Metal Gear Solid Delta is the best Metal Gear game to play in 2025 and offers hope for a future where the franchise can be brought forward in a way that brings new eyes and ears to one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time.
My history with the MGS series is very similar to a lot of fans – from playing my brother’s copy of MGS on the PS1, countless hours playing Sons of Liberty, completing 100% of the game before trophies/achievements were even a thing, and then completely obsessing over MGS3: Snake Eater – until the end of the PS2 lifecycle.
Delta will bring all that nostalgia back to you in waves – and remind you of a time when a Metal Gear Solid game would deliver you a tight 5-10 hour story, full of camp humour, emotional gravitas, political intrigue, outstanding gameplay and replayability. The relationships between Snake, Boss, Ocelot and Eva on the backdrop of a Bond-inspired, Cold War mission deliver swelling adrenaline and suspense throughout. As the credits roll and “Way to fall” by Starsailor starts up, suddenly you’re back in 2004 again, almost experiencing it all like your first time.
Apart from some small gameplay additions, such as crawling through mud not only affecting your uniform but also your Camouflage index, additional CQC animations, and adding in bullet drop for the MK22 tranquilliser gun, this game sticks true to the original with updated controls and graphics.
The controls are where this upgrade shines – the legacy controls and camera are still there as an option, but once you play this modern, you won’t want to go back. The way it feels to creep through the jungle, knock out a guard, or sneak up on a veteran sniper gives you more control, closer to the action and feels natural. This may make this game feel “too easy” – my response, up the difficulty level – on my extreme playthrough, being caught was basically a death sentence – no matter how good the controls felt.
When it comes to graphics, I’m no expert on the HDMI 4K experience. I reviewed this on a base PS5 – on a relatively modern TV, and it looked great! I did notice some framerate drops – particularly in the battle with The Pain, where the build-up of effects clearly started to take its toll – but apart from that, this game ran smoothly and looked great while doing so.
The game includes some additional content with 2 new collectables, the first – film reels you can collect by holding up enemy soldiers and shaking them down, this unlocks hidden movies in the “secret theatre” – most of these movies were available on MGS3: Substance – but there is a few bonus ones the Delta team created also! The second is the GA-KO, a yellow duck, similar to the original Kerotans, but these bright coloured creatures are hiding in ghillie suits, which makes tracking down all 64 quite a difficult task – but the reward was worth it. Delta also brings back the bonus mode: Snake vs Monkey – which was left out of 2023’s master collection, and a photo mode.
Above all else, this game treats its source material with such respect that you can tell the development team was not only long-time fans of the game, but also wanted to continue the legacy of this series. This has Kojima’s fingerprints all over it – he is credited throughout, and it really makes you wonder if Konami would be able to continue to steer this franchise in a positive direction and what could be next.
Whether you’re a long-time fan who has been yearning to crawl back into the cardboard box, or someone strapping on the bandana for the very first time, Metal Gear Solid Delta proves that great stories and great gameplay don’t age – sometimes they just need a little polish. The big question is whether this will be the spark that revives one of gaming’s greatest legends… or, as Snake would say, “Legends are usually bad news”
