Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater (PS2)

(Herald rating: ****)

I'd never have expected footage of John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, the world leaders of the 60s, to turn up in a Metal Gear Solid video game. But feeding off the event that defined both of their careers - the Cuban missile crisis - was a smart move.

Had a futuristic Snake Eater hit the market at the same time as Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, I fear it may have come off second-best. The historic setting, and low-tech feel ground the game in reality and the story is full of intrigue.

In this take on history, the Russian ships heading for Cuba turn around not because of promises to demobilise US missiles in Turkey, but because a defecting Russian nuclear scientist, Sokolov, is handed kicking and screaming back to the Russians.

They want him back to build a rocket-propelled tank that can launch nuclear weapons.

Our hero, David "Snake" Hayter, a young Chuck Norris, is dropped into a Russian jungle to secretly rescue Sokolov and destroy his invention. The twist is that Snake's old mentor, the Boss, has defected and now faces off against him. A juicy storyline, and everything is delicately thought out.

The man behind the Metal Gear Solid games, Hideo Kojima, is a gaming genius, a sort of John Woo of video games.

But he threatens to lose us at the beginning of Snake Eater with ludicrously long cut scenes and torturous dialogue.

Snake sneers his way through conversations that are designed to give us critical information. But the story-telling has the subtlety of the AK-47s he faces when he parachutes into the Russian jungle.

Nevertheless, once Snake is on the ground the game begins to flow. The scenery - jungle mountain tops, ravines and a series of military buildings - is impressive.

The organic surroundings are lush and a refreshing change from the gritty interiors of previous Metal Gear Solids and a host of other action adventure games.

The first task Snake must complete is rescue his backpack which lodged in a tree on his descent. From then, explosive skirmishes with Russian soldiers and one-on-one fights are interspersed with food gathering and tending to wounds.

Yes, it's not all-out action for Snake. As he becomes injured he has to help himself to get back to full-strength.

He will work on a bullet wound with his knife to remove the slug, then bathe it in disinfectant. Spider bites are treated with an antidote. To keep his stamina up he also has to hunt - fish, wild mushroom and rabbits make up his diet.

If you don't tend to these things you will eventually run out of puff. They generally add to the game and make you more aware of your vital signs.

There is a visibility meter and you will need to camouflage yourself to stay out of sight and sneak up on soldiers. The radar of old, which showed approaching enemies in previous Metal Gear Solid games is gone, yet to be invented in 1963.

The gameplay is smooth, the controls complex but easy to master. It's a sophisticated game that will take up to 15 hours to finish. Snake Eater restores some credibility to the Metal Gear series.

But let's hope Kojima puts his Snake metaphor to bed and shows us some of his other tricks.

* $120 (R15)