If you’re about to sit down with Metal Gear Solid for the first time with the release of the HD Collection, take heed of our advice: relieve yourself first, find a comfy seat and bring popcorn – you’ll be sitting here for a while.
Fondly remembered for its obscure cardboard box-wearing adventures, superbly atmospheric stealth sequences, camp humour and insanely lengthy cut-scenes, Kojima’s trio of epics have finally sneaked onto Xbox 360, each updated, tweaked and refined for a brand new HD audience.
To clarify, this isn’t the complete line-up of Metal Gear Solid games. The original PSone Metal Gear Solid is disappointingly absent – often noticeably so given the parallels and references during MGS2 – as is MGS4: Guns of the Patriots; Snake’s grand finale is still exclusive to PS3.
Instead, you’ve got Metal Gear Solid 2, 3 and PSP game Peace Walker, each outfitted with the bells and whistles you’d expect from an HD revisit. They’re the re-released versions, too: MGS2: Substance, which features bonus missions aside from the main story, and MGS3: Subsistance, offering up an array of extras only really suited to series mega-fans.
Metal Gear Solid 2 is arguably the most famous of the three, notorious for Kojima’s unprecedentedly cunning decision to replace MGS lead Solid Snake with new guy Raiden.
But it’s Metal Gear Solid 3 that’s actually the most fondly remembered, famed for introducing new mechanics and intricately exploring the backstory that went on to shape the future of the series. Both are shining examples of Kojima’s ability to direct a game that merged cinematography and sequences usually reserved for Hollywood with the finest stealth gameplay the industry has.
Peace Walker, meanwhile, is an almost entirely different kettle of fish altogether, a hybrid RPG/stealth/co-op handheld spin-off that attempted to take advantage of the Monster Hunter craze that swept across its home nation on its release two years ago. It’s the most unremarkable of the three, and one whose comic book cut-scenes can lessen much of the impact that MGS usually relies on from its cinematics.
Each are worth experiencing again, though, all perfect ports running at 60fps and with only the rarest jots of slowdown during the most visually intense sequences. More impressively, Bluepoint has done a fantastic job in retaining the look and feel of each game post-HD jump. The hazed green of MGS3′s jungle setting offers an incredible ambience, contrasting fantastically with the clean, quasi-futuristic look of MGS2′s Big Shell, while the character models of both still stand up to some the best of today. Understandably, Peace Walker’s PSP origins make it the ugliest of the bunch, but you can’t criticise Bluepoint, who has clearly done the best job they can with the assets available.
The controls, an area where MGS2 stumbled during its port to the original Xbox, still don’t quite fit the 360 pad though, with the triggers, rather than the bumpers, used to select items in the inventory, and an awkward two button RB/X combo required to aim in first-person. Outside of the cut-scenes, MGS can start to show its age through the animation as well, where the relatively stiff characters lack that extra lick of polish allowed by the current hardware. Everywhere else though, HD Collection stands up terrifically well.
As one of the first series’ to really experiment with cinematic gameplay, the fact that MGS’s presentation and pacing still manages to wow us a generation later is a testament to Kojima’s sublime artistry. Featuring two of the best games of the last-generation as well as one of the better titles to ever grace a handheld, MGS’s expertly crafted makeover and budget price makes HD Collection an essential pick-up.
VERDICT: 90%
Xbox 360 version tested. This article was originally published in Issue 63 of 360Zine.
Tags: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
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