Master Collection Vol. 2 brings back MGS4, and a lost era of game development

Screens from making MGS4 — (Image credit: Konami)

With the upcoming second volume of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection set to include Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, there’s a renewed spotlight on one of the PS3’s most technically audacious games. For years, MGS4 felt stranded on Sony’s third console, a visually groundbreaking game locked to difficult hardware. Now, as Konami prepares the game for a modern return, it’s worth asking a different question: how did it look that good in the first place?

When Metal Gear Solid 4 launched in 2008, it set new expectations of what games can look like on console. I remember vividly covering the game while editor of PlayStation World magazine, and I was awestruck by the seamless transitions between cutscenes and gameplay. Skin shading felt cinematic, environments had a density most developers at the time avoided for fear of tanking performance, and character detail was incredible. It didn’t feel like a typical console production; it felt closer to a pre-rendered film that you could suddenly control (and some criticize the game for being such).

Freshly resurfaced production material has offered a clearer look at the pipeline behind that visual leap, and the answer lies in a now-discontinued powerhouse: Softimage XSI. Its rigging and non-linear animation system were considered best-in-class for a long time, and I also remember the furore when Autodesk discontinued it to push people onto Maya and 3ds Max. Read our old piece, 'Autodesk answers your questions on the demise of Softimage,' for a trip down memory lane.

Making MGS4's visual spectacle

'Behind the scenes'Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) pic.twitter.com/T9AalkZ35UFebruary 16, 2026

Kojima Productions made a bold decision early on. Instead of building separate, lower-detail gameplay models and higher-detail cinematic versions, the team aimed for parity between them. Characters maintained consistent fidelity across both gameplay and story sequences. That’s a big reason those transitions felt invisible; there was no visual downgrade to hide.

Inside XSI, the team also developed custom facial rig systems that allowed animators to fine-tune expressions well beyond stock presets. Subtle muscle movement, controlled lip shapes, tension around the eyes, meaning the performances weren’t reliant on brute-force capture, and instead they were engineered, layered, and refined.

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Looking back now, the approach feels ahead of its time. The PS3’s Cell processor was notoriously complex, yet the art team leaned into ambitious asset creation rather than scaling back. XSI’s flexible rigging and non-destructive workflows enabled experimentation without constant rebuilds, and that advantage paid off on screen.

As the Master Collection’s second volume brings MGS4 and Peace Walker to new audiences, revisiting that pipeline feels more than nostalgic. It’s a reminder that striking visuals aren’t born from powerful hardware alone, but also from creative decisions about how to use it.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2 will release on 27 August 2026. Visit the Konami website for details. Read this old Hideo Kojima interview for more details on making MGS4.

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Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.

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