In recent news, we all know that Mass Effect Remastered Legacy Edition is coming May 14th, and fans around the globe are super excited. I am super excited to jump back into the Mass Effect universe and relive all the amazing story moments of this wonderful series, but I do yearn for another series to be brought to the glory of the next generation of consoles and that is the Metal Gear Saga.
Over the last few years, we have heard rumblings in the games industry that a Metal Gear Solid remake is currently in development. We also heard that Konami has shut down some of its game development studios. Though I don’t think Konami is done making games, if they were to just remake Metal Gear Solid 1 I would of course play on day one. I do have to say if I were to choose between a remade version of the first Metal Gear Solid and a fully remastered version of the original Saga, I would choose the remaster every time.
Though it would be awesome to see Metal Gear Solid completely remade from the ground up, I have always thought the titles in the series we’re and always will be pretty close to perfect games. When I say perfect, I meant perfect, every aspect of the main saga from start to finish was an unbelievable journey for me.
Every game was extremely well-paced, the stories (though long and filled with cutscenes) were some of the best cinematic experiences in gaming, the gameplay consistently got better with each installment in the series, and we can’t forget about the voice-over work and music in these titles.
First, the music in all Metal Gear Solid titles has become an entity itself. Having people like Donna Burke, Harrison Williams, Jackie Presti, and others over the years has made this game feel like a true Mission Impossible story. Music in games is everything, it sets the tempo for the moments taking place on screen as well as the emotional connection you have to the characters of the story.
Hideo Kojima knew this and did an amazing job at translating what he wanted the game’s music to feel like with said composers.
Let’s use Metal Gear Solid 4 as an example, we all know the voice overcast was spectacular. The same voice cast from the original Metal Gear Solid poured their souls into this game and put us all up in our feels. Hearing David Hayter (Solid Snake), Patric Zimmerman (Revolver Ocelot), Christopher Randolph (Hal Emmerich), Debi Mae West (Meryl Silverburgh), Jennifer Hale (Namoi Hunter), Paul Eiding (Roy Cambell), Cam Clarke (Liquid Snake), and many others reprise their roles from the original game was mindblowing.
Since 1998, we have been listening to these voices tell the story of Big Bosses bloodline. The story of one man taking on the world, trying to story a nuclear winter, fighting again not just the system, but his own flesh and blood. The sacrifices made to bring about world peace by this man. . .this one man was incredible. The games have been out some time now, so I don’t think spoilers are really a big deal but MGS 4 had some of the best collections of timeline mergers and plot twists I think I had ever seen.
For Instance, in Metal Gear Solid 1, Ocelot lost his arm to the great warrior Gray Fox while trying to kill Solid Snake. In the events of Metal Gear Solid 2, we see that Ocelot has returned and replaced his lost arm with the (now dead) arm of Liquid Snake. When we see that Revolver Ocelot is still alive in MSG 4, we see that the arm of Liquid Snake(Twin Brother of Solid Snake) has somehow transferred the spirit of Liquid into its new body, now calling himself Liquid Ocelot.
Now, this bit of story might seem a little convoluted for some. If you haven’t played the games, you have no clue what the hell I’m talking about. If you did, you know that from the first moments of this game to the very end was a stellar storytelling spectacle. This is what I love about the Metal Gear Saga. Every game breaths life into my soul and really shows the genius of Hideo Kojima and his team.
The sale of this franchise could still possibly happen. If it does, we don’t need mobile games, pachinko games, or VR games from this franchise. We need the cinematic/storytelling experiences the series is known for.
Yes, even if that means I have to play a 4K/60 fps remaster of the original Saga all over again. I also know a lot of fans of the series loved the game MGS Portable Ops, MGS PeaceWalker, and MGR Revengeance. . .but that’s not what I need.
I need a straight shot remaster. Meaning I want MGS 1 or Twin Snakes(GameCube Version), MGS 2, MGS3, MGS4, and they can even bundle MGSV. This would totally make the ultimate collection for any Metal Gear fan. That’s all I want. Please KONAMI, bring this to life, and let me be happy!
REVIEW OF METAL GEAR SOLID LEGACY COLLECTION
