Ex-Crytek designer recreates Metal Gear Solid’s opening cutscene using Unreal Engine 4

Despite arguably being a masterpiece, Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid hasn’t aged well since its original 1998 release. Fortunately, ex-Crytek designer has given the world a glimpse at what it might look like with modern day graphics, remaking the opening scene using Unreal Engine 4.

Opening with a shot underneath the Bering Sea in Alaska, fans of Metal Gear Solid are sure to get a tingle of nostalgia seeing the submarine Discovery whoosh by to the sound of dramatic, overbearing music. This particularly kicks in with the sound of Paul Eiding’s Colonel Roy Campbell briefing our beloved Solid Snake on his mission within Shadow Moses Island, as the titular character embarks in an SDV (Swimmer Delivery Vehicle) subtly emblazoned with creator Hideo Kojima’s name on the front.

Taking his experience as an art director on Crysis, Ryse and even Star Citizen, Erasmus Brosdau realised a passion of his by recreating the opening scene to Metal Gear Solid in glorious 4K resolution. Utilising Unreal Engine 4, Brosdau places a disclaimer on the description of the video, altering people that some assets from the marketplace were used, alongside remastering some of the audio and tweaking the shots used.

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen Metal Gear Solid get the Unreal Engine 4 treatment, as a fan remake known as Shadow Moses was in the works. Sadly, this was cancelled with no public reason announced, although its believed that Konami interfered with the project. Although this cinematic doesn’t house any gameplay, it could suffer the same fate due to its use of licensed logos and audio.

Fortunately, Silicon Knights did produce a remake of its own in 2004, exclusively for the GameCube. Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes features the same engine used for Metal Gear Solid 2, with updated mechanics and cutscenes. Sadly, this itself is also quite dated and is often criticised for its over-the-top action sequences and poor re-recorded dialogue.

KitGuru Says: Those that enjoyed this opening cutscene can still look forward to Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ live action film adaptation, although the MGS movie has been under way for quite some time with no announced time frame as of yet.

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