Video Game Review: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
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Great value for money, 3 highly-acclaimed games in 1,:
Stories become convoluted because of the orderingSnake’s classic adventures are back in glorious high-definition.
Most owners of PS3′s will have noticed the recent spate of HD Collections hitting shelves. Sony has come to the conclusion that re-releasing several games from successful PS2 franchises on a single Blu-Ray disc is a lucrative and resource-preserving alternative to new games. One of the most recent HD Collections to be released is the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, which has been eagerly anticipated by MGS fans since its announcement. Although most collections have been exclusively released for PS3 this collection is available for PS3, Xbox 360 and also the Playstation Vita in the coming months. This collection includes Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 (Originally on PS2) and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Originally on the PSP). 3 games on a single disc already makes financial sense, but we’ll delve a little deeper into the package to see if it deserves the attention it’s getting. Considering the Metal Gear franchise spans almost 3 decades and single-handedly created the stealth/action genre, the collection should appeal to anyone who wants to play a more badass version of James Bond.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Chronologically the first game, MGS3 has been hailed as the best in the series, even trumping the graphically exalted MGS4. With a captivating and relatively uncomplicated story and very involving gameplay MGS3 embodies everything that is right with the series, while being devoid of most of the flaws. Its gameplay is dated but easy to pick up, and after the first fifteen minutes you’ll already have forgotten you’re playing a game two years shy of its tenth anniversary. Memorable boss fights and varying landscapes and missions are the norm for MGS3, and they’re executed admirably. It’s going to take a lot to surpass the quality associated with this game. There is nothing fancy or flashy, but it does the basics so well that it renders anything extra unnecessary.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 2 is the second last game in the MGS timeline and also the oldest of the games in this collection. While its gameplay is still quite relevant and easy enough to get into, the story might be difficult to stomach for newcomers. MGS2 built on MGS1′s already complex and potentially confusing story by being far more complex and exceedingly more confusing. The story is not bad, but can get convoluted and somewhat tiresome after a while. The assumptions and social commentary are undoubtedly interesting, but sometimes you really just want to feel like a one-man-army-badass-military-ninja and not have to sit through a 7 minute cutscene discussing the geopolitical effects of the murky oil industry. This is one of the most prominent flaws, as existing knowledge of the MGS universe is somewhat necessary to follow what happens in the (frequently long-winded and melodramatic) cutscenes. And from time to time not even all the MGS knowledge in the world will stop you from feeling lost and bemused. While this does not take away from MGS2 being one of the most entertaining games available, it could serve as a significant stumbling block for those trying to get into the series.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker:
The dark horse of the collection is definitely Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, making its departure from a handheld and being thrown straight onto the big screen. The previous third-person Metal Gear titles on PSP added another dimension to what had always been a start-to-end linear format. An RPG element was included to great effect by making it necessary for players to capture and recruit enemy soldiers to the protagonist’s cause. These soldiers could be used for missions or employed to make useful items and ammunition. This feature is greatly expanded and emphasized in MGS: PW, players can recruit up to 350 soldiers with skills and abilities that let them create new weapons and upgrade old ones, as well as researching medical items and gathering information.
The game provides a “home base” of sorts, where the missions, your army of allies and the multitude of game settings (and even previously-watched cutscenes) can be accessed. It’s basically the Peace Walker version of console home screens. Cool-looking menus and ease of use make it a very nice layout. Peace Walker has some cool features that make the story-telling a lot more pleasing. Most prominent of these is the general lack of traditional cutscenes, instead substituted for gritty graphic novel style story-boards, complete with occasional button prompts to disarm an assailant or RPG a plane. Quite a clever feature that avoids the possibly eye-destroying effects of low resolution PSP cutscenes.
The control scheme on console lends itself well to Peace Walker, two analogue sticks makes it possible to move your character and the camera simultaneously, a luxury that was difficult to achieve on the PSP. However, the RPG element and the implication of potentially spending tens of hours on this game felt a lot more at home on a handheld console. It’s not a deal-breaker, but getting the most from this game will require a huge investment of time that is a lot easier on a system you can take anywhere.
As always, some things are fumbled in the transition from stand-alone games to a collection. One of these issues is the inability to change from one game to another without quitting and restarting the disc. It’s possible to do from MGS: PW, but it appears that particular convenience was forgotten with MSG2 and 3. Something this basic would have been quite welcome, and is a fault in many of these single-disc collections. Another minor drawback is that one-on-one conversations between characters are preceded by a “skip” and slight delay before the conversation starts, not really a major issue but there are more of these conversations in the games than there are people in China. Considering that current generation console hardware is miles ahead of the consoles these games originated from, it’s difficult to understand why this would happen.
In the end there is no escaping the fact that these are 3 very good games, despite their individual drawbacks, and they’re available on a single disc and will set you back less than a new current gen game. Although the cutscenes and conversations might get taxing at times, they are all skip-able. Gaming is at a stage where titles are released en masse and we’re bombarded with short-winded gimmicks (Yes, I am looking at you quicktime events), dramatic and annoying dialogue and ridiculous 1080p explosions your TV can barely cope with. It’s a welcome departure from the contemporary cookie-cutter time wasters by harking back to a period where games were solid and enjoyable, and did not require a 45 minute installation or periodic updates to fix the epileptic frame rate.
As a side note and for those who really want to get into the franchise, this is the fictional chronological order of the Metal Gear games: MGS 3 – MGS: Portable Ops – MGS: Peace Walker – Metal Gear Solid – MGS 2 – MGS 4. Playing the games in this order will make it easiest to understand the extensive story and universe.
