Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Volume 2 has fans excited for the return of MGS4, but there are plenty of exciting spin-offs that might also get brought back to life.
While the original Master Collection compilation brought the first three Metal Gear Solid titles back to life, it also resurrected some of the original games. These hadn’t been available for years through any method outside emulation, allowing players to experience the series’ roots. Things are taking a decidedly more modern turn in the follow-up, though.
The centerpieces of MGS: Master Collection Volume 2 are Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker, two mainline entries in the series that haven’t been available on modern consoles. But it’s also confirmed that they’ll be joined by Ghost Babel. While that’s an exciting inclusion, there are plenty of other great Metal Gear spin-offs that Konami could and should dust off.
The best Metal Gear Solid spin-offs
Metal Gear Solid is known for its “tactical espionage action” but the spin-offs have ventured into a variety of other genres. Some of those spin-offs have remained close to home, but there has been everything from tactical RPGs to survival basebuilders in the franchise. Not all of these games are made equal, though. Here are the best of the bunch.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Kojima Productions and PlatinumGames are two studios known for delivering some extreme campiness, and those distinct styles somehow meshed well in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The hack-and-slash title is technically now part of Metal Gear’s canon, and stands as the latest game in the series’ chronology. It’s currently available on PC through Steam but isn’t available on any modern consoles.
The game itself has largely lived on through its meme’able antagonist, but there’s a solid gameplay experience that makes it worth playing.
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
The Twin Snakes is more of a spin-off than it is a remake. While it’s a recreation of Metal Gear Solid 1, it makes changes to the graphics, story, and gameplay that don’t fit perfectly into the original game’s level design. It’s not bad by any measure, but this makes it less of a replacement for MGS1 and more of its own product.
That makes it perfect as a central title for Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Volume 3, should there be one.
Metal Gear Acid
Many great PSP games have been lost to history, and the Metal Gear Acid titles are among them. The games somehow walk an extremely awkward tightrope, of being a card-based tactical game that still retains the stealth elements of the mainline games.
Though the games don’t really feel like a Metal Gear title beyond the presence of Snake, they’re generally strong games in their own right. Players who beat Final Fantasy Tactics and find themselves looking for something fresh would be well-served by having these games available.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is another PSP title that simply isn’t available to play on modern platforms. That’s a shame because it’s the most faithful spin-off title in the series next to Ghost Babel.
Portable Ops is rooted in the stealth action gameplay of the original, but is broken up into bitesize missions. Despite the many limitations of the PSP, it manages to put together a solid gameplay experience with additions that Kojima held onto. Portable Ops would need a bit more elbow grease to make it comfortable on dual-stick controllers but it would be a fun, fast-paced game to include in a Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection-style compilation.
