The recent revival ofMetal Gear Solidis great news for fans who have lamented the series' treatment following Hideo Kojima’s high-profile departure from and falling out with Konami. Since the initial reveal at the PlayStation Showcase, the newly-announcedMetal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1has steadily had more details revealed regarding its contents and platform availability. The June Nintendo Direct served as the vehicle for theMaster Collection’s release date of October 24, and accompanying this announcement was an official website that listed what was included in the collection. KeenMetal Gearfans likely noticed that, unfortunately, the games and bonuses included are nearly identical to a previousMetal Gearanthology release.
In 2013, Konami released theMetal Gear Solid: Legacy Collectionfor PlayStation 3, which was the definitiveMetal Gearcollection at the time and evenincludedMetal Gear Solid 4.In addition to including the first three games in theMetal Gear Solidseries, theLegacy Collectionincluded the MSX versions ofMetal GearandMetal Gear 2: Solid Snakeas well as the NES/Famicom versions ofMetal GearandSnakes Revenge. These games were not HD remasters or upscaled in any way, and the copy and paste of theLegacy Collection’s contents as theMaster Collectionrepresents a missed opportunity by Konami.
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The Missed Opportunity Presented by the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection
While it’s excellent to finally have the contents of theMetal Gear Solid Legacy Collectionbrought to modern platforms after its decade of PS3 exclusivity, it’s hard not to look at theMaster Collectionand think that Konami could have put some more effort into its curation. Specifically, there are some notable exclusions in the form ofMetal Gear Solid 4andMetal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. It also would have been nice to remaster the games to include 4K support or other quality-of-life features. When considering how Konami could have improved the curation and presentation of theMaster Collection, one need to look no further than Capcom and their curation of theMega Man Legacy Collectionseries.
Capcom divided the twoMega Man Legacy Collectionsin a way that made much more sense thematically than Konami’s approach to theMetal Gear Master Collections, with the core first 8Mega Mangames contained in the first collection and side games and bonus material included on the second. Instead of includingMetal Gear Solid 4onMaster Collection, Vol. 2, it would have made more sense to include the first 4Metal Gear Solidgames asMaster Collection, Vol. 1and the 8-bit original games and the bonus material as aVol. 2collection for series enthusiasts.
The Master Collection Continues Cynicism Concerning Konami’s Treatment of IP
The curation of theMetal Gear Solid Master Collection’s contents across its two volumes communicates continued neglect from Konami in how it approaches theMetal Gearfranchise along with its other legacy IP. Once one of the great Japanese publishers and responsible for incrediblefranchises likeCastlevania, Contra, Silent Hill, andMetal Gear, Konami has largely ignored most of its games and shifted its business toward Pachinko machines and mobile gaming. The perception that Konami doesn’t care about its legacy as a publisher and steward of some of gaming’s most beloved franchises isn’t helped by the details of theMaster Collection’s contents.
Of course, the specter hanging over all the recentMetal Gearnews and game announcements is the lack of any involvement fromMGScreator Hideo Kojima, whose singular vision was responsible for birthing an entire subgenre of action games and some of the most celebrated releases in the medium’s history. Taking into consideration that Konami is repackaging an olderMetal Gearanthology along with remakingMetal Gear Solid 3while not consulting the series' mastermind somewhat dampens the excitement surrounding these titles' announcements. TheMaster Collection’s release later this year and the reception ofMetal Gear Solid: Deltacould very well determine the future of the franchise.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1will be released on October 24 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
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