Metal Gear Solid Delta: What We Know So Far

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is right around the corner and, will come out on August 28, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, is a new game in one of the most recognised series in gaming. I have personally been a fan since the series made its way to the PS1 with the critically acclaimed Metal Gear Solid. There have been some great releases this year on all platforms and even some top slots games, but this new instalment of Metal Gear is 100% the game I am most excited about.

This new version seems to be a professionally constructed copy of the 2004 classic Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The game has the same basic gameplay and dramatic Cold War plot as the first one, but it adds new graphics and features. This article tells you everything you need to know about the game’s rating, story, gameplay enhancements, and history of development. It allows super fans like myself and new players who want to play this famous game in 2025 some ideas.

M18 Rating: Violence and Sexual Content

The IMDA assigned Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater an M18 grade because it had “intense depictions of violence” and “sexual references.” The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) granted this game a Mature 17+ rating because it involves blood, violence, sexual themes, and in-game purchases. The IMDA’s comprehensive review emphasises on the game’s violent content, which includes scenes of stabbing, throat-slashing, burning, and a lot of bloodshed during combat. The adult rating is also because of things like dead bodies, bloodstains, and red screen flashes when the main character gets harmed. All of these things are in line with Singapore’s M18 rules for realistic violence.

The remake preserves the sexual references that were a key element of the original’s weird tone. The IMDA says that there are ladies with curves in revealing attire, pin-up magazines all over the place, and talks that hint at sexual matters. Some of the specific things are a character touching another character’s breasts, camera angles that focus on cleavage, and a “Peep Demo Theatre” mode that lets players see cutscenes from a first-person point of view that focus on a female character’s body. Even though these passages are controversial, they show that Konami is committed to retaining the original’s blend of fun and seriousness, which is what Hideo Kojima wanted.

The Cold War: A Story That Will Never Get Old

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is set in 1964 during the Cold War and follows Naked Snake, a CIA operative, on a secret mission in the Tselinoyarsk region of the Soviet Union. Snake’s mission to save scientist Nikolai Sokolov, who is working on the nuclear-equipped Shagohod tank, is thrown off course when his mentor, The Boss, betrays him and joins the Soviet side with her elite Cobra Unit. After being betrayed, Snake is sent back to murder The Boss, destroy the Shagohod, and get rid of any Soviet suspicion in the United States. He has to deal with a complicated web of spies and political games.

The storyline, which is the same as the original, is an essential aspect of the franchise’s history because it chronicles Big Boss’s story and sets the stage for succeeding Metal Gear games. The IMDA and other sources state that the story is quite intense, with scenes showing terrible things like a character getting beaten, electrocuted, or shot in the eye. The game’s villains, such the cruel GRU Colonel Volgin and the Cobra Unit, each have their unique powers. For example, The Pain can manipulate hornets, and The Fury can utilise flamethrowers. This makes the plot more fascinating and puts Snake’s loyalty and willpower to the test. Konami used the original voice recordings, which included David Hayter as Snake, so the plot maintains faithful to its emotional weight and realism.

Finding a Balance Between Old and New in Gameplay

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater offers the same stealth-action gameplay as the original from 2004, but it has been updated with new features and upgrades that make life easier. Players control Naked Snake as he walks through tropical and industrial areas. He can dodge enemies by being stealthy or combat them with a variety of weapons and methods. The IMDA talks about game possibilities that vary from regular warfare with knives, handguns, machine guns, and explosives to more bizarre ones like claiming to be dead with a pill or employing tranquillizers to knock out enemies. These mechanics show off the series’ distinctive combination of tactical spying and imaginative problem solving.

Newer Features

The remake makes a lot of changes to bring it up to current with how games are made nowadays.

Control Schemes: Players can choose between “New Style,” which includes easy-to-use controls and a third-person camera that moves freely, like in Metal Gear Solid 4 and Peace Walker, and “Legacy Style,” which has the same fixed camera and classic controls as the original for a nostalgic experience.

From Metal Gear Solid: How to Crouch-Walk and Aim with Guns Snake Eater 3D lets Snake crouch-walk to move more quickly and target weapons in third-person, making the game easier to play and more accurate.

Battle Damage System: Snake’s clothes and body reveal real-time damage like cuts, bruises, and holes from gunshots. Even after getting help, the scars stay on his body. Adding leaves, filth, and tears to your gear makes the game more immersive and works with the new camouflage system.

Seamless Transitions: Better transitions between cutscenes and gameplay, such when Snake dynamically picks up his backpack, make the game more immersive.

Pausable Cutscenes: This quality-of-life feature lets players pause protracted cutscenes, which is a popular criticism about the original’s long story sections.

Photo option: A new photo option enables players capture pictures of and edit in-game events with programmable camera settings, making the game more exciting to play again.

More Ways

The remake has a lot of extra modes that make the game more entertaining.

Secret Theatre: Players can find amusing outtakes from cutscenes by collecting 8mm film canisters. These outtakes have both old PS2 movies and new ones that were made for the remake.

The “Snake vs. Monkey” minigame is available on both the PlayStation 5 and PC. It has something to do with Sony’s Ape Escape. The Xbox Series X/S version contains “Snake vs. Bomberman,” which is a Konami-only version that plays like a normal Bomberman game.

Fox Hunt is a new feature for multiplayer games that will be available online in the autumn of 2025. It is based on the game hide-and-seek and is all about staying hidden and staying alive. This mode is different from Metal Gear Online because it is all about hiding and sneaking about in competitive matches.

These additional features make sure that both old and new fans will like the game. They find a good mix between staying authentic to the original and making it easier to play.

Development Context: Konami’s Return to the Big Time Gaming World

Konami focused on mobile and arcade games for a spell after Hideo Kojima left in 2015. Their first large AAA console game since 2018’s Metal Gear Survive is Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Konami Digital Entertainment worked with Virtuos, a firm based in Singapore, to develop the remake. Noriaki Okamura and Yuji Korekado, who have both worked on the series before, are in charge of it. The choice to remake Snake Eater was made because it is the first game in the series and shows Big Boss’s early years.

Konami’s pledge to provide a “faithful” remake is demonstrated by the fact that they used the original voice recordings and preserved the story and basic design. The delta sign (Δ) denotes “change without changing structure.” Unreal Engine 5 is used to make the game’s graphics and 3D sound cutting-edge. This helps the jungle area feel more lifelike. Okamura has set up the project as a way for Konami’s production team to learn new skills and get ready for new Metal Gear games, even if neither Kojima nor original artist Yoji Shinkawa are involved.

David Hayter, who plays Naked Snake, is optimistic about the brand’s future without Kojima. He said it was like how Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan each developed their own Batman films. Hayter claimed that a new team might develop a “amazing” Metal Gear game, even if it isn’t in the same manner as Kojima’s. Okamura, the producer, thinks of Delta as a friend and a possible successor for the original. The Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection makes sure that players can receive the 2004 version, but they can choose which one they want.

Points of View from Fans and the Industry

Various people have varied opinions about the decision to make a near-1:1 replica. Fans of sites like X are thrilled that the “Guy Savage” nightmare scene from Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence is back in the game and that Secret Theatre and other weird aspects are still there. On the other side, some people are not sure and argue that the game’s adherence to the original, even employing voice recordings from 2004, may make it less enticing to people who seek something new. They say it’s not as bold as the remake of Final Fantasy VII. Some people don’t like Unreal Engine 5 since they think it doesn’t look good together and has performance issues. But Konami’s usage of PS5 Pro improvements, such as higher framerates and richer environments, is aimed at remedying these problems.

The fact that Kojima isn’t there, which is a polarising subject, is still up for debate. Some fans think Delta is just a “cashgrab” because he’s not participating, but others like that Konami is trying to honour the original while making it look more modern. Hayter’s support and the addition of platform-specific features, like the Snake vs. Bomberman mode for Xbox, show that Konami wants to appeal to a wide spectrum of consumers.

Details and versions for release

When Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is released, there will be different versions of it.

Standard Edition: You get the main game plus a White Tuxedo suit as a bonus for pre-ordering.

The Digital Deluxe Edition includes with a SteelBook cover, a FOX patch, a metal keychain, art cards, and the Sneaking DLC Pack, which adds new masks and uniforms.

A HALO jump patch, a fake key card, and a “Terrarium Diorama” that shows the Dremuchij region are all included in the Collector’s Edition.

You can choose between Quality mode (4K at 30 fps) and Performance mode (1080p at 60 fps) to play the game. The graphics and frame rates are better on the PS5 Pro. You need at least an Intel i5-8600 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with an RTX 2060 Super to play on a PC. An Intel i7-8700K or Ryzen 5 3600 with an RTX 3080 and 100GB of storage is the optimal setup for you.