“MGS: Master Collection Volume 2” Might Finally Bring The One Game I’ve Been Waiting To Play

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Volume 1 just released to mostly positive reviews, with some critics calling it a comprehensive bundle of Hideo Kojima’s iconic series. Others, however, were less enthused about the package, saying Konami’s handling of the collection was done poorly if not outright lazily. Both words we the gaming community have become unfazed to seeing attached to Konami over the past decade. Still, the fact that they’ve done at least what seems to be a passable job in bringing the first few titles within the series to modern consoles without too much fuss is an achievement for the company in and of itself.

Not all of Kojima’s tactical espionage action games are here, though, as the title of the package quite bluntly implies. Volume 1 consists of Metal Gear Solid 1, Sons of Liberty, Snake Eater, and the original two MSX2 titles. Which means that this is essentially the same bundle Konami had released once before on the Xbox 360, and a worse version of the collection they’d brought out for the PlayStation 3’s The Legacy Collection, which consisted of not only all the aforementioned games, but also MGS4: Guns of the Patriots and MGS: Peace Walker. Furthermore, the fact that there doesn’t seem to be any notable additions or updates to the games visuals or mechanics makes me understand why some critics find this collection to be a tad banal, making its price tag slightly egregious.

Personally, my main disappointment is due to the fact that this is yet another collection of Metal Gear Solid games that forgoes the inclusion of the fourth installment of the franchise. MGS4: Guns of the Patriots is a game I have yet to play, but one I’m very much eager to do so. Especially seeing how this was the year in which I finally stepped into the shoes of Solid Snake by playing MGS1 and Sons of Liberty for the very first time; the former of which I did so with touch controls on my phone no less, yet still found myself having a grand ol’ time. I’d played, as I like to call it, the “Big Boss trilogy” a few years prior in Snake Eater, Peace Walker, and The Phantom Pain, but I’d held off on Solid Snake’s storyline primarily because I wanted to wait for a proper way to play the fourth and final game in his “trilogy.” Unfortunately, Solid Snake’s finale is stuck on the cell processor of the PlayStation 3 and has yet to see a proper port in the generations following Sony’s third console.

I’m sure I’m not alone in this predicament, either. I would venture to guess that there are plenty of players out there who had purchased Konami’s previous MGS4-less collections, either on the Xbox 360 or even the PlayStation Vita (which oddly omits the first game, only having the second and third titles), that have yet to see Solid Snake’s story in its entirety. The only way to play Guns of the Patriots is by loading the original physical disc into a PlayStation 3. Neither the PlayStation 4 nor the 5 have digital versions of the game available on their storefronts, either. And publishers wonder why some still choose to go by the way of emulation.  

This could soon change, however. Clearly Konami are planning to release a second volume to this collection, which could finally include Guns of the Patriots as a part of its offering. In a Reddit post last week, user u/LordEmmerich shared an image from user Timo654 on Imgur who posted an image of the Master Collection’s launcher that had “mgs4,” “mgs5,” and “mgspw” splattered around its code, which could potentially be in reference to the titles that are coming to this second volume. Obviously nothing is confirmed until we hear from Konami themselves, though potentially having both the fourth and fifth titles be a part of the same bundle is something that definitely excites me. Honestly, though, I simply want a way to get closure to Snake’s story without having to plunder the depths of EBay to pick up an overpriced PlayStation 3.

A part of me also wonders if it wouldn’t be better for Konami to forgo these collections altogether, seeing as they’ve already announced their plans of remaking Snake Eater, which is now renamed to simply MGS: Delta. A decision that makes sense seeing as Snake Eater is the “first” game in the series in terms of story, from which Konami can then move on to remaking the remaining games in proper narrative succession; a decision that I’m sure Kojima wouldn’t approve. Though if they did do that, it’d mean I’d likely have to wait another fifteen years to play Guns of the Patriots properly.