Review: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

Metal Gear Solid is arguably one of the most important video games of all time. It showed us all exactly how blurred the line between game and film can be with its cinematic presentation and superb voice work. Some may argue that its writing and story leave a lot to be desired, but as a starting point for the interactive cinematic experience it was indispensable.

After the impact the original made the 2^nd game was one of the most anticipated games on the Playstation 2, but upon release was almost derided for the curveball it threw involving the playable character. This, however, had no effect on the hype for the third instalment, which many to this day regard as the best in the series, if not one of the greatest games of all time. These are the two entries from the main series that have been given the high definition treatment for this collection, along with the previously PSP exclusive “Peace Walker”, which is more or less a side story chronicling Big Boss journey towards Outer Heaven after Metal Gear Solid 3.

The version of Metal Gear Solid 2 here is the Substance version, which means that beside the original campaign you also receive a whole host of VR and alternate missions and separate “Snake Tales” campaign, as well as a few extra bonus features. While many will often deride MGS2’s campaign for the sudden switch in player character after the snake based intro, it is still a very good game. It took the gameplay of the original MGS and refined it, while adding some techniques such as being able to hold enemies up, aim in first person, tranquilise rather than kill and more. Although the lack of pressure sensitive face buttons on the Xbox means that the controls for precision shooting or holding up can be slightly more fiddly than need be. On the Playstation raising an automatic weapon required the fire button to be pressed lightly, with full pressure being applied to shoot. This allowed precision shots and bursts by alternating the pressure on the button to fire then return to simply aiming. On the Xbox the movement stick must be clicked to raise the rifle, but it must be clicked after every break in shooting to re-raise it for aiming, which present problems in the faster paced boss battle sections by breaking aiming and costing you more time than you often have in between attacks.

Despite these tweaks and introductions, however, it still plays almost exactly like the first game, with even the story playing out in a similar fashion. Although this being Metal Gear there is of course a very good reason why it emulates the original, and is in fact a central story point. The story is the weak part of Sons of Liberty though. The original game had a convoluted story but it could be followed as long as you concentrated, the sequel however gets tied up with too much conspiracy and tries to weave several storylines and alternate meanings throughout. By the end of the series a lot of these were eventually unravelled and explained, but the lack of MGS1 and 4 to the HD collection means newcomers will be lost and confused, and have to branch out further into the series to understand and conclude the many open plot threads. Unfortunately, 1 and 4 are currently unavailable, and are likely to remain so, on the Xbox 360, so those playing on Microsoft’s console are going to have to extra hoops to jump through in order to appreciate the narrative presented here.

Luckily the VR and alternate missions, and Snake Tales, all present their own individual scenarios that allow anybody to enjoy either a quick objective based scenario or a longer self-contained story set around an alternate set of events during the main campaign. With multiple missions for multiple characters these can (and likely will) consume hours of your game time, as being able to complete a quick stealth section or go all out in a weapons mission allows for low attention Metal Gear excitement.

Metal Gear Solid 3 doesn’t have any alternate or VR missions, but what it does have is arguably the best campaign of the franchise. Set in the 1960s, Snake Eater shows the start of the whole story, and focuses on a pre “Big-Boss” Big-Boss, here referred to by the codename “Naked Snake”. Being a prequel it is mostly a self-contained story, with only references and foreshadowing to later events. It is an introduction to many of the characters that are pivotal to the series, such as Revolver Ocelot and of course Big Boss. The actual story itself is one of duty to your country and duty to those you love set against the backdrop of the Cold War. As the story twists and turns its way through some excellent intrigue you will be hooked, and come the close you’ll have been treated to an examination of what it means to be a patriot.

Although despite being a better story than MGS2 there’s a better story to gameplay ratio this time around, and the gameplay itself is much improved. Being the Subsistence version of the game this entry introduces a fully rotational 3D camera, which proves invaluable for the new jungle setting. No longer do you find yourself with straight corridors, plentiful corners and obvious lines of sight, but rather your confronted in wide open areas with little more than foliage to blend into, which brings us to one of the many new additions – Camouflage. Snake Eater brings configurable camouflage and face paint to the series, as well as the camo index. What this means is that everytime snake enters a new terrain, such as swamp or jungle, going from green to brown and many in between, he has to keep an eye on his camo index, a percentile that shows how well hidden he is. Movement and position affect this index but the real change comes from choice of clothes and face paint, adding a whole new layer of tactics and stealth to the mix.

Joining the camouflage is the stamina meter and injuries. Everything you do in the jungle relies upon your stamina to some extent, let it get too low for instance and you’ll have more trouble aiming steadily. The more you exert yourself the more this meter decreases, so taking it slow helps you keep in fighting shape. There will come a time when this meter has to be replenished however, and to do so involve eating the local wildlife and vegetation. Capturing or killing animals allows Snake to feed (to varying degrees of effectiveness depending on the animal and how fresh it is should you have killed it). This mechanic alone may count for a hefty chunk of playtime as you try to eat at least one of everything you come across, with some animals being a one-time only offer. Be wary about killing your meal, however, as its freshness is determined by the consoles internal clock, meaning it will proceed to decay even while the game is turned off (though, without trying to say too much, this feature is also a nifty little way to see off one of the bosses).

Injuries, on the other hand, permanently remove a chunk of your health bar until they are fixed using the appropriate methods, as well as present other limitations. For example a broken leg will slow Snake down until a split is produced and applied. These two mechanics, stamina and injury, introduce a whole new survival aspect to the series, an aspect which unfortunately is only seen in Snake Eater.

The third game in the collection is Peace Walker, and is the weak link, but being the weak link in a collection of this calibre means it’s still a very a good game. Set after MGS3 it shows the formation of Big Boss’s “Militaires Sans Frontières”. However it doesn’t take place directly afterwards, with the other PSP entry – Portable Ops – filling that gap, but being omitted from this collection means that some may be lost as to the inclusion of some characters or why some events are taking place. References to Portable Ops are thankfully minimal, but a summary of its plot could have helped. The story in Peace Walker is told through motion comics, which introduce a new feature to the series, interactive cutscenes. Every so often a button prompt will appear or manual aim will be required for events to play out correctly. Nothing too drastic and should you fail the game only penalises your final score rather than game overs you.

Peace Walker is the most different gameplay wise in the collection. Taking many cues from MGS4 aiming is now handled in a third person over the shoulder fashion, as well as being able to move while crouched make this entry faster paced and with the potential for more action, showing of its handheld roots in accessibility. The layout of the game also shows its portable pedigree, with missions being episodic in nature, allowing you to play towards an objective in patches of 5 or 10 minutes should you wish. Side missions also pop up that allow you access to develop new weapons and items in the games mother base interface.

While not in action you’ll often find yourself managing your ever growing army – unconscious enemies or prisoners can be extracted during gameplay via Fulton recovery and ‘coerced’ into joining the MSF – and tasking individuals to either combat, research, medical, mess hall or intelligence roles. These allow development of new weapons and items with which to go into missions and help keep morale up and soldiers fighting fit. As you progress your base keeps expanding, slowly adding more and more features to keep track of, and adding new tactics to the main game, such as tranquilising rather than killing to capture soldiers, or trying to capture mechanised units instead of destroying them.

Although with the introduction of online co-operative play you may not be the only Snake in the field trying to recruit. The majority of the campaign and side missions can be played with up to 2 or 4 players depending on the individual stages, although should your friendship break down you can also enter into Versus Ops to settle a score. Along with these modes there are also Outer Ops missions that see your recruited combat unit (and captured mechanised units) sent into battle against the enemy, and some special bonus missions that see you take on guest appearances from the Monster Hunter series.

All three of these games looks glorious in HD, with Peace Walker being the obvious lowpoint coming from a handheld system. This is more to do with the fact that these games have aged spectacularly well than the extra level of shine that has been added. The most noticeable improvement comes from the frame rate, which now runs at a blisteringly smooth constant 60fps and makes the animations so smooth you almost forget two of these games are coming on a decade old. The inclusion of achievement/trophy support allows extends the already ample play time for those so inclined.

Overall 10/10
In conclusion these three games being sold together for £30-40 almost feels like stealing. Metal Gear Solid 3 alone covers the entry price, but being packaged with the definitive editions of MGS2 and Peace Walker just seals the deal. A couple of minor downsides do nothing to sully the overall experience. Fans of Metal Gear are getting a greatest hits collection and those who missed out first time round are getting a great entry point. Even compared with many new releases these games still stand as some of the best, and have aged so well that a purchase is pretty much required by those with an interest in stealth, action or story. A must buy for either console.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is available now for Xbox 360 and PS3, and is planned for release on PS Vita later this year.