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Why Snake Eater is a perfect example of the tension between the real and the unreal that's at the core of every Metal Gear Solid game

And somewhere, is that Kojima laughing at it all?

There's that famous ladder climb, that expands the scope of the tactile in-game world into almost impossible dimensions, and there's a boss who moves through a dauntingly huge stretch of terrain sniping at you in a battle that can last for genuine real-world hours. It's there waiting for you the moment you step off your futuristic bike in Death Stranding and grasp the baby in a flask around your neck, and then stumble, with a gorgeously recognisable human awkwardness, over mossy rocks. Here's Snake, tall as a real man, clad in leather and realistically lit by migrainey overhead office lighting, and yet for the first time I realised just how stylised he is, how perfect the angles of his grim face come together.

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