If Metal Gear Solid 2 was about escaping an all encompassing system, Metal Gear Solid 3 (aptly subtitled "Snake Eater”) is about being completely absorbed into it.
The theme of "Scene" permeates this game throughout the whole of its run time, entrenching characters in it, people expected to play their roles. Spy, lover, traitor, patriot, soldier. All of these are roles that people in the game take up to manipulate the main character, Naked Snake. Unlike Jack, the tragedy isn't in the total control the manipulators have, but rather in who the manipulators are and how they go about it.
Ocelot plays the role of an incompetent and brash child, but underneath all of that he's the exact same man we've known him as before. A cunning manipulator, never on any of the sides actively involved, his true allegiance being in the shadows.
EVA builds Snake up in her manipulation, so he can be knocked right back down at the end of it all. It doesn't matter that she failed, what mattered was that she took Snake's emotions and crushed them. She shaped herself and her story in ways to appear alluring or sympathetic to him, all because she desired the Legacy. Her manipulations are such that every line she says has to be brought into question. Was her story about learning of other countries real? Was her name real? Was her love real? The game never answers any of these in the moment, leaving her as a player that joined the stage out of nowhere, and left the stage just as suddenly.
The biggest manipulator however, was The Boss. She speaks in riddles to Snake, forcing him to decide between nationalism and the people he loves, ultimately pushing him to killing her. She unequivocally betrays him in this entry, leaving him truly alone. "There can be only one Boss."
Two of these three manipulators were also meant to be Snake's allies. ADAM and EVA, allies to the Snake. But, both manipulate him and each other, while he remains oblivious until the credits roll, an inverse of Genesis (as EVA states in her ending monologue). He is the first protagonist to be manipulated and then never confront those controlling him. He doesn't get to hear the Secretary of Defense explain what's happening, he doesn't have a long sit down with the Patriots, both before the concluding battle. He finds out and is left only able to mourn.
This isn't where SCENE ends though. I've only touched on the manipulation aspect, but the theme permeates nearly every aspect of the game, the game becoming almost playable theater. Zero and Para-Medic will constantly allude to films relevant to Metal Gear as a series- espionage films and monster films. Musical motifs are lifted from films of this variety, the cinematography leans heavily into more "cinematic" language (a constant throughout the Big Boss games for good reason), Ocelot will challenge you to a classic Western inspired Mexican Standoff in the middle of your duel.
But, this theme goes beyond references, and bleeds into the narrative. Your manipulators are actors, as are the other characters in this narrative, albeit unwittingly. It's fitting that this is the first "Solid" game to have a torture sequence that you don't get to play- why would you? It's all theatre, you don't mash the play button when James Bond gets tortured, do you?
The ultimate revelation in this theme is that nothing Naked Snake did was in his control. He played exactly to the system's commands, and he is speechless (literally) when he learns of just a hint of the manipulations. The Philosophers stand in for the Patriots, and Naked Snake constructs a "Solid Snake Simulation" program in the heart of Russia- one designed to create a new "Boss". The allusions to Metal Gear Solid 2 right from the opening ("Virtual mission?") almost tell you immediately what's going to happen.
The idea of the game projecting ideas to you immediately exists beyond there though. It plays with your expectations, but if you controlled them every twist would be incredibly obvious. Just because Ocelot is younger doesn't mean he can't be just as devious- he's here for a reason. EVA is suspicious, but the game gets you caught up in this comfy 60s spy thriller feeling, never letting go, so her over the top sex appeal flows right past the player. Of course The Boss is a bad guy, I mean, didn't Big Boss betray us only a few decades after this? But, Big Boss kept his antagonism in the shadows, while The Boss both demands better of you, as well as questions your own judgement.
The truly bitter note the game ends on though, is the scrolling text before the credits. Brought back after Metal Gear Solid 2 discarded it, we receive some additional history lessons, but this time they're on the history of Metal Gear rather than our own world. In it, we get to glimpse the events that occurred after Metal Gear Solid 3. The Philosophers become The Patriots, SIGINT joins ARPA, Para-Medic goes further into the medical field, Zero disbands FOX. But, after that, we get FOXHOUND, and the game ends on the beginning of the Les Enfants Terribles project, a project that would go on to echo the tragedy of The Boss and the Snake, where a new Snake is sent by his government to take down the war criminal, Big Boss.
A new stage for the same show.
The theme of "Scene" permeates this game throughout the whole of its run time, entrenching characters in it, people expected to play their roles. Spy, lover, traitor, patriot, soldier. All of these are roles that people in the game take up to manipulate the main character, Naked Snake. Unlike Jack, the tragedy isn't in the total control the manipulators have, but rather in who the manipulators are and how they go about it.
Ocelot plays the role of an incompetent and brash child, but underneath all of that he's the exact same man we've known him as before. A cunning manipulator, never on any of the sides actively involved, his true allegiance being in the shadows.
EVA builds Snake up in her manipulation, so he can be knocked right back down at the end of it all. It doesn't matter that she failed, what mattered was that she took Snake's emotions and crushed them. She shaped herself and her story in ways to appear alluring or sympathetic to him, all because she desired the Legacy. Her manipulations are such that every line she says has to be brought into question. Was her story about learning of other countries real? Was her name real? Was her love real? The game never answers any of these in the moment, leaving her as a player that joined the stage out of nowhere, and left the stage just as suddenly.
The biggest manipulator however, was The Boss. She speaks in riddles to Snake, forcing him to decide between nationalism and the people he loves, ultimately pushing him to killing her. She unequivocally betrays him in this entry, leaving him truly alone. "There can be only one Boss."
Two of these three manipulators were also meant to be Snake's allies. ADAM and EVA, allies to the Snake. But, both manipulate him and each other, while he remains oblivious until the credits roll, an inverse of Genesis (as EVA states in her ending monologue). He is the first protagonist to be manipulated and then never confront those controlling him. He doesn't get to hear the Secretary of Defense explain what's happening, he doesn't have a long sit down with the Patriots, both before the concluding battle. He finds out and is left only able to mourn.
This isn't where SCENE ends though. I've only touched on the manipulation aspect, but the theme permeates nearly every aspect of the game, the game becoming almost playable theater. Zero and Para-Medic will constantly allude to films relevant to Metal Gear as a series- espionage films and monster films. Musical motifs are lifted from films of this variety, the cinematography leans heavily into more "cinematic" language (a constant throughout the Big Boss games for good reason), Ocelot will challenge you to a classic Western inspired Mexican Standoff in the middle of your duel.
But, this theme goes beyond references, and bleeds into the narrative. Your manipulators are actors, as are the other characters in this narrative, albeit unwittingly. It's fitting that this is the first "Solid" game to have a torture sequence that you don't get to play- why would you? It's all theatre, you don't mash the play button when James Bond gets tortured, do you?
The ultimate revelation in this theme is that nothing Naked Snake did was in his control. He played exactly to the system's commands, and he is speechless (literally) when he learns of just a hint of the manipulations. The Philosophers stand in for the Patriots, and Naked Snake constructs a "Solid Snake Simulation" program in the heart of Russia- one designed to create a new "Boss". The allusions to Metal Gear Solid 2 right from the opening ("Virtual mission?") almost tell you immediately what's going to happen.
The idea of the game projecting ideas to you immediately exists beyond there though. It plays with your expectations, but if you controlled them every twist would be incredibly obvious. Just because Ocelot is younger doesn't mean he can't be just as devious- he's here for a reason. EVA is suspicious, but the game gets you caught up in this comfy 60s spy thriller feeling, never letting go, so her over the top sex appeal flows right past the player. Of course The Boss is a bad guy, I mean, didn't Big Boss betray us only a few decades after this? But, Big Boss kept his antagonism in the shadows, while The Boss both demands better of you, as well as questions your own judgement.
The truly bitter note the game ends on though, is the scrolling text before the credits. Brought back after Metal Gear Solid 2 discarded it, we receive some additional history lessons, but this time they're on the history of Metal Gear rather than our own world. In it, we get to glimpse the events that occurred after Metal Gear Solid 3. The Philosophers become The Patriots, SIGINT joins ARPA, Para-Medic goes further into the medical field, Zero disbands FOX. But, after that, we get FOXHOUND, and the game ends on the beginning of the Les Enfants Terribles project, a project that would go on to echo the tragedy of The Boss and the Snake, where a new Snake is sent by his government to take down the war criminal, Big Boss.
A new stage for the same show.
3 Comments
Loving your writing on MGS. I never really considered a view of the Boss that isn't the sanctified hero and mother figure the game portrays on the surface. But her delusional patriot mindset is an integral part of Snake's downfall. And this delusional mindset goes on to be further warped into the deranged world bestriding colossus that the Patriots would become.
Fantastic Review. I think there’s another interesting scene that I would like to address which is the cutscene where Naked Snake points the gun at her, at the end of her boss fight. He doesn’t really do it until the player forces him to. Which I feel is a direct parallel to Raiden throwing away the dog tags in MGS2 and liberating himself from the player’s will. Naked Snake is instead forced to succumb to Player’s will, even though he doesn’t want to go through with it, it’s a choice he is forced to make. The whole game is designed to cater to the player’s fantasy where they want to be “Snake” and immerse themselves in “a thrill”, I mean you can literally immerse yourself in his eyesight during cutscenes, you can immerse yourself in the “Snake”’s day to day life more than ever before, eating, healing, surviving, freedom in game design, etc. And we know the game is designed around being a James Bond subversion. This adds another layer to the title, “Snake”(The Player) is eating away Snake’s (Naked Snake) individuality. I always thought the player is also an allusion to “The Times” which is something Big Boss has to constantly defend against.
I think this has some interesting implications for MGSV, since revenge is one of the main themes in that game, where he actually manipulates and “betrays” the player instead, forever leaving them to play the role of “snake” as much as they would like.
I think this has some interesting implications for MGSV, since revenge is one of the main themes in that game, where he actually manipulates and “betrays” the player instead, forever leaving them to play the role of “snake” as much as they would like.
BurningRed
1 year ago
https://www.backloggd.com/u/BurningRed/logs/metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater/