Fans remade the iconic Metal Gear Solid 2 intro in Unreal Engine 5

Unreal Engine 5 remakes continue to come thick and fast on YouTube, and we're not losing our appetite for them. As we've already seen in the Super Mario World 3D remake and Sonic Adventure 2 Redux, Epic Games' powerful real-time game development software is allowing fans to reimagine classic games with impressive modernised visuals.

The latest candidate is Konami's 2001 action-adventure stealth game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. A group of fans has revamped the iconic intro cinematic as a tribute to Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece with high-quality textures, dynamic lighting and cinematic realism.

Metal Gear Solid 2 Remake in Unreal Engine 5 – Full Cinematic Opening Fan Project [4K] - YouTube

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The YouTube channel JacktheLightning, which specialises in iconic video game scenes in UE5, says every detail in the intro was carefully recreated to capture the atmosphere and tension of the original, in which Snake infiltrates a tanker under a rain-soaked George Washington Bridge in New Jersey.

The piece was rendered in Lumen, Unreal Engine 5's dynamic global illumination and reflections system. The team has uploaded a behind-the-scenes video showing insights into how they handled the 3D modeling, lighting and animation. The introduction of UE5's new direct lighting path MegaLights last year is described as a pivotal moment for the project.

Recreating the Iconic MGS2 Intro in Unreal Engine 5 — Behind the Scenes - YouTube

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Fans of the original game are impressed, praising the atmosphere and the accuracy of the camera angles. Snake's animations could be polished, but this is impressive for a fan project.

Some are now calling for an official remake – remember that we still have Konami's official Unreal Engine 5 Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater to look forward to on August 28.

If you need tools for your own work, see our guide to the best animation software. And for more retro gaming fun, check our reviews of the best retro games consoles.