The Metal Gear series pretty much invented a style of military action video games where sneaking around and a sly sense of humor are as important as blasting away.
Two new editions make these contrasts exceptionally clear.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the PlayStation 2 adds long-sought online multiplayer battles, while Metal Gear Acid 2 for the PlayStation Portable keeps things fun by including a 3D viewer.
'Subsistence'
Those who played last year's Snake Eater will find something oddly similar about Subsistence. That's because it's the same game! Well, not entirely.
The M-rated re-release of sorts from Konami Digital Entertainment-America has been reworked with some worthwhile extras. The single-player experience is mostly unchanged - a good thing for one of last year's best action games.
Set in the 1960s during the height of the Cold War, you play as Snake, an American super agent who must infiltrate the Soviet Union and stop a next-generation nuclear tank.
The online multiplayer modes are new and you can do battle with as many as seven players in the deathmatch arena.
The sneaking and rescue missions were particularly fun because they require teamwork and fit perfectly into the game's stealth combat design philosophy.
'Acid 2'
Metal Gear Acid 2 (M-rated) brings more of the same turn-based strategy to the PSP system as last year's version, with a few twists.
Compared to Subsistence, it's a slower pace, where you draw from a deck of cards that determine if you can evade or attack through treacherous warehouses and other enemy bastions.
After your move, the enemies all get a turn, and in that way it's much like a chess game - just with machine guns and stun grenades.
The graphics have been redone in a cell-shaded, comic book style that looked bright and clear on the PSP's spacious screen.
An included paper and plastic accessory fits around the PSP and lets viewers watch some of the game's lengthy cutscene movies in full 3D. But it's more of a gimmick than anything.
