Last November, the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 for the Switch was bumped up to Version 2.0.0 and now Digital Foundry has taken another look at the current state of the game on Nintendo’s platform.
Focusing on MGS2 and 3, the Switch version has notably “improved” since the launch build. In its current state, it still runs at a native 720p resolution but has “practically no anti-aliasing” and lacks texture filtering, resulting in an “all-round noisier, flicker-prone image” when docked. Some features available on other platforms are also missing, like upscaling.
The main change is framerate performance – with Konami addressing the “lurches in Switch’s frame-rate in MGS2 especially” in the 2.0 patch, and while some drops remain, it’s a step in the right direction:
“Compared to the launch build, in-engine cut-scenes featuring a long view of the Big Shell gets a boost by 2-5fps on the new update. Sub-30fps drops sadly remain, even on the latest patch, but it is progress – plus we’re seeing a reduction in the frame-time fluctuations of the launch build. It’s worth noting that some cut-scenes use an intentional 15fps caps for effect, which is true on all platforms, and these stay exactly the same on the new patch on Switch regardless.”
While this is all “good news” for Nintendo’s system, the collection still struggles to “lock at 30 frames per second in MGS2”, and there are some odd rises to 60 when opening and closing doors. The PS2 original ran at 60fps in comparison. As for Switch MGS3 performance, it remains at 30fps (which is in line with the PS2 original) and supposedly has “fewer drops than MGS2”.
Overall though, the Master Collection is in a “much better place with patch 2.0 installed, but the fundamental shortcomings are still frustrating”. You can get the full rundown in the video above.
