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" Also available on: Xbox 360 Developer: Kojima Productions Publisher: Konami Genre: Stealth Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is a compilation of some of the most important and iconic video games of all time. Hideo Kojima&amp;#039;s occasionally overblown and self-indulgent stealth series is capable of dividing gamers, but has still managed to carve out an incredibly large and loyal following. For those who swear by it - after all, it is for these people that the HD Collection is intended - Metal Gear Solid represents the pinnacle of interactive storytelling and compelling action. For those who have never taken to the series, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is probably best avoided. Metal Gear Solid HD Collection features high-definition remakes of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and PSP release Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. As an added bonus, it also contains old-school MSX versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. That&amp;#039;s five games - and iconic ones at that - for the price of one, which is superb value for money whichever way you look at it. On the downside, the lack of Metal Gear Solid - whether in downloadable form or with a new lick of paint - is a massive disappointment; after all, this will have been the first Metal Gear game that many fans would have sampled. Despite this rather major omission, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is still one hell of a compilation. One of the series&amp;#039; biggest strengths has always been its cinematic storytelling. The HD Collection features a nice selection of titles spanning the entire history of the series, so while if fails to completely tell the tale from start to finish, it gives a detailed overview. Snake Eater and Sons Of Liberty, in particular, feature hours of cutscenes and codec conversations, which, while occasionally confusing, are for the most part utterly captivating. Full of twists and turns, intrigue, humour and high drama - not to mention the most memorable cast of characters ever assembled - these two games represent the best that the collection has to offer. The portable nature of Peace Walker and the technical limitations of Metal Gear and its sequel mean that while these game fail to offer similar levels of drama, they do present players with a nice change of pace. If you plan to tackle the games in order, the selection seems well thought out, with the easier-to-swallow games sandwiched between Snake Eater and Sons Of Liberty. As we&amp;#039;ve already mentioned, if you&amp;#039;re not a fan of Metal Gear Solid, the frequent and lengthy cutscenes will grow tiresome, while the constant twists and post-modern moments of madness might prove hard to swallow. As for the updated visuals, generally speaking, they&amp;#039;re excellent, but then Metal Gear Solid is a series long renowned for its graphical flair and visual flourishes. Halo jumping into lush jungle terrain in Snake Eater is a highlight, while infiltrating a rain-drenched tanker in Sons Of Liberty isn&amp;#039;t far behind. Though little fault of the developers, some of the interiors err on the drab side and fail to cover themselves in glory, while the HD remakes occasionally suffer from frame-rate issues and screen tear. These aren&amp;#039;t frequent problems, however, and a quick press of the reset button usually solves the issue. Cutscenes, meanwhile, suffer from poor lip-syncing, especially disappointing (or understandable) considering the amount of cinematics.   While visual errors are minor and fail to spoil the experience, the game mechanics feel slightly dated and definitely take some getting used to. Whether lifelong fan or newcomer, aiming weapons and controlling the camera in Sons Of Liberty and Snake Eater is cumbersome, especially when compared to the silky smooth controls found in most modern day third-person shooters. It doesn&amp;#039;t take long to get back into the swing of things, and we wouldn&amp;#039;t say that the controls are bad per se, but it&amp;#039;s slightly jarring for the first few minutes. Fortunately, this is a stealth series, so gunfights should be avoided where possible in favour of sneaking and close quarter combat. The most recent game on the list - Peace Walker - offers a much more fluid and intuitive gameplay experience. Controls and camera settings can be fully customised and are much more in line with contemporary releases. Although not our favourite game of the collection, Peace Walker&amp;#039;s punchy mission structure, co-operative gameplay and squad deployment mechanic ensure at least a fairly unique experience, which, despite being designed for a portable, transfers well to the big screen.  Peace Walker also contains seamless online multiplayer and &amp;#039;transfarring&amp;#039; with the PSP. This allows players to transfer games to Sony&amp;#039;s handheld and continue playing, something that will be extended to the PlayStation Vita when it is released in February. In fact, despite the omission of Metal Gear Online, the entire collection is choc-full of extra missions and unlockables, which greatly extends each game&amp;#039;s lifespan beyond the single-player. The bucketload of extras makes the collection feel more complete and even better value for money, which goes some way towards making up for the lack of Metal Gear Solid. Sporting three all-time classics and two retro gems - all for the price of an average new release - the compilation represents unbelievable value for money. And the fact that the collection houses definitive versions of each game, complete with extras and enhanced visuals, only adds to the appeal. If you wish to re-sample some of the series&amp;#039; high points, or simply want to see what the fuss is about, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is one of the greatest gaming compilations we&amp;#039;ve ever played. Not a fan? This is one collection that will fail to sneak up on you.   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/metal-gear-solid/review/a362059/metal-gear-solid-hd-collection-review-ps3/>