If you are even vaguely familiar with the Metal Gear Solid series you know that this second volume in what Konami has dubbed the Master Collection has a headliner. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was long deemed to be ‘unportable’ from its original PS3 release. But now, nearly two decades later, it is finally freed through this collection. While I can be appreciative of Konami’s efforts with rereleasing all these Metal Gear games, this package feels substantially smaller than the first Master Collection. And as much as the headliner may turn heads, I am so happy that it is an excuse for a lot of people to finally experience Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, perhaps the dark horse of this series. It makes for a mixed bag with Volume 2 overall, though there is still enough that I would encourage people to continue through on their MGS journey.

So that means I have to write about Metal Gear Solid 4 huh? I think that is one of those games that when you experience it for the first time, feels like the crown jewel of the series. Tying all the stories together from Metal Gear all the way to Metal Gear Solid 3. That first experience left me in awe. So many twists and turns, unexpected characters showing up and the socio-political observations of war from a time where we were all feeling the impact of ‘the war on terror’ and how it was shaping society. It is, undoubtedly, the most Hideo Kojima that Kojima ever Kojima’d. A grand soundtrack, character introductions that feel like the biggest thing ever happened and visuals that made folks feel justified for buying into the “599” PS3. Guns of the Patriots is a product of its time.

It is also a goddamn mess of a game.

Enough ink has been spilled about its tens of hours of story cutscenes. A game that, if you were to remove these, would take you less than five hours to complete. Without the weight of a first-time playthrough, and presuming you’re very invested in these strange characters, MGS4 flaws are almost unavoidable. Stages that only consist of two areas with missions that are broken up by constant monologues. While its stealth gameplay and mechanics are a massive improvement over the previous entries in terms of control, more than any MGS game before, it turned into a run and gun fest for me. Because its levels are not actually that well designed. The layout is puzzling and hard to grasp unless you open up the menu to check your position. Set pieces become tiresome, swarming you with endless enemies. Somehow all the worst lessons from Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 are on full display here.

And when those flaws reveal themselves, especially in this second playthrough, it almost became too much for me to bear. Egregious shots of the antagonists, the B&B, rolling on the floor in leather-tight outfits while the camera slowly moves past their behinds. Every little detail needing to be filled in from the series makes the overall story so convoluted that its conclusion is an hour long cutscene of characters explaining things. Kojima needed to be held responsible, but no one dared to go against gaming's auteur for this one. There are moments where MGS4 hits. Chapter four has perhaps the best ‘legacy sequel’ moment of all time in a video game. The stealth mission in chapter 3 is a fresh change of pace. And while I think its conclusion does not work from a story perspective, the final confrontation between Liquid and Solid Snake has all the right in the world to feel epic. Where Metal Gear Solid feels like the grandest series of all time.

And look, it runs fine enough on Switch 2. 60 FPS and a higher resolution than ever before. But honestly, the art style is draped in browns and greys which give it rarely time to shine. It doesn’t help to alleviate the feeling that Metal Gear Solid 4 has perhaps aged the worst of the Metal Gear Solid games. Having replayed them all back-to-back in these Master Collections it feels strange to say about this game, many have been eager to see made available again. But maybe the MGS4 we had in our heads all this time was better than the game it turned out to be after the dust had settled. Thankfully there is a redeeming factor with this particular collection. It comes in the form of its supporting act: Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.

When I played through all the Metal Gear Solid games for the first time in 2020, beginning Peace Walker felt strange. Originally a PSP title, it is mission-focused with clear segments. Storywise it takes place after Metal Gear Solid 3, but before Metal Gear and you play as Big Boss as he forms his Militair Sans Frontairs. It lacks a ton of gameplay elements like crawling, aiming in first person and goes for a more focused experience that isn’t all about the narrative. And it absolutely rules.

See, the thing about Peace Walker is that its mission structure makes it this ideal pick up and play game. Each day with my commute I’m knocking out a few missions in less than 15 minutes. Each resource you find on a mission gets sent to your Mother Base, which slowly grows over time. This allows you to unlock new resources to use in missions themselves and troops to send out on missions across the globe. It strips away the fat from a base builder but can be pretty expansive when you get into it. Add to that multiplayer elements, like going on missions together and Peace Walker has a lot of meat on its bones.

I also really like its dialed-back story. There are gaps to be filled for the Metal Gear lore-heads, but in truth Big Boss is much more interesting as a character here than the caricature he became in MGS3 and 4. There is still the political and historical intrigue that the series is known for but it playfully balances against a more comedic or absurdist tone. Whether through the Fulton system, which allows you to grab enemy soldiers and recruit them for your own base, by attaching a balloon to them. Or even the crazy antics you can get up to in co-op multiplayer. That’s right, with up to four friends you can take on every mission in this game. This includes some special weapons like the Human Slingshot, that can take down bosses in a single hit, but requires four players to cooperate properly.

It gives Peace Walker its unique identity but also makes for a strong title that just feels great to play. It takes a little bit of adjustment when coming from MGS4, but once you get over that hump it is a wonderful ride. Be sure to check your visual settings in the main menu, because the high fidelity resolution isn’t turned on by default. Finally this collection isn’t as big on the bonus materials as Master Collection Vol. 1. Where I had hoped to get more artwork and behind the scenes from the creation of these games, here it is limited to a small soundtrack selection and a singular bonus game with Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel. This Game Boy Color original is actually one of the harder games to find for the Game Boy Color and is a pretty cool sequel to Metal Gear Solid. It feels like a good addition for a collection that is already packed with two substantive games, but since it is locked to the bonus content of the package I have this feeling that it will remain overlooked still. That having been said, it is a great tribute to the original Metal Gear while telling its own original story. Though I don’t think it is canon anymore, it is this nice cherry on top.

If Master Collection Vol. 1 was your first time playing the Metal Gear Solid series, and given this is the first time many of these games are on a Nintendo system it wouldn’t surprise me, there is really no reason to not pick up Vol 2. But if you are already familiar with these games, perhaps through the Metal Gear Solid HD collection on the Xbox360 and PS3 era, this collection is a bit more barebones than you may like. Yes, Metal Gear Solid 4 is here but I sincerely do not think it is worth the hype beyond ‘neat that you no longer need to loan someone a PS3 to play this game’. Peace Walker however is absolutely worth checking out. Its gameplay and story have aged like fine wine. After the drek that is Metal Gear Solid 4 it was such a great palette cleanser. If you’re hoping for more than these games, you won’t find much in this collection. There is a lack of behind the scenes and additional information that fans would be foaming at the mouth for. Ghost Babel is a cute addition and fun for fans, but also isn’t that engaging compared to the other games here.

I’m glad Konami is putting in the effort in getting this series the proper attention it deserves through these Master Collections. Of course I am happy to speculate wildly about a potential Master Collection Vol. 3. I’d love to have a native version of MGS V on the go, yet it also shows that Konami is running out of things to spice up these collections with. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by other companies putting so much care and attention into their legacy re-releases, but let’s hope that Konami can keep this trend going now that the world is embracing Metal Gear Solid once more.