Quote Originally Posted by Traitorfish
Why is Snake so old? Was he older than I thought, or is it the effects of that premature aging thing Liquid/Ocelot talked about in MGS2?
Yep, it looks like the accelerated ageing has at last kicked in on Snake. If he were ageing at a normal rate, Otacon and co. would be looking much older than they are.

And was that an eyepatch, or some sort of hi-tech viewing-thingy? I know he's supposed to look like Big Boss, but he came out of MGS2 with both peepers intact.
The 'patch' is the Solid-Eye System, which is Snake's handy new gadget that seems to act as a scope/thermal goggles. His eye underneath must be working, or else he wouldn't be able to use the system in the first place.

Still, a lot can happen in ten years... Hell, Raiden may have even reached puberty!
I don't think that 'X Years after Big Shell' refers to the number ten, but rather an unspecified length of time. Concept art of Raiden, Vamp etc. doesn't show them looking significantly older, and the baby Raiden is holding is almost certainly Rose's, which places this game only a couple of years after the events of MGS2.