Until about 2 years ago I had barely played any Metal Gear. Then I borrowed my cousin's working PS3 and bought the MGS Legacy Collection, which features (almost) every game in the franchise from the original 1987 MSX Metal Gear to 2010's MGS Peace Walker, and I can safely say there's no series quite like it. Not only did it establish tropes and mechanics that are still common in gaming today, but the original MGS is probably the first example of a third person cinematic Sony-exclusive movie game. The series has been practically dormant after the release of MGSV when Hideo Kojima left Konami on less than favorable terms, but that won't stop Konami from trying to bring back MGS without the mastermind that made the series unique in the first place, again.
There is some good news, at least. The upcoming MGS Master Collection Vol. 1 for modern systems, which includes almost all the games included in the Legacy Collection (minus MGS4 and Peace Walker) plus the non-canon NES version of the original game (the first time Konami made a Kojima-less Metal Gear) and its equally non-canon sequel Snake's Revenge (the second time) as well as other bonuses, will stick closely to Kojima's original vision. So much so that it requires a warning message, which says:
"This game contains expressions and themes which may be considered outdated. However, these elements have been included without alteration to preserve the historical context in which the game was made and the creator's original vision. Player discretion is advised"
It doesn't mention him by name, but seeing Konami even acknowledge Kojima after their messy breakup is something to behold. Likewise, the offending content in question isn't specified, but some of the stuff you probably couldn't get away with today include the prominence of Meryl's booty in MGS1, the big tiddy gravure posters Snake can kiss as well as the incest plotline in MGS2, and the weird homerotic stuff with Volgin in MGS3. But on the other hand, considering how politically-charged the series is maybe it's not just the sexual stuff the warning is talking about. After all, MGS3 basically revolves around a rogue group of Russian soldiers wanting to start a nuclear war, and in today's climate that certainly wouldn't fly well.
The silver lining is of course that a 5 second warning screen when you start the game is much more tolerable than Konami removing all the scenes they felt were outdated. I doubt the MGS3 remake will be as lucky, but at least the original is being preserved. What do you guys think of the warning for "outdated" content? Sound off below!
