Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 out this Thursday
Konami's landmark compilation lands on 27 August, finally bringing Metal Gear Solid 4 to modern platforms after 18 years of PS3 exclusivity.
What you need to know
- Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 releases Thursday 27 August 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.
- The collection includes MGS4: Guns of the Patriots, Peace Walker, and bonus title Metal Gear: Ghost Babel — with MGS4 playable on non-PlayStation hardware for the first time.
- UK physical pricing starts at £42.99 (PS5 Day One Edition, Amazon UK); Steam edition is £44.98. A Steelbook edition has also been announced.
After 18 years locked to a single console, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is finally coming to modern hardware. Konami's Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 is due to release this Thursday, 27 August 2026, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and Steam — and for the vast majority of players, it will be the first time they have ever had a realistic chance of playing it.
What's in the collection?
The compilation brings together three titles. The headline act is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, originally released on PlayStation 3 in 2008 and never ported since. Alongside it sits Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, based on the HD Collection version of what was originally a PSP game, with support for up to six-player online Versus Ops matches and four-player cooperative play — with local wireless also supported on the Switch and Switch 2 versions. Rounding things out as bonus content is Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, first released on handheld in 2000.
Each game in the collection comes with a scenario book containing the full in-game text, plus a master book offering detailed background on the story and characters. The digital version also bundles in Metal Gear Solid: Digital Soundtrack Vol. 2. Vol. 2 additionally includes a full restoration of the MGS4 Database — a comprehensive archive of the entire series' canon up to the game's original release. One notable omission: Konami confirms the MGS4 included here does not feature Metal Gear Online.
How does it perform?
Konami describes this as a port rather than a full remaster — there is no new texture work beyond UI elements rendered in native 4K — but the technical improvements over the PS3 original are still meaningful. On PS5, MGS4 runs at 4K and 60 frames per second, a substantial step up from a game that famously struggled to hold 30fps on its original hardware, at times dropping as low as 15fps.
On Nintendo Switch 2, the game can output at 4K in TV Mode while rendering internally at up to 1440p, with Handheld Mode supporting up to 1080p and 60fps — though Konami notes these are maximum targets and may vary by scene and settings. A side-by-side graphics comparison published by YouTube channel ElAnalistaDeBits reportedly shows improvements to resolution, shadows, and textures compared to the PS3 original, with the Switch 2 version delivering a reportedly stable 60fps.
Loading times are also dramatically improved, with near-instantaneous load screens replacing what was once a notable frustration on PS3.
A curious Switch-specific change
Sharp-eyed players have spotted one notable difference in the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions: a PlayStation 3 console that appears on a table in certain MGS4 scenes has apparently been removed and replaced with what look like GA-KO figures. The change was first reported by GamesRadar, following observations by Reddit users. The PS3 prop remains intact in the PlayStation, PC, and Xbox versions of the game.
UK pricing and pre-order bonuses
The collection is available both physically and digitally. In the UK, the physical PS5 Day One Edition is listed at £42.99 on Amazon UK, while the Steam version is priced at £44.98. A Steelbook edition has also been announced by Konami. The install size for the full collection is roughly 30.4GB.
Players who pre-order the Day One Edition receive two bonus in-game items: the Cardboard Camouflage uniform in MGS4 and the Love Box uniform in Peace Walker. There is also a loyalty bonus for returning players: anyone with save data from a title included in Master Collection Vol. 1 can unlock the Gold Camouflage in MGS4 and the GOLD Uniform in Peace Walker.
The collection supports English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Japanese subtitles, and is available at major UK retailers including GAME and Amazon UK.
Critical reception and context
Reviews are already in, and they are encouraging. Vol. 2 currently sits at 85 on Metacritic and 84 on OpenCritic, with 88% of critics recommending it according to OpenCritic. Those scores represent a meaningful improvement over Master Collection Vol. 1, which launched in 2023 to scores of 74 on Metacritic and 73 on OpenCritic — partly dragged down by broken resolution options and limited video settings at launch. Critics have noted that the games in Vol. 2 are presented in noticeably better shape than its predecessor, with none of the technical issues that dogged the first release.
Vol. 1 covered the first five Metal Gear titles, from 1987's Metal Gear on the MSX2 up to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. With Vol. 2, the full Metal Gear timeline — spanning from 1964 to 2014 — is now playable on a single hardware generation, without hunting down a working PS3 or piecing together emulation workarounds.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 is due out on Thursday 27 August 2026.
Why it matters
For UK players, this is the first legal, accessible route to Metal Gear Solid 4 on modern hardware — no PS3 required, no unreliable emulation. MGS4 was not even available via PS Plus streaming, making it one of the most inaccessible major games of its generation. At £42.99 for three titles with a combined Metacritic score of 85, the collection represents solid value, and the improved technical performance on both PS5 and Switch 2 means there has genuinely never been a better way to experience Solid Snake's final mission.