Kojima is now flying on his own. Konami, for its part, is struggling to cope like a big player, unfortunately. The firm has gotten a little lost in recent years by wanting to focus on pachinkos and NFTs. Not to mention the disaster eFootball, heir to the PES franchise which has almost nothing left going for it. But that was before. This was before Konami decided to rework on its flagship licenses. On the one hand, we have Silent Hill which returns from the dead on October 31, 2023, and on the other, we have the Metal Gear Solid franchise. The latter has several projects in progress, Metal Gear Solid 3 remake which will be released in the coming months, and a new compilation for consoles and PC. It is the latter that we have scrutinized in recent days.
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection vol.1, a long name that says it all. We are facing the first part of a collection of hits from the license. A compilation which brings together no less than 5 complete games on a single cake. When it was announced, this new collection didn’t only make fans happy, especially since Konami’s communication, which started talking about retouching here and there, started to freak people out. No, don’t worry, the games haven’t changed and haven’t moved one iota, maybe that’s the problem.
The story begins in 1987 on MSX2. Kojima started his career at Konami as a Game Designer at the time and came up with Metal Gear. An action game at first glance, which will ultimately transform into an infiltration game, in particular because of the limitations of the machine at the time. Some time later Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake arrives, a direct sequel. Kojima’s first two babies lay the foundation for the franchise here. Snake, Big Boss, Metal Gear, the atomic weapon, infiltration or even the Codec. It all starts here. The Master Collection therefore allows us to discover the origins of the saga in their rawest guise. No notable improvements other than support for the touchpad and slightly smoother controls. For the rest, it is exactly the same experience as the one that players were able to discover in the HD Collection released in 2012 which included a few additions such as support for the touchpad in particular or even on-the-fly saves.
An old school experience here which will speak more to fans than to ordinary mortals. In its desire to make an ultimate compilation, Konami saw fit to add the NES version of Metal Gear and the American sequel Snake’s Revenge to its collection. I might as well tell you right away, if the two games are not part of the canon, it’s not for nothing. They are simply bad. Kojima didn’t put his hands into it and the liberties taken are catastrophic, even for the time. Add to that even more dated gameplay than the original games and you have an explosive cocktail. Well, they’re there for the fun, it’s fun to take a look, but we’re not here for that. The Master Collection is worth its weight in gold just for the following three titles.
Metal Gear Solid, the beginning of a true legend
If the franchise is old, it is Metal Gear Solid, released on PS1 in the 90s, which will allow it to reach heights and become quite simply cult. Solid Snake infiltrates a secret base in Alaska to foil the plans of a terrorist organization. On site, things go wrong, secrets are revealed and this simple, almost routine mission takes on totally surreal proportions. Even if the game is old, we will refrain from making spoilers. Metal Gear Solid may show its age, but it’s still worth the detour. It’s a lesson in writing and directing for the time. The influences of cinema are legion, it’s inspired and ingenious as possible. What’s nice is that Konami didn’t touch anything, or at least nothing that jumps out at the eye. He specifies that certain mentions, manner of speaking and other sensitive subjects may no longer be relevant. It’s up to the players to have an open mind. Moreover, the firm puts a disclaimer at the launch of each game to affirm that nothing has been touched in order to preserve the “author’s vision”.
In any case, the most striking sequences, like that of Psycho Mantis, are still present, and we will even find the famous secret frequency on a box of the virtual game, failing to provide a physical version of the time. What is certain is that the original material is intact, perhaps even too intact, so that apart from the possibility of using the touchpad for the Codec, in broad terms, nothing has moved and we feel a little old. The controls are clearly dated, and visually, it stings.
Nostalgia lovers (like me) will be happy to find the “PlayStation touch”, but seeing the textures move, the graphic bugs making sections of walls appear or disappear, or the characters crash into the decor like back then, it’s not madness. And it will be the same for all the games, nothing has changed, it has to be taken with all the qualities of the time, but also all the faults. Note also that Konami has already planned to deploy a small day one patch to correct minor bugs on all games in the collection.
The display retains its former 4:3, without the possibility of changing anything. To overcome the problem, Konami suggests changing the background of the two ugly black bands which shrink the screen by default. A nice customization, but clearly not transcendent. As a bonus, you will have to settle for 1080p output at only 30 fps. For what ? Well because, and that’s it. Besides, we wouldn’t have said no to the Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes remake released on Gamecube.
MGS 2 and 3, the two handsome kids are (again) out
The sequels to this cult game released on PS2 at the time are also in the mix, of course. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater were, and still are, excellent games on many levels. Incredible staging, colorful characters, extremely well-developed and well-written storyline, it’s a real treat to (re)discover these two hits, even after all these years. This is all the more true as they both benefit from a complete remastering this time. Improved graphics, more flexible controls, various improvements… the games are almost identical to the original titles remastered in 2012 by Bluepoint, but are much more pleasant to play. We say almost, because Konami had to make some minor adjustments. Some will only be visible to purists, moreover, like the change of some archive images. Honestly, it doesn’t change the experience at all, although hardcore fans will certainly find fault. They always find fault anyway.
Yes, MGS 2 and 3 are great and the versions offered by the Master Collection are solid. The only problem, again, is that nothing more has been done. The two games presented here come directly from the HD Collection by Bluepoint Games. Needless to say, things are starting to get old here too. So don’t expect any big visual extravaganzas, you’ll have to settle for 1080p at 60fps (test carried out on PS5). No 4K or other notable improvements. The bare minimum, period. Fortunately the games have aged well, notably thanks to the incredible work of Bluepoint at the time, otherwise we would be in trouble. To say, there are even still the mentions of the HD Collection of 2012. Yes, yes, we are being made fun of a little there…
Lots of content and bonuses
The Master Collection, however, has some big advantages for fans of the franchise. We can even say that this is the one and only reason that could convince you to make the purchase. It is so full of content that you no longer know what to do with it. Already, the games are present in all their possible versions. European (including FR for MGS 1), mainly American and Japanese, with everything you need in terms of options for changing languages and choosing subtitles. However, you will have to have fun downloading the additional packs separately. Metal Gear Solid, the first of its name, is available in several versions, including Integral, which notably adds a difficulty mode and a few other things here and there. The game also arrives with its VR missions, a sort of DLC for a few hours of additional play. Here too we will find it in all possible editions. MGS 2 and MGS 3 are also entitled to their respective bonuses. In short, the Master Collection offers the most complete versions of all the games that make it up. The icing on the cake is that all titles benefit from digital bonuses to be found directly in the main menu. There you will find collections that look at the history of the franchise and the games, sketches, and even some useful guides and solutions for completionists. A crazy amount of digital goodies that may not appeal to everyone, but which will certainly please fans.
As expected, the collection is not complete. There are still a whole bunch of Metal Gear games, mainline and otherwise, that aren’t part of the journey. Guns of Patriots, Ground Zero, Phantom Pain, Peace Walker, Revengeance or even Acid… Konami will certainly release a Volume 2 and maybe even 3 soon. On the other hand, we hope that it will be managed much better next time. Here, the Master Collection Vol.1 offers to download the games individually, one by one and there is absolutely no hub to centralize all the titles in the same place. Not only does it take up space, but moving from one title to another is quite tedious. Ergonomics level we will come back to that.
