Following last week’s trailer leak via the PlayStation store, Konami has confirmed a release date for its upcoming Unreal Engine 5 remake of the acclaimed series prequel Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. After its initial reveal during an Xbox Showcase, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater slithered back onto screens (sorry) in PlayStation’s recent State of Play stream, dropping a slick new trailer and confirming the leaked launch date of August 28th, 2024.
The remake of the 2004 original is something of a load-bearing effort from Konami, marking their first new work in the Metal Gear Solid franchise proper since its break from franchise creator Hideo Kojima. While 2023’s Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 went a long way with fans to begin mending the bridge between publisher and series, the Delta remake is far more ambitious in scope and cultural cache. Snake Eater is considered by many to be the zenith of the action-espionage series; a Cold War era riff on political tensions and Bond-esque camp, its melding of tone and stealth mechanics solidified its place in gaming’s still-developing art history.
Now, Delta looks to completely rebuild the experience for modern hardware while retaining what made Snake Eater so beloved. It’s a big swing, combining modernised controls and graphical fidelity with original voice-acting tracks and intensely authored narrative beats. Konami’s efforts to retain the appeal of the original game have extended to a revitalised Snake vs. Monkey mode in which Solid Snake must traverse jungle wilds to capture an errant group of Ape Escape monkeys.
Part of the PS2 version of Snake Eater, Snake vs. Monkey as seen in the latest trailer for Delta continues the console-exclusive trend for PlayStation, bringing the mode back with the full force of UE5’s crisp new fidelity. However, Konami isn’t leaving Xbox players out in the cold this time, uploading a separate version of the latest trailer that hints at a Snake vs. Bomberman mode for the Microsoft console.
It’s a nice touch and, much like the care shown to the series in the Master Collection, speaks to a publisher that has perhaps finally understood exactly what it’s been sitting on for so long. Elsewhere, Konami announced a slew of pre-orderable editions of the game, from standard digital copies to a Collector’s Edition, each of which sports its own assortment of bonuses and DLC. You can check them out here and grab a pre-order from local retailers or directly from the publisher.
And now, for no other reason than it still rules, here’s Snake Eater:
Are you keen to return to the jungle with Delta? Maybe snack on a tree frog? Be supreme despit the fear in your heart? Be sure to let us know in the comments below or on social media.
One part pretentious academic and one part goofy dickhead, James is often found defending strange games and frowning at the popular ones, but he's happy to play just about everything in between. An unbridled love for FromSoftware's pantheon, a keen eye for vibes first experiences, and an insistence on the Oxford comma have marked his time in the industry.
