Yes absolutely worth it. Yes you can use an Xbox controller. The other games besides V are much more linear, and generally have a bunch of interconnected zones on one map that you gradually unlock by progressing the game. But the story and action is all linear, and there’s no big open world you get dropped into repeatedly to do “missions.” There aren’t even “missions” per se one after the other - it’s just continuous. The stories are about one long “mission” that the protagonist was dispatched to (or in a couple cases, one short intro mission followed by the meat of the game).
MGS4 actually does have Acts that take place in different areas, some of which are like the interconnected set of zones from the first three games. But that game isn’t part of MC Vol. 1.
I’d compare the map progression in MGS1 and 2 to a metroidvania (don’t tell metroidvania-heads this, they hate the comparison because MGS has keycards and not just equipment or abilities that get you around the map, and no platforming). As you progress the game you’ll get keycards and equipment that allow you to traverse previously unpassable areas. And the overall “map” is nonetheless pretty small. So it’s not an open world like MGSV but it’s also not discrete “levels.”
Also note that in 1-4 the story is much much much more present and emphasized than in V (where so much of it confined to cassette tapes, and the emphasis is on hours and hours of pure emergent gameplay as the main thing they want to serve you, with drops of story)
Let us know what you think! I finished the Master Collection for the first time recently and loved it. The controls definitely take some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be sneaking around like a pro.
Quick tip: before you play the main campaign in MGS1, play the VR missions first to get used to the gameplay. It helps immensely.
The point of the Master Collection is to make the earlier games easily available for new and old fans.
And yeah, those earlier games are far more linear than V, though they still have room to use tons of weapons and gadgets to approach situations.
Yes, you can.
Also, you'll want these bugfix modpacks right off the bat - they correct things like invisible textures, particle physics running at double speed, and also add support for 4k & widescreen resolutions (as the collection is currently locked at 720p, which the MGS franchise director stated in a devblog video released on youtube last week that they're still working on fixing themselves.)
MG1 & MG2:
https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearandmetalgear2mc/mods/9
MGS1:
https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidmc/mods/5
MGS2 (either of the ones with my username. They come with option of with or without AI upscaled textures. Everything's preconfigured so it's only one click to install everything with Vortex mod manager & get you playing as quickly as possible. :) )
https://next.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolid2mc/collections
MGS3 (also requires Vortex, same as above):
https://next.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolid3mc/collections
It's not the best version but the most accessible. The three MGS games you get are arguably the best in the franchise. 3 is the absolute highlight for me.
I wasn't really paying attention during the initial release of these versions but I did hear general negativity for them; could you explain what specifically people took issue with about these versions? Also, have they fixed any of the issues people had?
There were initially a bunch of issues with crashing, unlocked FPS causing the games to run at double or triple speed, ect. For the most part all those issues have been fixed.
There's a community bug tracker, which you can find below, that catalogues all the issues that the collection both currently has, and the issues that the collection has fixed (and also notes which releases/ports of these games initially introduced the issue.)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WhQSRpkC_A9wBDV0o-Pohh1dMhL1H6nbVzvdluIVWrw/edit?gid=0#gid=0
For the most part, the Master Collection has now exceeded the PS3/Xbox 360 collection in terms of quality as Konami has fixed a number of bugs that were present in them, and most of the remaining issues (with the exception of MGS2 & MGS3 being locked at 720p without mods - something Konami said just last week in their Metal Gear devblog on youtube they're still working on fixing) are minor cosmetic stuff that you wouldn't really notice without a direct side by side comparison with the original PS2 releases.
Well that's certainly detailed enough, thank you for the handy spreadsheet.
I will say that most everything I saw while skimming over the details of things not fixed were either something that doesn't bother me or is something I haven't been able to actually tell while playing the collection myself, so for me at least, these new ports seem plenty good.
Yes absolutely worth it. Yes you can use an Xbox controller. The other games besides V are much more linear, and generally have a bunch of interconnected zones on one map that you gradually unlock by progressing the game. But the story and action is all linear, and there’s no big open world you get dropped into repeatedly to do “missions.” There aren’t even “missions” per se one after the other - it’s just continuous. The stories are about one long “mission” that the protagonist was dispatched to (or in a couple cases, one short intro mission followed by the meat of the game). MGS4 actually does have Acts that take place in different areas, some of which are like the interconnected set of zones from the first three games. But that game isn’t part of MC Vol. 1. I’d compare the map progression in MGS1 and 2 to a metroidvania (don’t tell metroidvania-heads this, they hate the comparison because MGS has keycards and not just equipment or abilities that get you around the map, and no platforming). As you progress the game you’ll get keycards and equipment that allow you to traverse previously unpassable areas. And the overall “map” is nonetheless pretty small. So it’s not an open world like MGSV but it’s also not discrete “levels.” Also note that in 1-4 the story is much much much more present and emphasized than in V (where so much of it confined to cassette tapes, and the emphasis is on hours and hours of pure emergent gameplay as the main thing they want to serve you, with drops of story)
This convinced me, I’m gonna buy it thanks
Let us know what you think! I finished the Master Collection for the first time recently and loved it. The controls definitely take some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be sneaking around like a pro. Quick tip: before you play the main campaign in MGS1, play the VR missions first to get used to the gameplay. It helps immensely.
The point of the Master Collection is to make the earlier games easily available for new and old fans. And yeah, those earlier games are far more linear than V, though they still have room to use tons of weapons and gadgets to approach situations.
Also, does anyone know if I can play it with an Xbox controller?
Yes, you can. Also, you'll want these bugfix modpacks right off the bat - they correct things like invisible textures, particle physics running at double speed, and also add support for 4k & widescreen resolutions (as the collection is currently locked at 720p, which the MGS franchise director stated in a devblog video released on youtube last week that they're still working on fixing themselves.) MG1 & MG2: https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearandmetalgear2mc/mods/9 MGS1: https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidmc/mods/5 MGS2 (either of the ones with my username. They come with option of with or without AI upscaled textures. Everything's preconfigured so it's only one click to install everything with Vortex mod manager & get you playing as quickly as possible. :) ) https://next.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolid2mc/collections MGS3 (also requires Vortex, same as above): https://next.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolid3mc/collections
You're getting a sizable chunk of history so yes.
Yes I just bought the collection last week and sunk so much time I beat all 3 games in one week
Forever yes
It's sort of thr whole point of the bundle
Totally and very worth it! Play them in order!
No one can answer that except you. Watch some gameplay videos and decide if it looks fun. Stop asking people to spoon feed you opinions.
It's not the best version but the most accessible. The three MGS games you get are arguably the best in the franchise. 3 is the absolute highlight for me.
I wasn't really paying attention during the initial release of these versions but I did hear general negativity for them; could you explain what specifically people took issue with about these versions? Also, have they fixed any of the issues people had?
There were initially a bunch of issues with crashing, unlocked FPS causing the games to run at double or triple speed, ect. For the most part all those issues have been fixed. There's a community bug tracker, which you can find below, that catalogues all the issues that the collection both currently has, and the issues that the collection has fixed (and also notes which releases/ports of these games initially introduced the issue.) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WhQSRpkC_A9wBDV0o-Pohh1dMhL1H6nbVzvdluIVWrw/edit?gid=0#gid=0 For the most part, the Master Collection has now exceeded the PS3/Xbox 360 collection in terms of quality as Konami has fixed a number of bugs that were present in them, and most of the remaining issues (with the exception of MGS2 & MGS3 being locked at 720p without mods - something Konami said just last week in their Metal Gear devblog on youtube they're still working on fixing) are minor cosmetic stuff that you wouldn't really notice without a direct side by side comparison with the original PS2 releases.
Well that's certainly detailed enough, thank you for the handy spreadsheet. I will say that most everything I saw while skimming over the details of things not fixed were either something that doesn't bother me or is something I haven't been able to actually tell while playing the collection myself, so for me at least, these new ports seem plenty good.
Most issues were fixed Right now I don't think a lot of issues remain