VG247

Just like Halo 3, Metal Gear Online – and most likely the forthcoming Metal Gear Solid 4: Sons of the Patriots – runs at a sub-HD resolution.

Tech expert Quaz 51 – infamous for “outing” Halo 3’s technical shortcomings – has said that the Metal Gear Online beta runs at 1024×768, equivalent to 665p or a 15 percent drop in resolution compared to native 720p.

Similar to Devil May Cry 4 on PlayStation 3, the game also blends and blurs two frames together to achieve its anti-aliasing effect – a technique that worked to varying degrees on the Capcom game.

Quite why Konami opted to use a sub-HD detail level in the latest Metal Gear is unknown. The 15 percent drop in resolution allows Konami more resources for maintaining the game’s solid 30 frames per second, but Quaz 51 also reckons that the resolution drop allows Kojima’s code monkeys to more easily handle Metal Gear’s impressive post-processing effects.

So there we are.