Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection

Well I played Metal Gear Solid 4, and after I beat it I wanted to know more of the back story. I looked up Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection, for this offered $30 for all 3 games. This was perfect, no searching around everywhere buying separate overpriced games.

MGS1 was early PSX technology, it was one of the newer 3d games at the time. Like all MGS's it's mainly stealth gameplay. The enemy soldiers are the easiest of the MG series. It's a good introduction into the gameplay until later titles. Your main character is Solid Snake who has to rescue 2 hostages, but the mission becomes much more. He has to stop the Metal Gear, a weapon of destruction. The villians in this one as well as other Metal Gear's are strange and introduce you to their back stories along the way. You'll meet up with Meryl in the game, a lady soldier who helps you out at times. This game is actually my 2nd favorite MGS game after 4.

MGS2 has some mixed reviews, let's just say you won't play Snake the whole time. You'll also play as Raiden a new soldier being sent out to rescue the president, and prevent an explosion and environmental disaster on a water base. You do get the impression of him being a rookie, he complains at times, and seems to be learning with each new sitution. He's an ok character to me.

The thing I don't like in this game mainly for me is the base itself, it seems like your going back and forth in circles. Like go to Strut A and to Core 2, to Strut AB. You do this alot. The spy robot are also a pain, I prefered the cameras. Now the story is good, like the other MGS's. This is the least favorite game still out of the series, not good exactly overall but ok.

MGS 3 is the hardest out of all MGS's for me. I've died quite alot. You play Big Boss when he was younger, known now as the original Snake. You'll have a lot of enemies bunched together. It's a harder to stealth enemies. You have the added camoflouge in this game accordingly to the envirionment your in. For example dirt plantless environment, dark, forest, etc. The enemies are hard to see themselves, they take on the color of their environment. This game has the best story in my opinion, but it's hard and can be frustating.

The enemies in this are crazy as always, a guy with bees and a 100 year old sniper or some of them. In all the MGS's you get a radar, in this game you only get sonar. The sonar you have to click the R3 button, so it's tougher in this one. You can change the camera angle in this subsitence version, the older MGS 3 you couldn't. The camera change in this does help somewhat.

There's just no beating this deal. If your interested in even 1 MGS game, just get the whole pack it's $30 anyways. I'm glad I have the whole story line now, and going through them a second time should be easier. Remember some of them you get away less with stealth than others, so be wary. I really enjoyed this series.

This is a great product if you are starting Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PS3 that is what I did and stopped 3/4 of the way through to go back play the other games so I would know all the references, and story line and have to say that now I know the full and whole story of the Metal Gear World and I am glad I do, plus you get all those hours of play for just a little money, the graphics are something many will find lacking in the first game but it was only psone it is not the cgi cut scenes of the Final Fantasy games but still very good overall. Buy this game if you want hours of fun for very little cost.

Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection
VERY GOOD!! the only things I didn't like was that #1 didn't have improvesd graphics like I was hoping for and they only give out Disc 1 of MGS 3: Susistance but other than that it's great!!

This collection was a great way for me to get introduced to the MGS series of games! Since the first game I always thought that Metal Gear Solid games were just overhyped, but then my opinion changed and I decided to give them a try when I saw this...

Thanks for a great product! Nice, protective package with all the separate manuals and everything!

Gameplay - 10/10
Story - 10/10
Graphics - 10/10
Value - 10/10
Replayablity - 10/10