Quote:
Subsistence was released in Japan on December 22, 2005, later in North America on March 14, 2006, in Europe on October 6, 2006 and in Australia on October 13, 2006. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence continues the Metal Gear Solid series tradition of follow-up enhanced, international version releases. While previous releases, such as Metal Gear Solid: Integral and Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance included skill challenge missions and/or side story missions, Subsistence eschews the extra single-player missions to include updated versions of the series' first two games, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (based on their MSX2 releases), a brand-new competitive online mode, and a significantly changed camera in the main portion of the game.
Subsistence's online mode. Here, the GRU team faces off against the KGB team.Subsistence's online multiplayer component, titled Metal Gear Online, is comprised of five tournament-style game modes, each with a capacity of up to eight players. This mode pits players, each playing as a generic soldier against each other in deathmatch battles and variations of capture the flag, using stages, items, maneuvers, and units (such as the KGB, GRU or Ocelot Unit) from the main game. Depending on server settings, each round the highest-scoring player in each unit automatically assumes the role of one of the main characters (or Reiko Hinomoto from Rumble Roses), along with unique abilities and/or items. For example, the highest scoring player on the GRU team would assume the role of Major Raikov, leader of the GRU, next round. Konami's Metal Gear Online service for the PlayStation 2 closed in Japan on December 26, 2006 and in North America on April 2, 2007.
In addition to the older games and the online mode, Subsistence includes many minor features common to international version releases. It includes the downloadable extra camouflage and face paint designs and "Snake vs. Monkey" stages previously exclusive to the European release, the European Extreme difficulty level, parody cut scenes and trailers from the official website, and connectivity with Metal Gear Acid 2.