be. Some things hardly give you any stamina, or even cause a stomachache, requiring some medicine to recover from. Sometimes wounds persist and need a little more than stamina for recovery. In those cases, you will need to go into the recovery screen and apply the correct items to resolve the issue. A knife to pull out bullets, styptics to stop bleeding, and a lot more first aid items, depending on your injuries.

Explore & Loot

Every area you need to explore could contain various items, from collectibles to useful equipment, so it’s worth venturing off the main paths. If you end up in a fight and need to take down a guard, you can shake them down for loot; oddly enough, they carry more items if you knock them out rather than kill them. Thorough exploration can lead you to some very powerful guns and useful gear, like night vision goggles or suppressors, making your mission much easier.

Playing the Pacifist

Being part of a covert ops force for the CIA, ideally you’d play the game as a ghost, never being spotted or killing anyone. There are scripted boss fights that you must participate in, but during those you can neutralize enemies by knocking them out with physical combat or your tranq gun. Doing so rewards you with special camouflage and a higher grade at the end. However, if you’re like me and not particularly skilled at stealth in this game, the penalties for causing chaos won’t stop you from finishing the game.

Can the kids watch (check settings)

You will encounter some mild language and copious amounts of violence. Unless you successfully sneak through the entire game, then the violent gunfights and explosions would be a little less. There are also a couple of scenes that, while not showing any nudity, are suggestive and on the spicier side because of minimal clothing. Other than that, it’s your typical shooting or fighting bad guys to save the day.

Final Thoughts

I would love to hear any thoughts or questions you have about the game or my review, so leave me a message in the comments below. While you do that, let’s move on to my final thoughts and ratings.

This was my first experience with Kojima and the metal gear solid series, and it was not even close to what I thought the game was all these years. I had always assumed it was a serious military game with stealth mechanics. What I experienced was far more bizarre and almost comical at times. The lead bad guys had special abilities like controlling bees or popping eyes out for better vision, and usually had some of the wackiest lines or animations. The first time I heard Snake speak, I thought it was hilarious and over the top, but by the end I wouldn’t want it any other way.

The graphics were good, far better than when the game came out over twenty years ago, from what I’ve seen. The attention to the small details in the world was very impressive. Any damage I suffered while playing would permanently mar Snake’s body and could be seen at all times, even during cut scenes. Always there to let me know how poorly I played by standing in fire too long or taking too many bullets to the face. The environments, although small, looked great and were fun to explore. However, as nice as they can make it look, it’s still a skin over a game made a long time ago, so it’s not without limitations.

The overall story was interesting, but it didn’t fully keep me engaged until everything came together at the end. There was a lot to follow with cut scenes and great powers on the brink of war. Sometimes the game would deliver a lot of information during a cut scene that lasted over thirty minutes, with blurry photos in the background related to what was being discussed. During those moments, I found it hard to stay completely focused on the info dump happening; it wasn’t particularly entertaining. Maybe the story would have been more enjoyable if I had played the previous titles and was familiar with the MGS lore by then, but as a standalone experience, it felt lacking as I moved through it.

I understand this is a very old game; nonetheless, the gameplay did have its janky difficulties. Usually, when it came to moving around, the worst was when I was trying to belly crawl through an area—pressing forward wouldn’t move my front, but instead moved whatever was farthest from the camera, like my feet or head, twisting my brain into confusing motions until I just went with it. Snake, being the top-notch operative that he was, never felt like he could move fast enough. When running or vaulting, it felt very slow and tedious, unless it was close-quarters combat—then it looked good and played so well it almost didn’t feel fair mowing down enemy after enemy with slams.

I can see a strong urge to replay this game multiple times, try tougher challenges, and aim for the best score in the end. After finishing the game once and understanding what’s happening, I wouldn’t mind skipping the cut scenes to jump straight back into the gameplay. I could definitely improve my stealth skills, and the rewards for completing the harder tasks make it worthwhile. Plus, the idea of starting again from the beginning with some of the awesome camouflage earned through one playthrough is very exciting.

I enjoyed most of my time with the game. It did suck only getting to play for about twenty minutes during the first two hours due to cutscenes and story development, but the lengthy cutscenes became less frequent after that. I spoke with quite a few people who had played the series growing up and I’m positive I would have had a lot more fun with that nostalgic magic helping me through. Metal Gear Solid is good, but it definitely feels like an old game. Not that it didn’t age well, but newer, smoother mechanics could make a full remake unforgettable.

And with that, let’s get my ratings underway and figure out what shelf I’m placing this game on.

The visuals were great, it was a huge improvement over the original release a long time ago, everything looked smooth and colorful, I’m giving it a 4

The story didn’t feel like it was anything special until the end, and even then I still had some questions, it would have been better if it could have been done without extensive info dump cut scenes, but I’m still feeling it’s worth a 3

The gameplay is dated and felt throughout the whole game, not as smooth an experience as what’s available now, it’s getting a 2.

Good replayability, offering worthwhile rewards for consecutive playthroughs on tougher difficulties and a grading system at the end, worthy of a 3.

The fun was off and on, a mix of boring travel or cutscenes, flashy action sequences, and everything in between. I wasn’t dreading getting back into the game, but I also wasn’t overly excited. That’s another 3.

Earning Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater a 3 out of 5, placing it on my Mid Shelf. If you loved the original game, you will definitely enjoy this one. If you’ve never experienced Metal Gear Solid before, it’s a fun experience, but the price is quite high for what it offers. I recommend waiting for a sale before buying it or at least picking up the older games in the series first.