Konami seems to have made potentially controversial choices for Metal Gear Solid Delta.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, the game doesn’t have a dedicated 60 FPS mode. VGC’s Jordan Middler shared this anecdote about getting to experience a gameplay preview, thanks to Konami:
“Our preview consisted of the first 90 minutes of the game. Before starting we were asked to choose between a 30FPS quality mode which targeted a dynamic 4K resolution, and a performance mode which renders at 1080 and will dynamically scale higher.”
Tech4Gamers argues that this is objectionable for Konami to do, saying: “60FPS has become a standard for most gamers. The smoother refresh rate provides a much more responsive gaming experience, something every game should have in 2024.”
But all of this is well trod ground before. We know that it is perfectly possible for developers to make games for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S that can run at 60FPS. This is a somewhat arbitrary yardstick, as the Sega Dreamcast had plenty of 60 FPS games in the four years of its existence over twenty years ago.
As we know, the reason most developers choose not to prioritize 60 FPS is that they are prioritizing other aspects of the game. The most common cited aspect would be ray-tracing, a sophisticated lighting technique that pushes computer graphics further. This technology isn’t actually exclusive to video games, and has been the driving principle that gives Pixar movies their stunning photorealistic aesthetic for decades.
And to be clear, the enthusiasm for 60 FPS is not unfounded. It’s mainly gamers playing esports titles like Valorant and Fortnite that talk up the virtues of 60 FPS. When you’re playing a competitive game, playing the game at 60 FPS or higher could make the difference for top players.
But a persistent multiplayer live service environment is a fundamentally different experience than a single player open world title. The original Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was built to be played on 30 FPS, so Hideo Kojima himself did not feel that this was a particular necessity for the game.
Tech4Gamers argues that the only platform which can run Metal Gear Solid Delta at 60 FPS will be PC. But from our understanding of Video Games Chronicle’s preview, Konami did not even confirm that, or at least they had nothing to say about it yet. For all we know, Steam users will get the same options PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S users did.
In any case, this goes straight into the heart of the idea of making a modern remake anyway. Will it still be worth buying or playing Metal Gear Solid Delta if it looked as it did on the PlayStation 2 20 years ago, and just got the framerate brought up to 60 FPS? We imagine most gamers will prefer to get the modern graphical effects of a full remake. Because they want to see Snake occupy a realistic space as they play, 30 FPS is a reasonable compromise.
