I’ve just completed my first playthrough and dove straight into a second—this time with the difficulty dialed up and a commitment to a non-lethal run. Having completed the game, my impressions remain largely consistent with my initial thoughts: this is a faithful and well-crafted remake. It refines the controls and elevates the visuals, all while preserving the spirit of the original release—for better or worse, depending on your perspective.

Where the remake really excels is in how its graphical enhancements deepen the atmosphere of key story moments. The infamous encounter with The Sorrow, already haunting in its original form, now carries even greater emotional weight. The visual fidelity transforms the scene into something almost spectral: wading slowly through a storm-lashed river, confronted by the silent procession of those you've killed. It’s a chilling meditation on consequence, rendered with striking clarity.

Later, during the tense escape with EVA near the end of the game, the environmental detail heightens the urgency, crouching in muddy puddles, inching forward slowly, guiding her to safety. Unfortunately, a frustrating bug killed the moment for me. EVA suddenly stopped responding to commands, causing us to be overwhelmed by a dozen enemies or so. I resorted to shooting them all, which worked, but it felt like a brute-force solution rather than the finesse approach I prefer to take in these games when possible.

And then there’s the final confrontation with The Boss. Already a masterfully poignant sequence in the PS2 version, it’s even more breathtaking in Delta. The transformation of the battlefield from pristine white to blood red is a visual metaphor executed with elegance, amplifying the emotional gravity of the scene.

Of course, it's still a game from 2004 under the hood, and sometimes that's very apparent. Enemies aren't always the smartest (though still competent all these considered), and the world being divided into small sections of mostly linear maps feels incongruent with the visual fidelity. But none of that really bothered me given the original game is in my top 10 games of all time.

I think the greatest compliment I can give Delta is that is makes me appreciate Kojima's vision and attention to detail even more than I did previously. All of the truly artistic elements of the game are properly elevated, and when Konami did take some license to change things, it was largely minor and seemed to be inspired by other games in the series. For big fans, you'll notice a few minor changes to certain characters you're likely to appreciate, particularly if you've played MGS V.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a new version of a Metal Gear game without direct involvement by Hideo Kojima. But Konami did it respectfully. The game could have been modernized in more significant ways, but I think they ultimately made the right choice. If they want to do more series remakes, I hope they take a similar approach. And please bring out MGS Collection Volume 2 soon so MGS 4 doesn't have to be emulated

8/10