Interestingly, Xbox users have also noticed Peace Walker HD being taken down from the Microsoft Store. The title was available on Xbox consoles through backwards compatibility thanks to the Xbox 360 release of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, which included Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (and by extension, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake), and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 was unveiled last week, and will essentially fill out the empty spots of the canon games that remained unplayable on modern hardware. Along with the two games, Metal Gear: Ghost Babel will also be playable on consoles after having spent more than two decades exclusively available on Game Boy Color.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 will be coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and the Switch 2, and is slated for release on August 27th.

The Steam listing for the collection has revealed the kind of hardware that PC players will need for the title, and most surprising in this is the fact that it requires a minimum of 16 GB RAM. Since Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was made for PS3—a console with 512 MB of RAM—and Peace Walker was made for PSP —a handheld with either 32 MB or 64 MB of RAM depending on the hardware revision—the relatively higher RAM requirements might indicate the level of extra visual polish we might see.

The idea that the games are simply running through emulation rather than being fully ported to modern platforms also has some merit, which could go on to explain the hardware requirements since emulation software also tends to have its own hardware overhead requirements, especially in terms of processing speeds and memory.

Konami has also confirmed that, while Metal Gear Solid 4 won’t be getting back its multiplayer Metal Gear Online mode, the online co-op mode for Peace Walker will be kept intact for the Master Collection Vol. 2 release. This is great for the latter since it features many optional missions structured like Monster Hunter‘s quests. However, Konami hasn’t yet confirmed whether or not we will see the Monster Hunter collaboration missions make it into the Master Collection Vol. 2 release, which involved hunting down a Rathalos, among other things.

Both Metal Gear Solid 4 and Peace Walker fill out important gaps in the overarching story of the franchise. While the former marks the end of Solid Snake’s story, closing off all loose plot threads by its climax, the latter gives us a greater glimpse at how Metal Gear Solid 3 protagonist Naked Snake would continue his transformation into Big Boss, with its ending and final boss fight directly leading into the events of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes.

We’re talking about Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker retaining its online co-op modes, a feature that did not receive its due back when the game first came out but remains as one of our favorite parts. You get to bring your friends along to its rather elaborate main missions complete with insane boss fights, or duke it out in deathmatches with up to six players which becomes quite challenging as you understand the mechanics.

Taking such a crucial part of the experience might not have been well-received, and its clear that Konami felt the same way, retaining the online modes despite taking them out of Metal Gear Solid 4’s latest version. With the Nintendo Switch 2 being a part of its list of compatible platforms, Peace Walker could very well see a new lease of life as more players discover the joys of bringing a few friends along to missions that were designed around cooperative play.

This Summer is going to be a good one for you if you’re a Metal Gear Solid fan with Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 out on August 27th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Originally released exclusively for PS3 and the only entry in the series to never get a re-release, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the final tale in Solid Snake’s journey. He’ll go up against Liquid Ocelot’s version of Outer Heaven with new stealth mechanics (including an optic-camo suit). As for Peace Walker, it originally launched for the PlayStation Portable before coming to PS3 and provides some much-needed background on characters like Paz heading into Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 launches on August 27th (with pre-orders seemingly getting Metal Gear: Ghost Babel for free), but that’s not all. Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1’s final update is going live today, and adds high-resolution options for both Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, making them look sharper than ever. With discounts currently live for the series, there’s no better time to jump in.

ENSLAVED: ODYSSEY TO THE WEST

Ever the masters of narrative-driven single-player experiences, back in 2010, Ninja Theory delivered Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, a game that many consider one of the studio’s best works ever to this day. Sadly, the game ended up a commercial failure. Though acclaimed by many for its storytelling, characters, performances, and its take on the classic Chinese tale of Journey to the West, for whatever reason, it failed to attract a sizeable audience.

DEAD RISING 2

Capcom brought Dead Rising back earlier this year with Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster earlier this year, which was a remake in nearly all but name, and we’d love for the company to do the same with Dead Rising 2. Whether or not that happens will, of course, depend entirely on whether the aforementioned Deluxe Remaster’s commercial performance matches the critical acclaim it enjoyed, but our hope is that it does, not only because it would mean more Dead Rising, but also because we’d love to play an enhanced form of Dead Rising 2, an excellent game in its own right.

Of course, the fact that it was called Vol. 1 was indication for many that the company had more similar collections planned for the future, and while that hasn’t yet been officially announced, it certainly seems like we’ll be hearing more about a second volume at some point in the future.

In a recently uploaded “production hotline” video uploaded by Konami, responding to a question about a second MGS collection, series producer Noriaki Okamura said (via Twitter user @HEITAIs) that Konami hasn’t decided “yet” which games will be included in Master Collection Vol. 2, or when it will be released, before adding, “please wait a little longer.”

Previous reports and datamining leaks have indicated that Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 will include Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, and Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.

Konami is also working on a number of improvements for Master Collection Vol. 1, including support for higher resolutions, controller configuration options, and more.

Meanwhile, MGS3 remake Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is in development for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Its official website for Metal Gear Solid has added buttons for games in Vol. 1 on the History page. However, as noted by Twitter user Nitroid, inspecting the page reveals placeholder buttons for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Solid 5 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. It could mean a potential Vol. 2 is coming with these titles. IGN said it “understands this lineup for Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 is accurate” and awaits comment from Konami.

While one could assume that the buttons for Vol. 1 link to generic listings for each game, they lead to new pages showcasing screenshots and images from the upcoming compilation. The old listings can still be found under “Lineup” on the official site, but if Vol. 2 does happen, this would be Konami laying the groundwork.

Interestingly, when Konami first announced Vol. 1, it listed all three titles, but also had a “?” and “Stay tuned for more information.” The section has since been updated to include Metal Gear 1 and 2, along with other goodies, but the existence of placeholders for other titles gives some hope. It’s especially noteworthy for fans of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which has been stuck on PS3 since its 2008 release.

Stay tuned for further updates. Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 releases on October 24th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch.

The new Metal Gear Solid website added buttons to the timeline for the games in Master Collection Vol. 1, but if you inspect the page, there are placeholder buttons for MGS4, Peace Walker, and MGSV as well.

Very interesting. pic.twitter.com/V0ezMHdpcT

— Nitroid ❗ (@Nitroid) June 21, 2023

While this is hardly conclusive of anything, here's some additional context for why it's suspicious: pic.twitter.com/2zPbbKTL79

— Nitroid ❗ (@Nitroid) June 22, 2023

#10. METAL GEAR

This was back when the series was finding its feet, so it’s not surprising that in the many years since it came out, the original Metal Gear has been surpassed by essentially all of its successors. The game’s post-credits sequence was, as the game itself was, simple and to-the-point. Metal Gear ends with Solid Snake seemingly killing off Big Boss and leaving Outer Heaven, but after its credits have rolled, the game reveals that Big Boss is still alive, and has vowed revenge against Solid Snake.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE MINISH CAP

The Minish Cap is easily among the most criminally underrated Zelda games of all time. Owing to the fact that it’s a handheld title and that it was developed by Capcom, not Nintendo, it’s been viewed as something of a sidequel by many, though as those who’ve played it will tell you, that’s an unfair assertion, because this is an incredible game. A remake that brings the game back to the forefront for modern audiences would surely prove that.

Demon of Hatred – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

The Demon of Hatred is easily one of the most difficult boss fights in FromSoftware’s 2019 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, although fans wishing to be a bit creative with their approach will be able to dispatch the boss such that it falls to its own death. As soon as players enter the boss arena, they will first have to clamber up to the very top of a watchtower and then make a double jump to an otherwise inaccessible rooftop. Once there, you have to position yourself at the very edge of an adjacent rooftop which will lure the boss enemy to the very edge of the arena. The boss AI will then glitch out, and once the Demon of Hatred will perform its charge move – it will fall down to its own death.