Metal Gear Solid – HD Collection Review
If you have a favorite series that started years ago, it would be natural to hope for an overhauled collection of the titles. With the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, we get what we hoped for and more. The Metal Gear Solid franchise is in itself a consistent and competent series. It is inspired by some pro-war movies and its character is a dead ringer for and namesake of Snake from Escape from New York. Remember Kurt Russell acting all gruff and wearing an eye patch? Despite these resemblances, the video game franchise manages to turn into something more cerebral. Metal Gear Solid HD Collection comes with Metal Gear Solid 2 – Substance, Metal Gear Solid 3 – Subsistence and Metal Gear Solid – Peace Walker, which was originally released as a PSP-exclusive.
The Good News About Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
True to its HD name, the collection gives us more exquisite visuals that make the action and the characters a lot more exciting to look at. You do know what the games were like back before. They were inventive enough to catch and keep our attention. One of the ways the franchise does this is by combining all sorts of genres into one tight little package. Genres that the franchise managed to graze upon are political drama, science fiction and action with liberal doses of humor and melodrama. When you take a look at Substance and Subsistence, you have to remind yourself that they have been launched years ago. When Metal Gear Solid 2 came out, it made use of the first person shooter, which was at that time ground-breaking.
Meanwhile, Metal Gear Solid 3 serves up the best gameplay of the collection. It is also the most focused among the three. Even with today’s standards, its stealth gameplay can still be considered among the best. What then does it say about the Metal Gear Solid 2? It must have been ahead of its times. In contrast, we may also think that today’s stealth games are just not able to push forward.
Metal Gear Peace Walker is a welcome addition to the HD collection not just because it comes with refined controls but also because it is the first time that it is venturing out of its PSP exclusivity.
The Bad News About Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
The collection may be a must-buy but it is not perfect. Of course, there is the inevitable fact that the franchise is showing just how old it is. Metal Gear Solid 2’s controls, for example, are no longer as smooth as we remember it. We are also exposed to awkward camera angles. Peace Walker may have taken a step out of its PSP confines but it still looks blocky with polygons that show their sharp edges.
The Bottom Line
If you are a fan, you should still enjoy a trip back to memory lane with the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. You will be treated with innovative gameplay and much better visuals. New fans will also appreciate trying out an HD version of this franchise on their very first go.
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