Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 Reviews
This compilation isn’t quite what it could have been, but it is a worthy tribute to an iconic series beloved by millions. While it won’t blow you away, rest assured that it delivers the exact Metal Gear experience you remember.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol 1 comes complete with the same world class, incredible games but sadly doesn’t feel like a worthy collection of this world-class franchise. The presentation causes unnecessary confusion and the preservation is surprisingly lacking across all the featured titles. There’s some great optional extras in here, such as screenplays for all games, a compilation for the franchise and a fan-dream of being able to play the different MGS 1 territorial variations along with playing some games on respective platforms for the first time. But nothing has moved on for MGS 2 and 3 since the HD Collection and without Twin Snakes or any major, noticeable tweaks to MGS1, there feels like a lack of desire to really maximise the potential of today’s platforms. This should have been a huge moment, bringing the original trilogy together like this, but you can’t help thinking this could and should have been more.
Until now there has been a weird gap where playing the Metal Gear Solid series legitimately was trickier than it needed to be, and it's fantastic that you won't need to go pricey second hand stores to go on another adventure with Snake (Solid, Liquid, Naked and the rest).
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 contains unmistakable classics and some of the best games of the genre and finally takes some older titles out of the dustbin of old platforms. Of course, the fact that Metal Gear Solid didn't get a 60fps tech makeover and that Parts 2 & 3 are almost identical to the HD Collection version is a sour note. But the many extras and the experience of playing all titles in a row on one system makes it a must-have for newcomers to the series. Fans can also just purchase the remastered MGS 1 from this collection instead.
Review in German | Read full review
The Metal Gear Solid games remain as masterful as ever, but the same can't be said for this rather rudimentary compilation.