Konami is already set to release Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection in a few weeks, but it sounds like Hideo Kojima has a bigger nostalgia trip planned for fans of the seminal stealth series.
According to Game Reactor, Kojima says he’s in the process of tracking down a third-party studio to handle a new, Fox Engine-powered remake of the original Metal Gear Solid. Kojima also said that besides the expected graphical update, the remake would also update the game’s mechanics, presumably so that it would control and play more like the newer games in the series.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Metal Gear Solid 1 has been remade: in 2004 Konami teamed up with Nintendo and Eternal Darkness developer Silicon Knights to create Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes for the Gamecube. The Twin Snakes took the story and setting of the original MGS and updated it with some of the features (such as the ability to aim in first person) and the graphical style of MGS2. While the remake sold well, fan opinions about it were mixed, as many felt that the new mechanics ruined the balance of the old game (for instance, the boss fight against Ocelot was noticeably easier with manual aiming,) and the game’s new cutscenes (which featured Snake doing things like running on top of a missile in mid-flight,) ruined the tone of the story. Despite the mixed reception to the first remake, Kojima apparently wants to try remaking MGS1 again.
I think most fans would probably prefer it if Kojima handled the remake himself, but he probably already has his hands full with Metal Gear Solid V, so you can’t blame the guy for wanting to farm out the remake to somebody else. Since Silicon Knights isn’t around anymore, it’s really anyone’s guess as to who Kojima will pick for the remake.
