Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection review round-up - What do the critics say?
Does the new remastered bundle do Snake justice?
Snake? Snake?! Snaaaake!!! Ah, those were the days. The good news is that those days can be relived once again thanks to the arrival of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection on PC and console.
Announced as part of Metal Gear's 35th anniversary, reviews are now flooding in for the remastered bundle that brings together the first five games plus a few extras.
Listen to our One More Life podcast - the new episode is about retro gaming!
RadioTimes.com will be talking about the MGS collection with retro gaming expert Daryl Baxter on this week's One More Life podcast, so stay tuned for that.
The first of what is expected to be multiple volumes, anyone picking up the collection will take home the original Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
It will also feature the NES version of Metal Gear, along with its non-canonical sequel, Snake's Revenge.
Interestingly, this marks the first time that Metal Gear Solid is available on Xbox. Has it been worth the wait?
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection review round-up
So, what are the critics saying about the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection?
It's becoming apparent that reviews have taken place on PS5, with reviewers' scores aggregating to a 78 on Metacritic and 77 on OpenCritic.
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Richard Wakeling of GameSpot awarded an 8/10, saying: "For someone like me, who only ever owned the original games on their original consoles, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol 1 is indispensable."
He did, however, note that "it's disappointing that there aren't any optional visual improvements or behind-the-scenes material, and the lack of a central hub makes the bundle feel scattershot".
A similar feeling was echoed by Jon Porter for The Verge: "It’s hard to fault the breadth of content Konami has included in its tantalisingly-named Vol 1 collection. Just don’t go in expecting many modern upgrades to these decades-old titles." No score was awarded, though.
Writing for the GodisaGeek, Chris White found that "the three main titles all hold up incredibly well, despite some awkward voice acting and the occasional cringy moments".
He also noted "the amount of content you get from Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol 1 is great value for money", awarding a 9.5/10 score.
Liam Croft of Push Square felt an 8/10 rating was fair because it "bundles together three of the greatest games ever made, but does so in a convoluted manner".
While bonus games, modes and features were praised, the "messy implementation" and "rough" return to MGS1 were not.
One More Life's upcoming guest Daryl Baxter has also had his hands on the game, saying that the collection is "glorious".
Specifically, he praised the "fast loading speeds on MGS2 and 3", and said: "The books and scripts are great reads, and having MGS Integral is a great bonus."
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection is scheduled to release on 24th October 2023 across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
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