Metal Gear Solid 3’s original reveal remains an untouched masterpiece.
I’m psyched for the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake for two reasons: this entry in the series has never been playable on PC, and it’s the pinnacle of what Metal Gear Solid was up until MGS5. That open world, less-narrative-focused capstone to the Metal Gear saga is a peerless stealth game, but MGS3 is really the pinnacle of the form Kojima was working in from 1998 to 2008, with the first four games. Today’s CG reveal trailer, though, didn’t really feel much like Metal Gear—at least not in the style of Hideo Kojima.
This short trailer reminded me just how much control Kojima exerted over the Metal Gear series, down to how they were presented at big industry events like E3. In the early 2000s, E3 press conferences were still stuffy affairs with businessmen in big suits talking about sales figures and audience demographics between game trailers. Konami certainly wasn’t exempt, but the trailers Kojima brought with him were clearly designed to be events in a way other game trailers at the time just weren’t.
The original MGS 3 trailer was not just a two minute hype reel. It was a gameplay showcase, a comedy, and a graphics engine flex all in one. Kojima was seemingly less interested in revealing the game’s existence than he was making a mini movie that conveyed its tone.
