The Platinum version sneaks up on us on March 5

Feb 17, 2009 17:41 GMT  ·  By

Stealth action games have been around for quite some time, but didn't really spark a lot of interest until Japanese designer Hideo Kojima created the famous Metal Gear Solid series. The franchise introduced an elaborate and intricate story focusing on the main character, Solid Snake, a tactical ops special agent who had to go deep into enemy territory by using stealth.

The latest iteration in the series, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, was the final chapter in Snake's saga and one of the PlayStation 3's best sellers last year, achieving over 3 million units shipped since its release in June 2008. The game, which won a lot of awards at the recent end of the year charts, isn't going to disappear from the public spotlight just yet, as Konami, the publisher, has announced that it would re-release it as a special Platinum title.

“Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has proved to be an outstanding title, and its many awards and accolades are testament to this,” commented Martin Schneider, European Marketing Director for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “With the PlayStation 3 user base growing at a rapid rate, this welcome re-release for an all-new price will give this growing community a chance to get to grips with one of the most innovative, testing and varied title for the format.”

The re-release will sell for around 29.95 Euros and will come on a Blu-ray disc containing both the game and Metal Gear Online, a special multiplayer title featuring characters from the full pledged game. While Guns of the Patriots has already attracted a lot of people, and, in this cheaper form, it will surely make even more people interested in it, Metal Gear Online will certainly receive a boost in popularity soon.

All in all, Konami is definitely making a great deal here, and this lower-priced title will guarantee pretty big sales and a new surge in fame for the MGS series. Hopefully, we will get fresh details on the future of the franchise, besides the game that Kojima will make for the iPhone.