Video games have become a major industry and with the wide array of games on the market, as well as multiple consoles and handhelds, it can be hard not to take a big hit in the wallet. Luckily, some games give you far more bang for your buck. One such game is Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, which came out in early November and gives you three excellent games for the price of one.
The Collection comes with Metal Gear Solid 2, MGS 3, and MGS: Peace Walker. Despite MGS 2 and 3 coming out more than seven years ago for the Playstation 2, they look surprisingly good on current generation consoles. The port of the original games was handled by Bluepoint Games and while its easy enough to spot the rough edges, overall everything looks fine. The character models are particularly impressive on current-gen consoles. The Collection also comes with Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2. These two titles, which originally came out for the MSX computer, haven't received any graphical updates, but just being able to play two games never released outside of Japan is enough. While the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection won't win any beauty contests, the fidelity provided by HD gives the games new life.
Despite improvements to the graphics, Bluepoint have stayed entirely true to the original Konami product. In some ways this can detract from the gameplay. MGS 2 for example, does not utilize the right analog stick. While true to the original PS2 version, this alone will require quite a bit of getting used to for anyone who has become accustomed to current-gen gaming. In both MGS 2 and 3, actions that should be simple become an ordeal due to the unusual controls. The control scheme wouldn't be as much of an issue if they had even slightly better tutorials. However, the few tutorials they have are quite brief and tell you very little. Despite these issues, both MGS 2 and 3 are solid games and classics in the industry. If you've never played them, you're doing yourself a disservice by not picking up the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. If you have had a chance to play them before, it is definetely worth buying for nostalgias sake alone.
What truly makes Metal Gear Solid HD Collection a great gaming deal is the third title on the disk, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Released in April, 2010, it is the only Metal Gear game for handhelds to be directed by Hideo Kojima, the series' creator. Despite being a handheld game, it can be argued that it is the biggest of the three games in the Collection. The ability to level up characters, as well as develop a huge variety of weapons and other supplies makes this the deepest game in the MGS series.
Unlike MGS 2 and 3, Peace Walker's controls have been updated for the current consoles. The ability to use the right analog stick is immensely helpful. Being able to control the camera makes it far easier to navigate, spot enemies and set up ambushes. Those accustomed to the FPS genre will also be more comfortable, as Peace Walker uses the standard left trigger to aim, right trigger to fire. It is refreshingly simple compared to the process in MGS 2 and 3 of drawing your gun, going into first person view, aiming and firing, all while using an unconventional control scheme.
It is not only the controls that have changed in Peace Walker. Many conventions of past MGS games have been streamlined to work better with the PSP. For example, the codec, your method of communicating with your allies, would normally take up the whole screen. Now, it only takes up a tiny portion and it no longer has a significant function, like saving your game. Also, instead of being a continuous narrative, the story is spread among separate missions which can be replayed at any time. This is to facilitate another big change to the series, the inclusion of cooperative gameplay. You can go into missions with up to four friends, as well as trade supplies. Another new mechanic is the ability to capture soldiers and rescue prisoners to do everything from fight battles and develop weapons to cook meals. It becomes a little like Pokemon, constantly trying to capture the best soldiers, and you are definitely going to want to catch them all.
The Metal Gear Solid series has always been known for its complex story lines. Peace Walker is no different, it's story revolving around the use of artificial intelligence as the perfect nuclear deterrence. However, the new gameplay mechanic of capturing soldiers reveals the quirkiness of Peace Walker. To capture soldiers and rescue prisoners you attach a giant balloon on their back, called the Fulton System, which shoots them into the sky at 100 miles per hour, delivering them to a waiting helicopter. If this image isn't ridiculous enough, prisoners will often let out a "woohooo" before zooming into the sky. This quirky humor can be found throughout the MGS series, but you often have to dig for it. In Peace Walker it's on full display. You can find tributes to Assassin's Creed and the Monster Hunter series and you can even recruit series' creator Hideo Kojima to fight alongside you. This sense of humor is a nice reprieve from the main story.
Too often today, games are not worthy of their $50-plus price tags. The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is worth every dollar however, and it is likely you can find it at reduced prices through online retailers. Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 are essential pickups for those who have not experienced them, or for longtime fans who want to go back in time. Peace Walker is also an excellent addition and rounds out the package perfectly. The inclusion of Metal Gear 1 and 2 is just gravy. As far as gaming deals go, this one is great.
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