
In sad news for stealth fans, it seems like Snake's inaugural mission through Shadow Moses will move slower than expected. Publisher Konami has revealed that Metal Gear Solid, alone amongst the treasured trilogy bundled in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, will remain locked at 30 frames-per-second.
That's despite confirming to press outlets that the Master Collection (and thus, you'd think, everything contained therein) had a "target" of 1080p, 60fps. It would have been nice to have that detail the last go around, but here we are. Konami released an ominous-looking image detailing each title's possible technical output, which you can see below.

It's worth highlighting that last, under the *2 caveat, which reads: "Highest possible variable frame rate achievable. Certain factors such as large amounts of effects during gameplay/cutscenes may cause framerate drops."
That sounds like 30fps is the upper limit and not necessarily stable. At the risk of burying the lede here, that appears to be the case for Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater, too. There exists a subtle but crucial distinction between a game's frame rate being locked to a number like 60 or being locked at 60, which will significantly impact the gameplay experience for those sensitive to such things.
What do you think, is this much ado about nothing? Were you expecting Metal Gear Solid to run at 60 as well? Or is Konami committed to Metal Gear shenanigans at this point? Maintain a stable frame rate in the comments section below.
[source konami.com, via kotaku.com]
Comments 74
That's not very metal. But at least the frame rate should be solid. Still gearing up interest for this.
Well yeah. It's always been capped at 30, even on PC (no mods for it either). Just how the game was designed back then, and the version in the collection is a basic emulation. I'd rather they keep it at 30 as opposed to going in and somehow unlocking the framecap and breaking some part of the game, which happens often for these old Japanese games.
See RE4's animations and QTEs being sped up in the 60fps versions, or better yet, the boss fights in MGS3 (namely the Fury becoming more difficult the higher the framerate gets - the flames last longer).
Considering these are just thrown together ports i'm not shocked.
If it’s the original PS1 version of MGS then it’ll still be making use of the hardware-bound draw cycle, no? I wonder if they’ve lost the source code to the PC version, that probably would have been easier to play around with.
Not surprising is pretty obvious there's not much effort and love going into these, they are being put together with bubble gum and spit from the execs for a quick influx of cash
People need to stop confusing frame rate with speed; the game would be no slower at 30 FPS, just much less smooth in motion. That said, I'm not happy with this news and may just not bother.
I mean, this is literally MGS ps1 port and the HD collection thrown together and being made available on the ps4/ps5. I wasn't expecting much from it or Konami in the first place. That being said, I'll be getting it anyways and it'll sit in my library collecting digital dust because there are just so many great games currently and releasing soon this year!
Do you people seriously expect a PS1 game to run a 60fps? Especially when character speed was tied to the frame rate.
Tbh I don't see these as a "barebone" effort, we're getting a total 6 games including VR missions, all the extras the HD collection had plus a few bonuses on top.
You compare this to the Super Mario 3D AllStars collection then you know what's really "barebones".
people who call it lazy don't really understand how old games work
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Go pay $60 for this, people. That's the only 60 companies care.
Not buying
Will be free in six months
I don't mind the 30 FPS but what I really wanted is a 16:9 picture in game and in the cinematics instead of some bezels on a 4:3 picture. The cutscenes will look super awkward, them being a tiny stamp on the upper half of the screen while the subs take the giant black space below.
@SonOfPSXDave nothing is censored or edited anyways, just a disclaimer, this has nothing to do with snowflakes.
@AdamNovice I think the only genuine issue that we've seen is MGS2 on Switch being 30fps, which doesn't register if you get it on PS5. That aside, it's largely what the community was asking for over the last several years, competent faithful conversations of the classics that preserve the original intent as much as possible on all modern platforms. They've invited both journalists and fans who know the games inside out to try preview builds and the reception on both ends has been positive.
It's a far cry from say... Silent Hill HD Collection, or the pre patched version of ZOE HD Collection. It's more comparable to some of Konami's other recent compilations like the Cowabunga Collection when it comes to the bonus content, alternate versions of games, etc.
Well it may sound strange I often have a hard time tell, or feel the difference between 30 and 60 Fps so I hope this will not mattet to much although I guess it would have been nice to see the game run at a 60 Fps framerate . Regarding the qualty of the games it will be intresting to see what Konami can deliver.
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
Wasn't buying it before reading this. Definitely not buying it now.
Anybody defending this and suggesting the collection isn't a lazy cash grab with no effort needs they're head examining.
The fact that the switch versions are 30fps across the board and PS5 and series X are 1080 and may (will) drop frames is pure laziness. Copy and pasted bluepoints work while blindfolded it seems
@Styledvinny79 was thinking this but the gta trilogy is still not free yet. Vice City was temporarily. I'll wait until cheaper if its nothing different.
@doctommaso I'm not sure how many are confusing FPS with the speed it runs at. Some older games were literally designed to only run at 30fps and the game physics were tied to this, meaning if the FPS is raised all the animation and physics run twice as fast too. Fixing this is not trivial as it means rewriting a lot of code rather than a simple setting toggle.
@oliverp some people are more sensitive to FPS than others. I think the screen you see it on makes a big difference to how noticeable it is. The bigger the screen and the faster the pixel response time of the screen the more noticeable it is. I can play 30fps games on my switch screen without problem but struggle on my living room tv.
@doctommaso The funny thing is that, while you're right in theory, back then framerate sometimes DID mean the same thing as speed. Many games were completely designed around running at 30 fps on a 60 Hz screen, so much so that a lot of the game was directly linked to it, such as animation speed and such.
The reason this was relevant back then, was of course the existence of the PAL region, with our 50 Hz standard. This led to games being ran at 25 fps while they were not designed around that at all, meaning they were actually slower! Not true for all of them, of course, many games were adjusted to be correctly paced at 25 fps, but still, it did happen.
To each their own, but is 30fps really that bad?
it's likely just me, but as long as the frame rate is consistent, there's no screen-tearing and the experience itself is good (story, gameplay, etc), then I'm a happy camper.
@Lup Still 4 games so I think it's a good deal.
I don’t understand why they take Series X and S together. The X is a much more powerful machine so you’d expect better results from it than the S.
@c_monster That's a fair point. But I would think they could put some time into it and fix it, as many other remasters have done? (Some above were confusing FPS with speed of gameplay.)
@Ainu20 Fair points, yes. I'd like to think they could put in the effort to make them run at 60 fps, but maybe it's too much to ask for.
@HotGoomba great wordplay there
I think 4k@60 should've been the minimum on current gen, for MGS 2 & 3. It looks like MGS1 is always going to be 30FPS.
I still think the Switch is the thing holding these back.
@doctommaso FPS is a measurement of speed. We literally say "how fast does it run?".
Over the years, things like frame times and latency are more accurate but it's not silly to think of how fast a game runs synonymously with the frame rate.
@doctommaso It would've been nice but they probably judged that it would not be worth the effort, and I kinda agree, I think. MGS1 isn't really a game that needs 60fps.
Can't wait for this. Its vol 2 that could end up being better. Peace Walker, MGS4 remastered hopefully, Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain remastered too hopefully. It's most likely ports with little improvements but I'll just be happy to have MGS4 out of PS3 prison
@Pranwell
I think NTSC ran at 30 frames and PAL at 25, but PAL had a higher resolution.
Whatever your thoughts on frame rate, it just has the feeling like these landmark titles aren’t getting the attention they deserve. I was just hoping that we’d see some special attention given to one of Konami’s biggest franchises and we aren’t getting that. That is what I find disappointing.
They just relegated my purchase to wait for bargain bin prices for bargain bin effort. Konami really suck - so sad to see a company like Konami go from one of the most loved in 16 bit PS1 and PS2 era’s to one of most cynical and consequently despised publishers
@Pranwell NTSC and PAL HZ is not fps. It's just a refresh rate
Eh it's a PS1 game. Bad frame rates kinda come with the territory. Would I have preferred they find a way to bump it up to 60? Sure but I'm just happy to be able to play MGS without firing up the ol' PS3 more than anything.
They clearly aren't really putting too much effort into improving the games themselves. More just focused on making them available on modern hardware.
I will say though all this back and forth on framerate makes me very curious how MGS4 is going to do assuming it's in Volume 2.
More lazy, lousy ports that will probably sell quite well. Sigh.
@InsaneWade It's just been confirmed that the Psycho Mantis memory card reading WILL be in this collection, in a roundabout way.
https://twitter.com/MGSMGN/status/1705465153708593490?t=3h-TG2oFuUP2qNtSP60xCQ&s=19
Oh God here we go again the frame rate police are out. Personally if a game is locked at 30fps or 60fps I Don't really care. It's when you get constant drops can be annoying.
30fps games still existing in 2020s is a joke
Why is 30fps on PS5/Xbox Series X even considered acceptable for any game? 60fps should have been the bare minimum for this generation. It's actually pathetic.
Gears of War can run at 120fps on Series S FFS!
@Axelay71 It's something that shouldn't be an issue this gen. 60fps isn't asking for much from PS5/XSX.
I agree that a game isn't ruined by being 30fps but we shouldn't even need to be talking about it.
@Khayl Any word on trophies?
People asking for 4k/60fps 😂
DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER HOW BAD THIS GAME LOOKS?
@AdamNovice THANK YOU… seriously this whole 60fps thing is getting real old.
If Konami messed with the original content you’d have fans screaming that they are hating on Kojima and p*sing on his legacy. On the flip side, Konami doesn’t touch the games and releases them properly as originally intended and you all still hate on them. You really can’t win.
I’m happy the route they went.
The first (PS1) game ran at 30, it’s releasing at 30.
The second and third (PS2) games ran at 60, it’s releasing at 60.
What else do you want, you’re getting the original games how they were designed to be played.
If they were adding in a bunch of other things in these games like rewind, up scaling, graphical overhauls, etc. then it would make sense to tweak the fps. These are straight ports of cherished games, from the original publisher, that’s it.
@Ainu20 Having never really played it, I'd prefer a 60 fps treatment, given today's expectations. I find 30 fps pretty painful nowadays.
@MattBoothDev FPS is not speed. If you play a game at 30 fps and have a character run across a field, taking let's say 10 seconds, it will take you the same 10 seconds to run across the field at 60 fps. Higher frame rate simply captures more frames of that movement to smooth that motion. The only exception is in cases where the physics of the game is tied to the frame rate, which is suboptimal at best.
Wow, doesnt bother me, but they really should have found a way to 60fps this. There are TONS of people who dont even bother with 30fps games, unless its new AAA games. This will cost them a lot of money.
If I go from 30 fps to 60, or vice versa I can notice a difference for a max of 10 mins, then it looks almost exactly the same, Not even noticeable. I really dont get the 60 fps craze. Its almost like the people who have to have 60 have something wrong with THEIR eyes, lol.
@durxll123 or it won't, because those people are a vocal minority. I feel the same about 30 vs 60 fps.
@GeeForce NTSC is 60hz and PAL is 50hz but games in the early 3D era generally targeted half refresh rates.
MGS1 being 30fps makes sense given its likely just the PS1 game emulated but MGS2 being 30fps on Switch is beyond ridiculous
@Sequel I love your Chaos Engine profile picture and would love a remake on modern consoles. The Bitmap Brothers made the Amiga shine
@__jamiie unfortunately it's always going to be a topic. Yes new tech brings more performance. But the expectations of better visuals, open world, raytracing, 4K, etc. Then impact somewhere, usually frame rate. Gamers need to lower there expectations. Let's be honest things look amazing nowadays, but some will never be happy.
I expect this to be a low quality, low effort port not worth your money. Be warned.
It will be dead cheap in no time so no big deal.
Up until fairly recently 30fps didn't bother me but when I got my PS5 I didn't have a 4K TV so I always played in performance mode.
When I tried to play A Plague Tale Requiem at 30fps I couldn't do it. It felt sluggish and painful just moving the camera.
It then got a 60fps mode and the difference was night and day
If you can do 30fps fair play to you but I'll always pick performance over resolution even now I have a 4K tv
@doctommaso sure, if you're using a real camera. It'll take the subject 10 seconds to cross the field regardless of the framerate of the footage.
But for videogames, "how fast does it run?" It's answered, usually, in frames per second.
There's obviously a lot more to it than that, which Digital Foundry often go into, but for the most part someone isn't wrong if they say a game is slow to run because it's 30FPS.
That's fine. It's a PS1 game. It doesn't need to be any higher than 30fps.
@MattBoothDev I don't want to keep arguing this point, so this will be my last post on this. Try playing Spidey or something at 30 FPS, time how long it takes you to di anything, and then switch it to 60 FPS and time it. It will be the exact same. Modern frame rate, in which physics is not tied to FPS, will not change the speed of the game. Input lag will be improved and things will look smoother, but nothing about the actual speed of gameplay is any different.
@Geep oh , didn’t know that
would people even notice if it was 30 or 60 in a ps1 game?
Those specs seem fine to me. I doubt the 30 vs 60FPS situation is going to matter much for what was originally a PS1 game. I've never played any Metal Gear before, so this collection seems like the perfect place to jump into it.
I'm no fussed fps long as it's playable I don't care.
I played Atari 2600 on a wee cry tv . I've a 4k Sony tv HDR10+ I'm still not fussed just give me 1080p I haven't seen any difference from that.
I've a PC I could play games in 4k nope 1080p does me. Besides I want to go back to windows XP 😂
I haven't even been feeling like gaming the past few weeks but suddenly I feel like playing through this series with real appreciation as an adult would be a fantastic experience. And if you thought the story of the phantom pain was whack like I did, I suggest you check out some story analysis on the internet video website. My eyes were opened yesterday as to the brilliance of that particular entry's themes/story and I can't wait to experience it with that thought in mind. Just need to let go of the obsession of attaching a fulton balloon to absolutely everything that moves
@Geep Yeah, it blew my mind when I actually went back to Sonic on original hardware and realised just how slower it was.
I'll 100% get the remake of 3 but think I'll keep playing 1 and 2 on my steam deck. save states 👀
Wish Konami gave them more care and attention.
However I will get 4. Recently went through it again and still absolutely love it (tied with 3 as my favourite MGS game) but be nice to play at more then 15 Fps and not locked away on ps3...
@naruball @durxll123 some of the people who get mad about 30fps can't even tell the difference actually. This one guy on Instagram was insistent that you could run MGS on a phone via Duckstation. Told him that's not possible and he DM'd me a video where the framerate counter clearly showed it was at 30, but there was a separate counter next to it displaying the refresh rate being 60. Literally thought a 30fps game was 60fps because he believed the number in the corner of the screen told him it was.
@doctommaso frames per second is literally has a unit of measurement of time within it.
Speed is distance divided by time.
You could put two computers together, one faster than the other and count how many frames are rendered within a run with a set time limit and observe how the faster machine can render more within the time frame.
You then deduce that one machine runs it faster. It rendered more frames during the run. Because the time was the same for each machine, but the distance, or, the number of frames rendered, differs, letting you slot the numbers into the S = D/T equation.
Spiderman running at 60 FPS is literally running twice as fast as Spiderman running at 30FPS.
@rusty82 your 4k TV will likely do some upscaling from the performance mode resolution outputted anyway.
I'm definitely in the same boat, but my path slightly different. I was a PC gamer for the 360/PS3 generation and only bought a PS4 for the exclusives. With the PS5 able to do 60FPS, appreciably, for most games and graphics cards costing more than a ***** runaround car, I made the move.
If a game has fancy ray tracing but it's locked to 30, or no fancy lighting and 60FPS, that's the superior way to play, for me.
@JeongersGaming haha. It doesn't surprise me. The more uninformed certain people are, the more certain they are about their beliefs.
@MattBoothDev i understand your points; you and I seem to be talking about different things when we talk about speed in this discussion. To explain it yet again, I have a friend who thinks the game characters literally move twice as fast across the screen at 60 fps as compared to 30. This is what some people here also seem to think. I was trying to correct that false perception.
As it relates to your example, let's say Spider-Man swinging from one end of the city to the other at 30 fps takes 5 minutes of gameplay time; at 60 fps, it also takes 5 minutes of gamelay time to do so — not 2.5 minutes.
If I'm mistaken about you and you DO believe the above is true, please go time it yourself before replying again, and you will see I am correct.
@doctommaso yeah, I see your point.
I obviously don't agree that example (5 minutes over 2.5 minutes) as it's nonsense. Spiderman likely has a fixed speed variable in game which determines how far he travels per tick, etc
However, I do maintain that using FPS as a computer speed measurement is still valid, as we obviously do that all the time. In the above, flawed, example, during the 5 minutes, the 60FPS machine will have rendered roughly twice as many frames as the 30FPS machine. Spiderman will have travelled roughly the same, in-game, distance on both machines.
@MattBoothDev Yes, you are entirely correct. This is the exact point I have been trying to make from the start. I apologize if this was not clear.
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