Metal Gear Solid Integral is Kojima's masterpiece's enriched Japanese version, including Very Hard Mode, Special Missions and additional dialogue. Even more than the standard version, it's the absolute definitive version of the game on PS1. Essential for any stealth game enthusiast.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player16+
Description
Extended Japanese edition of Metal Gear Solid with new content and separate VR-Disc, the reference international version. Created by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and Konami, released in 1999 in Japan and Asia with VR-Disc included under the Metal Gear Solid Integral title. All original content plus very easy mode, new costumes, first-person mode, over three hundred VR missions on additional disc and Hollywood-style soundtrack. Japanese and Asian Integral edition with VR-Disc.
Metal Gear Solid - Integral review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Cinematic staging, icy industrial moods and design by Yoji Shinkawa: the infiltration takes on the air of an action film. The top-down view, the careful lighting and the expressive faces deepen the immersion. This visual direction, dark and controlled, revolutionised video-game storytelling.
Infiltrating an isolated nuclear base becomes the pretext for a breathless espionage thriller, where betrayal lurks behind every codec call. Cloning, deterrence and the burden of heredity feed a surprisingly grave reflection. Cinematic staging and finely honed dialogue made it a monument of video games.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
This expanded edition grafts onto the stealth adventure a mountain of VR missions that isolate and push each mechanic to its limit: shooting, close combat, scouting. You return to polish your technique as much as for the story. The already brilliant game skeleton thus gains in replay value, and the precision of the manoeuvres remains a benchmark of the genre.
Fun
"Pleasant"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Slipping in unseen, studying enemy patrols and improvising when the alarm rings sets up an espionage tension where each room cleared calls for the next. The gadgets, the inventive bosses and the shifts in tone keep reviving your curiosity. The handling has aged a bit, but the cinematic staging and the genius of the level design pull you to the very end.
Metal Gear Solid Integral, the Japanese enhanced edition of Kojima's monument, adding VR missions on a dedicated disc and various tweaks absent from the standard version. This more complete build, specific to the Japanese market, appeals to those wanting the game's richest form. Its scarcity and exclusive content support a value above the common Western runs.
Memorable bosses
Few rosters rival this gallery of adversaries: Psycho Mantis, who seems to read your mind, the melancholy Sniper Wolf, or the steel colossus Metal Gear REX. Each imposes a duel with its own rules, blending cunning, infiltration and ideas that break the fourth wall. Strong personalities and a theatrical staging make these confrontations a benchmark for the genre.
A cult cover
Released only in Japan, the "Integral" edition extends Yoji Shinkawa's ink style, Snake sketched with a free brush on a light ground, augmented with mentions of its enriched content. The same graphic restraint is at work, a sign of continuity with the Japanese original. Restrained and collectible, it appeals through its artistic coherence as much as its rarity.
When the game breaks the 4th wall
An expanded edition of the stealth masterpiece, rounded out with its VR missions, where the fiction keeps spilling into reality: a mind-reading enemy rummages through your saves and toys with the controller you're holding, and some secrets sit right on the packaging. That way of taking the player as witness left a lasting mark.
Is Metal Gear Solid - Integral still worth playing in 2026?
Metal Gear Solid - Integral is the Japanese enriched version of Kojima's masterpiece, including Very Hard Mode, exclusive VR Missions, additional dialogue and extended difficulty options. Even more complete than the standard version, the title offers hours of additional content. The definitive version to favour on PS1 today.
