E3 2011: Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D preview - will this slithery PS2 port be worth biting into?

We love the Metal Gear games. And we’re eager for more games to play on our 3DS. However, we’re a little surprised publisher Konami is bringingMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eaterto the 3DS. After all, it just came out in 2004. Has nostalgia had time to kick in? But whatever. It’s a Metal Gear game and we’re eager for it. Or are we?

For fans of the series, the game has a very similar feel except now it’s in 3D. Plus, the game utilizes the 3DS’ gyroscope to balance Snake on segments such as bridge crossings, and the bottom screen is useful as an inventory screen that doesn’t require a pause to access. Also, you can use the system’s camera to take pictures of everyday things like a tree and then make that texture Snake’s camouflage.

The trouble is, beyond these minimal added features, it’s almost a direct port of the PS2 game. What’s worse, the graphics at this point look like a downgrade from the PS2 visuals. Granted, it’s portable now, but we’ve seen what the 3DS can do, and it can definitely do better than this.

Metal Gear Solid 3DS doesn’t hit shelves until the end of this year, so there’s plenty of time for improvements to be made to the graphics or to give the game more features. But for now, we’re not yet sure whether fans will welcome this addition to the 3DS library, or feel just a little snakebit.

Jun 14, 2011