Metal Gear Solid 3 stood out from its predecessors by introducing a new wrinkle to its stealth gameplay: camouflage. The more Naked Snake blended into his surroundings, as indicated by the new Camo Index, the easier it was for him to sneak past soldiers in the open. Likewise, the more he stood out, the more often he’d be spotted.

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So, it’s best to keep that Camo Index out of the red, and Snake does start with some strips that help keep it high. But some are better than others, and they either have to be found in the field or earned from beating the bosses. Once they get these camo suits, they’ll get through Tselinoyarsk much more quickly.

10 Spider

• Defeat the Fear with non-lethal weapons.

On paper, the Spider camo sounds great. It’ll even out Snake’s Camo Index to 80% (75% while moving) across any terrain. Players need to beat The Fear by depleting his stamina with tranq weapons or using the Fake Death Pill-Stun Grenade-Machinegun trick to do it faster. But it comes with a catch.

The camo works by feeding off of Snake’s stamina to keep the Index high. Once it runs out, it becomes another bog-standard strip. It drains his bar fast too, so Snake has to keep eating to keep it going, and not every place in the game is full of food. So, as good as it sounds, it’s ultimately best used for challenge runs.

9 Snow

• Found on the right branching path before The Pain boss battle in Chyornaya Peschera Cave.

The Snow camo doesn’t have a special gimmick behind it, though its white/green pattern makes it hard to blend into most places in the game. It may work with some of the brightly lit vegetation, but it's not as good as the standard Olive or Leaf outfits. So, how is it useful? Because it has a few handy perks.

Its bright, white color will keep the Pain's hornets from attacking Snake because they're less threatened by light colors (but will attack more if he wears the Black camo). Best of all, the final battle against The Boss takes place in a field of bright, white flowers. She'll have trouble finding Snake with it on, giving him more openings to take her down.

8 Choco Chip

• Found in a hollow tree trunk in Bolshaya Past South.

Bolshaya Past is the tricky area of terrain that precedes the Ocelot boss battle, with its South section containing electrified fences, guard dogs, and claymore mines. If players make it to the left side of its northern end, they’ll find the Choco Chip uniform hidden inside a tree trunk.

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It’s a sandy uniform that looks a little like a cookie, hence the name. It can even lead to a funny conversation with Sigint if they call him up on the radio while wearing it. As such, it’s best used when Snake reaches the Krasnogorje Mountains. Its cover will be high enough to mask Snake from the guards, helicopters, and flamethrower troops up there.

7 Animals

• Defeat Ocelot with non-lethal weapons.

That said, the Choco Chip isn’t the best strip for the mountains. Surprisingly, the Animals strip gives Snake a better Camo Index in this environment. With the right face paint and positioning, it can go as high as 95%, making Snake practically invisible to every threat in the area. All players have to do to get it is take out Ocelot’s stamina with his tranq pistol.

Once this is done, they'll find it in the cave area after the cutscene. On top of its exceptional cover in the mountains, it’ll keep Snake’s hands steady even when he’s out of stamina. So, even when he enters an area where the camo sticks out like a sore thumb, it can still come in handy for boss fights and action sequences.

6 Tiger Stripe

• Available from the start.

The problem with the Camo system is that it’s quite clunky in practice. Players have to go into the Pause menu each time to swap strips and change face paint. It’s not as bad as the new healing system, which requires going through even more options. Still, people can see why Metal Gear Solid 4 replaced it with the more convenient Octocamo.

If players don’t want to bother with any of that, they can stick to the Tiger Stripe camo instead. It’s a general-use camo that works on all terrains. However, it's a jack-of-all-trades as it doesn't provide especially great cover. Though if players can pick up its slack with careful sneaking, it'll work well enough.

5 Splitter

• On a ledge on the far-right part of Bolshaya Past South.

The Splitter camo is a bluish-gray suit based on the patterns used on German aircraft during World War 2. The idea was that it would make their altitude and flying direction harder to figure out in a dogfight. In MGS3, it's a good, all-purpose camo for wet, cavernous, and indoor areas. But players will have to search for it.

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Entering from Chyornyj Prud, they have to crawl under the far-right side of the electrified fence, then crawl under the opening in the next electrified fence. After that, they have to keep going right until they see a swamp. Moving north of it, they’ll see another swamp with a ledge. Once they go up the ledge and scoot along it, they'll find the Splitter camo.

4 Snake

• Defeat The Boss with non-lethal weapons.

The Tiger Stripe works as a general-use camo, but there is a better option for players who don’t want to pause and switch every so often. It just requires essentially beating the game, as they have to beat The Boss with non-lethal weapons. Once she’s taken out, she’ll hand over the Snake camo, which players have to grab ASAP before the next cutscene starts.

Once they do, and start a new game over the save, they can equip their new duds. The Snake camo gives the player a higher Camo index overall, reaching 75% at best. While that doesn’t render Snake completely invisible, it’s high enough to keep him out of the enemy’s sights no matter where he is.

3 Spirit

• Complete the Sorrow’s section.

If players don’t mind switching strips every so often, the Spirit camo is one of the best ones for indoor environments. It’s a dark and dingy gray, so it also works out when Snake’s sneaking at night too. As a bonus, it'll silence Snake’s footsteps, and drain health from guards when he grabs them in a CQC hold.

Getting it can be a little tricky or really easy depending on how the player plays. They have to "beat" the Sorrow by reaching the end of his river alive, dodging the ghosts of everyone they killed up to that point in the game. Once they touch his corpse and "die," they can just use the Revival Pill to wake up and move on. Players will then find it in their inventory afterward.

2 Moss

• Sneak up on the End, hold him up, then threaten him 3 times to get it.

Every boss in the game offers a special camo suit once their stamina is depleted. All except one. Doing that with The End will just earn them his Mosin Nagant rifle. But he does have a camo pattern: the Moss camo. It’s one of the best in the game too, reaching up to 100% in grassy areas. It’ll even replenish Snake’s stamina if he lays in direct sunlight with it on.

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To get it, the player has to sneak up on The End from behind and hold him up. Then they’ll have to move the gun away from him to make him shift, then aim back at him to make him stop. If they do this 3 times, he’ll finally give it up. He'll tell Snake to "take it and go," but he still has to be beaten for the player to progress. So, fire away, or save and take a week's break to let nature take its course.

1 Flecktarn

• Pick "I Love MGS3" at the start, or start a new game over a completed one.

The problem with the Moss camo is that there are few grassy, green areas left after beating The End. So, it’s best used on a second campaign over the old save. Doing this would already get the player a bunch of extra camo options, but they can access them early if they pick "I Love MGS3" at the start of a new game.

The best of these is Flecktarn, a greenish-brown pattern that just manages to edge out the Moss camo. It works in a broader range of areas like mud and woods, and can also reach 100% on the Camo Index in the right places. While it won't recharge Snake's stamina, it will keep his batteries charged, meaning players can use his gadgets as much as they'd like.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Platform(s)

PS2 , PS3 , PS Vita , Xbox 360 , 3DS

Released

November 17, 2004

Developer(s)

Konami

Genre(s)

Stealth