During last week’s PlayStation State of Play, a new Metal Gear Solid collection including MGS 4 and the PS3 HD version of Peace Walker was announced. It’s great news if you’ve been holding out for PC ports of these games all these years, but it doesn’t mean you can expect the full experience people originally got—Metal Gear Online, the multiplayer spinoff which came bundled with MGS 4 back in the day, won’t be included.
You can find direct confirmation on Konami’s website, which explicitly clarifies in a footnote that “Master Collection Version of the Patriots does not include METAL GEAR ONLINE.”
It doesn’t come as a huge surprise, as MGO’s servers shut down over a decade ago. But all is not lost if you crave some PS3-era Metal Gear action with a buddy; the new collection will include co-op missions and a versus ops mode for Peace Walker. There’s no cross-play though, so hopefully your tactical espionage-minded friends are all on PC.
I’m mostly interested in this collection as a way to finally play Metal Gear Solid 4’s campaign, so I’m not too bummed, but I’m sure there are more than a few MGO sickos shaking their fists at the heavens right about now. As PC Gamer Australian editor Shaun Prescott noted in his news article on the announced collection, MGS 4 remains difficult to emulate even all these years later, so a native port like this is the average PC gamer’s best option short of scrounging around for a used console.
It’s been a long wait for most of them, but a vast number of Metal Gear games have finally found a home on PC, which is a relief for the stubborn and frugal among us who won’t or can’t get a PlayStation but nonetheless crave some tactical espionage action.
Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2 will release Aug. 27, 2025.
