Metal Gear Solid HD Collection review (PS3)

stealth ~ The quality or characteristic of being furtive or covert.
espionage ~ The act or practice of spying.
tactical ~ Characterized by adroitness, ingenuity, or skill.
action ~ An engagement between troops or ships.

Tactical Espionage Action – three words that defined a generation of gamers through insanely intricate plots, near-perfect gameplay and a protagonist that formed a gaming genre that to some remains their sole reason to game.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is a collection of the finest stealth gameplay available on any console, with Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater and the PSP’s Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker all arriving in one package. The HD generation can finally experience some of the series’ most iconic moments on current gen consoles and in HD.

Whilst the absence of Twin Snakes or the original Metal Gear Solid (which to many gamers defined the series) is slightly disappointing, for fans of the series the disappointment soon washes away as the waves of HD perfection sooth our fan boy brows.

The disc/discs load up and present three different time periods underlining the three shiny solid games. Upon selecting a game you are given a short synopses of the story, the option to read the game manual and of course launch the game.

As the God Of War HD collection is the only other 720p upscaled collection that I have played, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is clearly in another league. One can clearly see that this collection has been given the Hideo Kojima stamp of approval, with music and a slight back story hitting you in the face before you even fire up the games.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

Graphics

Once in game, fans will be blown away by the up scaled graphics, however generation HD will be disappointed. Bear in mind these are all previous-gen games and pixelation is to be expected.

Both the cutscenes and detail in the overall level and visual design are still great ten years on. That said, from a non-fan-boy perspective, the graphics are not on par with current-gen consoles.

Sound

These titles need to be played with a decent sound system to be fully appreciated.

Hideo Kojima relied on musical maestro Harry Gregson-Williams. If you are not familiar with Harry I’m sure you will be with a few of the movies for which he has composed musical scores, such as The Rock, the Shrek series, and Team America.

The in-game sound effects and non-cutscene audio are nothing mind-blowing by current gen standards but again these are previous gen titles. As for the cutscenes, they are still brilliantly crafted and the audio in its aged fragile state can still bring a tear to one’s eye.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

Gameplay

This is where Metal Gear Solid either wins you over or loses you forever. The only other game that has a nearly suitable control system and immersive story within the stealth genre would be Splinter Cell Conviction.

If you are willing to listen to hours of dialogue and sit through about 2 hours of cutscenes per game, then you are in for one hell of a gaming ride! If not stay far away from this title.

MGS is renowned for overly complex stories and protracted cutscenes. There are times where you walk for 2 minutes and then have to watch a 4 minute cutscene and listen to a 8 minute codec conversation before you can play for another 2 minutes, only to have a similar process repeated.

The control system is a simple “pick up and go” affair, and should be easy to grasp for most gamers.

I did find that playing Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker on an HD TV and with a proper remote in my hand was not only refreshing but a completely new and awesome experience.

Longevity

If you’re looking for a title that will keep you busy for over 100 hours, look no further.

Metal Gear Solid 3: This title will take you at least 16 hours to play through on your first attempt if you don’t skip any of the codec conversations or cut scenes.

Metal Gear Solid 2: This title will take you at lease 21 hours on your first play through if you start from the beginning as Snake on the ship. However, if you start playing as Raidin this title will take you around 18 hours if you don’t skip any of the cutscenes or codec conversations.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker: The “portable” and longest of the three. You should finish what many people dub the second best title in the entire series in 30 to 40 hours, once again assuming you don’t skip and codec conversations or cutscenes.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

Bonus content

Each title has its own slice of something extra thrown into the mix.

Metal Gear Solid 3 stands head and shoulders above the other two in this field as it comes with the two original MSX titles Metal Gear solid (1987) and Metal Gear Solid 2: Solid Snake (1990).

Metal Gear Solid 2 has 300 additional virtual missions and 200 alternative missions which include 5 where snake can be played with as the main character.

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker has the added “Transfarring” ability which allows you to copy save games over from the PS3 console (only available in the PS3 version, obviously) to your PSP, and vice versa. This ability will also later be released for the other two titles when the PS Vita version of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is released later in the year.

I found the Transfarring tool quite useful as I could now continue playing on my PSP when my Ps3 and TV were annexed by either my fiancé or little nephew for BluRay viewing.

In conclusion, this is a must have title for any fan of the Metal Gear Solid franchise who has either a PS3 or Xbox 360. Indeed, it is a must have title for anyone interested in the stealth genre.