Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater – What the Remake Gets Right
Not many stealth games have the kind of heft that Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater does. (The game is also remembered not just as a technical achievement at the time but as one of Hideo Kojima’s strongest stories: a Cold War story of loyalty and betrayal and the origins of Naked Snake, the soldier who would later become Big Boss.) Konami isn’t really trying to reinvent the wheel with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. The idea is to recreate a classic game with modern technology, while keeping the spirit of the original. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox X|S and PC (via Steam) on August 28, 2025.
Upon examination, however, it looks like Konami is walking a tightrope thus far. Some choices update the experience, and others keep it nostalgically grounded in the past. The result is the kind of remake that honors its past while also validating itself in a new era.
Unreal Engine 5, Without the Stumbles
Unreal Engine 5, Without the Stumbles
So there were reason to be a little tentative when Konami revealed that Delta would run on Unreal Engine 5. Multiple games have demonstrated how punishing the engine can be, especially when used for projects it wasn’t originally built to power. Thankfully, early previews indicate Snake Eater seems to run well. The frame rates are solid, the visuals striking, and the jungle — always central to the experience — has never looked more alive.
It’s an important foundation. For a remake that thrives so much on atmosphere, technical performance has to be able to keep pace, and it looks like Konami has nailed it.
A World That Still Rewards Patience
The level design remains faithful. The thick foliage, secret pathways and the continuous struggle to camouflage oneself with surroundings remain, but all are back and rebuilt in greater detail. That decision makes sense. Snake Eater’s core identity was never about open worlds or speedy traversal. It was the matter of treating environment as an ally — a system to bend, hide in, and take advantage of.
That’s not to say everything is modernized. Loading screens are still a part of the architecture. In an era when seamless transitions abound, it seems imprecise. But it also underscores that this is a remake, not a re-imagining. It appears Konami is more interested in verisimilitude than rewriting history.
Gameplay That Keeps Its Edge
The lack of fast running is one of the starkest illustrations of that method. Yes, compared to Metal Gear Solid V’s emphasis on movement in a vast open world, Snake Eater was about caution, and timing. Sprinting would remove the high-stakes tension for which the game is famous. By exercising restraint, Konami preserves the original atmosphere.
On the downside, enemies have been buffed. The AI needed to be smarter, as controls were slicker and there was now a third-person camera that provided players with better situational awareness. Early looks indicate enemies will be quicker to spot you and less forgiving, which should hold the balance between giving players room to breathe but also making their task challenging.
Tools, Weapons, and Disguises
Some of Snake Eater’s appeal has always been its deep toolbox, and Delta brings that back in spades. Old gadgets like the motion detector, sonar and AP sensor are still just as versatile as before, letting players approach encounters in a variety of ways. Weapons are still very much a part of the experience, both lethal and non-lethal options. The MK22 tranquilizer pistol is a fan favorite to this day, and weapons like chaff grenades only add depth without mandating players develop in a single direction.
The camouflage and disguise system is back as well. They were a highlight in 2004, and they haven’t lost anything. Whether it’s camouflaging with the jungle in camouflage, or donning a scientist uniform to not stand out like a sore thumb, these scenarios encourage players to think outside of their weapon-based comfort zone.
Presentation That Fits the Story
The story remains exactly the same — it’s still this sort of story that filled Snake Eater. How it’s presented has, however. Facial and lip animations are much better. In the rough draft, dialogue might sometimes slack under the emotional weight of the script. Here, the performances pack more punch.
Accessibility has also been expanded. The remake renders the effort of experiencing Snake Eater less for a global audience, having content in 11 subtitle languages. For a story that’s so heavily character- and dialogue-driven, that’s a wise update.
Beyond the Campaign
The primary campaign should last about 15 hours for a direct playthrough, and closer to 25 hours for players who hunt down every secret. As in the original game, it’s a linear trek but packed with things hiding in corners: secrets about how to defeat its hidden bosses, allusions and small nods that may pay off for the curious.
Konami is throwing in something entirely new, too: Fox Hunt, online multiplayer centered around stealth and survival. It will not be available at launch and has a planned release date of fall 2025. The fact that it’s being delayed means Konami wants to get the mode shiny before its officially available. Done well, it could lend Snake Eater a sort of replay value the series hasn’t had previously.
A Remake That Chooses Respect Over Reinvention
The most striking aspect of Metal Gear Solid Delta is the restraint. Konami isn’t playing catch-up with trends or attempting to shoehorn open-world elements into Snake Eater. Instead, it’s keeping the experience lean, tense and familiar while upgrading the parts that matter most — graphics, enemy AI and immersion.
It would have been tempting to overreach, to pile new systems on top of a game that already functioned. Instead, this remake of “Aladdin” just feels like it knows what it’s here to do. It’s not here to replace the original, but rather to translate it into something modern players can understand without losing its identity.
For veterans, that’s an opportunity to revisit one of the series’ best entries in a format that feels polished rather than tampered with. For newcomers, it might be the easiest way yet to grasp why Snake Eater remains one of the high-water marks in stealth gaming.
Check out the official trailer:
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