Metal Gear Solid fan Airam Hernandez releases the first trailer for his unsanctioned Unreal Engine 4-powered remake of the first Metal Gear Solid on PlayStation.

2015 was a bittersweet year for Metal Gear Solid fans. On one hand, the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain finally released. On the other hand, the fate of the entire franchise has been thrown into jeopardy, thanks to Hideo Kojima departing Konami. While Konami still plans on making games in the series, it remains to be seen what direction it will take without Kojima at the helm. Considering this, it may be a good idea for Konami to instead focus on remaking or remastering past games in the series as a way to prepare the next Metal Gear Solid development team, but it looks like one major MGS fan has already beaten them to the punch.

Airam Hernandez has started working on a full-fledged remake of the original Metal Gear Solid, powered by Unreal Engine 4. Hernandez has revealed the first trailer for the project, which shows off various iconic locations from the PS1 classic, along with character models for Solid Snake, Cyborg Ninja, and more.

Overall, Hernandez has done an impressive job recreating Metal Gear Solid using Unreal Engine 4. See his work so far below, but keep in mind that it is a work in progress.

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While the above trailer is impressive, the project is unlikely to actually see the light of day. Most of the time, these fan games are shut down pretty quick, and it is very rare for them to be allowed to finish, with the recent Half-Life fan-made sequel a notable exception.

The big difference between that Half-Life fan made game and this Metal Gear Solid fan remake, however, is the IP owner. Valve has a tradition of being far more gamer-friendly than Konami, and if anything, the past year saw Konami make decisions that could be interpreted as directly anti-fan stances, such as barring Kojima from attending The Game Awards. It seems that if any company were to allow a fan-made remake to continue production, Konami wouldn't be it.

This is unfortunate, as many fans of the series would probably like the chance to experience Hernandez's take on the original Metal Gear Solid. Perhaps if this trailer receives enough attention, the folks in charge at Konami may consider creating their own Metal Gear Solid remake for current-gen systems, or release a remastered version of The Twin Snakes. If that happens, at least Hernandez's efforts wouldn't be completely wasted once this gets shut down.

Fan remakes using Unreal Engine 4 seem all the rage nowadays, with Airam Hernandez's Metal Gear Solid remake and the recent GoldenEye 007 Unreal Engine 4 remake standing as examples of this. Hopefully developers recognize the excitement that typically follows the reveal of one of these fan projects, and are inspired to create official remakes that actually have a chance of being released.

The Metal Gear Solid remake doesn't have a release date yet, and it is likely to be shut down long before it gets to that point.

Source: VG 24/7