The sanctioned account under Konami has issued an enquiry regarding gameplay tips for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Additionally, the tweet instructs players to prepare for both close-range, as well as distant combat. From an analytical perspective, the users are already in combat struggling with the game’s performance, which has been a struggle from day one. The tweet seeks to sing praises of combat, as witnessed with Snakes parrying attacks and detailing the MGS classic that everyone grew up loving. But the overwhelming majority of people in the comments section can only talk about a landmine of complaints. It is abundantly clear that the users are extremely dissatisfied.
One of the users, Justin Mabb, is unable to cope with the situation and goes on to criticize the game stating that it was not playable. “I can’t play this game, seriously,” he responded. “Cutscenes have no audio and the game freezes every few seconds. Completely unplayable.” Mabb is far from the only user to experience this level of game-breaking issues. Another user with the handle ‘AIberSnake’ also spoke out, not bothering to stand on ceremony while calling out the official account with “Fix the fucking game.” If that’s how you think you gain goodwill, I have some bad news.
Then there is Ray Kendall, who can’t get the game to start. “Can’t even launch the game, must be nice,” they commented, comparing it to Cyberpunk’s notorious launch and saying it’s even worse. That’s… a pretty low bar to stumble under, Konami.
But it doesn’t end there. As you can see from the tweet, there are issues on multiple platforms. For instance, ‘gingerchicho’ is already experiencing issues on console, specifically PS5, which makes them say, ‘Fix the performance on PS5 pro, this release is a scam!’. That is a terrible user experience, and calling a product, especially a game at a fixed price, a scam, is very telling of the users’ displeasure.
So, what exactly is the problem? Well, judging from the comments, it seems like the issues are rampant. Crashes, audio dropping during important story segments, frame rate stutters, freezes. A user by the name of Isa even reported that the game crashes their computer after the final boss fight. Imagine working up the motivation to finish a long game just to find out you can’t actually complete it. Such a terrible experience.
While many are reporting issues, some are trying to understand the reason behind the wildly different experiences. The user ‘browniee_562’ asked if those experiencing issues were mostly dealing with digital copies, since their physical copy apparently works perfectly fine with no issues during gameplay. So there might be a chance that there is some strange issue with the installation? Honestly at this point it’s anyone’s guess.
The validity of this frustration has led some players to ask others to wait for the discount. The user ‘ItzTheOnlySon’ mentioned that they plan to wait, to which ‘frogjumps_’ responded, “Yea definitely worth waiting for the sale.” The reality that the community is encouraging the audience to boycott the game at launch is blatant evidence that they have massively underperformed.
And it’s much worse than just underperforming. Countless users seem to think this is a ‘lazy cash grab.’ User ‘WhitefrankKONY’ mentioned it’s a remaster with enhanced graphics, not an actual remake, and has never mentioned the Silent Hill 2 remake for any good reason. User ‘joemax101’ said, “So you just upgraded the graphics and call this a remake? I blame the stupid clowns for buying this for that price.” Understandably, the negativity creates an atmosphere where this kind of disappointment thrives.
Amid the rage, still a few requests are hidden under the madness. One player asked about an MP3 player feature in the old MGS games, which would allow them to sneak to custom tunes, another asked if they could turn stances while stalking, which is needed since a known camera issue makes side switching pointless. Although the “FIX THE GAME” blaring cries drown out these requests, these requests do get made.
The ire the community is showing towards the game’s performance is being ignored by the official account, which escalates frustration. ‘coffeeowl1010’ jokingly said, “I’m prepared for these performance patch fixes❗️💪” but also stated Konami’s usual policy of remaining silent until fixes are ready. Without a statement in the open, the anger escalates. “It’s Konami after all, so I won’t hold my breath.”
It’s genuinely disappointing because the gameplay they previewed actually looked promising. Combat seemed intuitive, and the visuals received a much-needed polishing compared to the original. Yet, none of it matters because the game cannot function properly on the marketed platforms. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence in 2024, but publishers truly need to improve. Everyone still recalls the Cyberpunk fiasco.
Currently, if you intended to purchase Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, I would recommend waiting. Waiting for the patches. Waiting for the sales. Let the early adopters handle the crashes and bugs. Or simply replay the original, which most likely runs better on an emulator than this release does natively. What a mess.
