Review - Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

The Metal Gear series is something of a divisive beast. Even in the Click offices alone there are some who love it, some who hate it, and some who remain completely and utterly indifferent to the whole thing. With this in mind, it can be quite tricky to compile a review of a collection like is on offer here without letting one’s prior opinions of the series get in the way.

So, rather than simply reviewing the quality of the games themselves, we’re instead going to take a look at what exactly is on offer from the collection in terms of presentation, extras and changes from the original versions. If you’re a fan of the series, then you’ll no doubt be familiar with the games included, namely Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

If you’re new to the series however, it might be worth taking a look at something like Metal Gear Solid 4 if you’re unsure as to whether or not the cut scene driven stealth based action is going to be up your street. To be honest though, if you’re genuinely curious, then picking up this collection would certainly be worthwhile given the fact that it’s a hell of a lot cheaper, and therefore less of a financial risk, than blindly picking up a full price retail game.

So with that out of the way, let’s take a look at what you can expect from the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection.

Well, first and foremost, as the name suggests you’re going to be getting each game presented to you in swanky new HD paint. This means 720p visuals running at 60 frames per second at all times which, although the standard nowadays, is a far cry from the SD years when each of the included games were released.



Universally, this has been a change for the better. While some HD collections have had issues with frame rates and textures when they have been updated to work on new televisions, there are no such problems here. Everything looks great, and runs smoothly, making it an essential purchase for fans of the series looking to experience their favourites all over again.

Another important addition has been the inclusion of trophies and achievements. While we appreciate that many of you are far more concerned with the actual games themselves, there is an increasing section of the gaming public who like to be able to show off their accomplishments via their gamer tags. Those people are more than catered for here, with a huge number of collectables on offer.

Then, obviously, you have the fact that this is the first time that gamers will be able to experience these titles on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Whether you had the originals or not, we’re sure that you’ll appreciate the fact that you can now sit down and access all three games from a single pack – particularly handy if you have a tendency to store your older games and consoles away for safe keeping.

However, as with other HD upgrades, the fact that Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 are very much unsuited to the modern era in terms of controls and, occasionally, design means that gamers used to a much more refined experience may find that things fall somewhat short of the mark. I know we said that we wouldn’t necessarily cover the games themselves, but it’s certainly worth keeping in mind that these very much play like games from yesteryear, which isn’t always a good thing.



Peace Walker manages to escape from this fate, due to the fact that the controls feel very much current gen for the most part. Unfortunately it is still troubled by other age related issues, such as bland repetitive textures, poor voice acting and even poorer lip synching.

For the most part though, these are aesthetic concerns, and given the amount of love the games garnered first time around, there’s bound to be a huge market for the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection out there – just don’t go expecting too much in terms of “upgrade” over the originals.