Metal Gear Solidis a strange choice for a cinematic adaptation. Hideo Kojima’s beloved tactical espionage action franchise is known for a lot of things. Its innovative gameplay choices seem inextricable from the franchise’s success. Many often complain that the games interrupt the stellar stealth experience with long and winding cutscenes. No one suggested cutting out the interactivity as a potential solution. The story is well worth exploring on the big screen, but honing in on a single story might help the filmmakers capture something interesting.
Movie studios threaten to make video game adaptations all the time. They frequently fizzle out, fall apart, or morph into something else. The failed effort to make theHalomovie gave humanityDistrict 9thirteen years before it resultedin aHaloTV show. People keep saying they’re going to make aTetrismovie, but only the legal drama about the game’s creation has ever made it to the screen.Metal Gear Solidseems more likely to make it to the screen, but it’s still something of a long shot.
Metal Gear Solid 3Would Make a Great Movie
The story of theMetal Gear Solidfranchise can’t exist in a single film. The games struggle to contain it with dozens of hours and the power of interactive narrative to play with. If anyone wants to doMetal Gear Solidon the big screen, they likely have a franchise in mind. That means they should intend to make several entries that cover the fullness of the saga. Imagine learning theMetal Gear Solidfranchise’s narrative and experiencing that world for the first time. Imagine getting that information in chronological order, understanding every detail as it comes. A lot of video game movies struggle to differentiate themselves from their source material.Metal Gear Solidwould not likely have that problem, but it could deliver something wholly new by approaching the story in a new direction. There are a few good reasons to adaptMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Metal Gear Solid 3is the Beginning of the Franchise
Snake Eatertakes place in 1964, deep in the tumultuous chaos of the Cold War. It is, to date, the chronological beginning of the game series. The firstMetal Geartitle covered 1995, while theoriginalMetal Gear Solidbegins in 2005. It’s a prequel, as are several intervening entries.MGS 3follows Naked Snake, the special forces operative who would later provide the genetic material used to create franchise hero Solid Snake. When the game came out, it offered a chance to see the legendary villain of the first twoMetal Geartitles in action. The story could have very different implications without the other games. In a feature film, they could start with Big Boss and move into the stories that created the other heroes.
Metal Gear Solid 3is the Best Received Game in the Franchise
Looking exclusively at review scores,MGS 3and the originalMGSare the unquestioned champions of the series. The classicMetal Gear Solidremains one of the most groundbreaking and important titles in the history of the medium. While its sequel attracted some controversy,Metal Gear Solid 3becamean instant classic. Many will proudly proclaim the third title as the best stealth game ever made.MGS 3’s aesthetic, music, and presentation live on through a million references. Its story is also a bit easier to understand than that of the rest of the franchise. Without large swaths of the story in place, a new audience might findSnake Eaterrelatively straightforward.
Metal Gear Solid 3is In Right Now
The lastMetal Geartitle to come out, aside from legacy collections and re-releases, isMetal Gear Survive. The less said about that game, the better. The next entry will beMetal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. It’s an expansive remake ofMGS 3with all the advanced technology one can expect from 20 years of new developments. Konami had left the franchise in a bin for years, and they needed to decide how to bring it back. They settled on aSnake Eaterremake for all the previously listed reasons. It’s excellent, memorable, and important. TheMetal Gear Solidfilmmakers could use the same logic to start withMGS 3.
TheMetal Gear SolidMovie Probably Won’t UseMGS 3
IfMetal Gear Solidever gets a movie, it will almost certainly be an adaptation ofthe original 1998 game.MGS 3is likely a bolder choice for a boardroom of supervisors who would wonder why the most notable character in the franchise isn’t in it. Solid Snake has to be the main character of aMetal Gearmovie. The movie will almost certainly lean into the popularity of the first game and its consistent popularity in things likeSmash Bros. Starting a franchise withSnake Eaterimplies a level of dedication that no logical studio would put in. However, adaptingMetal Gearat all is a bold and absurd move. They might as well take it as far as possible.
Metal Gear Solid 3would make an exciting, strange, and engaging survival-action movie. It may never make it to the screen, but it would almost certainly be a fascinating project.Making aMetal Gearmovieis almost certainly a bad idea, butSnake Eatercould be the best way to mitigate the countless problems the project would raise.
