Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is a 2004 action-adventure stealth game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2. It was released in late 2004 in North America and Japan, and in early 2005 in Europe and Australia. Written, produced and directed by Hideo Kojima, the game is the fifth mainline installment in the Metal Gear series and the first chronologically, serving as a prequel to the entire series. Set in 1964, 31 years before the events of the original Metal Gear, the story centers on the FOX operative codenamed Naked Snake as he attempts to rescue Russian rocket scientist Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, sabotage an experimental superweapon, and assassinate his defected former boss.