{"id":38259,"date":"2005-02-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-02-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater\/"},"modified":"2005-02-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-02-17T00:00:00","slug":"metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/metal-gear-solid-3-snake-eater\/","title":{"rendered":"Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater"},"content":{"rendered":"

My original idea for this introduction was to be about how this
\nwas the first review for a videogame soundtrack on the Daily Vault.
\nI was getting all excited and thinking to myself, “Wow, here’s a
\nlittle bit of history! Even after when Jason has fired me for
\nstealing company funds, this review will still be here!” Well as it
\nturns out, Chris Thelen reviewed
\nThe Sounds of Gran Turismo<\/i>
\nway back in 1999<\/a>, thus claiming
\nwhat was to be my little niche in the annals of the Daily Vault. I
\nwon’t hold it against him. Anyways, I now present to you the second
\nvideogame soundtrack review ever here at the Vault (I think).<\/p>\n

For those who don’t know the
\nMetal Gear Solid<\/i> series, let me give you a little
\nbackground. Many believe these games to be some of the best ever on
\nany gaming console, due to the vision of director Hideo Kojima. If
\nI were to sum up what these games are about it would be this:
\ntactical espionage. In other words, you play a spy, who is code
\nnamed Snake. For
\nMetal Gear Solid 3<\/i> in particular, the story takes place in
\nthe ’60s, during the Cold War.<\/p>\n

For the past two
\nMetal Gear Solid<\/i> entries, Kojima realized the need for the
\nsoundtracks to his game to be more than just beeps and whistles. It
\nwas for this reason he recruited Harry Gregson-Williams, who has
\nscored such films as
\nEnemy Of The State<\/i>,
\nShrek 2<\/i>, and
\nBridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason<\/i>. Williams has brought
\ninstant legitimacy and success to an area of music no one really
\ncares about.<\/p>\n

However, Williams is not alone in this endeavor; he was assisted
\nby various Japanese artists who provide the soundtrack with a
\ntechno sound. In fact, the album consistently and successfully
\nmanages to blend both classical and techno sounds. Tracks such as
\n“Sidecar – Escape From The Fortress” or “Takin’ on the Woods”
\nusually feature techno beats as the foundation of the track, with
\nWilliams providing the orchestral, instrumental, and choral
\nflourishes.<\/p>\n

\nMetal Gear Solid 3<\/i>‘s action takes place almost entirely in
\nthe jungle, and that is accurately reflected in the music itself.
\nAlong with the primary techno beats, Williams incorporates congas,
\nflutes, native chanting, any sound to get the notion across at the
\ncore this music is supposed to reflect the primal side of man. When
\nthe Shagohod (essentially a walking nuclear tank) makes its first
\nappearance, Williams signals it with a methodical, and pulsating
\ndrum beat, perhaps representing the mechanical nature of the
\ndevice. This game is very violent at its core; this is bloody, and
\nbrutal material Williams has to work with, and he makes it
\nwork.<\/p>\n

Now, so far
\nMetal Gear Solid 3<\/i> has had all the elements of a good spy
\nmovie, but what is the one thing missing so far? That’s right, the
\nspy of the opposite sex. The tracks that involve EVA, the love
\ninterest for Snake, “EVA’s Unveiling” and “EVA’s Reminiscence” are
\nprimarily sultry, jazz-influenced numbers befitting of a spy’s
\nromance.<\/p>\n

The major flaw of this soundtrack is that it features 43 tracks.
\nThat is a lot of music to sift through, and many tracks fail to
\nstand out. Many are simply too short, and too derivative of the
\nother stellar tracks on the album. As a result, I found it
\ndifficult to listen to the entire album the whole way through.
\nThere are also ten tracks that have nothing to do with the overall
\ntheme, but are featured in some way during the game. While their
\ninclusion gives a more complete experience, they kill momentum.
\nHowever, despite the bloated nature of this work, there are many
\nstandout songs.<\/p>\n

The title track, “Snake Eater,” is a blatant attempt to copy a
\nJames Bond opening track, but in all honesty I found it to be a
\nbetter effort than any of the Bond opening numbers from the past
\nfew films. It captures that
\nGoldfinger<\/i>\/
\nThunderball<\/i> vibe, lending a sense of authenticity to the
\ntime period the game is set in. The various boss tracks (“The
\nPain,””The Fear,” “The Sorrow,” etc.) also are fun to listen to,
\nbut the coup de grace is the “Main Theme.” You will not find a
\nbetter theme in any video game than the one we are presented with
\nhere. It is performed various times throughout the album, in
\ndifferent ways, but it always retains an emotional poignancy. It’s
\nthe equivalent of the Bond theme; it can be used for both tender
\nand fast-paced moments.<\/p>\n

To go over every aspect of this album would be fruitless.
\nInstead, I’ve tried to condense it a way that gets the point across
\nthat
\nMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater<\/i> is a solid work of music,
\none that can be listened to on its own for the most part. That to
\nme demonstrates how successful this soundtrack is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6722],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-38259","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-original-soundtrack","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38259"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}