Metal Gear Solid HD collection Review (PS3)

A (nearly) full history of one of gaming’s hardcore icons

The trend for revamping classic titles continues with the latest Konami offering – the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. However, the title is a bit misleading – starting with Metal Gear Solid 2, this package encompasses Metal Gear Solid 3 and Peace Walker (the PSP spinoff from 2010), as well as significant extras from the special editions of 2 and 3, noticeably the original Metal Gear 1 and 2 from the days of the Master System. But crucially, it’s missing two of the biggest titles of them all – 1 and 4. Despite this, there’s some serious gaming history here – MGS2 redefined the PS2 on release, showing its capability as a next gen powerhouse, and how a bit of care and attention could really wring out something amazing from such a simple machine. MGS3 then went on to rewrite the ideas of stealth gaming, and is widely considered the best in the series. Finally, Peace Walker is probably the best MGS game no one played (it was a PSP exclusive), finally bringing plenty of giant robot action after all the promise, and nearly being called simply MGS5. As a series, MGS is synonymous with intelligent, thoughtful gaming, blending stealth, combat and lateral thinking to a peak which (at times) is impossible to beat. For the newcomers, however, a simple overview – the Metal Gear games all revolve around independent teams of specialist soldiers, employed to prevent terrorism and global meltdown, and normally centering around a main character called Snake. Various story threads run throughout several titles, and often each game has a big part to play in the overall arcing plot of the series. It’s a bit tricky for newcomers, although the games do their best to help out – if you have never played a MGS title before, its advised to check out the numerous background files found within each game before starting, as the world of MGS is often a hugely convoluted one, and any preparation is going to pay dividends as you go. Gameplay is tricky to pin down – while MGS titles are often considered stealth titles, in truth they play as a combination of action, hide-and-seek and straight-up puzzling. All games feature some degree of hiding, shooting, stealth movement, planning and lateral thought, and the general rule is to take your time and think ahead – these games aren’t for the faint-of-heart, and ask you to put in some serious investments to get the most out of them. All generally play in the third-person, with some first-person capabilities scattered throughout. Oh, and meathead shooter fanatics need not apply – this isn’t Gears, or Bulletstorm, but instead a title that asks you to use firearms as a last resort – think along the lines of perhaps Hitman, or early Splinter Cell and you’ll be close, although even these comparisons seem inadequate. So, this HD re-release is a huge package, but the truth is, how does it play? Well, it’s a mixed bag – most of the titles here haven’t aged so well, feeling at times clunky, with MGS2 in particular occasionally feeling like a battle between you and the control scheme. Todays games offer a level of interaction that is fluid and fast, and the simple act of being planted to shoot, or crawling along like you are heavily weighted will initially cause more Game Over screens than most people would like. Visuals aren’t anything to get too excited over either – for an upscaled title they look good in the majority (with some sexy 3D for the rich among you), but again, there are some areas that can’t help but show some age. Peace Walker is clearly the best on offer, with the sharpest visuals, and MGS2 again propping up the rear. MG 1 and 2 get away with the retro charm, but the aspirations of MGS2 (and to a lesser extent, MGS3) just aren’t matched by the actual level of fidelity they display. And then we get onto what is probably the biggest boon or bugbear of most MGS gamers – the storyline and cutscenes. Every title in the series has a huge and overbearing story to tell, which often asks the gamer to recall the smallest details of other titles. This can regularly lead to 20 or 30 minute cutscenes, with the kind of acting that makes the Wiggles look sophisticated – Japanese devs love a puerile joke or six, and many areas of the storyline feel too off-kilter to fully comprehend. Fanboys are going to rage over this, but it’s true – I’ve played every game in the series several times (even the Acid series, and Portable Ops), and still would struggle to get beyond “long time bad dude terrorists want to keep wars going for some kind of immortality” schtick. It’s a good deal more than that, but at times it can get ridiculous. Also, on an aside, the intro screens give away each game’s big plot twists, which is bloody annoying too – the “Raiden reveal” was a shocker in its day, so declaring it prior to starting the game just plain sucks.

As a package, MGS HD Collection is a must-buy for nostalgia merchants, and at least a must-rent for everyone else

But, despite all this, there’s something truly epic about any MGS game – even when you are raging at the second ten minute cutscene after merely walking round the corner from the last, you’ll be hooked. The actual gameplay has moments of brilliance that’s hard to replicate, and often this centres around the bosses. Ask a series veteran about the first time they met Vamp, or battling The End, or even some of the mech battles in Peace Walker – you’ll be met with a knowing grin and a war story that really shows how even these shortest of moments define the series. As a package, MGS HD Collection is a must-buy for nostalgia merchants, and at least a must-rent for everyone else – despite an at-times impenetrable storyline, the actual gameplay can transcend even the biggest frustrations of most gamer, instead offering what can be a pure experience of epic gaming. There’s some irritations (cut scenes and controls), as well as some annoying omissions from what should be a definitive collection (MGS1, Versus Ops, and Snake vs Monkey being prime examples), but it’s also important to remember this is a cut price com
bo of five of the greatest games ever made. Sure, like Marlon Brando, that greatness fades a bit with age, but the true class still shines through, and just like Brando could pull out of the bag the likes of Apocalypse Now in his later career, MGS can throw at you The End, or the Rex showdown, or just simply tootling around under a cardboard box. It’s a true mark of genius that transcends its shortcomings, as opposed to suffering from it – it might not quite be up to snuff for some of todays discerning gamers, but everyone owes it to themselves to at least give it a try.

Silver Y Award

4 / 5