MGS3 is 'Final Episode' in trilogy - TGS trailer
Whatever that means. Download the eight-minute trailer here, and read about the Ape Escape crossover. (Yep.)
Metal Gear Solid 3 will be the "Final Episode of the Metal Gear Solid Trilogy," according to the trailer Konami showed at the Tokyo Game Show over the weekend - a statement that's open to interpretation at this point, although our money's on the next "Metal Gear" game featuring a different word in place of "Solid".
The TGS trailer, mirrored on Eurofiles here (30MB), features eight minutes of footage - largely from cut sequences - somewhat clarifying the roles of key characters and introducing us to some of the boss characters for the first time. Anybody following the MGS3 build-up will probably find it quite enlightening - particularly next to the E3 trailer - although anybody hoping to avoid spoilers might want to start burying their head under a rock at this point.
Another interesting nugget of MGS-related info to emerge at TGS is news of an unlikely crossover with Sony's Ape Escape series. Apparently series creator Hideo Kojima admires the game so much he's including a "Snake & Monkey" mode - shown off towards the end of the trailer - where Snake finds himself chasing down a lot of Ape Escape monkeys in the jungle. The move isn't unprecedented (remember the MGS2/Evolution Skateboarding crossover?), but it's certainly on the quirky side.
Konami also confirmed at the show that MGS3 will be released in Japan on December 16th in normal and limited edition versions, although there's still no word on US or European dates. US retailers continue to offer pre-orders suggesting a mid-November ship date. If the game does arrive in Japan first though, we're hoping Konami's recent policy of including English language options in Japanese releases remains in place. We'll let you know when we hear something concrete on the release date front.
For more on MGS3, check out our extensive impressions of the jungle section based on the fairly lengthy E3 demo. So far we've yet to hear anything particularly exciting based on the playable TGS build (apart from the fact that shotgun blasts send enemies flying), but the huge trailer should be more than enough to keep fans of the series going.