This one's been a long time coming. Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 lands Thursday 27 August, and the headline is simple: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is finally playable on something that isn't a PlayStation 3.
Why that matters
MGS4 has been trapped on PS3 hardware since it launched in 2008. No remaster, no port, nothing, largely because it was built to wring every last drop out of that specific machine. Getting it running on PS5, Xbox Series X and S, Steam, Switch and Switch 2 is the whole reason this collection exists. If you've only ever heard about Old Snake's last mission second-hand, this is the first time in nearly two decades you can actually play it without digging out old kit.
What's in the box
Per Konami's own listing, Vol. 2 packs in MGS4, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (the HD Collection version), and Metal Gear: Ghost Babel as a bonus. Peace Walker gets its online co-op restored for up to six players across the extra ops and boss fights, which is a nicer touch than it sounds. It's 49.99 dollars, and preorders are open now with a couple of cardboard-box camo skins thrown in, because of course they are.
The one caveat worth watching
Keep half an eye on the Switch and Switch 2 versions. There's early chatter, via Nintendo Everything, about how MGS4 has been handled on Nintendo hardware, so if that's your platform of choice, it's worth waiting for launch-day impressions before you commit. On everything else, this is the easy recommendation: one of the strangest, most self-indulgent, most sincerely brilliant games of its era, off life support at last.
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