And with the release of Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, some of Konami’s strongest titles are now on modern consoles. One of the collection’s crown jewels is the once-imprisoned Metal Gear Solid 4: Sons of the Patriots, finally breaking free.
Because of the PlayStation 3’s Cell processor, many games struggled early in the console’s lifespan to play as well as they did on Xbox 360, while others were crafted specifically for the tech. Hideo Kojima’s final game featuring Solid Snake was tied to the PS3 architecture and couldn’t be emulated because of how it used the hardware. It’s why we never saw it in the HD Collections. Now, Konami’s developers did much of the porting work, and they’ve gone above and beyond to keep it as it was.
Each game in the collection includes a scenario book with text from that game and a master book with detailed insights into the story and characters. The digital versions include Metal Gear Solid: Digital Soundtrack Vol.2, featuring numerous iconic tracks that enhanced Snake’s missions, ranging from BGM used in the games to vocal songs.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
In an era when PMCs (private military companies) have risen to prominence, war has become a business and a driving force behind the global economy. Controlling the top five PMCs from behind the scenes is Liquid Ocelot, who, fanning the flames of war even further, plans an insurrection with the goal of creating a world where warriors can lead fulfilling lives—a goal shared by none other than Big Boss.
I know a lot of people have this entry high on their lists, and for good reason; it’s one of the most impressive Kojima games ever made. However, it’s also the most difficult game to get through due to the sheer number of prolonged cutscenes you have to endure to get to the good stuff.
Even when Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots launched, a talking point was how some cutscenes were full-blown movies. To that point, you could make lunch and clean up, and the cutscene wouldn’t be done.
And that’s the issue I still have with this game years later. This is such a convoluted entry that it’s hard to recommend to anyone to check out but it’s also probably the best mechanically. Even now, as I rolled credits, there isn’t another game in the mainline series that holds a candle to how much fun it is.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
In 1964, after saving the world from all-out nuclear war, Naked Snake, a true hero, is renamed Big Boss, but he disappears shortly after the ceremony. Ten years later, Big Boss is running an independent military unit in Colombia when he is visited by two individuals from Costa Rica, a country without a military.
In a post-Cuban Missile Crisis world, and in Central America, which is essential to maintaining the power balance between East and West, Costa Rica has been miraculously able to maintain peace.
However, a mysterious armed group has been seen acting suspiciously throughout the region. They request Big Boss to investigate and eliminate the armed group. Though he hesitates to accept the request because the tape they brought contained the voice of The Boss, who was supposed to be dead.
This entry is effectively a follow-up to Metal Gear Solid 3 and was once a PlayStation Portable title. It was a console seller for many fans and one that took full advantage of the budding PSP hardware at the time. It ended up being one of my most played titles at the time; it’s a more compact adventure, but it still offers plenty of optional content worth experiencing.
Why should you play Peace Walker? Well, because it’s a brilliant game that, at the time, allowed fans to play a game on their commutes or on the couch in bite-sized missions. It also introduces Mother Base, which allows you to add staff to complete research to create weapons, expand your military presence, heal injured staff, gather intel, and even expand the base itself.
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
An incident of unprecedented magnitude sends shockwaves through the highest levels of the U.S. government: A prototype bipedal armoured vehicle, Metal Gear, has been seized along with its nuclear payload by an armed group. In a radical response, the government calls in Solid Snake, an infiltration expert who single-handedly brought down the fortress state of Outer Heaven seven years ago. The order given to him is to infiltrate the enemy’s headquarters called “Galuade” and destroy Metal Gear.
Solid Snake by himself stands up against the impregnable armed fortress. But an unknown mercenary group called Black Chamber awaits him. Dark connections to the past and truths hidden behind the closed door are starting to be laid bare.
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel is a niche title that launched on the Game Boy Colour. I don’t know anyone who actually played this entry, but I do remember hearing how excellent it was at the time. It’s effectively a shrunken-down 2D game similar to the older MSX2 titles, with Solid Snake infiltrating a base in Africa.
Verdict
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 might not have as many games as its predecessor, but it includes one of the most important games of the modern age. Even over a decade later, Metal Gear Solid 4 not only holds up, but it effortlessly plays better than many modern games. And that’s not even me praising how excellent Peace Walker is. You’ve got two of the most beloved entries in the Metal Gear Solid series together, and no reason to skip out on them now that they’re so readily available.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
