Launched in late 2023, Steel Gear Strong Grasp Assortment Quantity 1 was a promising however finally irritating, buggy, and visually lacklustre effort from Konami. Nonetheless, the excellent news is that enhancements have been made, with model 2.0 taking goal at a number of key points on console and PC. It is a aid to see, as a result of it is a challenge price salvaging – being an all-in-one package deal containing seven core video games within the sequence, with some superbly introduced extras. At present, I am specializing in the Steel Gear Strong trilogy – the extra demanding full 3D entries that first launched on PlayStation 1 and a pair of – since that is actually the place the majority of the issues arose on this assortment. So simply what has modified, and is the Grasp Assortment now the definitive strategy to play?
Let’s soar straight to essentially the most urgent problem: Steel Gear Strong 2 and three’s picture high quality. The Grasp Assortment makes use of the identical codebase because the HD Assortment, as launched by Bluepoint for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 again in 2011. Whereas a superb port for its time, the gripe is that the Grasp Assortment continued to run these video games on the identical native 720p decision, even on PS5, Sequence X and S. The outcome was tough scaled to 4K shows, with heavy aliasing on present. Worse nonetheless, the PC model additionally ran at 720p with no graphics menu to tweak both of those video games’ visible settings.
Replace 2.0 addresses this problem to a sure extent. MGS2 and three every now supply settings of their entrance finish launchers, letting us push the interior decision as much as 1080p. That is adopted by a separate upscaling choice, the place AMD’s FSR is known to be at work scaling that base picture to a 1080p, 1440p or 4K goal. And eventually, there is a film setting for each MGS2 and three, letting us entry a ‘Excessive Decision’ mode. This mode impacts each pre-rendered cutscene in each video games, the place AI upscaling is utilized to the unique encode for a crisper, cleaner outcome.
With all three settings boosted – the native 1080p rendering, 4K upscaling and excessive decision films – Konami calls this the ‘adjusted’ mode, whereas all the unique settings are nonetheless right here should you want to use them. All advised, it is a messy resolution, however the adjusted mode does have a optimistic affect. On PS5 and Sequence X, the brand new adjusted preset minimises stair-stepping – the pixel crawl – throughout any laborious geometric strains. Visible noise is much from eradicated, although: you may nonetheless simply catch aliasing on brilliant, overhanging lamps or door outlines – however at the least the soar from 720p to 1080p creates a finer gradient to these steps. Simply as importantly, patch 2.0’s superior 4K upscale leads to higher readability throughout a scene. The distant indicators and the metallic railings of MGS2’s oil rig are extra cleanly outlined, and likewise, it resolves Steel Gear Strong 3’s dense forest areas with a sharper picture. Once more, visible noise remains to be evident, particularly utilizing the free digicam to look straight forward in MGS3, however it’s an enchancment general.
The state of affairs on PS5 is a internet optimistic, however the apparent gripe is that we needs to be getting a local 4K from what’s primarily a 2001 PlayStation 2 title. Fashionable consoles – and definitely PC – have greater than sufficient GPU horsepower to make a real 4K a actuality, and certainly, it has been potential because the assortment’s launch on PC because of mods. Additionally irritating is that the PC, Xbox Sequence X and S variations all proceed to run with blurry, low high quality texture filtering, leading to a visual smearing to ground element seen at a decent angle. It is particularly obtrusive in Snake Eater, which makes use of extra complicated texture maps throughout the bottom. No progress has been made right here on Xbox since launch, effectively over 16 months later. It signifies that the unique Xbox 360 HD Assortment model nonetheless has the benefit of utilizing 16x anisotropic filtering when performed through again compat on a Sequence X console – although clearly it misses out on the upper native 1080p decision of the Grasp Assortment. Once more, this is not an issue with PS5, which filters all textures at a a lot increased setting.
The brand new film setting can be curious, affecting the pre-rendered cut-scenes alone (that are a rarity given MGS2 and three’s typical deal with in-engine cinematics). Nonetheless, the enhance is evident to see in each video games’ fundamental menu appeal to sequences, or any previous archival footage that may pop up. The readability of textual content is sharper, macroblocking is minimised, and there is a crisper resolve to nice patterns all spherical. It is probably not to everybody’s tastes, however Konami is clearly working from a low decision supply meant for the PS2 period. In that respect, I am glad we now have an choice to wash them up and it is good progress from the Grasp Assortment at launch.
Conserving the deal with MGS2 and three, the Nintendo Change model is improved as effectively. Alas, we don’t get the upscaling choices seen on different platforms, and Change nonetheless runs at a local 720p decision. It additionally seems to function with virtually no anti-aliasing, and lacks texture filtering altogether – which creates an all-round noisier, flicker-prone picture whereas docked to a bigger show. The primary change although is in frame-rate efficiency. Konami promised that it might handle the lurches in Change’s frame-rate in MGS2 particularly, and patch 2.0 does assist issues. In comparison with the launch construct, in-engine cut-scenes that includes a protracted view of the Massive Shell will get a lift by 2-5fps on the brand new replace. Sub-30fps drops sadly stay, even on the newest patch, however it’s progress – plus we’re seeing a discount within the frame-time fluctuations of the launch construct. It is price noting that some cut-scenes use an intentional 15fps caps for impact, which is true on all platforms, and these keep precisely the identical on the brand new patch on Change regardless.
It is excellent news for Change, and but it’s a large disappointment general. We’re nonetheless struggling to at all times lock at 30 frames per second in MGS2, which is a shock provided that it ran at 60fps on PlayStation 2 (and Vita!). Bizarrely, that is nonetheless except for opening and shutting doorways – like lockers – at which level the frame-rate all of a sudden rises to 60 on Change. It is an enormous disgrace, and for 60fps gameplay you may want to have a look at the PlayStation, Xbox or PC variations. Change efficiency in MGS3 additionally stays at 30fps in fact – which is at the least according to the PS2 unique (however not Bluepoint’s PS3/360 remasters) and it does so with fewer drops than MGS2. The one remaining problem on replace 2.0 is the occasional hitch every time a guard is alerted and the countdown kicks in on the HUD.
Turning to the PC version subsequent, this stays a no-frills launch with a barebones graphics menu. It is doubtless higher on patch 2.0 however to not the usual you’d count on of a contemporary PC launch. By way of official choices, there’s now a local decision setting that goes to 1080p at finest, mirroring the choices on PS5 and Sequence X, together with the exact same upscaling setting to 4K. MGS2 and three profit from added keyboard and mouse controls however that is actually all we get for graphics controls. There is not any native 4K decision mode, nonetheless no ultrawide assist, and texture filtering is woefully low high quality out of the field on PC – although that is fixable through your GPU’s management panel overrides. And but, regardless of the large disappointment, the PC model nonetheless has the best potential to ship the most effective expertise for MGS2 and three because of consumer mods.
Mods rework the Grasp Assortment in myriad methods, getting us nearer to the definitive MGS2 and three expertise we might hoped to see on PC. In comparison with the Konami’s default patch 2.0 expertise, the enhance in readability simply justifies the legwork to get all of it arrange and operating. The primary port of name is the MGSHDFix mod – by writer, Lyall – including the power to render natively at any customized decision, with ultrawide assist and bundling in a string of bug fixes for good measure. Attaining a lift to a real native 4K is transformative by itself, particularly throughout MGS3’s busy jungles. I additionally advocate the AI upscaled textures mod, courtesy of writer liqMix. This boosts asset decision by 4x and I ended up a lot preferring the look of Snake Eater’s environments with the decision pushed to 4K. All mixed, that is the most effective Steel Gear Strong 3 expertise in my eyes, although {the catalogue} of mods out there past that is big and nonetheless rising. It places the PC launch in pole place because the model to go for with the Grasp Assortment, with PS5 in second place, if primarily for avoiding the feel filtering problem on console.
Going again to M2’s port of the unique 1998 Steel Gear Strong, this at the moment sits on patch 1.5. It stays a PS1 emulation effort, operating on the unique 240p decision and 30fps goal – or 25 on the PAL releases – however we now have extra video choices. The bilinear blur filter is now out there as a ‘smoothing’ toggle, and disabling it produces a a lot crisper image. There are three scaling choices: full display screen, pixel excellent and 16:9, plus a brand new scanline filter, which helps mix the low decision picture and dithering current in lots of 3D PS1 video games of the period. It fits Steel Gear Strong’s darkish aesthetic, but additionally – inevitably – darkens the picture, although the choice is a welcome one. My closing level pertains to the sport’s controls. Beforehand M2 solely allowed for motion in cardinal instructions: up, down, left and proper. As of the newest patch, full 360 diploma analogue motion is reinstated, permitting for finer management of Snake’s run by way of Shadow Moses, albeit with a noticeable trace of enter lag. It is largely a transfer in the proper course for MGS1, however by being anchored to the PS1’s technical limits in frame-rate it is taking part in it very protected.
The Grasp Assortment is in a a lot better place with patch 2.0 put in, however the basic shortcomings are nonetheless irritating. The feel filtering problem on Xbox consoles will not be solved for MGS2 or 3 in any respect, whereas console customers – and PC – solely get a decision enhance to a local 1080p at finest. That is baffling taking into account how PC mods show that full 4K decision clearly works and might look nice. And in reality, the modded PC model stays the most effective model to play. With all that being stated, Konami’s inventory settings nonetheless present one of many higher methods to benefit from the sequence. The PS5 model avoids the feel filtering problem at the least, and it is the most effective console model of the sport on these grounds. As a celebration of Konami’s flagship sequence, Steel Gear Strong Grasp Assortment clearly nonetheless wants a variety of work – but it surely stays the most effective tackle these video games out there on trendy techniques.
