Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection

"Three wonderful games, all together in one package."

Im a huge fan of the MGS series. When I heard about 'Essential Collection' I had to buy it. I pretty much needed all three replaced, and it's kinda hard to find them unless you get lucky. So this was essential indeed.

But anyway, unless you're like me, and needed the games replaced, this is nothing new for Metal Gear fans unless you're a collector. But for those new to the series, never got a chance to play MGS, or maybe played it a couple times and enjoyed it but never found copies, this is definately for you. You get Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3 in a box set for only $30. That's half the price that games are available for nowadays.

Now, if you're looking for reviews of each game, this isn't the right review. Im just reviewing the collection. But, just to summarize my opinions of each game, they are all excellent. Its a great story full of intriguing plot twists and characters you'll actually grow to care about. The gameplay is unique, rather than run, gun, kill everyone in sight, the games encourage you to sneak past the enemy without being seen. Don't worry though, the games are still full of plenty of action.

If you're impatient, and don't like to sit through cutscenes, don't bother picking this up. These games are known for having long cutscenes, but its actually one of the things most fans like about them.

Now, as for the collection, its a great deal. It does have some flaws though. MGS1 is on two PS1 discs, rather than porting it to a PS2 disc, meaning you'll need a PS1 memory card to play it. That can be annoying if you don't have one, those things aren't easy to come by for some people.

Both MGS2 and 3 are the director's cut versions. That sounds cool right? The problem is that originally, MGS3 was 2 discs. The second disc had an online mode (which is shut down now anyway, so its not that big of a deal) a boss survival mode, Snake vs. Monkey (a minigame cross-over with 'Ape Escape') funny parody videos of the game, and the original 2 Metal Gears (Not Metal Gear Solids, but rather the two original games before Solid, that originally came out on the MSX in Japan only.)

All these things are lost, which is a real disappointment. Nevertheless, MGS3 still has the tweaked camera angle and demo theater, more than the original version had to offer (with the exception of Snake vs. Monkey) So it isn't the end of the world. You still get one very, very great game. Add that to two other great games, for only thirty bucks, and that makes "Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection" worth every penny.

All in all, although the collection came with unnecessary disappointments, I would still recommend it any day. I award it an 8 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/26/08

Game Release: Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection (US, 03/18/08)