Plot: What’s it about?
This Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is pure awesome, with three excellent games, complete with a fresh HD coat of paint. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker are all included in this release, making it quite a remarkable collection. Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater are of course stealth focused experiences and still hold up as top level games in that genre. The lone complaint I have about these two are the controls, which aren’t as fluid and intuitive as they could be. Even so, being able to revisit these stealth masterpieces is a great pleasure, especially with the enhanced visuals. If you’ve never played these two games, they offer insane plot lines and simply stellar stealth elements. You’re able to complete your missions in varied ways, as you’re given various tools and methods to make use of. These two games are a little dated in some regards, but both games offer extensive campaigns with ample moments of greatness.
The third game is much more recent, as Peace Walker was a PSP exclusive until now. This game still has some stealth elements, but the focus is on action this time around. While Peace Walker is a lot of fun, the PSP controls were not good, to put it mildly. But now the game handles better and much easier on your hands and wrists. The difference is so drastic, I think some folks who gave up on Peace Walker due to the controls will want to revisit it here. One drawback that remains intact is Peace Walker’s rather brutal checkpoint system. This can lead to some frustration, as you’re forced to restart the mission instead of just taken back to where you were defeated. Even so, Peace Walker offers a more action oriented take on Metal Gear Solid and benefits greatly from the move to a dedicated console control scheme. You can also check out the on-line play for Peace Walker, with up to six players in competitive and four in the co-op mode.
So with three Metal Gear Solid games on board, that is great value. But there is more Metal Gear goodness to be found here, such as Snake Tales. This series of missions was included with a special edition of Sons of Liberty, so it is cool have them on deck here. The more Snake the merrier, right? And from the special edition of Snake Eater we have the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, adding even more value to this collection. While multi-player wasn’t offered for Snake Eater, which is a let down, there is still a metric ton of content here. Three great games, all revamped in HD, plus some nice bonus content, so Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is highly recommended. If you’ve never played these before, this is an ideal chance to experience them, while veterans can revisit the games like never before.
Video: How does it look?
All three games have been an HD makeover, with great results. The games don’t look brand new, but the improvements are evident right from the start. The visuals just look more refined, the same basic graphics you remember polished up to look their best here. Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater look quite good, though of course still dated, while Peace Walker looks the best of the lot, which is expected given it was so recent. In the end, the games look better thanks to the HD treatment, but they also retain all the core visuals you remember (for better or worse).
Audio: How does it sound?
I haven’t played these games for a while, so I could be wrong, but I didn’t pick up on much new in terms of audio. I don’t mind that though, since the Metal Gear Solid series has a signature sound in most aspects. The voice work is as gruff as ever, the music sounds good, and the sound effects deliver. The overall dynamic presence isn’t on the same level as current top tier games of course, but these games sound as good as ever.
Supplements: What are the extras?
N/A
