Metal Gear Solid 3 fans fear for Snake’s life as Konami reveals the stealth remake will permanently scar its protagonist for every injury

Metal Gear Solid 3 remake has upgraded its “battle damage system” so every wound on Snake and his clothes will permanently remain for the rest of the game.

Yesterday at the Xbox Games Showcase for Summer Game Fest 2024, Konami debuted an action-packed new trailer for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Curiously, one omitted detail from the trailer popped up on Konami’s website, which was then reported by Kotaku: Snake will permanently retain injuries on his body and clothes.

“The battle damage system has been upgraded, with the wear and tear of Snake’s clothes, as well as bruises and bullet wounds on his body, reflected in real-time,” proclaims Konami’s official website of Metal Gear Solid 3’s remake. “Any injuries to his actual body will leave their mark permanently, telling a story of each player’s unique journey through the game.”

This is excellent, obviously, but it also weirdly feels like an expansion of the boss fight against The Sorrow. The original Metal Gear Solid 3 kept a tracker of everyone you’d murdered and then had their ghostly remains walking at you down a river during the boss fight against The Sorrow, as the antagonist basically taunts you for all the poor soldiers you’ve gunned down. Now you’re carrying even more history with you in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.

It sort of goes without saying that Metal Gear Solid fans, both new and old, love the added detail in Konami’s remake. Everyone’s basically making the same joke: their Naked Snake’s are going to look like death by the time they’re halfway through the game, let alone facing down The Boss at the conclusion of the whole stealth-espionage adventure.

This definitely does feel like a feature Hideo Kojima would’ve tried to add in the original game, only to be told “no” by his budget and producers. I suppose this actually is a Kojima feature, in a way – The Phantom Pain would let you sustain bloody details from battles if you pointedly refused to use a shower and refresh Punished Snake. I guess this is a nice little follow-up, in a way.

Take a look at our new games 2024 guide for an overview of all the games probably arriving before Konami’s remake.