While it had its ups and downs,Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1was ultimately a success in making theMetal Gearfranchise available again on modern systems. After a year of patches, this collection is a great way for modern gamers to experienceMetal Gear’s heyday. WithMetal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eateron the way, it feels like the formerly Hideo Kojima-led series has at least found its footing under present-day Konami, and the nameMetal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1implies that the best is yet to come.
Recently, producer Noriaki Okamura confirmed thatVolume 2is planned, and stated that it would address the firstVolume’s flaws while also facing its own challenges inbringing certainMetal Geargames to current hardware. There were also implications of a particularMetal Gearentry finally getting its first port, something many fans have been waiting over fifteen years for. Even before it’s been properly announced,Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2feels like a foregone conclusion and an exciting one at that, so hopefully it is able to meet fans’ mounting expectations for its contents.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
The first item on mostMetal Gearplayers’ wishlists is for the 2008Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriotsto finally escape its exclusivity on the PlayStation 3. Frustration over the game’s confinement on an increasingly obsolete console has been growing for years, withMGS4’s supporters and detractors both in agreement that the game is too important toMetal Gear’s story to be left behind. While it is becoming increasingly easy to play the game through PS3 emulation, an official release as part of theMGS Master Collectionwould help fix this longstanding problem, and helpMGS4reach a much wider audience.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
FollowingMetal Gear Solid 4is a game that many were surprised was excluded from the firstMaster Collection, especially since it had been remastered for consoles before.Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walkerlaunched for the PlayStation Portable in 2010, and came to PS3 and Xbox 360 a year later. Story-wise, it represents vital connective tissue betweenMetal Gear Solid 3and5, and it’s fondly remembered by some for its quirks and multiplayer. In the present day, advertisingPeace Walker’s hiddenMonster Huntercollaborationcould greatly increaseMaster Collectionsales thanks to the Capcom franchise being better known now.
Better Stability and More PC Features
Despite the excitement around the firstMGS Master Collection, many players couldn’t help but notice its flaws, and they should be corrected for the next installment. The game had bugs and performance issues on all platforms, and theMaster Collectionmade several changes to its games' content, but the PC version was the most troubled. No native keyboard and mouse support was just the tip of the iceberg, with additional instability and missing standardized PC options like changing resolution cropping up constantly. Playing casually on console or with light mods on PC is a solid experience nowadays, but theMaster Collection Vol. 2has no excuse to launch in the same state.
Completing the Metal Gear Collection
Of course, the second volume wouldn’t earn the nameMaster Collectionif it didn’t finish remasteringMetal Gear’s highlight titles.Metal Gear Solid: Portable OpsandPortable Ops Plusare top priority, as the first isPeace Walker’s chronological prequeland the second has an original mission mode with lots of unique content. After that, the Game Boy titleGhost Babeland the PSP card RPGsMetal Gear Acid 1and2could be made into bonus games. Finally,Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2would earn Konami major respect if it brought back many of the above games’ online features, with the PS3 version ofMetal Gear Onlineoriginally bundled withMGS4being the cream of the crop.
