WhenMetal Gear Solidfirst hit shelves back in ’98, it brought Konami an unprecedented amount of praise and profit. The natural next step would be to begin working on a sequel ASAP, which the company did, but it also looked for quicker ways to make even more money off of its masterpiece.
One such way was by creatingMetal Gear Solid: Integral.
What is Metal Gear Solid: Integral
MGS: Integralwasn’t a new game nor exactly a Director’s Cut. It was the originalMetal Gear Solidin a more complete package that only came out in Japan. The originalMGSrelease consisted of two discs, whereasMGS Integralconsisted of three discs. The first two discs contained the original game with the English voice dub and featured a bunch of extra customization options (that were previously only present in the PAL and American NTSC versions, such as difficulty options, as well as a tuxedo outfit for Solid Snake). The final disc featured a pack of specialized VR training missions.
Konami would continue the trend of releasing deluxe versions of their games withMetal Gear Solid 2: Substance, andMetal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.
What is Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions
Unlike the two other expanded editions of the originalMetal Gear Solidtrilogy,MGS: Integralonly came out for the PS1 in Japan. People who lived outside of Japan and wanted access to the extra playable material fromMGS: Integralwould have to acquire a game calledMetal Gear Solid: VRmissions separately.
VR Missionsdidn’t require players to own the original game, but many still saw it as a cash grab upon release. Still, it does feature some really cool extra VR training missions as well as some extremely fun special missions. I’m not joking when I say that many of these could only have come out of Hideo Kojima’s mind.
Getting eitherIntegralorVR Missionsis a great idea for die-hard fans of the series.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1contains all content fromMGSIntegral,MGS2Substance, andMGS3 Subsistence. You can now get it for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S|X, and PC.
