This October, Konami finally gave us a long-overdue way to access some of the greatest games of all time, the original Metal Gear Solid trilogy. The only problem? They were lacking a number of modern features such as higher frame rates and resolutions. Many players have also reported issues with input registration and lag. While it’s nice to have these classics on modern hardware, the frustrations with them make the Master Collection label feel more than a little unearned. A new patch aims to alleviate some of these woes, though console players will have to wait a bit to reap the benefits.
Read More: 5 Disappointing Things About Konami’s Metal Gear Solid “Master Collection”
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There aren’t any new framerate options or support for 4K resolution, so today’s new patch is likely to still disappoint hardcore MGS fans and those who want to see these games get the gold-star treatment they deserve. Still, getting some new features (like a CRT filter) as well as fixes for various issues is welcome. Here’s hoping this is the start of more to come.
The following updates are available on PC right now, and are expected to land on consoles in January, 2024.
Here are the details:
Metal Gear Solid updates
In addition to addressing “minor issues” and including a fix that lets the game recognize Steam Input (which lets you customize your button and keybinds) more accurately, the patch includes:
- Smoothing, which rounds out the rough edges of the old-school PlayStation polygons, can be turned on or off in Metal Gear Solid.
- You now have a choice of “Standard,” “Pixel Perfect,” or “16:9” display options. Note that 16:9 merely stretches out the screen, it doesn’t render the game at said ratio.
- A toggleable CRT-style filter has been added.
- Separate audio settings for the game and menu are now available before launching the game.
- A new “Fast” controller response speed on Steam which may or may not result in unstable performance.
Metal Gear Solid 2 updates
Like MGS, the sequel also gets a new menu and game volume slider, in addition to:
- Window mode can be enabled by pressing Alt+Enter on keyboard.
- A fix for laser sights on guns not rendering during cutscenes.
- A fix for sea lice not rendering during cutscenes.
Metal Gear Solid 3 updates
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater also enjoys the same audio settings and windowed mode.
Retro Metal Gear game updates
Also included in the Master Collection are two games that pre-date the Solid era, the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. These are getting the same audio features as the previously mentioned games, as well as windowed mode. The games also get the same smoothing, screen size, and CRT filter options.
Konami also said that it’s looking into other reported issues across all of the games in the collection, including cutscenes ending prematurely, analog input not registering correctly, problems with texture rendering, and various other input features. The official patch notes cover these issues more extensively.