Hideo Kojima’s creations continue to be relevant even today, and the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is certainly proof of that. As the story that began the franchise, setting its protagonist up as The Big Boss, it’s an adventure that came with several twists and turns while introducing so many important narrative threads that would later surface in subsequent titles.

However, there is another title that directly continued that story, following Naked Snake’s adventures after events in Snake Eater. We’re talking about Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (MPO, as it’s commonly called), which was released for the PlayStation Portable back in 2006. While there were other PSP titles before it, MPO stands out among the crowd for several reasons. We would even go as far as to say that it deserves its own remake after Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.

Let’s take a look at why this title is one that should not be allowed to fly under the radar and be overshadowed by other entries in the long-standing franchise. 

Setting up Success

Our first reason for wanting a remake of MPO is the fact that it directly follows Naked Snake’s path to becoming Big Boss in the aftermath of the events in Snake Eater. It’s quite the story on its own but its significance lies in the many ways in which it takes the franchise’s narrative forward.

For instance, it’s set in 1970, just six years after Naked Snake and Operation Snake Eater, causing the former’s disillusionment with the way things were on the military front. We learn about the FOX unit from events in the game, and how their betrayal causes Naked Snake to seek help from the most unlikely people in the bargain. It’s a setup that works very well to present Naked Snake’s reasons for growing closer to accept the mantle of Big Boss, exacerbating the emotions he felt in the aftermath of The Boss’ death.

Being unjustly framed for a crime he didn’t commit, Naked Snake’s reunion with former allies that include Major Zero, Para-Medic, and Sigint along with certain surprising ones like Roy Campbell and Null (who turns out to be Gray Fox) adds a further layer of continuity to the game’s story. It effectively ties MPO’s explosive story to the franchise’s main narrative in a way that makes sense. It’s also a great way to explain many of the new mechanics that its players are introduced to, tying the story and gameplay into one complete package.

Furthermore, it gives us a window into the inner workings of the FOX unit while showcasing Naked Snake’s leadership abilities, something that his origin story could not achieve on its own. There is also Metal Gear, the first one in the series, and a host of powerful characters in the form of Python and Gene, who play major roles in the game. Especially, Gene and his interactions with Snake are pivotal to the overall Metal Gear Saga, something that will impact Snake in future games.

Another crucial aspect of the overall narrative that MPO touches upon is the Philosopher’s Legacy. With one half of it firmly in the possession of the American government, there are multiple parties interested in bringing an end to the shadowy organization. One of those parties is none other than Ocelot, the son of The Boss who served as one of Snake Eater’s antagonists to Naked Snake. As far as its ties to the franchise’s lore go, MPO is a game that fleshes out a lot of the story behind Naked Snake’s rise to Big Boss to which he would later on accept in Peace Walker.

Although there is a bit of debate about just how canon events in MPO really are owing to the fact that Kojima was only a producer on it, it is nevertheless a fascinating insight into a character that has remained a constant presence throughout the franchise, and can serve Konami very well if it were to make it to the current generation of gaming platforms.

It helps that Konami has since included the game’s developments in its Master Book series that presents a complete timeline of the overall story. It validates MPO’s narrative and could justify the effort and resources that a remake would entail.

However, the story is only one part of why MPO can and must be brought back into the fold.

The Makings of a Great Leader

Aside from MPO’s story being a great way to explore more of the franchise’s lore, it’s also quite a good stealth-action experience. It draws heavily from the gameplay loop of Snake Eater, expanding on its mechanics in a manner that fits its narrative while managing to remain engaging as well.

One of the ways it achieves this expansion of an already solid experience is by having Naked Snake needing to recruit allies to assist him in the field. With each mission requiring you to assemble a squad of specialists, each bringing unique abilities to the field, the game incentivizes a careful, methodical approach even more than other titles in the franchise.

Gaining squad members is no walk in the park, too. Taking out enemy soldiers using tranquilizers or by stunning them doesn’t automatically recruit them to your cause. Instead, they must either be transported to a vehicle or to one of your hidden squad members who can then take care of their safe passage. A few in-game days later, your new recruits are ready to bring their unique brand of chaos to each mission.

If you thought that was fascinating, there’s more. Your recruits are expendable, requiring you to be careful about the situations you send them to tackle. While characters central to the main story do come with plot armor, others are not so lucky and you will need to be quite strategic about taking them along on your missions. It does help that recruits belonging to a specific faction can have an easier time infiltrating regions that belong to their former comrades, though.

Bringing even more novelty to the recruit system is the fact that back during the game’s release, you could use the PSP’s in-built GPS or Wi-Fi capabilities to further expand your team in specific locations! All in all, MPO adds a lot of innovative modifications to the franchise’s core gameplay loop, making it an exciting way to enjoy the experience.

Some of these mechanics would later make their way to other Metal Gear Solid titles, such as the Mother Base mechanic in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and are arguably the foundation for Metal Gear Solid V’s forward operating bases. The very presence of these systems in future additions to the franchise’s lineup is another feather in MPO’s cap and makes a great case for Konami to commission a remake of it.

Considering the manner in which it builds on the franchise’s lore and gameplay, MPO is the perfect candidate for Konami’s next remake, allowing it to establish continuity while showcasing what the franchise is truly capable of to a new generation of players.

Keeping Up With the Times

It helps that the game’s audio and graphics were also quite good for a 2006 title. Konami’s decision to bring back voice actors from Snake Eater paid off while Ashley Wood’s designs fired on all fronts. Graphically, the title did a pretty decent job of bringing the game to life and we can only imagine what a remake would look and sound like if it were to come to fruition. 

While the PSP’s lack of a right analog stick required that Konami get creative with how players were able to detect enemy presences in the original MPO, a remake would erase that problem entirely, allowing the studio to recreate the experience with an additional layer of convenience and interactibility that could change the way its players approach the game.

With all of these factors considered, it would be a damn shame for such an excellent representation of everything good about Metal Gear Solid to be locked to a handhelf that is now quite obsolete. MPO can be a great vehicle for Konami’s attempts to give the franchise a new lease of life.

It’s also an opportunity to further fine tune it in the same vein as Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Fans of the franchise and newcomers alike could lap up more of Naked Snake’s adventures if the studio decided to bring MPO back into the limelight. Even the thought of getting to play it on a PS5 gives us goosebumps! 

We hope that Konami is looking at this the same way we are, and that we could get to see Naked Snake take on rogue FOX members with all of the current-gen bells and whistles that we now take for granted from our games. As far as the potential for remakes goes, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is a game that has it in spades!

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Despite how crowded the current handheld landscape is, there’s still plenty of room for PlayStation supply something only they can. With Nintendo and Microsoft going in two opposite directions with handheld philosophy, Sony has an opportunity to throw a wrench into all of that and do something different. But first, how are Nintendo and Microsoft at opposite ends of the handheld spectrum exactly? Well, The ROG Xbox Ally X doesn’t take full advantage of Xbox’s quirks in the same way the Switch 2 does. It’s an ASUS device with some Xbox branding slapped on, but not truly an Xbox machine crafted by Microsoft. While the Ally X harnesses perhaps the most powerful handheld processor on the market in the AMD Ryzen Z2 A, the third-party machine lags behind the Series S/X with regards to backwards compatibility. The Xbox Ally X supports 1000 Xbox titles, but won’t be able to play older legacy titles from the Xbox 360 or Xbox One like the first-party consoles can. It’s basically an Xbox themed Windows handheld, an impressive one at that, with superb performance.

Xbox seems to be gradually molting away its brand purity with its ‘play anywhere’ initiative and third-party manufacturing, which is quite the different approach from any of its more exclusive-minded competitors. I’ve been seeing plenty of gamers saying they’d just rather play all of Xbox’s games on their Steam Deck or an older Asus ROG than shell out the cash for the new Xbox themed ROG, and it’s not an entirely facetious statement. The ROG Xbox Ally doesn’t run on proprietary Xbox hardware or anything, and it certainly doesn’t house any exclusive games you can’t play on other handhelds or PC, so why bother? Well, the power and sheer quality is inherently attractive, and that power part of the equation is something Nintendo has only recently cared about.

This is where Nintendo’s own Switch 2 comes in. While Microsoft is handing their handheld keys to other manufacturers, Nintendo maintains their hybrid approach to console making, following up on their success with the original Switch. The Switch 2 is a highly versatile machine, capable of playing Mario and Zelda on the train as well as on a 4K TV. While the Switch 2 largely went with an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality regarding its design, its identity remains purely Nintendo. And Nintendo have stated numerous times in the past that it doesn’t see itself as competing with other console manufacturers. Nintendo is out there doing its own thing, banking off the massive success of the Switch with its more or less iterative follow-up, the Switch 2, and it doesn’t care if Sony or Microsoft try to compete with it. After all, unlike Xbox, Nintendo isn’t going to outsource its main gaming IP or put Mario on other platforms any time soon. Fans buy the Switch because of its exclusive games, its fun hybrid capabilities you can’t get elsewhere, and that special Nintendo magic that accompanies their propriety hardware.

So, Nintendo is off in its corner doing its own thing and Microsoft is more or less handing the reigns of its handheld to the PC manufacturers. Where does Sony fit into this? Well, PlayStation has two choices regarding their next handheld: either compete with the PC  handheld market with an Xbox Ally-like device or harness its brand identity in a similar way that Nintendo has with the Switch. I think it has to do the latter considering how stuffed the PC handheld market is getting. After all, it’s not only Valve and Asus taking advantage of the handheld boom, Intel has been producing their premium MSI Claw powered by their Lunar Lake chip. While Lenovo’s Legion has SteamOS built-in, making its line of handhelds highly sought-after.

Sony would be wise to reflect on their own unique legacy in the portable space. Back in the early 80s, a phenomena called the ‘Walkman effect’ emerged. Headphones became something of a fashionable trend thanks to Sony’s original portable cassette player, the Walkman, gave listeners on-the-go bands and orchestras. Sony was known for portability, so why aren’t they anymore? Well, Nintendo was the first to enter the handheld gaming market with the Game Boy and it’s been on a roll in the market since. Sony was somewhat late to handheld gaming, releasing the PSP in 2004 while Nintendo already had close to a dozen different handheld devices by then. And their last handheld effort, the PS Vita, undersold thanks to steep console and memory card prices and, as executives stated at the time, ‘the rise of the mobile market’. But Sony’s first handheld outing was special and it’s worth looking back at what made it click for so many.

The most obvious thing the PSP did to challenge the Nintendo DS was utilize UMD discs to provide better performance and graphical power. The PSP was also responsible for a lot of handheld ‘firsts’. It was the first gaming handheld with an internet browser, the first disc-based portable gaming system, and was really the first gaming handheld with exceptionally strong multimedia support. While Sony can’t exactly mimic its impressive lists of ‘firsts’ with another handheld machine today, it can do something else the PSP did remarkably well: supply strong first-party exclusives ideal for an on-the-go experience. Gamers got Metal Gear Solid Peace walker, GTA: The Chinatown Wars, Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core, and a plethora of other excellent first-party games thanks to the PSP. And what’s more, these games integrated portability into their design ethos, making for uniquely mission-based gameplay in series’ that were otherwise long-winded. This combination of computing power, versatility, and brand exclusivity made the PSP the only successful Nintendo handheld competitor at the time. Could Sony challenge Nintendo’s dominance in the market once again?

The chances are higher than we’d probably think, considering the strong demand for portable gaming experiences right now. The only question is if PlayStation can stand out from the PC-oriented handhelds and the Switch 2 enough to hold its own. Pulling off a PSP type moment – mixing exclusive brand identity with versatile power – might be what Sony needs to carve out a successful and beloved modern gaming handheld.

Sony’s most recent handheld attempt, the Vita, may not have worked out as well as Sony and us fans wanted, but that was then. This is now; an age where computing chips are far more efficient and cheaper to make and cross-play and cloud gaming is commonplace. APU (which is basically a fusion of GPU and CPU into a single chip) development has virtually transformed since then, allowing for a far greater synthesis of power without the size or cost problem. Furthermore, Sony’s PSSR AI upscaling technology, which has been used in the PS5, can allow for higher resolutions without straining the GPU side of the APU chip.

Heck, Sony can even take some of the framework and experience that they’ve built with their PS Portal into their next dedicated handheld device. While the Portal is something of a PS5 extension (kinda like a Wii U tablet), there’s no denying just how ‘PlayStationy’ the device is. It’s pretty much got PS5 DualSense controller grips grafted on it for crying out loud. They have the external schematics already half-done, now they just need to get AMD’s next-gen GPU in there and figure out a way to cut costs and unify the whole package as a standalone handheld.

Their learnings creating the PS Portal comes at the absolute perfect time in history to make the next dedicated Sony handheld. With the PS5 over half-way through its lifecycle, we’re quickly approaching the beginning of the PS6. A Sony handheld would help bridge the gap between PS5 and PS6 beautifully, wouldn’t it? The PS Vita follow-up should be powerful enough to play PS5 games, but it could also potentially play early PS6 games as well, eschewing in new players into the PlayStation ecosystem while allowing a premium portable experience for fans already inside it. The handheld will have immense cross-play opportunities considering the PS5 and PS6 cross-pollination, and house all games and data already on users’ PS5 and PS6.

But as we know, merely introducing a portable option into an existing ecosystem isn’t enough, and Nintendo and Xbox already do that to great success. PlayStation should also harness its unique and historied library of older games, presenting their handheld as a bastion for classic gaming totally unique outside the emulation space. There are still boatloads of PS1, PS2, and PS3 titles stuck in limbo without a modern port. The newest PlayStation portable machine could leverage that absence by housing those forgotten titles within its ecosystem. Better yet, Sony could anchor the PSP and Vita libraries by making many of those first-party gems available on the next handheld. Few PSP and Vita first-party games have been ported to modern systems, making a new handheld a perfect home for them today.

If Sony were especially crafty, they could make certain classic ports exclusive to the handheld. Imagine if it had Gran Turismo 1-4 on the handheld storefront as well as Mega Man Legends, Metal Gear Solid 4…Okay, I’ll stop before I get too excited. A Bloodborne Remaster? Okay, now I’m just dreaming. But seriously, there’s a colossal ton of games that modern PlayStation systems don’t support and a portable system is a great opportunity to open up the floodgates. Heck, even just throwing those PS Plus Extra and Premium classics on a storefront that anyone could buy regardless of membership tier, would go a long ways toward getting players interested in another Sony handheld. It’s a given that it should be backwards compatible with PS4 and PS5 games, but if it went further, it would get even skeptical budget-conscious gamers intrigued, especially if they have nostalgia for the forgotten PS1/PS2/PSP games.

But for those who just want new experiences, the next Sony handheld could also bring us something the PSP and Vita did so well: exclusivity. Now, I’m not a console exclusivity supporter, but there’s no denying the amount of quality titles you just couldn’t play anywhere else except on PSP. Launching its new handheld with a spinoff Jak and Daxter or Ratchet and Clank exclusive would certainly grab a few players who otherwise wouldn’t be interested (especially given Jak and Daxter’s long absence, just saying).

On the tech side of things, It has to have an attractive screen, particularly sporting OLED capabilities, to stand out and even eclipse what something like the Switch 2 is offering. And lastly, what everyone cares about: price. Like the PS3 and Vita, the next Sony handheld will make or break on its price point. It can have the most advanced APU processing in the world but if it’s $800, it’ll live and die as a niche product. Sony needs to aim at something reasonable yet realistic considering the goal to deliver PS5 graphics. Gamers probably wouldn’t bat an eye at a price hovering around where the OLED Steam Deck is sitting now but anything more will cause some hesitation.

Of course, like many things, price will be a challenge for Sony to figure out . With the economy as unstable as it is, there’s really no telling just how expensive chips will be to produce in the coming year. Another challenge is setting itself apart from its PS5/PS6 offerings as well as other competitive handheld systems.

The key to the PSP’s success was a brilliant mix of brand identity and versatile power, and now’s the perfect time to harness that combination for a true next-gen handheld. Sony should leverage both of these approaches and mix them into something truly PSP-like. Make a first-party machine capable of playing the exclusive Sony IP that everyone craves while also jamming it with the latest tech and multi-media support.

Sony has a chance to truly delight gamers with a unique handheld experience they can’t get elsewhere. It’ll take a bit of brand specialization and perhaps even some exclusive games to differentiate itself from other PlayStation experiences or those from other handhelds, but if it means bringing back Metal Gear Solid 4 or a new Sly Cooper, I’ll gladly take it.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

One of the things that distinguishes Peace Walker from other games in the series is its design around portability. Sure, you can play Peace Walker HD just fine on PS3 (and presumably the upcoming Master Collection Vol 2) , but it was built to accommodate the short PSP battery life. The solution? A bite-sized mission structure extending to to nearly every corner of the game. One of the advantages of compartmentalizing missions is it avoids the 30 minute cutscenes that MGS4 was notorious for.

In fact, the story-heavy Main Ops missions can be completed in a lean 15 hours or so when ignoring the ludicrous amounts of side content. Of course, to unlock the true ending, quite a lot of work is required. This is where the several Extra Ops missions come in. Some of the most varied gameplay in the series can be found in these side missions. Within these missions, you’ll find yourself engaging in traditional stealth infiltrations, blowing up enemy cargo, destroying a wide array of mechs, and capturing soldiers to work on your own base, but more on that later. Each mission ranks you based on performance, with S rank being the highest, and let me tell you, that’s reserved for the ultra-hardcore MGS fans.

Perhaps out of all MGS games, Peace Walker tried emphasizing pacifist stealth-oriented solutions to missions over the guns-blazing route the most. This is because the game penalizes players for lethally taking out enemies and being discovered. It’s far more rewarding to ghost your way through as many missions as possible, setting up a lofty challenge for seasoned MGS players. Rounding out the impressive amounts of replayability that Peace Walker offers are the substantive Mother Base mode and multiplayer offerings. Taken as a whole, Peace Walker may just be the most jam-packed full of gameplay content out of any MGS game, especially for completionists who want to see everything the game has to offer.

Many players assume MGS5 originated the base building concept in the series, but nope, Peace Walker had its own fully-fledged Mother Base mode five years before Phantom Pain did it (although Peace Walker built on Portable Ops recruitment mechanics). The cool thing about managing Mother Base is how it’s tied into Peace Walker’s missions. Snake has a Fulton parachute that transports defeated soldiers to the Mother Base where they can be put to work on a variety of projects. It’s just so much fun tying soldiers up and seeing them fly up through indoor areas as they scream.

These units have specializations and ranks and help manage Mother Base by researching new weapons for Snake to use in missions. They even go on Outer Ops missions (which by the way, are way better than the ones found in The Phantom Pain) and feed soldiers as part of a mess hall crew. There’s certain VIP characters that can be recruited too, such as Paz, who has maxed intel stats, of course. And for you mech lovers out there, the Metal Gear, codenamed ZEKE, can be developed through Mother Base. Fans who had fun with the base building in Phantom Pain owe it to themselves to play Peace Walker, if only for the Mother Base stuff alone.

Another thing most players forget is that Peace Walker’s campaign is almost entirely playable co-op. In fact, it almost seems like Peace Walker was structured as a co-op game first and foremost considering the padded health on most boss enemies, especially within late-game sections. Playing these tough missions with a co-op partner via the Co Ops mode really alleviates some of the grind and frustration that some bosses exhibit. And then there’s Versus Ops, which pits six players against each other in death matches and capture challenges. The cool thing is that the unlocked weapons and items from single-player can be used in PvP matches as well.

With the versatile Mother Base content, 100s of missions, and a co-op campaign and PvP modes, Peace Walker is absolutely teeming with gameplay variety. Which brings up the question: why the heck isn’t it give more love like a mainline Metal Gear Solid game? Well, obviously, it originating on the PSP has something to do with its diminished reputation. But does it really deserve it? Well, even according to the developers, Peace Walker is among the biggest games the team had worked on back then. It’s been said the staff for Peace Walker rivaled that of MGS4’s development.

Peace Walker provides crucial context for why Snake is so jaded and weary. The game takes place 10 years after the events of Snake Eater showing crucial flashbacks of him facing off against The Boss and some internal monologue details that help flesh out Snake’s transition between games. Aside from all the crucial character arc stuff, Yoji Shinkawa’s character design and Ashley Wood’s illustrations are just fantastic throughout the Main Ops missions. A majority of the cutscenes are done in a comic strip fashion, featuring the series’ iconic art. Contrasting the lengthy cutscenes seen in MGS4 are interactable quick time events that engage the player through the lean story. Say what you want about QTEs, but their pairing with the fantastic hand-drawn artwork provides a breath of fresh air coming from MGS4’s cinematic approach.

But Peace Walker does take several elements from MGS4, most notably in the gameplay department. For example, the game feels much smoother to play than MGS3. The crouch walking and moving around while aiming down the sights substantially reduces the jank and limited movement of previous entries. But above all, Peace Walker just feels like a tried and true Metal Gear game like all of the numbered entries do. It has all the quirkiness, convoluted story identity, and wide array of series that characterize these beloved games. As mentioned earlier, you build your own Metal Gear. Heck, not even The Phantom Pain featured such a gameplay mechanic despite being advanced not only in gameplay mechanics but also technology wise. It’s clear that a lot of love and passion was poured into this project.

Monster Hunter fans have a lot to gush over too, as there’s an entire island dedicated to taking down a Ratholos and Tigrex. Monster Hunter’s own Trenya even flies Snake to the island, though you’d best come prepared since these iconic monsters have a ton of health. Another fun secret is tucked in one of the Extra Ops missions. One of these missions features a spot where Snake can perform an Assassin’s Creed inspired ‘leap of faith’ into a hay pile before using the hay as a disguise. Peace Walker has such a wide array of fun secrets that it’d take another video just to list them all.

I may dislike all the equipment grind and bloated boss health that exists within Peace Walker, but it cannot be denied how much substantive content is packed into the package. In the past, the development team has expressed just how big the production for Peace Walker is. Not to mention its realization of Snake’s character arc following the events of Snake Eater fill in a crucial spot in the timeline. Peace Walker is a a fantastic MGS game and its gameplay perks are worth going through a bit of grind for.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror

Reverting to linear design for Syphon Filter’s fifth entry didn’t hamper Dark Mirror’s legacy whatsoever. Instead, Bend Studio were able to craft more tightly curated action sequences through densely detailed locales, and the results were an additive experience from start to finish. New weapons, vision modes, and stealthier manoeuvres like shooting around corners ensured a surplus of variety which broadened the confines of its linearity too. If you’re wondering which Syphon Filter game to play first on PSP, choose Dark Mirror over Logan’s Shadow.

]]> 600982 https://gamingbolt.com/monster-hunter-rise-after-us-anno-1800-and-more-free-with-ps-plus-extra-premium-in-june Wed, 12 Jun 2024 18:05:51 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=590372 Sony has announced its line-up for titles coming to the Game Catalog for PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers starting June 18th. PS5 players can get their hands on After Us, Anno 1800 and Football Manager 2024 to start.

For PS4, there’s Far Cry 4, LEGO The Hobbit, and LEGO The Incredibles. Titles available for both platforms include Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 6, Monster Hunter Rise and Police Simulator: Patrol Officers. PlayStation VR2 owners can also play Kayak: VR Mirage for free.

As for the Classics Catalog, Ghosthunter from the PS2 era is being added, alongside Daxter (a spin-off from the Jak and Daxter series) and LEGO Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy from the PlayStation Portable era. All three titles will be playable on PS4 and PS5. Stay tuned for titles that will leave the Game Catalog in the coming weeks, and check out the latest monthly titles available for all tiers here.

And we’re going to kick things off, as you may have imagined, by going all the way back to the series’ inception, with the release of its first instalment in 1995. Interestingly enough, the series debuted with a game that was titled Air Combat, not Ace Combat, releasing as a launch title for the original PlayStation. Originally, it was supposed to be a port of an arcade title that Bandai Namco (then known as Namco) had released a couple of years ago, but after the development team realized during development that the PS1 wasn’t powerful enough to be able to run the original game well enough, they decided to just make an entirely new game for the console from scratch.

Air Combat’s arcade-style flight combat gameplay endeared itself to many right out the gate. The game was well received by critics, which was reflected in solid sales as well- solid enough, in fact, that the franchise’s debut outing is still it’s third highest selling game to date, nearly thirty years on from its release. Air Combat was successful enough, in fact, that its publisher quickly greenlit a sequel. It launched not long after, releasing as Ace Combat 2 in 1997, just a couple of years after its predecessor.

One of the biggest things that drove Ace Combat 2’s development, interestingly enough, was designer Masanori Kato’s dissatisfactions with the visuals of the original game, and that, in turn, meant that upping the ante with the production values was one of the development team’s central goals while Ace Combat 2 was in the works. It’s fair to say that they succeeded. Upon its release, the sequel was praised by critics and players alike for not only its significantly improved visuals, but also greater variety in missions, more action-packed flight simulation gameplay, and more, which, combined with solid sales yet again, meant that Ace Combat had quickly established itself as an important IP for Namco.

The series’ third outing came not long afterward, as you may have guessed. Launching after another couple of years in 1999, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere was the series’ final outing on the PS1- and, in many ways, also one of the series’ more experimental and weirdly ambitious games, especially for its time. In retrospect, there’s plenty that sets Ace Combat 3 apart, but series fans will tell you that its focus on story is one of the chief reasons. Ace Combat as a franchise has become strongly associated with its emphasis on story over the years, and many will tell you that Ace Combat 3 was the game that truly kicked that off in many respects.

The game also did so in a new, near-future setting (which, incidentally, also let you fly spacecraft in addition to your regular planes), while it also went on to become notorious for the stark differences between its Japanese and western releases. The latter, you see, ended up having to leave a great deal on the cutting floor due to severe budget constraints, which means there’s a significant portion of Ace Combat 3 content that is present in its Japanese version, but not its international one- most prominent being a branching storyline that changed based on players’ actions.

Understandably enough, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere didn’t enjoy the best critical reception in western markets, and that was reflected in its sales. In North America in particular, the game underperformed, and in the end, its total sales were lower than Namco had hoped they would be. Thankfully, that wasn’t the end of the series. In fact, just a couple of years later, Ace Combat made its debut on the PlayStation 2, with Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies coming out in 2001. And as Ace Combat faithful will gladly tell you, this one ranks as probably one of the series’ most pivotal (and best) games.

There’s so much that we now strongly associate with the Ace Combat franchise in general that can be traced back to Shattered Skies. It was, for instance, the first game in the series to be developed by an internal development team dedicated entirely to the Ace Combat franchise, called Project Aces, which is still responsible for developing Ace Combat games to this day. On top of that, Ace Combat 4, which was designed as a reboot after the relative dip that was Electrosphere, was also the first game to establish the Strangereal setting that the series still uses to this day. For those unfamiliar, Strangereal is the name of the fictional universe where the Ace Combat franchise is largely set. Strangereal’s Earth is very similar to the real world in many ways, but things such as countries, the world’s history, weaponry and technology, and more tend to be quite different.

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies’ attempt to reset the franchise and bring it back on track turned out to be a successful one. It enjoyed widespread critical acclaim, drawing praise for everything from its story to its action-packed linear gameplay to how it leveraged the PS2’s more powerful hardware to deliver top-notch visuals (for the time, at least). In addition to being a critical hit, it was also a big commercial success. In fact, with over 2.64 million units sold, it was the series’ highest selling game until Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown overtook it just a few years ago.

Given how well Ace Combat 04 was received, it’s no surprise looking back that the series’ next game was the kind of iterative sequel that it turned out to be. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War launched for the PS2 in 2004, a little over a couple of years after its predecessor came out, and by and large, the consensus was that much like Ace Combat 04, Ace Combat 5 was an excellent combat flight sim- for many of the same reasons, in fact. Ace Combat 5 was happy to be a “more of the same” kind of sequel, building on the previous entry’s foundations with a largely unambitious but well-made and compelling experience. From a sales perspective, it certainly wasn’t the kind of success that Shattered Skies was, but it still sold well enough in its own right.

From that point forward, Bandai Namco also opened up the Ace Combat franchise up to beyond just mainline numbered releases, with several spinoffs releasing over the next few years- like, for starters, top down 2D shooter Ace Combat Advance, which released for the GBA in 2005, or Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War for the PS2 and Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception for the PlayStation Portable, both of which launched in 2006. A few more spinoffs followed in the years afterward- but not before Bandai Namco returned with another mainline numbered entry, with Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation releasing in 2007. This one, however, was another dip for the franchise.

Ace Combat 6 released exclusively for the Xbox 360, which, combined with relatively less enthused reception from critics and players compared to its predecessors, resulted in lower sales than Bandai Namco would have expected. In fact, to date, the game hasn’t managed to breach 1 million units sold even today, and is still the series’ lowest selling mainline entry to date. It doesn’t enjoy the best reputation among fans either. Though fun enough to play in its own right, Ace Combat 6 is deemed by many to be one of the series’ less engaging experiences, whether that’s because of its disappointing story, a handful of annoying design choices, or something else.

Given its unequivocal failure from a commercial point of view, it was no surprise that Fires of Liberation turned out to be Ace Combat’s last mainline game for a long, long time. Several more Ace Combat spinoffs were released by Bandai Namco in the years afterward, but there was a period where it seemed like the series’ stock was plummeting constantly, and whether or not it would ever claw its way back up was anyone’s guess- though, at the time, the smart money would have been on no.

That was thanks in large part to the fact that the series felt like it just didn’t know what it wanted to be with some of the spinoff instalments it put out in the years that followed. In 2010 came Ace Combat: Joint Assault, another PlayStation Portable spinoff, which was notable for being the first ever Ace Combat game to be set in the real world- though there really wasn’t much else that stood out about it. A year later, we got Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, which was also set in the real world, but in its own continuity separate from Joint Assault. Billed as a gritty, realistic take on the Ace Combat formula, Assault Horizon was ultimately an unremarkable, overly linear game that did little to bring Ace Combat back to its glory days. That same year, Bandai Namco also release Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy, which, confusingly enough, had absolutely nothing to do with Assault Horizon, and was instead a remake of Ace Combat 2- and, well, it wasn’t terrible. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t anything beyond unremarkable either, sadly enough.

Then came Ace Combat Infinity in 2014, and somehow, it was an even lower low for the series. Infinity was a freemium, multiplayer-focused game that came out in 2014 as a PlayStation 3 exclusive, which is just an awful combination of bad decisions. Unsurprisingly, it was lambasted by critics almost unanimously, and for many, it became a symbol of the state that Ace Combat had found itself in- a state of complete and utter ruin, to the point where it was being salvation. Or so we thought at that point, at any rate.

Impossibly enough, in spite of the widespread criticism it endured, Ace Combat Infinity somehow managed to be a commercial success for Bandai Namco, which led to the publisher greenlighting a new numbered entry, something that many had though was never going to happen again. Twelve years after the series’ last mainline entry, in 2019, Bandai Namco released Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, and without a shadow of doubt, proved to be worth the wait. A strong campaign, a wealth of modes, solid multiplayer gameplay, VR support, and more came together in one of the series’ strongest outings, and the acclaim it garnered also led to impressive sales. In fact, Ace Combat 7 went on to sell over 4 million units (as of 2022), which makes it the series’ highest selling game by far.

Which brings us to now, at a point where the series’ future is once again looking secure. Ace Combat 7 did an excellent job of bringing the beloved IP back into the limelight, and with its critical and commercial success, Bandai Namco has also reinvested into the franchise. In 2022, in fact, the company established Bandai Namco Aces as the new studio to lead development on all things Ace Combat, while the year prior, it was also announced that Ace Combat 8 was being developed in collaboration with support studio ILCA, and that it would be built on Unreal Engine 5.

It has, of course, been a handful of years since then, which begs the question- just where is Ace Combat 8? Bandai Namco has been working on it for a while, so are we to assume that we’re approaching the time where it will be officially unveiled? Prominent leaker Midori recently took to Twitter and claimed that the flight combat series’ next mainline instalment was indeed Bandai Namco’s next big game- but what exactly does that tell us about when it’ll come out? Is it being lined up for a release within next year or so? And if so, does that mean we should expect an announcement sometime soon?

At this point, all we can do is speculate- but there’s little doubt that there’s no shortage of excitement around what the future holds for the Ace Combat franchise. Hopefully, Bandai Namco will tell us more about exactly what that will entail sooner rather than later.

But nostalgia can be deceptive in nature, and what we fondly remember from the glory days might not be all that impressive anymore – all thanks to the rapid advancements that happen in the gaming landscape with each passing generation. While a lot of retrospectives have been done on the mainline MGS series, we would like to shift our gazes toward other and arguably lesser-known games in the franchise; games such as 2010’s Peace Walker.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is not only an important game in terms of the overarching narrative, it also served as a technical achievement for the power of the PlayStation Portable. It’s an interesting thought to revisit the game and try to understand how it would be received in the modern gaming landscape, which elements have stood the test of time – and which haven’t.

So starting things off with the story, Metal Gear Peace Walker takes place after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and sees our series protagonist Naked Snake building up a military unit all while uncovering the mystery behind a strange voice recording of the dead The Boss. It obviously goes much deeper than that, but Peace Walker is one of the more approachable games in terms of the narrative. The game was always envisioned to be played on a handheld console (probably in short bursts), so the story is built in a way that doesn’t require a ton of effort to keep track of all the conspiracies and revelations that come together to form this narrative.

It’s also a surprisingly emotional story that touches on the familiar themes and relationship between The Boss and Snake, which makes it all the more engaging. Kojima also makes smart use of the PSP’s comparatively less horsepower and presents the story through stylish comic book-style screens instead of the traditional in-engine cutscenes to save up on both resources and space. It also has the added advantage of holding up really well to this date, so we can safely say that Peace Walker has aged beautifully in terms of the narrative presentation which remains an entertaining thrill ride through and through.

Moving over to the gameplay, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker excellently adapts the third-person shooting of the console games to the handheld console. Despite having only one analog stick on the PSP, Snake is surprisingly convenient to control – thanks to a bevy of smart design tricks that come together to make the movement and menu navigation a breeze. Snake can clamber up walls, crawl under cardboard boxes, and engage in CQC among a slew of other things – and all that works beautifully on such a compact console layout. Even jumping back to this date, Peace Walker is really easy to pick up, which is a testament to the excellent design chops of Kojima and Konami.

It’s also surprising that Peace Walker might just be the biggest and most complex Metal Gear game up until its release, and a lot of what made the Phantom Pain such a fun experience can be traced back to Peace Walker. You see, this game is all about raising a private military – so the gameplay meshes together action and management elements in a way that feels really unique and fresh.

Of course, the core gameplay revolves around slowly sneaking through labyrinthian levels and carefully plotting your path to the objectives while trying to thin out the enemy resistance one by one. It all works just as well as you would expect, but Peace Walker also adds additional layers into the mix to make things more interesting. In addition to completing your mission objectives, you also have to be on the lookout for soldiers to Fulton extract to your base and make them join your cause. In a similar vein, you also have to look out for resources and tools that will help you craft better and more useful tools that will make your survival on the battlefield a lot easier than before. The overload of systems and mechanics can be a lot to take in at first, but the gradual sense of progression that comes from getting more and more powerful is something that can keep you hooked for hours and hours upon end.

Apart from the main story which is chock full of well-designed missions and memorable boss fights, Peace Walker also features a plethora of extra content available for players to dive into. You can send your best soldiers out on operations where they might return with valuable resources along with completed objects, and there’s also a real chance that your soldiers might die trying to further your cause and leave you with a big loss. You could also embark on these additional and tougher challenges all by yourself, or you could pair up with a buddy for some co-op action. Or if you’d like to face friends, there’s a fair bit of options for duking it out in versus modes as well.

All in all, there’s a ton of content on offer – and players can spend dozens upon dozens of hours working their way through the many missions and building out a powerhouse army. It’s a beautifully designed game where every aspect of the progression feeds back into the gameplay and vice versa, making spending time much more worthwhile. One thing that might make the game a bit unapproachable for modern audiences is the visuals which haven’t aged as well as other aspects of the game. The game can look quite blurry on modern high-resolution screens, so fans accustomed to shiny graphics might not find the presentation all that interesting.

But discounting that fact, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker is a game that has largely stood the test of time. Everything from the story to the gameplay and the progression strongly resonates with one another, resulting in an experience that feels like an absolute thrill ride through and through. Peace Walker is an excellent experience for having some Metal Gear Solid action on the go, as you consistently working towards creating the greatest private army of all time. So, in 2024, rating the game on a scale of 10, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker would easily score an 8 out of 10 in my book, thanks to its addictive gameplay loop and its ability to punch far above its weight.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

For PS4 players, there’s Circus Electrique, Dynasty Warriors 9, Melty Blood: Type Lumina, Monster Jam Steel Titans, Samurai Warriors 5, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated and Undertale. PS Plus Premium players gain access to three new Classics, starting with Twisted Metal and Twisted Metal 2 on the PlayStation One.

Gravity Crash Portable on the PlayStation Portable is also playable. All three titles are available for PS4 and PS5. PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers can also download titles from the Essential tier, like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Alan Wake Remastered and Endling – Extinction is Forever. These are available till July 31st, so claim them now.

For PS5 players, action hack and slash title Soulstice will be available. PS4 players can look forward to Tacoma, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Killing Floor 2. A game trial for WWE 2K23 will also be available, though this is more than likely exclusive to PS Plus Premium.

It’s worth noting that several other titles like ELEX 2, Redout 2, MX vs ATV Legends, PAW Patrol Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay, My Friend Peppa Pig and DC League of Super-Pets: The Adventures of Krypto and Ace for PS4 and PS5 are mentioned in a recent PlayStation Access video. You also have The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition, Lonely Mountains: Downhill, Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York, A Hat in Time, Carto, Forager, Dodgeball Academia, The Wild at Heart and Thief coming to PS4.

Classics coming to PlayStation Plus Premium include Killzone: Liberation for the PSP and Worms and
Herc’s Adventure on the PlayStation One.

Speaking to Famitsu, producer Ryota Niitsuma clarified his previous response, discussing which features from the remake would take from the other versions. He said (translation by NoisyPixel), “I want to make sure there are no misunderstandings here.

“Persona 3 Reload was a project meant to recreate the very first Persona 3 for modern platforms. So this means that we will not include the latter story added in Persona 3 FES or the female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable. However, this does not mean that certain elements in the main story added in FES are not included in Reload at all.”

While Ryota didn’t outline “certain elements”, it’s possible that the Social Link for Aigis is included. We could also see various quality-of-life features and improvements from later versions. For instance, being able to select commands for your party members, a feature introduced in Persona 3 Portable, could be seen in the gameplay for Reload.

Time will tell what else has changed, but one thing is for sure: there’s a new cast of voice actors. Persona 3 Reload is out in early 2024 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It’s also launching day one on Game Pass.