Metal Gear Solid 4 Finally Escapes PS3 Purgatory

Master Collection Volume 2 brings Metal Gear Solid 4 and Peace Walker to modern platforms with enhanced performance, bonus content, and multiplayer features.

Metal Gear Solid fans are finally receiving the re-release they've been waiting for. Konami has announced the release date for Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2, arriving on August 27, with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots debuting on modern platforms. The collection will come to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC, thus ending MGS4's long-standing PlayStation 3 exclusivity.

The collection is led by Metal Gear Solid 4, the 2008 finale of Solid Snake's saga and one of the genre's most critically acclaimed entries. The game became one of the biggest system sellers for the PlayStation 3 and is known for its dramatic presentation and notoriously long cutscenes. Since MGS4 wraps up storylines from the previous games, new players are highly advised to play the three previous Metal Gear Solid games before starting into Volume 2.

Also featured is Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, released in 2010 for the PSP.

Peace Walker was created for a handheld, but it quickly gained a reputation as one of the best games in the series, and many fans felt it deserved to be called a mainline Metal Gear Solid title. It is a direct sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3 and has a ton of extra optional content on top of its core campaign. 

Metal Gear Solid 4 clocks in at roughly 18 to 20 hours of gameplay, whereas Peace Walker is approximately 18 to 26 hours, depending on how much optional material players want to do. Metal Gear Solid 4 takes about 35 hours to complete, while Peace Walker can take over 95 hours for completionists. That’s a lot of content for a PSP title.

Peace Walker will also keep the multiplayer aspects, with co-op operations for up to four players and Versus Ops for up to six. But there’s no cross-platform multiplayer, even local couch co-op. Metal Gear Online from MGS4, however, will not be part of the collection. Besides the two major titles, Volume 2 includes Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, the Game Boy Color spin-off from 2000.

It won't get the same attention as Metal Gear Solid 4 or Peace Walker, but its inclusion adds another piece of Metal Gear history to the collection. Players will also receive the downloadable soundtrack, Volume 2. Performance varies wildly across platforms. Both titles will release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X at 4K and 60fps, with the Xbox Series S aiming for 1440p at 60fps. 

The Nintendo Switch 2 will support 1440p at 60fps docked and 1080p at 60fps handheld. The original Nintendo Switch will run at 1080p at 30fps docked and 720p at 30fps in handheld. On PC, it can run up to 4K resolution and over 60fps, depending on the hardware. Minimum specs include an Intel Core i5-9600K, 16GB of RAM, a GTX 1650, and 34GB of free space. Recommended: i5-10500, 16GB RAM, GTX 970.

Pre-order players will get bonus in-game items like cardboard camouflage for MGS4 and a special Lovebox uniform for Peace Walker.

Existing save data from Master Collection Volume 1 can also unlock extra gold camouflage and gold uniform bonuses. There are some legitimate expectations about performance with this release. Konami has kept updating Master Collection Volume 1 since its release, which was criticized for optimization problems. Three years after that collection's debut, fans will hope Volume 2 launches in a much stronger technical state.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2 will be available August 27 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and PC. No PS4 or Xbox One release. With games like Metal Gear Rising, Portable Ops, Twin Snakes, and Metal Gear Solid V, fans are already speculating about a possible Volume 3 if the collection performs well. For now, at least, it’s a big moment for the franchise and its preservation to finally have Metal Gear Solid 4 on current technology.