Metal Gear Solid 4 arrives on PC and modern consoles
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Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has now been released on PC and modern consoles for the first time, ending its 18-year exclusivity to the PlayStation 3, as part of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: Vol. 2. A new review of the release frames it as a significant preservation win, arriving shortly after the shutdown of the PS3 digital storefront, though it also argues the game's poorly-aged mechanics and its status as an unrepeatable artefact of its era make it as much a historical curiosity as a modern replay.
The collection bundles MGS4 with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, and preserves the original faithfully rather than modernising it, retaining its lengthy cutscenes (including a 70-minute finale), clunky boss fights and dated third-person shooting, with only a minor voice-line tweak to reflect the removal of disc-swapping. The review highlights the game's blunt political commentary on the military-industrial complex and its 2008-era anxieties about drone warfare and child soldiers as still strikingly relevant, even as its gameplay is described as the "messiest" in the series.
- MGS4 is out on PC/modern consoles for the first time via Master Collection Vol. 2
- Ends 18 years of PlayStation 3 exclusivity
- Bundled with Peace Walker and Ghost Babel; gameplay preserved unchanged, warts included
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Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots first came out in 2008 as an exclusive title for Sony's PlayStation 3, part of Hideo Kojima's long-running Metal Gear series of stealth-action games. It followed an ageing version of series hero Solid Snake through a story dealing with private military companies, drone warfare and the ethics of modern conflict. Because it never appeared on other platforms, it became one of the best-known "PlayStation exclusive" games never to be widely replayed by newer audiences.
The game has now been made available on PC and current-generation consoles as part of a bundle called the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: Vol. 2, which also includes two other older Metal Gear titles. This matters partly because it lets a much wider audience play a historically significant game for the first time, and partly because it comes soon after Sony closed down the PS3's online store, making older PS3-only games harder to access through official channels.
Discussion around the re-release tends to focus on two things: how well a game designed for 2008 hardware and pacing holds up by today's standards, and how relevant its themes around drones, private military contractors and technology in warfare still feel almost two decades later.
Coverage
- Polygon — There Will Never Be Another Game Like Metal Gear Solid 4
- GameSpot — Metal Gear Solid 4 escapes PS3 exclusivity in new collection