Customer Reviews

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is by far the best example of an Hd collection. It's befitting that it's for one of the most influential franchises of video game history. If you're new to metal gear, now is your chance to catch up on these landmark games, including the first two metal gears only released for the MSX. If you're a vet, relive the magic of Kojima's masterpieces. Great value for the money. Also ignore the guy who rated a 1 star because of peace walker's graphics. it was a PSP game. It was never meant to look like a HD console game. it's only upscaled to look reasonably good on an HDTV. this is for the experience of the metal gear story, For fans, not an entire remake.

Metal Gear Solid is a series that still holds up because Hideo Kojima is a master of his craft. Plain and simple. The story telling is harder to defend of course, but the actual GAME is rock solid. One thing that has always stuck out in my mind is the attention to detail that goes into these games. There's just so many hidden little extras and bizarre jokes mixed with in with seriously good stealth that feels well thought-out. The game's never seem rushed or under-done, everything is right where it should be.

Here's a small wrap up of each game:

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Metal Gear Solid 2: A lot of fans didn't like this game on release due to the main character swap that occurs early in the game. And to be fair Solid Snake is a hard (near impossible) act to follow... but in retrospect Raiden is solid character who grows a lot throughout the course of the game, and when it's all over you'll grow to like him. Well I think you will. The boss battle are not as numerous, but they're as great as the original Metal Gear Solid (except fro Psycho Mantis of course) and overall I truly believe this is an amazing game with some genuinely awesome twists. That crazy final sword fight, those underwater sections, the weird stuff that happens when the computer virus takes over... there's just so much to love. Plus the attention to detail in the confined areas you constantly find yourself in is brilliant. No corner is ignored, not detail overlooked - Kojima and his team put a lot of effort into this game and it shows. And that final after the credits twist... simply excellent.

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Metal Gear Solid 3: While the core gameplay remains the same in the third game the differences are also pretty significant. Set in the 60s the overall feel of the game is that of a Cold War paranoia, James Bond outlandishness and surviving in extreme isolation. While you always fight against the odds in a Metal Gear game, here it feels like Snake is truly alone. You have to manage Snake's wounds (treating burns and broken bones), switch camo to match your environment and even collect food (which can spoil!) to maintain your energy levels. But don't this fool you, there's still plenty of lighter moments and nice little winks at the camera mixed in with the extreme scenes of violence and torture. What make Metal Gear Solid 3 so great is how badly Snake is beaten down and how much it makes you want to get revenge. And then, after all that, that unforgettable ending... I WON'T spoil it, but it's just brilliant.

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Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker: Out of all the Metal Gear Solid games I've invested the most time in this one. The story is quite possibly the strongest in the series - it's like the transition from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader (but done SO much better than those crap movies). A man without a country and nothing to lose finds something to fight for and becomes the number one enemy of a country he nearly died for. Snake hit rock bottom here, more than he did in Metal Gear Solid 3, but his rise to power is made that much better because of this.

The game itself is your fairly typical Metal Gear Solid fare, but the added option of recruiting soldiers and managing your own mercenary squad is a lot of fun. Like collecting Pokemon you'll find yourself trying to secure stronger team members and using them to build your army. The core gameplay alone is great, but this addition pushes this game over the edge and makes it truly great.

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So what's missing? The original Metal Gear Solid. I understand there may be emulation issues or something like that, but seriously, it's sorely missed in this otherwise great collection. If you think about it you only play as Solid Snake for about half an hour in Metal Gear Solid 2... the rest is all Naked Snake/Big Boss or Raiden. That's a shame, but hey, it's not a deal breaker.

This is an amazing series. If this is your first time I truly envy you (it would so great to play it again, but start with Metal Gear Solid 3, move on to Peace Walker and finish with Metal Gear Solid 2) and if your a returning fan you'll love these games all over again. HD or not, these games are awesome, but the fact that they look this good and come with so many extras (like the original Metal Gear games from the MSX) just solidifies this collection as a must have.

I love the originals. This is a serious I have spent possibly too much money on over the years. Between getting the original release, then the re-releases, I've put hundreds of hours into MGS2/MGS3. At first look this collection is obviously missing one major component, MGS1. Push that aside and focus on the collection as it is, and all seems fantastic.

Graphically the games have never looked better. High resolution visuals, and for the first time full widescreen support make this the best these games have ever looked. If you've played the games they feel just about as you may remember. But it is that "just about" that may be the biggest reason against getting the game on the Xbox 360 over the PS3 version.

I prefer the Xbox 360 controller for gaming. All my friends are on Xbox Live. And I prefer getting achievements instead of Trophies. However anyone who's spent a significant amount of time with these classic PS2 titles can tell you that they take advantage of a very specific function of the Dual Shock controller that few games utilize. MGS2 and MGS3 use the analog buttons of Sony's controller. A style of buttons the Xbox controllers have never had.

On the DS using the Square button (X on Xbox controller) raises your gun. Gently releasing pressure on the Square button allows Snake to lower his gun without firing it. On the Xbox controller you cannot do this, so the gun just fires. The simple work around is to de-equip the weapon. But the problem doesn't end there. Automatic weapons (like an AK47) are aimed by lightly holding the Square button, and fired by pushing the Square button all the way down. Not possible on the Xbox 360 controller due to the buttons being a simple on/off style. So on the Xbox 360 controller when you push X to aim the gun you go immediately into firing the gun in full auto.

This makes using these weapons very tough in the story mode, and make the VR missions involving these automatic weapons harder to complete. In VR you have to time your shots even more carefully since you have to take the animation time of lifting the gun into consideration. You have to aim by just eyeballing the center of the screen. And you still have to burst fire by pressing and releasing X so as not to waste the limited ammo you have.

I'm still having fun with this collection on Xbox 360, but if you've never played these games before on a playstation controller you'll think the game's controls are broken. They are, but only on the Xbox 360. Remembering back it was a similar problem the Xbox 1 version of MGS2:Subsistence suffered from the same issue. At least this time around you don't also have the frame-rate issues the old Xbox version had.

first off, i'm going to tell you that this is my favorite games series of all time. second, i got this for $29.99 around the "black friday" time period. what a steal!!!

so....3 games on 2 discs...and without a doubt the best collection released top date. MSG 2 is the subsistence edition and MGS 3 is the substance edition. so there's even more great stuff included. MGS peace walker is included also...and is amazing. i almost bought a psp when it came out so i could play it. its amazing! i'm blown away with how classy and true it is to the series...and it has a bunch of rpg type depth with constructing your army, developing equipment and weapons, and building your base. MGS 2&3 are on one disc and the opening menu is pretty neat. it has the control manual and promotional pictures and posters.(smiles...) lets get to some opinionated numbers and straight details.

gameplay - 9.0 - MGS 2&3 play similar with button layouts. but 2 has a set/ lock in position camera and 3 allows you move the camera with the stick. also 2 is on a boat and tanker plant, while 3 is mostly outdoors...but does have its urban moments. now, peace walker plays similar, but also very different than the other two. the cqc system is simple and fun. peace walker is mostly outdoors as well, but like 3 it has its urban moments. all games play great once you get the hang of the controls. (i was rusty playing 2...)

graphics - 8.5 - peace walker was a port from psp, but still looks nice. MGS 2 & 3 aged incredibly well! i was blown away by how gorgeous the opening looked. but those two where ahead of there time graphically. on 3 there is a old nintendo metal gear....it is what it is....pretty fun as well. i'm very please(still) with how wonderful these games look.

music/sound - 8.5 - classic music. classic sound. superior voice acting. still very solid sound. my only issue is that peace walker sounds kind of funny on my tv. not sure why. anyone else having this issue?

multiplayer - ? - i have not yet tried the multiplayer on peace walker. but i've been watching videos for quite awhile on it and it looks incredible! 4 player co-op! MGS 3 does not have its multiplayer modes unfortunately. maybe some future dlc...i would be more happy if they just finished MGS rising...or ported MGS 4 so i could finally play it. (sad)....

value - 10 - with all of the features and games and modes....this is a steal! if you love this series you will be very pleased. i recommend it to anyone and everyone.

i hope this was helpful. if you have any questions, comment and i'll get back to you.

patrick

gt - roy fei hong

This is probably the most definitive collection of Metal Gear Solid games that we will have for the next several years.

First off, This collection is missing only 2 (MGS4: GOTP, and MGS) of the 7 games that have been involved in the Metal Gear Solid saga. Many fans have complained that Konami did not bundle in the original Metal Gear Solid. Personally, I believe that this can be contributed to two major issues. One being that they may have an exclusivity agreement with Nintendo left over from Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes remake that was available on the Gamecube. Second, they would be working with an engine that was built from a completely different system (Gamecube, or bringing a whole new interface from the PS1). except for Peace Walker (which they were already planning on bringing to xbox) they had original code for both the xbox and playstation systems.

Now, to the actual game.

Value - For 50 dollars you are getting an incredible deal. Each major game gives about 60 hours of gameplay and has a high replay value. Also bundled in are the Original MSX Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 games. Most games of this caliber are around 60 dollars individually and remakes are generally going for about 40 per game. 3 major games breaks down to about $16 each.

Visuals/Sound - These games look gorgeous in 1080p and run at a full 60 frames per second. The menu's have been fully redone and the sound is amazing in full surround sound setting. I'm running this on my xbox 360 and it transitions well. Metal Gear Solid 2 has a few pop in textures and it's noticeable that this is the oldest major game of the bunch. Other then some serious speech pattern issues this game is truly one that look and runs amazingly well on current generation systems. (which is actually a part of the game being a Japanese based game)

Gameplay - This has been changed a bit on the leap to the Xbox. My only major complaint in the game is in MGS2 you must use the coolant with the right analog stick for no apparent reason. It ONLY tells you this in the description and will not tell you in game. Why this particular "weapon" works this way when the rest follow a perfect formula I have no idea.

Story - Metal Gear Solid has the most memorable story lines (albeit convoluted at times). It has many different themes and ideas that run through it all leading up to an amazing bang in MGS4. To truly understand this work you need to have played these 3 main games and MGS1. Having played quite a few games in my day, no game ever has defined the medium as a storytelling medium as these games.

Overall - This collection brings together some of the best story telling and compelling music of the past decade and pulls them all into one cheap collection. Bringing these into the HD visuals, achievement/trophy support, 5.1 sound, and support for Xbox and Playstation both brings this collection to many many new and old gamers, provides important stories and motifs to a new generation. For 50 dollars (and probably cheaper sometime soon) this collection stands up and is well worth it.

I've wanted to experience all what the Metal Gear series has to offer for a long time, however due to different reasons I always passed up the opportunity to get certain game in the series and moved on, but not anymore as I've set out on a personal "quest" to consistently play and complete every canonical Metal Gear title that has been released until now and what better way to start than with the HD Collection.

HD Collection Review:

One can notice the hard work that went into upgrading-porting these games, task done by Blue Point Games the same developer which ported the first two God of War games for PS3 known as God of War: Collection. There is only a bug worth mentioning and that is in Peace Walker which doesn't give you an option to quit and go to the main menu, but nothing game breaking for sure.

The high quality of this Collection is palpable right from the game selection menu (Disc 1: Snake Eater & Sons of Liberty), the in-game menus and of course the game-play itself which is safe to say has aged decently. The aforementioned games have been out for several years now, so we all know how excellent these are, and in the case of the more recent release being Peace Walker, you"ll feel right at home as it takes advantage of both joysticks making the gameplay feel natural and not awkward. Is very important to know that some Metal Gear games have been re-released to include updates, new items and most importantly gameplay features so up next I will detail the exact games included in the collection and which version it is.

Metal Gear Games Included:

- Metal Gear (Original and first game of the series, first released for the MSX 2 in 1987. You can access it through the Snake Eater's main menu).

- Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (first released for the MSX 2 in 1990. You can access it through the Snake Eater's main menu).

- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Substance Version, first released for Xbox, PS2 in 2002 and PC in 2003).

- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Subsistence Version, first released for PS2 in 2005).

Note: both Substance and Subsistence versions include many new features, if you wish to know more about this I suggest you to check the Metal Gear Wikia site.

- Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (first released for PSP in 2010, the only game in the Collection to feature online multiplayer).

So in total you are getting 5 Metal Gear games in a great package, most of us would have liked to get Metal Gear Solid included, but still for the price you're getting lots of content for $40 or perhaps less, and because of this I would say this is the best HD Collection that was released in 2011.

If you're a newcomer and would like to finally experience what makes the Metal Gear franchise so emblematic this HD Collection is currently one of the best ways to get into the series, and for Metal Gear Veterans, chances are you already have all the games included, but you can't deny how nice and convenient is to have these great games for your current generation console.

Happy Gaming Snake ;)

I really give the Metal Gear collection 4.5/5.0 because, well, its 3 Metal Gear games. It would of been 5 out of 5 if Metal Gear Solid was added instead of Peace Walker. I'm not saying anything bad about Peace Walker, but MGS was one of the best video games ever.

The best one out of the collection is Metal Gear 3 where you play as Big Boss during the cold war era. Metal Gear is one of the top 3 franchises in video games.

I will openly admit that many of my favorite games are from past console generations. That's why I consider this HD remake trend to be the most exciting development in all of gaming right now. Beyond Good and Evil, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil: Code Veronica...have loved replaying all of them. Now they have plans for Silent Hill and many others. Its like videogame nirvana. Its great for publishers as they get to make more money on a game that is already made, simply by doing a few upgrades. More importantly, its great for gamers as it gives fans of the games the ability to play the games again, with an HD upgrade. Of course, it also gives gamers that have never played the games a chance to experience them firsthand. Its just a win, win, win scenario all the way around...at least in my book.

That brings me to Metal Gear Solid HD, which in my opinion is the best HD remake's done so far. Personally I purchased this for MGS 2 & 3. Peace Walker is just a bonus as I really didn't have much interest in playing it and have only had a few short sessions with it thus far. It is important to note, as others have already done, that Peace Walker was originally a PSP game so if you go in expecting a top notch HD experience on the same level of MGS2 or MGS3....well, your going to come out the other end disappointed. For what it was, the developers did a very good job bringing it to the 360 and PS3.

Basically this package is exactly what it says it is, an HD upgrade of these games. The old style controls are still intact, which I am sure many people were hoping would be updated as well. I think controls should remain the same as changing the controls is changing the game itself and that isn't what the HD remakes should be about. Do you think the tension would be the same in Resident Evil: Code Veronica if it had an updated control system? Not a chance. HD remakes should be about preserving the games as much as they should be about updating them to HD standards. Thankfully that is exactly what we get with this package. In all honesty, I think MGS is one of the most polarizing games ever to hit store shelves. People either love them or hate them and this release isnt going to change any minds. The people that love these games will love this package and the people that hate these games....well, they will still hate them.

As for how they look, I certainly wasn't disappointed. Personally I think that MGS3 benefited the most from this upgrade but that isn't saying that MGS2 looks bad. Quite the contrary actually as it looks great. Its just that MGS3's environments are better suited to the upgrade. MGS2's environments were small and confined compared to MGS3. In regards to the updated graphics I would rate MGS2 a 7/10 and MGS3 a 9/10. Again, I really haven't played Peace Walker enough to really say much about it, just that it looks good given that it was originally a PSP game.

Bottom line - If your a MGS fan then you should absolutely pick this package up and re-experiences these titles. If you dislike the MGS series then skip it. This release certainly isn't going to change your opinion. For those new to the series, there really isn't anything else out there like MGS. You simply have to play it to understand what the fuss is all about. Hideo Kojima is a master storyteller. Things may get quirky from time to time and they might even be a bit difficult to follow from time to time but that's Hideo Kojima. Overall, MGS's stories/characters are some of the more interesting stories/characters to ever grace a videogame console and ironically some aspects of these stories have more relevance today than they did back when they were originally released. There is a reason that this series is one of the most successful in history.

As for the developers - Keep the HD remakes coming!!

5 Stars

Metal Gear HD Collection makes for a great nostalgic game, with reinvented graphics and some improved modifications to the gameplay. Moving and shooting is a bit more second nature, and it translates well to the 360 version. The Cinemas are re-done as well, and you can
view them in a theatre style setting out of the main menu. I have not even gotten into the Portable Ops game, much hours to be had. Relive the Snake legend with this PS2 Classic.
-Cheers

This review is for MGS 2 & 3. I have yet to try Peace Walker.

I passed on the Metal Gear series on the PS1 & 2 consoles but I remember reading and hearing wonderful things about them, MGS3 especially. After purchasing an Xbox 360, I was disappointed to find out that the critically praised MGS4 would be a PS3 exclusive. I picked up MGS HD collection thinking "YES! Finally! Now I'll know what everyone was talking about when they complained about Raiden or The End in MGS3. KOJIMA I AM PREPARING TO BOW TO YOUR GENIUS!!!"

Going into MGS2&3 I expected out of date controls and a convoluted story line. I generally can adapt to any controller scheme given a few hours and I'm a fan of Resident Evil and other Japanese games, so I'm used to crazy stories. Oh how was I wrong. To aim in first person you must hold down RB or R1 and change your view with the left stick. In order to lean left or right, press LT/L1 or RT/R2. In order to bring up your aiming cursor, push in the left stick or old down X or square. I'm not sure about anyone else but just thinking about doing this cramps my hand up. Oh and the tranquilizer gun will drop back down after you fire so you will have to raise the gun back up! In order to lean into cover the left stick needs to be held up the entire time or you will pop out of cover revealing yourself. It would have been great if they added pop in & out cover mechanics.

The story just has waaaay too much exposition. I'm sorry, I do not want to hear about an extended tale about Godzilla or the Creature from the Black Lagoon every time I save. Deadly Premonition at least allowed me to drive while I heard about York's favorite movies. You lose all control during conversations and most of the time the story is being repeated by another character:

Boss - Snake remember the close quarter combat I trained you in. This is also known as CQC and will be essential for taking down an enemy in close quarters. You can use CQC by using the B button.
Snake - got it. I should use CQC in close quarters to save ammo. All I have to do is press the B button.

This wasn't word for word but god damn it I swear the exchange was at least 4 minutes long. Not engaging at all! Visually nothing occurs during these conversations. MGS3 takes some time to explain the Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missle Crisis and assassination of JFK. Seriously? If I wanted a history lesson I would either read up or watch one of the numerous specials on the History Channel. Please Kojima, believe that your user has some intelligence. If they don't know what these events were, maybe you would inspire them to learn more. Not ever detail needs to be included.

Game play - eh? I haven't gotten that far in either MGS 2 or 3. I've beaten Fatman and just saw EVA hit Revolver in the face with a motorcycle. Both games have a lot of great ideas but either the controls hold it back from reaching it's true potential or it's hindered by movement. There's nothing here that's really satisfying. Looking back on reviews, most critics seem to be in love with the story and have little to discuss on the actual game play.

If you're looking for a great stealth action game do yourself a favor and go play Batman Arkham Asylum or City. You'll find truly great CQC, story and stealth there with out the heavy handed exposition, cliches and clunky controls. I'm going to keep pushing forward with these games to see if something finally clicks.