Cutscene dominated games always tend to be a bit divisive amongst gamers, with some (myself included) who quite enjoy a slightly cinematic experience, and others who’d much rather just get on with playing the game. Also fair. The Metal Gear Solid series in particular is one that’s always been packed with cutscenes, but arguably no section was more impressive than the start of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, which felt far more like a movie than a 2001 video game.
Obviously though, it’s been a long time since 2001, and Sons of Liberty isn’t looking quite as good as it once did. You already know what time it is - roll on the Unreal Engine remake! Courtesy of German artist Erasmus Brosdau, here’s a stunning look at a tantalising few seconds of the Metal Gear Solid 2 intro, remade in real time, from the ground up, in Unreal Engine 5.
In the clip, we see Snake in all his HD glory, landing on the deck of the tanker ship from the start of the game. The reflections in the puddles and the lighting on the rain all looks breathtaking, and Snake himself is animated so delightfully smoothly.
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This isn’t the first time that Brosdau has blessed us with some juicy HD Metal Gear content - they first remade the entire Metal Gear Solid 1 intro in Unreal Engine 4 back in 2018, which was equally incredible. If their 2018 work is anything to go by, we can basically be sure that their new work in progress is going to be jaw-dropping when it’s done.
Although Brosdau has been flooded with support from various Metal Gear fans on Twitter, no doubt the highest form of praise they’ve gotten comes from the series’ writer, Hideo Kojima himself, who retweeted the clip on his personal English Twitter account. You can’t really get much better than that.
As the artist stated, the project is a work in progress, so it could be a while before we see any more footage, but I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait. A few Twitter users warned Brosdau to be careful of any cease-and-desists, but hopefully with Kojima basically giving his approval, there’s not going to be anything to worry about there.
Featured Image Credit: Konami, Erasmus Brosdau via TwitterTopics: Metal Gear Solid, Konami, Unreal Engine