Metal Gear Solid Delta puts a stunning spin on an iconic Snake Eater easter egg

Metal Gear Solid 3 is an all-timer - you could pick up the original version, play it today, and still be impressed with its stealth, level design, and eccentric storytelling. But I have to say, seeing all of it repackaged inside a stunning ground-up remake like Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater makes it sing even louder. The recreation of the main game is remarkably faithful, but there is one area where Konami has allowed for some creative freedom. One of MGS 3's most famous easter eggs, Snake's Nightmare, appears in MGS Delta, but not as you remember it. Oh, and it seems Konami enlisted some unexpected help to bring this secret back to life.

First, a quick heads up that if you want to experience this secret for yourself, then this is the point of no return when it comes to spoilers - the same applies for anyone playing Metal Gear Solid Delta without knowing the main events of Metal Gear Solid 3. Got it? Ok, here we go.

For those unaware, the original PS2 version of one of the best stealth games ever contained a secret minigame where you would become a dual-sword-wielding monster slayer. Following Snake's imprisonment at Groznyj Grad, if you save your game after the torture scene, close the game, and re-open your save file, you'll be treated with a secret conversation between Snake and Para-medic where they discuss Dracula before he goes to sleep in his cell. Clearly not a vampire fan, Snake then has a bizarre, brutal, playable nightmare.

In it, you control a character known as Guy Savage. He carries two swords and is trapped in a warehouse with zombie-like creatures. Playing like a mini hack-and-slash game, you mince up these monstrosities and build a rage meter as you go. Once full, you'll transcend into a more powerful version of yourself with quicker movement and even more devastating attacks.

After a few minutes, the dream comes to an end and Snake wakes up. This secret never made it into any future enhanced versions of Metal Gear Solid 3, but now, after more than two decades, it's back in Metal Gear Solid Delta, and it's looking rather different.

Uncovered during our MGS Delta review playthrough, we found that after completing the game, a new mode called Guy Savage Delta appears on the main menu. This seems to exist as a totally separate instance to the base game - when capturing footage of this easter egg, it would save to a separate folder called 'mgsdelta_nightmare.' Open it up, and you'll be transported to a dark, sinister graveyard and become a cloaked Guy Savage. But is it really him? Underneath the hood, he looks suspiciously like Raiden from Metal Gear Rising Revengence. More on that theory in a moment.

Freakish creatures then begin spawning, and just like the original, you'll cut them down with your swords and build up a rage meter to enter a fury state.

After some time, the screen shakes and the enormous full moon in the background turns red. A tomb opens, and out comes the floating, evil figure of what appears to be a depiction of Dracula himself, calling back to Para-medic's conversation with Snake over 20 years ago.

You can then start slashing away at this boss and the extra hordes of enemies he summons, but we're currently unsure if this beefy vampire can be beaten and if the mode has an ending. Our reviewer, Christian, fought bravely for around 15 minutes before succumbing.

Given the incredible attention to detail in this remake, I'm not surprised to see the Snake's Nightmare easter egg return. I am, however, intrigued to see Konami abandon the obsessive faithfulness it's shown in the main game. Well, it appears that the Guy Savage mode isn't actually Konami's doing.

A quick glance at MGS Delta's credits show that it was the work of Platinum Games, the hack-and-slash wizards behind Revengence. I told you that Guy looked suspiciously like Raiden. Consider all the dots connected.

Is it a teaser for a new Metal Gear action game starring Raiden? Or is it just a surprisingly high-effort reinterpretation of the original easter egg? I'll let you debate that one.

If all this Metal Gear Solid talk has you hankering for some more classics, check out our best old PC games guide. Alternatively, to make sure MGS Delta looks as sublime as possible, here's our best gaming monitor guide.

Where does Snake's Nightmare rank among your favorite easter eggs? Let us know in our community Discord server, and we can reminisce on some nostalgic secrets together.