Summary
The jungles of Russia brought with it game-changing mechanics that helped cementMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eateras one of the best entries in the series. With it, came a slew of excellent boss battles, some of which offered stealthy approaches as viable tactics. It’s only fitting thatMetal Gear Solid 3features some of the best boss battles in the series.
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That’s not to say that those battles alone were the best. In fact, so many hair-raising, adrenaline-fueled encounters are on offer, with even more attack patterns to memorize and clever secrets to season each fight with. With that being said, it’s not easy to agree on the all-time best, but there are some that shine much brighter in comparison.
10The Sorrow
The fight against The Sorrow isn’t really a fight at all. It’s more of an interactive set piece that requires slowly wading through the water tododge incoming specters and other psychic attacks. Ergo, it’s a bit of a faux-boss fight in a sense, since The Sorrow is already dead and thus cannot be killed or attacked.
The only goal here is to keep moving and survive, then use the Revival pill when Naked Snake “dies” at the end of the trek. A devious move and an obscure solution by the developers right there. But, again, it leans heavily towards the cinematic side of things.
9Ocelot Unit
After Snake meets EVA and gets some shut-eye, Ocelot’s Spetsnaz unit swoops in. These soldiers must be defeated to advance, and, like before, it’s a bit ofa cheeky move to call it a ‘boss battle’in the traditional sense.
Still, they’re not like the usual enemy sentries, and are clearly more perceptive to their surroundings, making it more tense than evading a pack of normal guards. Plus, they’re wielding shotguns, sniper rifles, and so on. It makes for an interesting challenge early on, and the player is given a chance to put their camouflage and CQC skills to good use, yet it doesn’t leave a lasting impression and feels more like training for bigger things to come.
8Ocelot
Fightingthe young Revolver Ocelotat the canyon makes for quite the showdown. It’s nothing particularly flashy when compared to the later encounters, but it’s certainly an enjoyable battle.
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What helps are the additional ways one can get the upper hand against him. Shooting his hat off will prompt him to grab it, leaving him exposed. Even hornet nests can be shot to land on his head for a cheeky distraction. Like in the first game, the number of bullets in his weapons’ chambers is marked on-screen, which helps show when he will likely be taking a moment to reload and gloat.
7The Fear
The Fear is a tricky foe to make fall, thanks to his camouflaging abilities and skittish movements, but Thermal Goggles will make the battle considerably easier. What it mostly boils down to is trying to blast him as he’s leaping around. Dodging his crossbow bolts is easy enough, but it’s a fairly tense encounter on the whole, and utilizing Snake’s own camouflage to play hide-and-seek with him adds to this.
Thankfully, there are more than a few tricks here that help spice up the experience.Throwing spoiled or poisoned foodwhen he’s injured is but one example. He’ll rush over to eat it in order to regain stamina, only to get hurt. Clever stuff. Yet, the other Cobras offer more exciting encounters.
6The Pain
The Pain puts on quite the show with this army of bees and hornets that serve as armor, carry grenades to the player’s position, and carry an SMG to him. It serves as a great fight against the first of the many bizarre troops Naked Snake must kill. What’s unique about this one, however, is that there is very little land to stand on, prompting the player to pop in and out of the water to take shots.
Naturally, this comes at a price, that being limited oxygen. That never gets in the way of things, however. In fact, it’s a lot of fun to be able to resurface to toss grenades or take potshots, and there’s just enough time to react accordingly when he’s preparing another attack.
5The Fury
Claustrophobic corridors and raging fire are not a good combination. Here, it only makes the fight against The Fury all the more memorable. Bolting back and forth with his fire-spewing jetpack, he’ll spew flames over a large radius, which is enough to make any seasoned player break a sweat.
Thankfully, there are some platforms and gaps in the corridors that allow the opportunity to dodge and pop out for some shots and slashes of the knife against him. It’s a lot more invigorating compared to the previous boss encounter, as the fire will eat up more of the surrounding area, forcing players to get closer. Avery dangerous and brilliant boss.
4Volgin
In such a cramped space, thefight against Volginwill make players think twice about simply whipping out the biggest gun they have, and it benefits from that. Covering himself with electricity, he’ll usually be vulnerable when he’s attacking, so it’s always a matter of dodging and going for a counterattack with ranged or melee attacks.
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He’ll also fire bullets either from his hands or scattered around. Again, it prompts constant movement and vigilance in this battle. Plus, some interesting things will happen in response to certain actions (e.g. wearing the mask that looks like his beloved Major Raikov). Truly excellent stuff.
3The Shagohod
Compared to the battles with the Metal Gears in the previous entries, the Shagohod shakes things up by putting Snake beside EVA on a motorbike, offering additional mobility at the cost of stable aiming. Even then, missiles, machine gun fire, and its spinning treads make for a frightening combination.
Soon enough, Volgin will pop out in the second phase of the fight, exposing a new weak point to stop the Shagohod for good. Since Snake is naturally slower on foot in comparison to a motorbike, the attacks are much more likely to hit. Switching between explosives and sniper fire is a dance that never stops being satisfying.
2The Boss
The finale is easily one of the most emotionally impactful moments in the entire series. During it,The Boss is unrelenting with her attacks, firing wildly with her Patriot from afar and forcefully grappling Snake up close.
It’s a fantastic setting to round things off in. A field of flowers offers camouflage galore, providing one has the right threads, and almost every weapon earned and trick learned is going to come in handy here. And, with a timer to top things off, it’s an urgent rush to unwillingly put down Snake’s mentor for good. It’s challenging in terms of gameplay, and considering how cutting it is from a storytelling standpoint.
1The End
Dueling withThe Endmakes for the best boss battle in the game. While there are a few shortcuts to bypass this, not to mention a few ways to completely muck up the battle, this is best experienced to its fullest. A handful of different areas will have The End hiding in greenery, firing at Naked Snake from afar. Even if he’s using tranquilizer darts, it remains befittingly tense.
It’s a slow burn of a fight, but one that is bubbling with tension. After all, he’s trying to remain as stealthy as possible. That feeling of gradually chipping away at him feels like an uphill battle, yet every nugget of progress feels extremely rewarding. Sniping, holding up from behind, capturing and releasing his parrot, listening via Directional Microphone; so much thought has been put into it, and the end result is utterly breathtaking.
