Plenty of Snake to go round.
Video sport “assortment” releases usually serve two functions. They may be nostalgic throwbacks to followers of a sequence, and so they can introduce gamers to video games they could have missed solely. When it involves Metal Gear, I’m in that second camp. This is why, at Konami’s media occasion in New York City final week, I used to be wanting ahead to lastly seeing what all this Snake fuss is all about.
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 is a giant assortment. Certainly too large to play by way of at a hands-on media occasion. The video games alone will maintain followers busy, whether or not they’re taking part in for the primary time or utilizing this chance to relive earlier adventures:
- Metal Gear (1987)
- Metal Gear – NES/FC model (1987)
- Snake’s Revenge (1990)
- Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990)
- Metal Gear Solid (1998) with VR Missions/Special Missions
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) – HD Collection model
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004) – HD Collection model
That’s a number of video games, however the content material doesn’t finish there. If you’re actually into Metal Gear lore, you’re getting loads of bonus gadgets to pore over. There’s a digital soundtrack for Metal Gear Solid. There are digital graphic novels for Metal Gear Solid 1 and a pair of.
There are screenplays and grasp books for the 2 Metal Gear and three Metal Gear Solid video games. This content material is all simply accessible and enjoyable to learn by way of, and the grasp books will probably be particularly useful for newcomers searching for stage ideas and guides. The content material is displayed in e book kind, which led to a few us on the occasion questioning if KONAMI would make it accessible in printed kind for collectors.
As for the video games themselves, this assortment is actually a visit. I spent a little bit little bit of time with a couple of of them in chronological order, and it felt like a full class within the historical past of video gaming. This consists of the truth that we’re warned among the content material “…could also be thought-about outdated.” I think about anybody interested by a Metal Gear assortment can be extra offended by edited content material than by that content material itself, so this was possible the best method to go. But I do admire the warning, as there’s no “could also be” about it; it is outdated.
Starting initially, the Metal Gear gameplay is sort of charming in its simplicity, taking us again to a time with few colours and fewer enemies on display screen at any given time (that’s sort of what led to the entire stealth-based strategy, in spite of everything). Bullets are sluggish and simply dodged, and some punches is all it takes to incapacitate an enemy. The controls threw me a couple of instances, however to be honest, I’d solely glanced over an illustrated management information earlier than starting. Overall, the puzzles mechanics, stealth “motion,” and maze navigation create an attractive expertise that units the sequence up with loads of room to develop.
That progress, nonetheless, wasn’t all the time painless. Metal Gear Solid is an instance of this. The 3D strategy could have been innovative on the time, however each the graphics and the gameplay come throughout now as clunky. It could also be an vital step within the sequence, however over the course of my half hour with the gathering, this was my least favourite half. I used to be shocked by the standard of the voice performing, nonetheless, so perhaps the story would’ve been sufficient to hold me by way of.
I didn’t have time to search out out as a result of I wished to get to the HD model of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Although nonetheless dated, the visuals and gameplay listed below are far more in keeping with trendy video games. By this level, nonetheless, I believe I used to be extra impressed by the sequence’ adherence to formulation. You, as Snake, are dropped off in enemy territory. “Here’s your goal. Here’s your radar factor. This is the way it works, however it shuts off for some cause when you’re detected. I do know, proper? And sorry we couldn’t provide you with any weapons. Hopefully yow will discover some. Good luck. Don’t get caught! And don’t neglect to toss your cigar so we will get its slow-mo glamor shot!”
More importantly, it was enjoyable to see how the stealth mechanics advanced from Metal Gear to Snake Eater. The expertise could have modified fairly a bit from 1987 to 2004, however the builders have been in a position to create a cohesive (and definitive) gameplay expertise throughout these modifications. I loved my hands-on time with (and introduction to) the Metal Gear sequence, and I’m wanting ahead to digging deeper into all of it when the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 releases for Nintendo Switch on October twenty fourth.
Pre-orders are now open within the Nintendo eShop, and extra data is obtainable at konami.com.
Also see:
