Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is the prequel to the entire Metal Gear series. Most of the series' defining gameplay elements have been carried over and as before, Snake must use stealth and wits rather than…

86 17 November 2004

Adventure Shooter Tactical Action Drama Fantasy Historical

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is an adventure developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan, released 17 November 2004 on PlayStation 2. The main story takes about 13.8 hrs to finish.

Verified 15 Oct 2026 Sources: IGDB , Wikipedia

What Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is an adventure game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and released in 2004. It was published by Konami. It is available on PlayStation 2 only.

The premise, in the publisher's words

At the height of the Cold War, America's greatest agent known as The Boss defects to the Soviet Union. At the same time, an extremist named Colonel Volgin fires an American-made portable nuclear missile at the Soviet design bureau OKB-754, sparking an international incident. In order for America to clear its name and avoid World War III, a man named John and codenamed Naked Snake is dispatched by the special forces unit FOX to assassinate the woman who taught him everything.

Description from the publisher · source

How it plays

It is played from a bird view / isometric perspective. Its themes are action, drama, fantasy and historical. It is a single-player game with no multiplayer component.

Where it sits in the Metal Gear series

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is the 19th of 70 entries we hold in the Metal Gear series. The next entry was Metal Gear Acid in 2004. Its critic score of 86 is 5 points above the series average of 81. The highest-rated entry is Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence at 98.

See all 70 Metal Gear games in release order →

How it was received

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater holds a critic score of 86 out of 100. That places it above 86% of the 7,525 rated adventure games in our database, which average 72. Games released in 2004 averaged 70, so it scored 16 points above the year average. Player ratings track closely with critics at 89, across 1,290 votes.

How long it takes, and what that costs

The main story runs about 13.8 hrs.

What it launched against

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater launched on 17 November 2004, within three weeks of Half-Life 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords, World of Warcraft and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. It reviewed better than 1 of the 4.

Released around the same time: Half-Life 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords, World of Warcraft, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

Cheats and codes

We have not confirmed any working cheat codes for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater yet. Rather than reprint a list we have not tested, this section stays empty until one is verified.

Know one? Send it in and we will test it →