My most wanted PS5 Pro game isn't out yet, so I pass the time with this PS3 classic

Remember when video games were supposed to be fun? No, me neither. As I get more and more excited about an Unreal Engine 5 remake of one of my favorite stealth titles of all time coming to the PS5 Pro, I “may” have done something stupid. And by “stupid” I actually mean “torturous”.

The Pro Enhanced game in question that I'm testing my Y-fronts on is Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Developed in collaboration between Konami and Virtuos, it is a comprehensive remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, first released on November 17, 2004 for the PS4.

Although I and many of my MGS fans online were initially skeptical of Delta when it was first announced, subsequent trailers and screenshots have really made me do a double-take at a project I initially viewed as a sleazy cash grab. Not now, however.

Every time I watch this remake it becomes even more compelling. Based on the footage from this year's Gamescom event in Cologne, I think it's one of the most eye-catching Unreal Engine 5 games I've seen to date.

Konami has already told future PS5 Pro owners what to expect from the prosumer PlayStation version of its stealth remake shortly after Sony announced the console.

Yuji Korekado, creative producer at Konami, wrote on the PlayStation Blog: “In Metal Gear Solid Delta, innovative PSSR technology ensures that the trees and lush vegetation of the game's iconic jungle terrain become more vivid and enhance the feeling of realism when penetrating a natural environment.”

Snake eyes

(Image credit: Konami)

Korkado added that he and his team will be able to “provide a smoother gaming experience with better frame rates throughout the game.” While I don't expect Delta to run at 120fps on the Pro, I'm certainly hoping the $699 console's AI-driven PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) can deliver 4K/60fps gameplay.

Annoyingly, Metal Gear Solid Delta doesn't actually have a release date beyond “2024,” which is a bit worrying considering we're already in the first week of November at the time of writing. So while I eagerly wait to slip back into the slippery shoes of Naked Snake on my PS5 Pro, which should hopefully arrive on my doorstep when it launches on November 7th, I've decided to head over to Metal Gear Master for my MGS3 fix Collection Vol 1 to return.

That was my first mistake.

Okay, to be fair, the Master Collection has improved a lot since I called it “one of the most disgraceful video game releases in years.” Tell us what you really think, Meiksy.

Recently, Konami finally included an additional screen settings option, allowing you to finally play Sneak 'em up at the native resolution of your monitor or laptop. At launch, each Metal Gear entry in the bundle was limited to a dismal 720p on PC. It was only through the work of selfless modders that PC players were able to play the collection in 4K shortly after release and almost a full year before the official Konami fix – and even then, the patch only applies to MGS2 and MGS3.

Master of Nothing

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection – MGS 3 on a large OLED TV

(Image credit: Future/Konami)

Technical issues aside, I've been stuck on a particularly specific (and brutal) playthrough of Snake Eater for months at this point. But thanks to the latest MGS Delta trailer, I couldn't resist diving back into the classic spy adventure to try and earn the only two Steam achievements I didn't unlock in the Master Collection port of MGS3 (for comparison : There are 58 in total).

Hoo-Boy's attempt to get the “FOXHOUND” achievement was about as fun as eating a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs… Just replace the meatballs with broken glass. According to Steam records, this is the second most frequently achieved achievement. Only 2.1% of players unlock a virtual pat on the back, where all you have to do is “earn the FOXHOUND title.” No problem, right?

Incorrect. So painfully, hopelessly wrong.

If this article gets any comments, I suspect they will be of the “git gud” variety. And if you have unlocked the FOXHOUND Steam achievement, you will get more power. Anyone who pings it on Steam is undoubtedly a master of stealth.

I've played through Metal Gear Solid three times, more than I can count – I think the number is close to 20, which is definitely not a decision I'll regret on my deathbed. But while I know this subversive stealth masterpiece inside and out, the following requirements to unlock the FOXHOUND gem will hopefully explain why this ultra-precise playthrough has been tormenting me for months…

Complete the game on Extreme difficulty.
Ready in less than 5 hours.
Use of 0 continues. Yes, ZERO.
Don't trigger a single alert.
Never take Life Medicine (the game's healing item).
Take 10 life points of damage or less.
Save less than 25 times.
Do not use special times (like the EzGun infinite ammo).

Burnt out

Snake fights The Fury with flames everywhere in Metal Gear Solid 3

For months while battling The End, I paused in my futile pursuit of MGS3's “FOXHOUND” rank and subsequent Steam success until I realized that wearing his “Fire” camouflage made the fight a breeze. (Image credit: Konami)

Ouch.

There is one much unpack there. But the big things are “no sequels” and “no health medicine.”

I've been playing this game since I was 19, and now, shockingly, I'm 39. Two decades of muscle memory does something to you. In this extremely obsessive case, that means I can slip through Snake's Cold War-era Russian jungles, swamps, mountain ranges, and military bases like a fox who has stolen the Predator's invisibility technology and then decides to kill every piece of poultry in the hen house without it to eat leave a trace.

But God, I have to reload an old save every time Do Get discovered or, worse yet, take a fatal beating from one of Snake Eater's ingenious boss fights on Extreme difficulty; Damn, that shit is on fire.

You have to learn and repeat large parts of the game to get around the “25 saves or less” factor, coupled with the rigor of the Cobras fights at Extreme really takes its toll. I started this FOXHOUND run on January 21st. Almost 10 months later, I still haven't finished this exercise in agony.

To be fair, I was probably a little stingy on these parades. I've used exactly 10 of my allotted 25, my last one coming October 3rd; According to Snake Eater's save device loading menu, my playthrough was well under the required 5 hour mark at exactly “0003:30:39”.

And that's where I'm currently stuck: in a truly hideous boss fight against the game's main antagonist, Colonel Volgin. Imagine a muscle-bound, heavily scarred Russian with flashing hands in an MCU suit and you're basically there.

At this point I must have lost to him well over a dozen times. If you can't heal yourself and are stuck with the obscenely small health bar that Snake leaves behind in Extreme Mode, taking a single hit can be fatal.

Fight or fry

Snake dies fighting Volgin in Metal Gear Solid 3

(Image credit: Konami)

Make no mistake, fighting Vulgin on Extreme is miserable. I know his attacks like the back of my ever-angry hand. I can now put him in a CQC chokehold, throw him to the ground and then shoot three stun shots into his ribs as casually as I turn on my kettle in the morning. The problem is that some attacks are sooooo hard to avoid. Like the one where he starts spraying bullets from his finger.

Worse? He then begins electrifying random areas of the claustrophobic fighting pit where the second part of the fight takes place.

To be honest, I have lost track of how many times I have fallen victim to Yevgeny Borisovich Volgin's fists. I know I have to essentially finish the fight without taking a hit, and that prospect currently makes me a little nauseous.

Even though my play time is “officially” less than four hours, I must have spent ten times that amount relearning large portions of the game so I could drag myself to an Elden Ring-level boss fight… without the crutch of sipping on it to be able to drink this delicious bottle of purple tears.

By the time I finally beat Volgin, get my FOXHOUND achievement, and put this way too obsessive playthrough behind me, the PS6 will probably be out.

My most wanted PS5 Pro game isn't out yet, so I pass the time with this PS3 classic – and it was a big mistake

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