Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater became an instant classic when it debuted on the PS2 well over a year ago now, turning in the best game in the series yet and once again reminding us of just how brilliant Hideo Kojima is. Snake Eater pushed the PS2 and the Metal Gear franchise to its utmost potential, with new gameplay features such as camouflage, close-quarters combat, hunting and survival elements, a gorgeous and challenging new jungle environment, an epic (albeit occasionally hokey) storyline and awe-inducing graphical and audio productions, all tied together by the typical, much-beloved series conventions, making it a must-buy gaming experience. As good as Snake Eater was, an awkward camera system and a few other little quirks kept the game from being flawless, but thanks to the efforts of Kojima Productions in fixing the game's only significant downfall, we can now all enjoy the game as it probably should've been to begin with, in the new Snake Eater 'director's cut' release, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.

At the low price it'll cost you to pick up a copy of Subsistence, you sure do get a hell of a lot of content out of the game's two discs of both new and old material (there's also a three-disc limited edition release if you can find it). On the first disc, entitled 'Subsistence' unsurprisingly enough, is the original Snake Eater game from 2004 in its glorious stealth-action splendor, along with a few subtle goodies and one major addition. Aside from the Demo Theater filled with the game's cut scenes, new camo and face paint patterns, and an all-new and brutally hard 'European Extreme' difficulty setting (the game ends upon being seen by the enemy, so yes, it's hard!), the main attraction to the Subsistence disc is the new and improved third-person camera system. Set as the default view from the outset, this new third-person camera does away with the old top-down bird's eye perspective and enables you to manually rotate the camera a full 360-degress at any time, which makes the gameplay much more intuitive and effortless. You can switch back and forth between the two views on the fly by pushing in the right analog stick if you so desire; but once you experience the new system there's no way you'll ever want to go back - unless you're completely crazy, or just like to make things difficult for yourself!

For the first few minutes, the new third-person camera doesn't seem like a huge deal. However, upon first encountering a group of guards you'll instantly recognize just how significant an improvement it truly is; constantly stopping to enter the first-person view to probe the surrounding area is completely eliminated (and good riddance), providing the gameplay with a far better flow and a more cohesive pace. No longer do you have to fight with the camera to see around a corner, only to get spotted simply because you didn't get an adequate view of the landscape. While this is certainly helpful for the core game areas, this new camera proves its worth in gold during the numerous boss battles. Strangely, though, the final showdown with The Boss forces the old camera upon you as the only option, but I guess that was done to preserve the cinematic flair of the game's climactic battle.

One other subtle enhancement the new camera brings is a new appreciation for the game's spectacular graphics, which actually look even better over a year later thanks to the ability to get even closer to the action. Other than the camera change, the Subsistence version of the Snake Eater story is exactly the same, which means some of the minor flaws from before are still present, such as occasionally cornball scriptwriting and the game's slow-moving first hour or two that has you watching more than actually playing.

The Subsistence disc alone is worth paying for all by itself; however, the second disc is loaded with even more extras to sweeten this Metal Gear Solid pot of pure action/adventure goodness. Entitled 'Persistence', the second disc in this package is nothing short of phenomenal. For starters, you get a few new Snake vs. Monkey mini-game missions to sniggle and giggle your way through, complete with the new third-person camera to make them that much more enjoyable. Then there is the Duel Mode, which compiles every single Snake Eater boss battle into one location, adding a time attack mentality to them. You'll definitely find a ton of replay value here, since the bosses are the best part of the game. Showing off Kojima's bizarre and hilarious sense of humor is the new Secret Theater, which presents the kooky MGS trailer from last year's E3, the gut-busting Metal Gear Raiden: Snake Eraser short and a collection of outtake-type cut scenes that are sure to have fans laughing non-stop. Even funnier is the opening 'plot' setup for the Snake vs. Monkey mode, in which the developers show that they enjoy poking fun at their series and other stealth/action mascot characters.

For the old-school at heart, the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake titles from the MSX computer system have been included in this deal as well, bringing both titles to North American shores for the first time ever (these aren't the NES titles). Although I've obviously never played either game prior to this, I think it's safe to say that they are high quality ports that run up to speed and play well on the PS2 dual-shock. Metal Gear fans should kill for Subsistence, just to get these original classics that started off what is one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time, especially seeing how both are still a blast to play. It's also nice to finally play Metal Gear 2, which clearly shows what the current-age MGS titles evolved from.

I've listed some pretty sweet improvements and extra content so far, but undoubtedly the most anticipated addition Subsistence brings to the Metal Gear mythos is online multiplayer functionality for the first time in the series' history. Simply hearing the words Metal Gear Online is sure to be enough to get any fan going gaga over tracking down a copy of Subsistence no matter what, but the fact that the online suite is feature-packed makes it all the better. There are five modes of play, each supporting up to eight players with twelve maps to play on, with all of your typical online options, such as stat tracking, friends lists, voice chat and so on. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are no-brainer inclusions and completely self-explanatory for any multiplayer gamer, but the additional modes of Rescue Mission, Sneaking Mission and Capture Mission are what this game's multiplayer is all about.

As the only mode featuring Snake as a playable character, Sneaking Mission has one player in the role of Snake attempting to steal a secret microfilm and return it to the base, while the remaining players do whatever they can to make sure that doesn't happen. The Rescue and Capture Mission modes, however, divide players into two teams in three different factions (GRU, KGB and Ocelot Unit), with Rescue Mission tasking one team with capturing Gako (a rubber duck) defended by the opposing team and Capture pitting two teams against one another for control over possession of the Kerotan (one of those frog figures that are hidden in the single-player game) in what is essentially a capture-the-flag variant. Each of the game's factions has a special character, including Ocelot, Sokolov and Major Raikov, who doubles as the team leader. At the end of matches, the player with the highest score takes over control of the special character for their respective team. What fans will surely appreciate is the online play's authenticity to the series' gameplay; this isn't some SOCOM rip-off plastered with Metal Gear characters - it is a true online Metal Gear Solid experience. Franchise staples and new MGS 3 mechanics, like hiding and sneaking around in cardboard boxes, camouflage, CQC and using items to cause distractions, are all here to lend a unique and refreshing take on third-person multiplayer warfare.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence should basically sell itself on its own without the need of any reviewer's, seal of approval, but for the sake of anyone who has yet to buy this game, or is skeptical about doing so because they already own the original Snake Eater, I'll reiterate that you absolutely, positively must buy this if you own a PS2 - it's that simple! Although I have been unable to take a look at the limited edition version of Subsistence, which includes a third disc (Existence) featuring an MGS3 movie that's over three hours, using the game's cut-scenes seamlessly edited together, for only 10 dollars more than the standard two-disc release it is without doubt the way to go for any fan or collector. What, are you still here? Go buy it already!

Reviewed by Matt Litten for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).