Metal Gear Solid is free to play on Steam until July 27

The Master Collection version of Metal Gear Solid is free to play on Steam for a limited period. PC Gamer reports that the trial expires on Monday, July 27 at 10 am EDT / 1 pm PDT / 6 pm BST.

The game on offer is the first entry to take Konami's espionage series into 3D. Polygon notes it is the highlight of a wider batch of Steam trials running across the weekend, a group that also takes in multiplayer games and shooters.

Why now

The timing points at what is coming next. PC Gamer links the trial to Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2, due on August 27, which it describes as finally freeing Metal Gear Solid 4 from its PlayStation 3 confinement. The outlet's second, less charitable explanation is simply that Konami operates on its own logic.

Anyone who steered clear of the Master Collection's first volume on the strength of its reception at launch is looking at a different product now. According to PC Gamer, all three Metal Gear Solid games in that collection have received significant patches since release, with the first game in particular improved by higher-resolution rendering and analogue controls that actually work.

For players who want to smooth off what remains, PC Gamer recommends the community-made MGSM2Fix mod, which it says can be installed through Luxtorpeda on Steam Deck and desktop Linux.

The outlet also has a suggestion for how to spend the trial window: chase the game's notoriously elusive Big Boss rating. Its writer managed it over the past week, though by their own account with help from the easier Japanese version and a couple of speedrunning skips.