Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake – 9 Things We Want to See

DAVID HAYTER

David Hayter has been synonymous with Metal Gear for as long as the series has had voice acting. His gravelly portrayals of Solid Snake and Big Boss over the years have become a crucial part of the series’ identity, and seeing him get replaced for Metal Gear Solid 5 was a real punch in the gut for many series fans. If Metal Gear Solid 3 does indeed get remade, the studio that’s behind it needs to make it a priority to get Hayter back to reprise his role. Hayter’s Naked Snake in MGS3 remains one of his best performances to date, and it just wouldn’t feel right to go through that story without Hayter being involved in it. Honestly, ideally the entire voice cast of the original game would reprise their roles, especially someone like Lori Alan (a.k.a. The Boss), but Hayter in particular is a name Metal Gear fans will be dying to see.

AI IMPROVEMENTS

This should go without saying, especially for a stealth game, but it still bears mentioning. Metal Gear Solid is more often than not associated with its storytelling and convoluted lore, but each game in the series has also been a best-in-class stealth experience. Metal Gear Solid 5, for all of its faults, still has probably the best AI you’ll ever see in a stealth game. Whether or not an MGS3 remake not developed by Hideo Kojima and his team would be able to top that, it should at least attempt to deliver an experience that roughly on that same level. The original MGS3 itself has excellent AI for its time, and any remake would need to be truly special to be able to justice to that legacy.

EXPANDED SURVIVAL MECHANICS

Metal Gear Solid 3’s jungle setting brought with it new survival-focused mechanics, which changed the way players approached the game in significant ways, from having to keep an eye on Snake’s stamina to injuries that would persist over time and would have to be individually treated. If a remake comes, not only should those mechanics be an important part of the gameplay once again, they should be expanded upon. In fact, a great emphasis on survival mechanics would work quite well in an open world setting- oh, and did we mention we would like an open world setting?

OPEN WORLD

Metal Gear Solid’s first (and until now, only) crack at open world didn’t pan out the way Konami or Kojima Productions would have hoped, but as flawed as The Phantom Pain’s open world is, there’s no denying that with some more time in the oven, it could have been something special. And honestly, if there’s one game that can take that formula and do something special with it, it’s a Metal Gear Solid 3’s remake. The original game, in spite of technically being linear, was full of large open environments that encouraged exploration, and expanding that into a full-fledged open world – or at least several open world-esque areas that you sequentially go through – could really help the game shine. Having that entire jungle to explore, a web of engaging mechanics to mess with, and plenty of content to dive into could make for an excellent framework for that entire experience.

SIDE OPS

Speaking of having plenty of content to dive into- an open world setting goes hand-in-hand with side quests and optional content, and obviously, we want plenty of that in a potential MGS3 remake. And we don’t just want it so there’s more content to go through (though that’s a big reason, of course). Side ops could also be a great way for the game to add more story content to the game. Leaving Metal Gear Solid 3’s main story as it is would probably be the smart thing to do, given how excellent it is, but optional missions might be the perfect place for new developers to add more narrative content about some of the side characters, or perhaps just to flesh out the main story, or maybe deliver entirely new, engaging, and self-sufficient vignettes.

EVEN MORE FOCUS ON THE BOSS

Naked Snake might be the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 3, but it’s really The Boss’ story. She serves as the axis for the entire game’s story, and almost all the biggest revelations and plot developments revolve around her. Obviously, any MGS3 remake (if one ever truly exists) will bring The Boss back into full focus again. What we’re hoping for, though, is something that takes the extra step and focuses on her and her story even more. Delving into her past with the Cobra Unit, The Sorrow, and maybe even a little bit about Ocelot’s earlier years would be an excellent way to flesh out her character even further.

Speaking of the Cobra Unit…

COBRA UNIT

Metal Gear Solid has a long history of not only featuring excellent boss fights, but actually making sure that those bosses are memorable characters in and of themselves, with rich backstories, motivations, and characterizations. Metal Gear Solid 3 was probably the series’ pinnacle in this regard, with each member of the Cobra Unit leaving a lasting impression. That said, each of them also didn’t get nearly as much screen-time as they should have (especially someone like The Sorrow), which, in turn, means we’d love to see way more of them in a potential remake. What we learned about the Cobra Unit in the original – both as a group and as individuals – was fascinating stuff, and we’d love for a remake to expand upon that stuff.

EXPANDED VIRTUOUS MISSION

The bulk of Metal Gear Solid 3’s story is focused on Operation Snake Eater and Naked Snake’s attempts to get his hands on the Philosopher’s Legacy and unravel the mysteries surrounding The Boss, but it all starts, of course, with the Virtuous Mission. In structural terms, it’s basically the intro sequence of the game- the tutorial section, so to speak. If MGS3 remake does get remade though, it’ll hopefully expand that sequence. The introduction and supposed betrayal of The Boss, the first appearances of Ocelot and Eva and Volgin- there’s just too much crucial narrative stuff in those first couple of hours, all of which would benefit a great deal from having more time to be fleshed out further. And of course, if the remake does indeed end up being open world, there would be plenty of other obvious ways to add more content to the starting leg of the story to make it more instantly appealing as well.

STORY TWEAKS

We mentioned earlier that Metal Gear Solid 3’s story should be left as is, and we stand by that- but while we’d rather not see any major changes being made to the overarching plot, a remake could always tweak some things here and there. In particular, perhaps some minor additions or alterations could be made to bring the story more in line with the games that follow it in Metal Gear’s chronology. Of course, the likes of Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid 4 already hinge greatly on some of MGS3’s biggest narrative revelations, but there are still more than a few gaps in the series’ overarching story (especially in the Big Boss era), some of which could be plugged with an MGS3 remake.