Among the many things that the Metal Gear franchise is known for is its tendency to break the fourth wall at times. While Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty did this in a serious manner as part of its core themes, one of the most memorable scenes from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was also a fourth wall-breaking joke. With Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, Konami has seemingly updated this joke for modern hardware, according to TechRadar.
The joke essentially revolved around a callback to the original Metal Gear Solid where, on reaching a certain part of Shadow Moses, Otacon would call Snake to let him know that it was time to swap discs. On revisiting Shadow Moses in Metal Gear Solid 4 and reaching the same point, Snake once more gets a call from Otacon to swap discs. The twist is that, since MGS4 was a PS3 game released on Blu-ray, Otacon realizes that the player doesn’t need to swap discs anymore.
In the Master Collection Vol. 2 version of Metal Gear Solid 4, rather than simply repeating the same line about the PS3 and its Blu-ray capabilities, Otacon will instead refer to whatever platform you are playing the game on. To achieve this, Konami even seemingly brought back Otacon’s voice actor, Christopher Randolf, to add some lines mentioning PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. According to TechRadar, the only things missing from the remastered release are the installation screens between acts that featured Old Snake smoking while the progress bar slowly filled up.
Other things returning in the Master Collection Vol. 2 version of Metal Gear Solid 4 are the iPod that can be used to play music that could potentially have interesting effects on Snake’s psyche, as well as a host of interviews. The PS3 that was present in the Nomad – the aircraft that serves as the base of operations for Snake and Otacon – will also return, along with other references to the console, like the DualShock 3 controller used by Snake to pilot Metal Gear Mk. II.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots serves as the grand finale to the core Metal Gear franchise. While some plot elements were carried over into Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, MGS4 instead focuses on the end of Snake’s journey. Taking place nine years after the Shadow Moses Incident – the original Metal Gear Solid – Guns of the Patriots features a world where the primary economic model revolves around constant warfare, leading to the rise of private military companies as the main global powers. Snake, suffering from an accelerated aging process, has been pulled out of retirement by Campbell for one final mission – the assassination of Revolver Ocelot and the ghost of Liquid Snake possessing his arm.
The title was the first in the franchise to feature a control scheme more in line with a standard third-person shooter. Along with its stealth gameplay, it also included other features, like a faction system where Snake could affect the outcome of local conflicts depending on who he wanted to side with.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 will also include two more games – Peace Walker and Ghost Babel – and is slated for release on August 27th.
