Metal Gear Solid is 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 the Halo movie gave humanity District 9 thirteen years before it resulted in a Halo TV show. People keep saying they’re going to make a Tetris movie, but only the legal drama about the game’s creation has ever made it to the screen. Metal Gear Solid seems more likely to make it to the screen, but it’s still something of a long shot.
Metal Gear Solid 3 Would Make a Great Movie
The story of the Metal Gear Solid franchise 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 do Metal Gear Solid on 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 the Metal Gear Solid franchise’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 Solid would 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 adapt Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is the Beginning of the Franchise
Snake Eater takes place in 1964, deep in the tumultuous chaos of the Cold War. It is, to date, the chronological beginning of the game series. The first Metal Gear title covered 1995, while the original Metal Gear Solid begins in 2005. It’s a prequel, as are several intervening entries. MGS 3 follows 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 two Metal Gear titles 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 3 is the Best Received Game in the Franchise
Looking exclusively at review scores, MGS 3 and the original MGS are the unquestioned champions of the series. The classic Metal Gear Solid remains one of the most groundbreaking and important titles in the history of the medium. While its sequel attracted some controversy, Metal Gear Solid 3 became an 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 find Snake Eater relatively straightforward.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is In Right Now
The last Metal Gear title to come out, aside from legacy collections and re-releases, is Metal Gear Survive. The less said about that game, the better. The next entry will be Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. It’s an expansive remake of MGS 3 with 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 a Snake Eater remake for all the previously listed reasons. It’s excellent, memorable, and important. The Metal Gear Solid filmmakers could use the same logic to start with MGS 3.
The Metal Gear Solid Movie Probably Won’t Use MGS 3
If Metal Gear Solid ever gets a movie, it will almost certainly be an adaptation of the original 1998 game. MGS 3 is 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 a Metal Gear movie. The movie will almost certainly lean into the popularity of the first game and its consistent popularity in things like Smash Bros. Starting a franchise with Snake Eater implies a level of dedication that no logical studio would put in. However, adapting Metal Gear at all is a bold and absurd move. They might as well take it as far as possible.
Metal Gear Solid 3 would 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 a Metal Gear movie is almost certainly a bad idea, but Snake Eater could be the best way to mitigate the countless problems the project would raise.
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