Iconic Metal Gear Solid 2 E3 Trailer, AI Converted to 4K

At E3 2000, Metal Gear Solid 2 Absolutely stole the show when its first real-time gameplay footage aired on the PlayStation 2.

It seemed amazing back then, but time flies, and by 2021 standards it’s obviously not that amazing, with some technical tricks used at the time to circumvent the limitations of the PS2, like all that fog, now preventing us from enjoying its finer details.

This is where AI upscaling comes in. Rather than having modders go in meticulously and redo every texture in the game, Digital Foundry let deep learning software stand out just for the trailer., who looked at every frame and thought, OK, this looks like a fuel tank, let’s clean it up and fill in the gaps and do it again at 4K resolution.

And it did a hell of a job! While not perfect (some things are too crisp, while others were never meant to be seen cleaned), most of the scenes here benefit greatly from the app, with the trailer itself being able to maintain its wet and heavy vibrations while improving overall fidelity. (and it’s worth noting here, emulators did a pretty good job of scaling entire games for years, but not as well).

If that makes you want more Metal Gear Solid 2, there are much worse things you could do next than catch up on Heather’s excellent retrospective from last year’s game:

Son of freedom is not a story of espionage and betrayal. Not really. This is a person who is learning to be their best. The most dangerous threats to our lives aren’t bullets, bombs, or government censors, though these things are undoubtedly vile. The most dangerous things are the things we do to ourselves. The lies we tell ourselves, the love we refuse and the dignity we cheat ourselves into thinking we don’t deserve.