Metal Gear Solid Collection Features Helpful New Quality of Life Feature, But With a Catch

Summary

A leak ahead of the October 24 launch of theMetal Gear Solid Master Collectionhas confirmed that players will now be able to pause cutscenes, but with a catch. The inability to pause during cutscenes in not justMetal Gear Solid,Metal Gear Solid 2, andMetal Gear Solid 3, but also the games' HD remasters from 2011, has been a common subject of frustration. That will apparently be changing in theMetal Gear Solid Master Collection. It just won’t work as fluidly as someMetal Gear Solidfans may have hoped.

It may be difficult forMetal Gear Solidfans to consider, but it has now been25 years since the release ofMetal Gear Solidon the original PlayStation.Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eateris only six years younger, making it nearly 19 years old. These are games from a different era of gaming. Pausing during cutscenes simply wasn’t something technology was prepared to handle at the time. But it’s 2023 now and expectations have changed dramatically.

While official details regarding theMetal Gear Solid Master Collection’s new pause functionality have been shared, leaked footage of the game has seemingly confirmed the feature. Footage shared by YouTube user Irreducible 86ff shows the pause functionality being used in themodern port of the originalMetal Gear Solid. Footage isn’t shown forMetal Gear Solid 2orMetal Gear Solid 3, but it’s likely safe to assume the functionality is carried over.

There is a catch regarding theMetal Gear Solidcutscene pause functionality, however. While pausing the game appears to be immediate, there’s what seems to be 10 seconds of loading time after. The player pauses the game and then has to wait for the menu to open. It’s unclear if pausing can be ended immediately without waiting for the loading to finish. Regardless, it’s a strange side effect of adding pause functionality toMetal Gear Solid’s cutscenes.

Even without explicit confirmation of the feature, it’s easy to understand whyMetal Gear Solid’s port might have issues with pause functionality. This is a game from 1998, and it hasn’t been remade for theMetal Gear Solid Master Collection. Who knows how much work developer Virtuos had to put into the game to add cutscene pauses. It’s a miracle the game doesn’t crash. 10 seconds of loading for the menu to come up is a fair tradeoff.

In the end, mostMetal Gear Solid Master Collectionplayers probably won’t be too frustrated by the odd pause delay. Those pausing the game probably have other things to do for 10 seconds, anyway. With hope, the feature will also be improved forMetal Gear Solid 2andMetal Gear Solid 3.Konami or Virtuosmay provide further information prior to or after launch.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collectionreleases October 24 on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.

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