PS5

Published on November 19th, 2023 | by Daniel

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol.1 Review

Metal Gear, a franchise I came into half way. A franchise that captivated me with its cinematics, story and combined stealth and action elements. A franchise that has long divided player opinions on what a stealth game should be. Like it or not, it’s a household name with it comes to stealth action games. Like it or not, it’s part of what designed and forged the category of games that would follow. Until today, if you wanted to play the original Metal Gear Solid and it’s sequels, you’d have to get PS3 or an X360, but if you were curious about where it all started. You’d have to look even harder for an emulator that can reliably run such an old game. But now Konami has finally released, does it breathe new life into the series? Does it do its job of filling the void whilst we wait for more news on MSG3 Remake? Read on and find out!

Metal Gear

It was the 80s, action and adventure games were rife in the gaming industry despite its relative infancy. There really wasn’t a game like Metal Gear before, a game more focused on avoiding combat instead of chasing it. One that prioritised stealth over strength, that allowed the player to resort to violence if necessary. With a simple story, and even simpler mechanics, it pales in comparison to the modern day releases. But it was the start of something different, something great that was built upon to become what it is today. And it inspired may like it.

You are Solid Snake, your mentor, Big Boss has sent you to a military facility in South Africa known as Outer Heaven. To find your missing squad member of FOXHOUND, Grey Fox and to investigate a mysterious weapon known only as Metal Gear. As you sneak, kill and complete your objectives along the way. You learn that Big Boss is actually the leader of Outer Heaven itself and are forced to battle and defeat him. What a plot twist! Except wait, that’s not the real Big Boss? No way! As you can imagine, the story leaves a lot to be desired, but at the time, when games were more like arcades and stories were barely even a factor in the eyes of developers. This story must have seemed incredibly riveting! Vehicles could be entered to find items, ammor was really sparse, in fact, I don’t think I found ammo for the gun for a solid 30 minutes of game time. And for a game like this, that’s considered quite a bit. I actually didn’t get all that far into Metal Gear, because even on the lowest of 3 difficulties to start with I found it to be quite challenging. Though I never really had flair for older games, before long. The old graphics, 8-bit chiptunes and loud, coupled with severely outdated methods of play made it tricky for me to want to keep playing. Now, MG2: Solid Snake is a whole other kettle of fish, read on to continue the journey.

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

Solid Snake returns, after seemingly defeating Big Boss in Outer Heaven. Now Snake’s new commander Roy Campbell is sending the retired FOXHOUND agent and hero of Outer Heaven to Zanzibar Land. He is assisted by McDonnell Miller, survival coach and drill instructor. He is tasked with rescuing Dr. Kio Marv, a bio-engineer and creator of OILIX, an engineer algae designed to combat the oil crisis of the world. Who has been kidnapped once again to work on another Metal Gear. Over the course of his mission, Snake teams up with several individuals who provide information and assistance. Snake faces off against several highly trained operatives, along with Grey Fox who is revealed to be the pilot of the new Metal Gear. Along the way, Snake find out that Big Boss survived and he is forced to fight him once more. It is later revealed in subsequent games and retcons, that Big Boss in the first game is the body double the player inhabits in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Whilst the Big Boss in the second game, is finally the real deal. Once again, Snake saves the day and averts the second crisis of worldly proportions.

Metal Gear Solid

Having been dragged out of retirement before Zanzibar Land, Snake is once again called upon when his former group FOXHOUND is taken over by a man known only by the name Liquid Snake. The renegade group captures a nuclear disposal facility in Alaska’s Fox Archipelago code named Shadow Moses and threatens to use the facilities numerous nuclear warheads to launch a nuclear strike using Metal Gear Rex, a new metal gear being secretly developed at the base. Unless their demands are met; the return of deceased Big Boss’s body and $1 Billion in cash within 24 hours. Snake sneaks into the facility by sea, the master of stealth then sneaks into the heart of the facility defeating Liquid’s henchmen along the way. His attempts to rescue DARPA Chief Donald Anderson and Arms Tech president Kenneth Baker go foul when the two of them die from mysterious heart attacks. It is here where he fights recurring villain and eventual mastermind of everything in the Metal Gear franchise. Ocelot, (Later Liquid Ocelot) and is able to defeat him. Before anything can happen however, a mysterious ninja shows up, severing Ocelot’s hand from his body and causing the C4 to explode. No one is injured, Ocelot and “Deepthroat” this unknown ninja both escape in the carnage and Snake is forced to continue deeper into the facility.

Eventually meeting Meryl, Roy Campbell’s niece and Hal Emmerich, the scientist responsible for designing Rex in the first place. Of course he was forced to, so he lends his assistance to Snake in order to help him stop Rex. It is later revealed that the PAL cards Snake believed to be the key to stopping Rex actually started it, Snake’s “master” is revealed to have been replaced by none other than FOXHOUND leader Liquid Snake. Additionally, snake finds out that he and Liquid are brothers, clones of Big Boss as part of the Les Enfants Terribles project, that he himself was sent to combat FOXHOUND and Liquid because he contains a virus by the name of FOXDIE, that was specifically designed to target members of FOXHOUND. Thereby allowing Rex to be retrieved by the government unharmed.

Snake fights Liquid aboard Rex, Deepthroat comes to his aid, destroying Rex’s radome, revealing in the process that he was Grey Fox all along before being mortally wounded, crushed to death by Rex. Snake eventually destroys Rex and defeats Liquid, escaping via tunnel with Meryl or Otacon (depending on you actions when being tortured by Ocelot). But Liquid somehow survives, chasing them down in a jeep, before the two collide in a heavy crash. Liquid seemingly gets the upper hand and pulls a gun on Snake, before the FOXDIE virus inside Snake finally kills Liquid for good. Campbell manages to call off a nuclear strike to cover up the operation and is able to list Snake as KIA, thus stopping the government from searching for him. In an after credits cutscene, Ocelot is revealed to be a double agent, who’s true intention was to steal Baker’s disc of Metal Gear specifications.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

The year is 2007. Snake, now a vigilante of sorts with his partner Otacon (Hal Emmerich).  Are assaulting an unsuspecting, ordinary looking US oil tanker under secret information that it houses a new type of Metal Gear. Once aboard, it doesn’t take long before their infiltration is interrupted. Russian soldiers under the command of Sergei Gurlukovich, along with his daughter Olga and Revolver Ocelot, board and capture thet tanker, killing all the marines stationed aboard as they make their way down to the cargo holds. Snake has to sneak his way past them as best he can as he follows them towards the holds, fighting and subduing Olga along the way before a brief shootout with some of the Gurlukovich soldiers.

Having made his way to the holds, he is forced to sneak around the hundreds of US Marines as they watch a speech from Commander Scott Dolph being broadcast from the last cargo hold. When he reaches the hold, the new metal gear is completely different to that of Rex. Modern, and with state of the art tech. Snake follows Otcaon’s instructions and photographs everything with the intention to go public. But before he can escape, the speech concludes and Ocelot makes his appearance. Betraying Sergei and his troops, killing both Commander Dolph and the Spetznaz leader Gurlukovich in quick succession with his single action army revolvers. Stealing Ray and sinking the tanker, but not before Liquid makes his return, his arm having been grafted onto Ocelot in place of the one he lost at Shadow Moses. Liquid’s spirit somehow remained within the arm, (this story is later retconned in Metal Gear Solid 4, but for now it’s canon). The two face have a brief interaction before the tanker sinks and Snake is forced to retreat and escape.

Two years later, as a result of the tanker sinking and a huge amount of oil polluting the water. A facility called The Big Shell is constructed, on the surface its purpose is to clean and filter the water of oil contaminants. To return the Hudson river to the clean state it was before. We’re introduced to Raiden, much like Snake, Raiden has been trained in the art of stealth and infiltration. Raiden meets Pliskin, who is later revealed to be the man himself; Solid Snake. The two diffuse an array of explosives at the behest of ex expert NYPD bomb defuser Peter Stillman. Stillman then loses his life to one of his students Fatman and his elaborate trap. Raiden fights and defeats him, before learning of the presidents wearabouts from CIA Agent Richard Ames. A ninja makes their appearance, aiding Raiden in escaping. A confrontation occurs with Solidus Snake, the third clone, preceded by Solid and Liquid. Raiden learns that Pliskin is indeed Solid Snake, before rushing to find the president who informs him about Arsenal Gear, and about a mysterious organisation known as the Patriots that runs the entire country from behind the scenes. James Johnson, the president then urges him to find Emma Emmerich, Hal’s (Otacon) sister in their parents second marriage, as she is the only one that might be able to stop Arsenal Gear.

Raiden, finds her, rescues her but is forced to fight Vamp along the way. Seemingly defeated, Raiden escorts her back to Shell 1 core, but first she must make her own way across the pontoon fence. Raiden and Snake both guard her from long range via sniper rifles, but Vamp makes another sudden appearance and Emma is mortally wounded. Snake carries her back to Shell 1 core, where she starts working on a virus to destroy GW the core of Arsenal Gear, but succumbs to her wounds. Otacon is tasked with getting the hostages to safety whilst Snake uses Raiden as bait to sneak into Arsenal Gear. Raiden is captured by Olga who is revealed to have been Mr. X, the ninja all along. Raiden’s commanding officer starts acting weird, as a result Raiden discovers that the Colonel is actually an AI created by GW using Raidens’ own expectations and experience. Rendezvousing with Snake to collect his gear, the two of them team up to battle their way through Arsenal Gear. Defeating the former Gurlukovich soldiers, now turned into the Tengu soldiers with new gear, Snake stays behind to battle Fortune who mistakes him for the murder of her husband Scott Dolph while Raiden faces off against several Metal Gear Ray before succumbing to exhaustion. Solidus reveals himself to kill Raiden himself but he is saved by Olga who sacrifices herself to keep Raiden alive. As his biometrics are being monitored by the Patriots and is the key to her childs’ survival. With Olga dead, the virus begins to take hold and destroys most of GW, Ocelot then reveals his betrayal as well as the S3 plan. An exercise orchestrated by the Patriots and designed to create a skilled warrior on par with Solid Snake. Ocelot then succumbs to an assault on his mind by Liquid, who steals Ray and escapes, Snake chases after him whilst Arsenal Gear crashing into Federal Hall. Raiden is left to engage Solidus in a final showdown. The game ends with an after credits scene that explains that all 12 of the so called Wisemen’s Committee, the ones who are said to be the patriots themselves, are all dead. And that they died 100 years ago.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

In a welcome change of pace, Snake Eater is set before everything. Before Metal Gear even. Back in the midst of the Cold War, it tells the story of Naked Snake. The man who would become Big Boss himself. Naked Snake is sent to Tselinoyarsk in USSR, tasked with rescuing a Soviet scientist Sokolov. A prominent weapons developer who defected to the USA to years prior. Until the Russians demanded his return as part of a deal struck to end the Cuban Missile Crisis. Sokolov is put back to work developing weapons once more, working to create a nuclear-equipped tank called the Shagohod. Which could light the spark turning the cold war into a red hot world war. Although Snake is successful in finding Sokolov, the mission falls apart when the Boss, his mentor, and announces her defection to the Soviet Union, bearing gifts in the form of the Davy Crocket portable nuclear delivery system and two tactical nuclear warheads. Having Reformed her old crew, the Cobra unit, who capture and take back Sokolov, she defeats Snake in close quarter combat, severely injuring him and leaving him for dead. Her benefactor, Russian officer, Colonel Volgin, takes the nukes and uses one to destroy the research facility to cover up the theft. Snake is forced to treat his own wounds and wait for extraction via the Fulton recovery system.

The Soviet Union, lead by General Khrushchev, accuses the US of the attack. They detected Snake’s entourage in a C130 over Tselinoyarsk during the aftermath of the explosion. To avoid all out nuclear war, the president is forced to provide a means to prove their innocence. Given one week to kill the boss, destroy the Shagohod and stop Volgin and his supporters from gathering enough strength to usurp Khrushchev and his regime. Snake, partnered with Major Zero, Siggint and ParaMedic returns to Tselinoyarsk to finish what they started.

Confronted by the boss and disarmed once more, Snake is forced to sneak back to the place he found Sokolov and meet with ADAM, one of two NSA codebreakers who defected to the Soviet Union to infiltrate Volgin’s faction as a spy with fellow agent EVA. Snake is met instead with EVA, who is later revealed to be a Chinese spy who assists him throughout the mission. With newly gifted weapons in tow, Snake makes his way to the lab where Sokolov was taken, surviving an encounter with Ocelot and eliminates the Pain. He then disguises himself as a scientist, meets with another Soviet scientist Granin of the Granin Design Bureau. It is revealed the two competed with designs of nuclear equipped weapons, Granin came up with the design that would eventually fall into Huey Emmerich’s hands much later. Granin informs Snake that Sokolov is making the final preparations for Shagohod at Groznyj Grad. Snake heads off towards his next objective, facing off against and eliminating the remaining members of the Cobras; The Fear, The End and the Fury. After finally reaching the fortress of Groznyj Grad, he steals General Raikov’s clothes and makes contact with Sokolov, but is subsequently captured. Having killed Granin, Volgin interrogates, tortures and kills Sokolov before turning his attention on Snake. Who loses an eye in the process of protecting a disguised EVA after Ocelot accuses her of being the spy. Snake is imprisoned but finds a way to escape.

Later, he returns to Groznyj Grad to destroy the Shagohod, but is confronted by Volgin. The pair fight, as second count down until the C3 explosives that Snake placed  earlier is set to blow the whole place sky high. Snake learns of the Philosophers Legacy, a massive pool of wealth amassed by the US, China and the Soviet Union who formed a pact to win WWII. It’s promptly handed to the Boss, who takes EVA who is finally revealed to be the spy, away from the fight. Snake defeats Volgin and escapes with the help of an EVA returned. After a long chase and a final showdown, Volgin is finally defeated, allowing Snake and EVA to finally escape for good. But before that, Snake must complete his mission and kill the boss. A truly legendary fight ensues, ending with Snake reluctantly killing the Boss, his mentor and friend. Philosohper’s Legacy in hand, the two make their escape only for a final confrontation with Ocelot, that ends in the two becoming rivals.

Snake and Eva share a romantic night together before she abstains early the next morning before Snake wakes up, taking the Legacy with her. But in a final twist, Ocelot is then revealed to be a double agent for both the CIA and KGB, revealing that the Legacy’s are now split between the US and USSR. Revealing himself to be Adam all along.

Gameplay

As these games are technically old news, just brought to the modern era. I won’t go too much in depths about the gameplay for for each, as there’s not a lot I can really say that hasn’t already been covered in reviews of the originals. Instead, I’ll talk a bit about each game and then talk about any improvements compared to their original and HD remastered counterparts.

MG and MG2: Solid Snake

The two Metal Gear games play similarly between each other with only one or two notable differences. The gameplay is from an almost top down perspective, with various obstacles placed in each room as well as a series of guards. If Snake is spotted, enemies will attempt to shoot him on sight. If Snake tries to hide, they will actively search for him. There are two alert types of alert modes (!) Is room related alert, Snake only needs navigate to an adjacent room and hide. (!!) is a facility wide alert that will summon reinforcements for a period of time. Snake can only escape by killing all reinforcements until the alert phase ends. Initially, you’re unarmed but as you progress you find various weapons; handgun, grenades, machine gun, even a rocket launcher. It’s entirely directional based inputs, meaning you walk on 4 axis and have to face any of these axis in order to shoot or attack anyone coming from these directions, but only in a straight line.

It took me a while to get used to the controls of such an old game, however even when I felt I had a grasp on it, it was still incredibly challenging. Even on the easiest of the offered difficulties. The game definitely reminds me of old top down arcade shooters, though that’s likely because the limitations of games back in the late 80s didn’t allow them much creativity. What the game does well is the stealth element, it’s very punishing when you’re discovered and it really makes you utilise the environment to your advantage to sneak from objective to objective. Though the infinite range of sight is something I wasn’t ready for. As long as you’re in line with them and there’s no obstacles to shield you from sight, they will absolutely see you. It’s completely different from later games with the cone of vision radius. I found myself enjoying Metal Gear 2 far more than the first game, even settling into a rhythm of sorts and forgetting I still had 3 other instalments to play and experience anew.

Metal Gear 2 built on the original in more ways than I expected. Instead of single sightlines, guards now had 45 degree sight lines and could turn to either side to see in a diagonal field of view. They could also move between zones, hear sounds the player makes, like knocking, walking on certain surfaces and of course firing an unsilenced gun or using an explosive. This made detection even harder to avoid, but Snake got a boost or two of his own to help keep him hidden. Snake could now crouch or walk to maintain silence. He could also crawl under gates, holes in fences, under things like desks or vehicles, even enter things like air ducts to reach new areas! The radar came in handy, showing Snake’s position as a red dot and the guards as white dots. The radar would also show several rooms around the current room as well as any guards placed in those room, showing their movements was a huge help too. But otherwise the core gameplay remained the same.

MGS Trilogy:

The same could be said about the Metal Gear Solid trilogy. Though MG1 was a radical step in design and graphics with the introduction of the Playstation system, the series taking its first steps into the 3D realm of gaming. The core gameplay remained the same. Once again you must navigate Solid Snake through various game areas without being detected, detections will set off alarms which disable the radar, much like in MG2. And the player will be forced to hide until the alert ends and enemies return to their scripted patrols. The game introduces security cameras as well as a means of bypassing them. Snake’s arsenal is also widened to include new ways to approach as situation, including; stun grenades and chaff.

The camera is still fixed to an almost top down view, however whenever the player flattens themselves against a corner. The camera will shift to provide a view about what may be lurking down the corridor ahead. Sometimes offering a view beyond the range of the radar, allowing for a tactical approach. Additionally, Snake can now see in first person with the push of a button! Items and weapons are expanded further, with the introduction of thermal goggles, allowing one to see things like mines that are usually invisible to the naked eye. And what would become a staple in MGS games in every installment since; the famed cardboard box. Allowing Snake to pretzel himself into a box that made it more difficult for the enemy to spot him. However this needed to be used tactically, if used in the open, the enemy would be more likely to investigate why a box just suddenly appeared in the middle of a walkway. If used in a room with boxes, the enemy would be more likely to walk by and take no notice. The game continues its emphasis on stealth as enemies are vastly out gearing you, especially in the early phases and reinforcements can quickly overwhelm Snake.

MGS2 takes the evolution further by adding in a raft of new features. In the first game, you could not aim your gun in first person, in the second that all changed. You could aim and shoot in first person view, regardless of whether you were standing or crouching or laying down. This also became a tactical decision as some guns were affected by stance, most notably, snipers would be notoriously hard to aim without laying down first and additionally making use of medications to keep you focused. Further to this the AI was smarter and when entering alert phase, soldiers would actively call for reinforcements and co-ordinate over the radio, try to cut you off, surround you and overwhelm you. Some would even use riot shields to make taking them out harder than simply shooting at them or letting the auto aim snapshot you to get a clean shot on their body.

Additionally the player had more tools to avoid being discovered. Walking slowly meant that you no longer had to worry that the terrain underneath them would clatter loudly and give their position away. Not only this, but you could now flip over the edge of railings, hang and even shimmy across to avoid incoming guards. You could only do this for so long however as Snake and Raiden would have a stamina meter, if allowed to run out, they would fall to their deaths. The player can now hide in place like lockers and bathroom stalls, cardboard boxes make their staple return. There’s a noticeable different between playing as Snake in the tanker missions, compared to Raiden in the Big Shell. Snake was stronger, but slower, whereas Raiden was weaker but faster. Raiden is more maneuverable, able to roll further and faster. Snake is more experienced and therefore is a more steady shot. MGS2 also marks the first game in the Metal Gear Solid franchise, where the player can go completely kill free, without deliberately killed bosses too. With the tranquilizer and stun grenades, it is possible to effectively complete the game without a single official kill. The game’s score presented at the end will also reflect this achievement.

MGS3 at its core, functions almost identically to its predecessor, remain undetected as you complete your objective. But with several new features to separate itself from the entire series. The game introduces camouflage, an index that is used to tell the player how hard they are to be spotted. Match the type of camo to the environment as best as you can, including face paint. Camouflage is also where you’ll find any disguises you acquire along the way, like the scientist disguise provided by Eva in their first meeting. CQC is also a new feature but this functions basically the same as melee combat did in prior games with a bit more flair. When equipped with one or no weapon, Snake can grab enemies and put them in a chokehold, here he can choose to knock them out, slit their throat or even interrogate them for information.

A stamina gauge now features, this serves as a meter to show the player how well Snake can do various tasks. For example, aiming a weapon in becomes harder the lower Snakes’ stamina is, the slower he naturally regenerates health. And lastly; an injury and treatment system. Like it sounds, Snake can now become injured or ill in various ways. This, like stamina, will affect how well Snake can do certain tasks, but even more, could even outright kill him. The environment is mostly outdoors, there are traps, wildlife and enemy soldiers, dangers lurk around every corner. With stamina comes a need to recover it, to recover stamina, there is flora and fauna a plenty. Snake can eat the various species and this recovers his stamina. But some species of flora and fauna are poisonous, some will drain his stamina faster and need to be cured to regain it. Others might kill Snake outright if not cured quickly enough. Additionally, the injury system can affect Snake in various ways, a fractured leg will slow him down, needing to be treated before he can move normally again. This also limits the maximum health that Snake can recover naturally, these effects are shown as a red zone on Snakes’ health bar.

Video

Rather than going over each graphical improvement from each game throughout history, I’ll simply cover how the Master Collection compares to the HD Collection.

Honestly? After seeing side by side comparisons of the old HD collection on PS4, I actually prefer the graphics of that set to Master Collection. At first, I couldn’t even tell there was a difference between the HD and MC versions, subtle though they are, there is. The games are essentially just ported versions of the HD collections with the tiniest of details altered. I actually encountered bugs for the first time ever in my playing the collection. At times the game screen would freeze and one second of audio would loop for a few seconds as the game fought to catch up to itself. Whilst it didn’t happen during gameplay, it certainly happened in cutscenes and in codec calls. Though it wasn’t game breaking it did eventually become relatively frustrating, especially when these problems were never in the originals, nor were they in the HD remaster.

What Metal Gear Solid Master Collection does right however, is the presentation of each game. It’s not one application to run all games, each game is still considered it’s own app and booting each one up, the player is treated with a wonderfully crafted menu. From here, you can navigate the extra features and additional content. MGS: Digital Graphic Novel, MGS2: Bande Dessinee, both originally released on the PSP. Other extras include strategy guides, screenplay books and a selection of around twenty tracks each, curated from the games’ own soundtrack, along with some remixes of other tracks, if you pre-ordered the collection. Of course you can download other language packs which is neat, but I would have thought at least a few of them would be already accessible from the start.

Audio

Like graphics, there’s not much to really write home about here. As these are games are basically just ports of the HD remaster, the games sound identical to it. Of course, everything still holds up even now. Perhaps better still than some modern releases. Voice acting, which has always been a huge key to the Metal Gear franchise ever since the release of the first game. Is once again in its own league, the charm, the charisma of the characters in each game are simply some of the best. No matter how whacky or convoluted the story is, the level of talent never breaks character, never drops in quality. It never fails to give put a smile on my face or squeeze a laugh out of me in some of the goofier scenes.

Now, I could go on about how there’s been no quality improvements on graphics and audi alike. Or I can show my bias and tell you the music sounds as good as it did in the original HD collection. The scores on each soundtrack are simply iconic, any fan of the series will instantly recognise most of the music and probably identify which game and even which area(s) you can expect to hear them. And who could forget the theme from Snake Eater, you’re a monster if you did forget. The style of Bond films is engraved into MGS3 and it’s probably the single most recognisable them of any installation in the franchise. Probably goes a long way to establish Snake Eater as the fan favourite entry too.

Final Thoughts?

The games are unremarkable and don’t present significant enough differences between the previous generation of remaster vs the current. In fact, Konami even admitted it outright that they’re basically just repackaged from the original remasters. Whilst I applaud of this honesty, it just nails down the feeling that this isn’t worth the cost of a full game in today’s money. Are you getting your bang for your buck? I can say that I’m definitely glad to have them on current generation consoles, but I can’t say I’d even remotely consider paying full price for games I’ve played in the past and own the original copies of. I shouldn’t have to pay full price for what is essentially five games remastered, twice now, from three generations ago.

The bugs alone were a rather nasty surprise I both never expected to encounter and never want to see again. Though my overall experience wasn’t too badly affected, I simply attribute that to the Metal Gear fan in me that was just excited to be able to play the games again without having to set up an old console and pray that they haven’t aged so much that the original discs don’t work anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Metal Gear franchise, but it’s exactly that reason that I can’t accept a poor effort to simply port the games without even remotely trying to improve upon them for balancing, graphical and audio upgrades for a console that could truly bring out the full potential that Konami is trying to realise with it’s upcoming true remake of MGS3. It can’t even be called a true master collection either, since it doesn’t actually contain the whole series, including all the spin offs and portable releases that are important for the world of Metal Gear as a whole. It lacks the character, charm and charisma of the company I grew up adoring. I can only hope they’ve taken on board some of the criticism and make Vol.2 a much better release. I get the feeling though, that the plan is to milk even more money at a later date, by offering Vol.1 and 2 in a collection together for an even more inflated price tag.

If you’ve never played the Metal Gear franchise, but are interested in sneaking games. If only for the experience, I would tell you to buy and play this collection. But if you’re not in a rush to play it, I would highly recommend waiting for a sale.

Game Details

Game Genre – Third Person, Stealth Action
Developers – Konami
Publisher – Konami
Rating – MA15+
Year of Release – 2023
Platforms – PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Mode(s) of Play – Single

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About the Author

Daniel Hi I'm Dan! 32 and Non-Binary. When I'm not writing reviews. I like to get deeply immersed in the lore of an mmo or rpg, cruise the forest or coastal roads of Victoria, watch anime, read manga, build model kits and do a bit of sketching on the side.

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