The Metal Gear Collection is a Treasure Trove

There was a time when I was certain the newly announced Metal Gear Solid Collection would be a cash grab. I hoped I’d be wrong.

Taking the original HD Collection off the shelf and just smashing it on PS5 would have been very, very easy. Even the addition of the original Metal Gear Solid felt a bit like we were getting additional value.

But as part of the Nintendo Direct, Konami confirmed exactly what we would be getting. They also announced the collection would be coming to PC, Xbox and Switch, giving plenty of choice to those worried it would be PlayStation only.

So a quick breakdown of what will be available before we get into some analysis. With the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 1, you will get the first three Solid games, with the latter two being the version from the HD Collection. You’ll also get the MSX versions of the first two Metal Gear games – no surprise as they’re in the HD Collection – alongside the PC/NES versions. Those are a bit more surprising, since they’re not canon. But the completionist in me is thrilled.

The VR Missions/Special Missions expansion for the first game will be playable too.

The digital novels for the first two games will also be included. They were originally released on PSP. And while I guess they sit a little oddly alongside the games themselves, having them is always going to be better than not having them.

As if that wasn’t enough, there will also be screenplay and strategy guides, alongside the soundtracks and additional information. Deep breath – that was a lot of content.

Reviving Metal Gear Solid

It is not an exhaustive list, although it’s pretty damn close. The biggest gap belongs to Twin Snakes, the Gamecube remake of the original game. And while the idea of that being included – even on Switch – seemed massively unlikely, it is obvious by its absence. Some mention may have done more harm than good, I suppose. But I would have liked to have seen it.

The second most obvious topic of conversation is what is missing because it may end up in future sets. Again, Twin Snakes seems unlikely. I guess not impossible. It was funded by Nintendo and is controversial amongst fans. On top of that, if it was going to make an appearance, it fits here. Having it alongside the next set would be weird.

But the next set has the potential to be weird anyway. Outside of Metal Gear Solid 4 – which would be the holy grail of a set like this, due to it being stuck on PlayStation 3 – we would mostly be expecting a handful of Gameboy and PSP games. Hardly the big hitters of this first set. I’m not sure a re-release of Portable Ops, Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes/Phantom Pain would have quite the nostalgic hit of Vol 1. Bonus content could include the likes of Ghost Babel at the Acid! games.

I guess the pie-in-the-sky must-buy moment would be additional content for Phantom Pain. But since it wouldn’t involve Kojima, and since we’ve all moved on, it may end up too little too late. But you know what? I’d still buy the hell out of it.

Whatever the answer, we’ll be waiting to find out. The first set is released October 24.