Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 Available On Switch, PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S versions

Konami has revived the Metal Gear saga, which was forgotten after a Metal Gear Survive that was not convincing. Because it offered a very different experience from the games directed by Hideo Kojima, and also did not fit well with his multiplayer ideas. The Japanese company brings the series back up to date in two ways. On the one hand Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, is a remake of the third installment (the first chronologically) for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series that does not yet have a release date.

On the other, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, is a compilation in physical and digital format of the first three instalments of Metal Gear Solid, with a multitude of extras ranging from the classic Metal Gear games to digital comics narrated in English.

This collection will be available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch on October 24, but here comes the first news that we are going to talk about in this article: Konami has officially announced that it will arrive on PS4, although that version does not have a release date.

A new adaptation of MGS and the Bluepoint versions of its sequels

At Vandal, we have had the opportunity to tinker for about an hour with the compilation in its version for Nintendo’s hybrid console, only in TV mode. We must be glad that we can finally play these video game classics on modern consoles and computers. Until now, the only option was to get the physical version of Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection on Xbox 360 and play it with backward compatibility on Xbox One and Xbox Series, but that was missing the first installment, whose PC version is available on GOG.

That all these great games are in the same collection is good, and even more so that we can take them anywhere in their version for Switch. But as with any third-party adaptation for the Nintendo device, you have to doubt the performance, even if we talk about titles that in some cases have more than 20 years behind them.

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No problem here: Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty run perfectly at 30 FPS, enough for games of this type, and the same goes for the many included Metal Gear. However, the performance of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is unstable, although that does not mean that in the final version, it will be like this for sure: Konami warned us that in this preliminary edition, we would find errors that the development team is working to solve.

All games include the manual, but to access it is necessary to be connected to the internet. We are not going to dwell too long on talking about some games that are essential for any fan of the medium, influential like few others. The first Metal Gear Solid continues to have an elegance inappropriate for its time (1998), mixing a cinematographic experience (with great Spanish dubbing) and stealth gameplay that is simple, but fun, agile and effective today. 

It is surprising to enjoy its most movie-like sequel, which continues to have a rather spectacular staging for being 22 years old, on a portable console. Both in Metal Gear Solid 2 and in Snake Eater, much deeper in terms of gameplay, the compilation includes high-definition remasters developed by Bluepoint and published in 2012 (in fact, it even features the logos of the HD Collection and the studio acquired by Sony), so they look great on Switch and we suppose even better when playing on the console screen. The device, although we repeat that the third installment has unjustifiable performance drops.

We are not forgetting the other games that the package brings: the classic Metal Gear in its original version for MSX 2 and its adaptations for NES and PC, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and Snake’s Revenge, the non-canonical sequel to the first installment that it was only published in the West. All of them are titles that today are perceived as very simple, but offer immediate fun even though they are certainly crude and devilishly difficult; their value lies in the importance of preserving them and in identifying the roots from which Metal Gear Solid would be born. All of them, of course, work perfectly on the hybrid console.

All the contents of the compilation

Let’s get into the details of the compilation. At least in the Switch version, it is divided into five different programs: one for each Metal Gear Solid, one for the classic Metal Gear and one for the extra content. We liked the elegance of the menus of each of the applications, which give a coherent artistic style to all the products and briefly explain the synopsis and the innovations that each MGS introduced; However, once we entered the games, the design of the interfaces is original.

From the first Metal Gear Solid, the original title with voices in Spanish is included (you can also select the other dubbings, including North American English and Japanese as an additional free download), the Special Missions also with Spanish dubbing, the VR Missions that have content that differs from the European game but is only in English, and Metal Gear Solid: Comprehensive, with texts and voices in English and Japanese, with various difficulty options and VR content. To this, we must add the digital book of the script and the Master Book, which includes details about the characters and the events of the story.

Also Read: Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1: Review, Analysis And Impression

From Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty the Master Book and the Screenplay Book are also included, and the versions in several languages, including Spanish, of the same game added to the HD Collection; Of course, the Japanese version is not compatible with the saved data of the other languages. The extras included in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater are the same, and when selecting the game, you can choose between the European (with texts in Spanish), North American and Japanese versions (the saved data of the latter is not compatible with the others).

The program that contains Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake also has its Master Book and its Screenplay Book; both games are in Spanish and are the same editions of the HD Collection. Finally, there is the Bonus Content Vol.1 program. That includes, within the video section, the comics of the first two Metal Gear Solid with narration in English, and the art books of those same deliveries; the soundtrack of all the games in the compilation; and two titles: the NES/PC version of Metal Gear and Snake’s Revenge, both in English.

By the way, in all games that are in 4:3 format, the display area can be centered or placed on one of the sides, and select a variety of backgrounds with art from each game for the sidebars.

The different ways to buy the compilation

In Europe, a day 1 version of the complete compilation will be sold in a physical format that will include the pre-order extras: three songs from the soundtrack reinterpreted orchestrally. They are the following: The complete compilation will cost €59.99 on all platforms, but each program can also be purchased separately for €19.99. In that case, the Bonus Content Vol.1 app cannot be accessed.

Of course, the program that includes Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is included when you buy the first Metal Gear Solid separately. We have made these impressions after testing a preview version for Switch at an event invited by Konami.