The Metal Gear series has long been one of my favorites since its inception when it first appeared on the NES. As a Metal Gear Solid fan Konami’s recently released Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is possibly the best HD re-mastered series of games I could ask for. That being said, a part of me really would love to also see Dracula X done up in HD, but that hopefully will be another future review. I certainly cut my teeth on the Metal Gear games over the years, and back when the PS2 was the console to own, the series was cutting edge in terms of graphics. Being able to play them again in HD has got me somewhat excited to experience the nostalgia as well as see how the tried and true gameplay holds up to today’s standards.
Most gamers should be familiar with how the Metal Gear franchise plays; the collection does nothing to change the gameplay aside from the odd button change. It’s an action and stealth combination that has a lot of lengths in the gameplay department. The only major difference in the HD collection is that this all three included games are rendered in high-definition for the first time.
Included in the HD Collection is Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. MGS 2 and 3 are the Substance and Subsistence editions respectively; meaning each is packed with all kinds of extras. In fact, MGS2 alone comes with enough content to justify this HD Collection’s $50 price tag. MGS 2 includes the entire Sons of Liberty story, more than 350 alternate and VR missions, and Snake Tales, which is a series of side stories for Solid Snake that attempt to make up for the lack of his appearance in the main story. MGS 3 is not nearly as meaty, but it does include the original two MSX Metal Gear titles: Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The 2 titles are in my opinion also worth the admission price of the collection. Peace Walker unfortunately is by far the skimpiest here, but it does include co-op missions and a death match-style versus mode. Peace Walker benefits from being the youngest release in the bunch, having the option to play a limited multi-player mode. It may not match some of the other multi-player modes we now take for granted, but it is a nice inclusion nonetheless.
I really enjoyed my time with these gems from Konami in their old form. I’ve included a brief outline of each game, so new gamers will have idea of what to expect. I must admit the games sound like they are a little heavy on the political side, and they are; but the gameplay is legendary.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty has you taking on the role of a one-man army determined to stop a deadly high-tech weapon from falling into the hands of a highly elite resistance group known as Dead Cell. You must utilize their skills in stealth, weaponry, and counter-terrorism to fight off the competing powers. You will progress through a twisting storyline and eventually face the gigantic war machine, Metal Gear Ray.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater involves the struggle to achieve world peace and world dominance in the Cold War period; rivalling governments are secretly developing weapons technology that could threaten the future existence of life. Destined to be the first, a race ensues to become the ultimate nation. A special elite tactical soldier is summoned to penetrate deep in the heart of enemy territory and obtain Intel about Metal Gear, a prototype weapon with nuclear capabilities. As Naked Snake you must outsmart enemies with camouflage, close-quarters combat, stalking, interrogating, climbing, hunting and treating injuries.
Finally, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker plays out during the 1970s. Big Boss has stationed his “Soldiers without Borders” in Columbia, South America. It is here he is approached by a visitor from Costa Rica, dubbed Nation without a Military. In the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a mysterious armed force seems to be engaging in suspicious activities. You take control of the famed Naked Snake at a critical junction in modern history. The advanced co-operative technique allows multiple players to sneak into the fray and accomplish this mission together.
The Metal Gear HD collection may include a lot of content, but these are essentially the same games you remember from years ago. Gamers should take the collection for what it was, and not expect too much more from them.
Re-adapting to the button layout in MGS 2 and MGS 3 took some time to get used to, but overall it was not a huge issue. Including an option for alternate control schemes would have helped, but the games are completely playable in the form they take on the PS3. This is really more of a nit-pick than a genuine complaint; since the collection is really quite fun anyway you play them.
Peace Walker is one title that deserves to be singled out from the other 2 games; it is the title that benefits most from the HD overhaul. Moving the game from the PSP to the big screen is the best thing that could have happened to this really good Metal Gear side story. Using the dual analog sticks takes the burden off of the face buttons, making it much more intuitive to aim and guide Snake through the environments. Most Peace Maker fans will remember having to control the camera with the PSP buttons, which made controlling a mess. Since Peace Walker came out around 2010 the game took some cues from MGS 4 on the control factor. The gameplay feels updated and more modern than its PS2 counterparts, and having the ability to play with friends is fantastic. There are certain moments in the game, like boss battles, where having a buddy help you out is essential. Also, playing the Versus Ops mode lets you test your competitive spirit in online combat.
Peace Walker’s storyline may not hold up to the other games in the collection, as the characters are the least developed in the series. Sadly, the missions are fairly short affairs with save points only in between them; I suppose that the limitation of the UMD format was to blame back then and it carries over to this HD collection. This doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, but it definitely stands out from the other titles in the HD Collection as a distinctly different kind of Metal Gear.
The Metal Gear series has one of the most twisted and convoluted storylines in gaming, spanning over 5 decades and involving a huge cast of characters. The series timelines are also seriously blurred, even confusing some of the most ardent of Metal Gear fans. If you are already a fan, this collection is a great way to get reacquainted with Solid Snake, Big Boss, and the tactical espionage gameplay. Newer gamers to the series should be warned that the storyline contained in the collection is incomplete because the package doesn’t have the original Metal Gear Solid or Portable Ops. In my opinion they are substantial parts of the overall Metal Gear saga. In the end though it does not diminish the quality of the other entries, but it would have been nice to have the complete story housed within the collection. Perhaps next year Konami?
The PlayStation consoles have almost always been the home of the Metal Gear series over its life span, so it’s no surprise that the PS3 version of the HD Collection has a few advantages. Although I played the PS3 version, I thought I should note how the gameplay is affected on the Xbox 360 given the Xbox 360’s controller, trophies vs. achievements, and PS3/PSP transfer functions. The Xbox 360 controller does not have pressure-sensitive buttons, so certain actions have been awkwardly re-mapped. It doesn’t drastically impact the gameplay, but long time fans will have to relearn small parts of the already complicated controls. I’m actually a fan of the 360 controllers, but the PS3 has a sizeable advantage in this regard. Another advantage is the game has a full complement of trophies on PS3, but the 360 version cuts some achievements since it has MGS 2 and MGS 3 grouped as a single title. I am confused as to why this is. It is probably to do with the space requirements on the discs. Finally, if you’re playing on PS3 you have the ability to transfer your Peace Walker game save from your PSP version of the game using the transfarring feature; you can also transfer it back to the PSP. I am not sure why it was named Transfarring specifically, as it seems a little strange.
Visually, I must admit the textures and graphics updated in this HD format does show the games age. The HD upgrade is limited to the original programming, which Konami did in spades back in the day. They managed to squeeze and massage the PS2 to the machine’s limit, which in turn helps the HD collection overall. All of the included games have a blocky but smooth look, with a very noticeable downgrade in textures and polygons. Metal Gear Solid 3, to my surprise, looks the best again, in part because Hideo Kojima and his creative team put the PS2 to its full potential when the game was first released. I thought it could pass off as an early PS3 game in some areas. The game is also quite a bit different than MGS 1 and 2 by adding a very leafy jungle environment, relying on camouflaged patterned clothing and facepaint to blend into the environment.
Disappointingly, Peace Walker does not hold up that well in this set, although it does gain some visual advantages over the original version. Appearing originally on the PSP, the HD transfer does show an even lower polygon count and much more limited textures. The game looks clean and crisp though, but the devil is in the details, or the lack of them. On the more plus side here, I found the cut-scenes really very impressive. I remember they had pops and dropouts here and there, but for this HD collection, not only have Peace Walkers cut-scenes been cleaned up, they have never looked so good. Bluepoint games has done Konami justice in re-making the Metal Gear series.
Like the graphics, the sounds of Metal Gear Solid hold up very well, but they are nowhere near the stylized sounds of modern games. The games in this collection sound great for what they are, tons of dialogue combined with mostly a silenced tranquillizer gun. There are some loud and thumpy moments that will give your subwoofer a bit of a work out, namely aircraft or anti-aircraft guns. I particularly liked the constant drone of the freighter in Sons of Liberty, or the sounds of the animals in Snake Eater. The production value is off the charts, and who would expect nothing less from a Kojima product.
I hope you like codec conversations, because you’re going to hear a lot of them. Thankfully, the voice acting is top-notch throughout the whole collection. David Hayter, the raspy smart-ass voice of Snake, is an iconic fixture that every gamer should recognize instantly. His personality lends not only credibility, but also a personality hated and loved by many. The guy is just plain slick. His supporting actors all pretty much bow to his charm and skill. The heavy dialogue in the all the games is integral to the series and story, but gamers new to the series will have to get used to the games slower pace though. The melodramatic monologues can get a bit grating, but the end result is never in question.
The Metal Gear franchise of games can be summed up in many ways. Pretentious and frustrating come to mind, yet they can also be described as the most innovative, inventive, and influential action game series of all time. One thing for sure, there is simply nothing else quite like Metal Gear Solid and even though this doesn’t include the best game in the series, the original, this HD Collection’s great value lays in the gameplay. While this collection doesn’t give you the complete picture, it highlights many of the reasons the Metal Gear Solid series has such a devoted following. At the end of the day the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is a must buy if you consider yourself a real gamer, or if your just someone who is looking to relive some older Metal Gear Solid titles.
