Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Japanese: メタルギアソリッド3 スネーク・イーター, Hepburn: Metaru Gia Soriddo Surī Sunēku Ītā?, commonly abbreviated to MGS3) is an award-winning stealth action video game directed by Hideo Kojima. Snake Eater was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2, and was released on November 17, 2004 in North America; December 16, 2004 in Japan; March 4, 2005 in Europe; and on March 17, 2005 in Australia. The game, which serves as a prequel to the entire Metal Gear series, was followed by three direct sequels titled Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes.

Set in the Cold War-era Soviet Union, the story centers on FOX operative Naked Snake as he attempts to rescue a weapons designer and sabotage an experimental superweapon. While previous games were set in a primarily urban environment, Snake Eater adopts a 1960s Soviet jungle setting, with the high tech, near-future trappings of previous Metal Gear Solid games being replaced with the wilderness. While the setting has changed, the game's focus remains on stealth and infiltration, while retaining the series' self-referential, fourth wall-breaking sense of humor. The story of Snake Eater is told through numerous cut scenes and radio conversations.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was well-received both publicly and critically, selling 3.96 million copies worldwide and scoring a highly positive 91% on the review aggregate sites Game Rankings and Metacritic.