Metal Gear Solid 4 is (mostly) a masterpiece – so why is it so hard to play?

Metal Gear Solid 4 is about the most next-gen game you can imagine. Your suit automatically changes textures to match its backgrounds. There are epic gunfights that you can use to blend into the background, or you can choose to change the ebb of battle to gain allies. That’s before we even mention that epic moustache, still unsurpassed in games or cinema. It’s next-gen in every way you can name, except that it’s 12 years old.

Created by Konami, regarded by Casino Guide Japan as the best game creators ever, Metal Gear Solid 4 is about the most next-gen game you can imagine. This title was so far ahead of its time, it’s unreal. And, yes, while the interactive movie jibes still permeate any conversation about it, Metal Gear Solid 4 has only one major flaw: it was a PlayStation 3 exclusive.

And more than a decade after release, it is long overdue a new chance to shine. While waiting on new version of Metal Gear enjoy your free time at the new BONS Casino in India.

War Has Changed

…But video games haven’t. Metal Gear Solid 4 stands up pretty well as an experience, but suffers from compressed sound, limited resolution. The art style is incredible, but it’s held back by running on a PS3. I say this as someone who has been playing it through PlayStation Now, which adds its own issues to the mix.

This is a 1024×768 title, running sometimes at 60fps but almost exclusively at 30fps. Sometimes it drops to 20fps.

First of all, that’s pretty impressive for a PlayStation 3 title, especially one that still stands up today. I’m not knocking the achievement of 2008 Metal Gear Solid 4, which wasn’t sitting down for a second. I’m knocking 2020 Metal Gear Solid 4, which feels like a retro game, even though it definitely shouldn’t.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the importance of backwards compatibility and the role of exclusives, and Metal Gear Solid 4 is an important part of that conversation. Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 are both playable in 4k, and soon will likely have auto-HDR added on via Xbox Series X. The original game runs incredibly well on PC, but is dated. Twin Snakes is a pretty good alternative through Dolphin, but no official release exists after the Gamecube.

Metal Gear Solid V would run like butter on a pocket calculator.

And so 4 exists in this strange sort of bubble, forgotten and ignored by all but those who really want to try it out. This shouldn’t be the case.

Fan service and Nanomachines

Let’s get distracted by the elephant in the room for a second. Metal Gear Solid 4 was not universally loved. There were plenty of assholes who hated it.

I kid, mostly. But as a big fan of the game, 2008 brings back terrible memories of fierce verbal battles with people – mostly Xbox 360 owners – who just didn’t get what was so great about Solid Snake’s final epic. The above image was spread around as a sign of Sony’s arrogance, not just a nostalgic laugh at changing the disc on PlayStation 1.

The cutscenes are long and overwritten. The gameplay is occasionally sparce, intersperced with long conversations. When it’s at its best, Metal Gear Solid 4 is the best the franchise can be. When it’s at its worst, it’s probably bottom of the list.

But with all that accepted, it’s still a brilliant game which made use of technology in a way that was and is mindblowing. The fact that it was coded right down to the metal accounts for why it was never going to be an easy port, but in this day and age, with the pure power of the kit we’re working with, I don’t see how this can’t be overcome. With not an insane amount of work, even the laziest port would make the franchise feel complete again. Wouldn’t that be worth it, Konami?

Did you say nerd?

Currently, it feels like there’s a gap in the franchise. Metal Gear Solid is easily playable on PC, although is in desperate need a remake. Two and three might as well be native on Xbox One X, and will receive another upgrade on Series X. Four is a pain to play. You need to either dig out an old console or subscribe to PlayStation Now, where you can play it in all its 720p glory.

First party games, and in fact all console exclusives, are vitally important in that they create a tone for your console. It doesn’t matter if you play a PS5 game on PS5 or on PC, for example, because you know what you’re getting from a Sony game.

Metal Gear Solid 4 was an important title in the early PS3 days. People forget how sparce those first few years were, but before MGS you had Uncharted and Resistance. Lair, Heavenly Sword and a handful of Ratchet and Clank titles had failed to make their mark.

And they honoured it by making it the final PlayStation Plus title for PS3. And then it just sat there, going off like bad cheese.

Are there any other entries in major, still relevent franchises languishing on old equipment, hidden away from new players? I can’t think of any as big as Metal Gear Solid 4, except maybe the Ratchet and Clank collection.

So how do these titles stay alive? Through word of mouth and through legally grey emulation. Metal Gear Solid 4 can be emulated, and it obviously improves over the original release, but clearly that’s not the ideal way of playing it.

Metal Gear Solid 4 – Conclusion

In the grand scheme of things, I don’t suppose it matters to many people whether this title ever sees the light of day again. It’s fine where it is, tucked away looking like someone ran the blur tool over it.

But to those of us who care about video game preservation, it’s a bit like seeing an orangutan behind bars. Still a glorious sight, but all the more sad for it not being free.