The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is the ultimate Metal Gear package for die-hard fans.
The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection includes Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Substance is the expanded version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Subsistence is the expanded version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Substance added nearly 500 bonus VR and alternate missions while Subsistence introduced the versatile, new camera system and included the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Finally, Peace Walker, the sequel to Portable Ops, is a remastered version of the PSP title. All three games have received major facelifts that are far more than just some poor attempts at upscaling.
The fuzziness and blurriness that haunted most of Metal Gear Solid 2's cutscenes has been, for the most part, removed. The Tanker chapter still suffers from some poor weather effects, but it's smooth sailing once you get inside and once you move on to the Plant chapter. The controls haven't aged particularly well, but Metal Gear Solid 3's camera is leaps and bounds over MGS2's. Veterans who haven't played the series since Metal Gear Solid 4 rejuvenated the franchise with its amazing controls will wonder if it was this clunky the first time around. I played all of the games plenty of times before and I had some trouble sticking to walls and peeking out around corners during my run through Sons of Liberty, but less so in Snake Eater.
Raiden has never looked more feminine.
What gamers will be most interested in is the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection's version of Peace Walker. The game looks fantastic and plays phenomenally. Everything is simplified and compact, as the HD version kept the control scheme of the PSP title. The only difference here is that the camera has migrated to the right stick, freeing up the face buttons for more important actions. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker inherited many of the mechanics that MGS4 perfected, such as the moving while crouched and being able to move while shooting weapons.
The online portion of Peace Walker is great fun. Friends can jump in to help during tough missions or boss fights, even if they aren't up to the same mission, and vice versa. I experienced very little to no lag when partnered up with a buddy to do missions, but there was some funkiness during Versus Ops, where some characters slid across the floor or skipped across the screen. The lag here didn't ruin the fun though, and was no more than expected from any online game.
The only glaring problem I had, in all three games, was Peace Walker's holdover menus from its PSP showing. I couldn't help but feel that they could have swapped in a more traditional MGS menu for its big screen debut. The menus don't pause the action like in previous games and are a pain to slide through, especially when under fire. During a boss battle with a tank, I had to constantly switch between grenades, my assault rifle, rations and my Fulton balloons, all while avoiding enemy soldiers and, of course, the mechanized behemoth. It became a frustrating endeavor and only had me questioning the menu design more.
The Fear uses bees because bees are scary.
The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection isn't exactly complete without the original Metal Gear Solid, which was left out due to technical issues. No amount of issues, however, should make leaving out the first game an option, especially since the collection includes the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Regardless, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is a must buy for fans of the series. Likewise, gamers who haven't played any MGS games to date should pick up the collection for the sheer value, as they'll get 5 games for $49.99. Although I don't remember the story being this insane, I guess that's why we love you Snake.
Version Tested: Xbox 360
