While Konami shifts its focus toward releasing Metal Gear Solid 4 from the PS3 era, the modding community continues to refine the earlier entries in the franchise. MGSHDFix, a project dedicated to repairing visual bugs and enhancing older Metal Gear games, has released version 5.0.1 following an initial hotfix. The update brings a suite of improvements aimed at modernizing the experience for fans of the PS2 and pre-PS2 titles.
According to author Afevis Solmunko, the new version delivers massive reductions in vanilla loading times for Metal Gear Solid 2, alongside support for loose audio file formats like MP3, WAV, OGG, and FLAC for the first two games. The update also introduces work-in-progress raw mouse input support and includes numerous restoration features and bug fixes that are too extensive to list individually.
One of the most notable additions allows players to restore the original MSX2 sprites in Metal Gear 2, enabling a gameplay experience where Mel Gibson faces off against Sean Connery as originally intended by Hideo Kojima. Additionally, the mod now includes an option for doors to automatically check inventory for keycards, mimicking the mechanics found in MGS2.
Performance gains are particularly significant for Metal Gear Solid 2. The new system prefetches assets for all rooms directly connected to the current stage, dramatically speeding up level loading. Speedrunners have reported that this change can shave upwards of five minutes off their total elapsed time. On Linux platforms, including the Steam Deck, Solmunko notes that level transition load times are reduced by approximately four to six seconds per room.
Furthermore, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 now feature limited support for raw mouse input in third-person perspectives. Full first-person support is expected to arrive in the upcoming MGSHDFix 5.1.0 update.
Sources: PC Gamer.