Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater’s difficulty level will change depending on whether you choose the new third-person or original fixed perspective 

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater’s production producer Noriaki Okamura and creative producer Yuji Korekado recently talked about the upcoming game and how it improves upon the original in an interview with Famitsu. Apart from the expected graphical updates, new improvements are being made; one of which is a new third-person perspective dubbed “New Style.” 

New Style is similar to the fully-rotatable third-person camera introduced in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence – the expanded release of the original 2004 title. With it, players can more easily take note of their surroundings and move in their desired direction. While Subsistence’s rotatable third-person camera provided more depth perception and awareness, shooting while using this mode was like trying to hit a bullseye with a shotgun. To fire accurate shots, players had to switch to the first-person mode which tended to feel clunky because of how Snake stood in place.  

What makes Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater’s New Style camera different from the Subsistence camera is that it’splaced ever-so-slightly behind Naked Snake’s shoulder. Not only does this provide more screen space to see what’s in front of Snake, but it also allows for quick switching to a new over-the-shoulder aiming mode (complete with fully free movement). First-person mode will still be in the game, along with the traditional fixed camera Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is known for (now dubbed “Legacy Style”). 

Players can choose between New Style and Legacy Style when playing Metal Gear Solid, but cannot switch between the two during gameplay. While a feature to switch between perspective styles was planned, Korekado stated that they had to scrap it since New Style made the old game too easy: 

“The New Style provides a wider, linear field of view, and you can shoot your gun while moving Snake, which made the difficulty level lower than we had expected. However, if we were to adjust things to match the New Style, that would make the Legacy Style too difficult. That’s why we decided to split the two play styles.” 

Based on Korekado’s statement, it seems players will have the option to choose between New Style and Legacy Style at the start of the game. Legacy Style playthroughs will be much closer to the original game’s difficulty, while playthroughs using the New Style are being adjusted accordingly. 

While the fixed top-down camera was once synonymous with Metal Gear Solid, more recent entries like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain show how the franchise has evolved to accommodate for players’ needs. Modern players will most likely go for New Style, but it’s good to see that Legacy Style exists for those with a hankering for some nostalgia.