Note. We’re still working on our review of the overall MGS Master Collection Vol. 2 package – keep an eye out for our verdict soon.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker represented a pretty significant shift in the stealth action series. Despite being released on the humble PSP back in 2010, it was comfortably the largest entry at the time, stuffed with content that could keep completionists busy for well over 100 hours.
Its bitesize missions would lay the foundation for MGS5: The Phantom Pain, and I think it’s clear that both games are the result of Hideo Kojima experimenting with the series’ structure after the epic conclusion of MGS4 and Solid Snake’s story.
That’s not to say that Peace Walker’s story isn’t worthwhile. It’s a strong narrative that continues to explore Big Boss’ state of mind after the conclusion of Snake Eater and his exit from The Patriots. Voice actor David Hayter puts in another great performance as Big Boss, supported by Robin Atkin Downes as Kazuhira Miller and Tara Strong as Paz Andrade. Is the plot absolutely essential lore? No. But nothing post-MGS4 is, in my opinion.
The more segmented mission structure makes Peace Walker feel a lot more video-gamey than its predecessor. If you think MGS4 goes too heavy on the cutscenes, this feels like an appropriate remedy. Crucially, having been built for PSP, it feels remarkably at home on Switch 2; it’s wonderful to just whip out the handheld for 10-20 minutes and complete one of the many missions.
The other major feature is Mother Base. This is where you build up your private military by assigning new initiates to the most appropriate section (after extracting them from the field via the Fulton System), whether it be combat, R&D, medical, or more. Levelling up R&D gets you blueprints for more powerful weaponry, while having your mess hall stacked with skilled cooks means your army will be well-fed and more useful.
Mother Base also contains the option to host or join multiplayer sessions in which you take part in standard deathmatches. Granted, I only managed to find one suitable session when searching across the globe on the first weekend, but the gameplay itself is stable and fun, if a little shallow.
The combination of bitesize missions and Mother Base management makes Peace Walker almost impossible to put down. Some of the gameplay mechanics do feel odd at first — you can’t move while in a prone position or hugging a wall — but it’s incredible just how much of the core MGS experience was squeezed onto the PSP.
Visually, it looks great handheld and docked, while you’re looking at a seemingly rock-solid 60fps throughout. I don’t understand why Konami couldn’t push the Switch 2 version up to 4K docked, but it’s stuck at 1080p (even Xbox Series S manages 1440p). In practice, though, it’s unlikely to actively harm your overall experience.