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Here's how to fix METAL GEAR SOLID 2 and 3 on Steam Deck / Linux

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Update 26/10/23 15:54 UTC: Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais mentioned on X that Proton Hotfix was updated to help but it's still not fully solved yet without the fix in the guide below:

A Proton Hotfix has been deployed for "METAL GEAR SOLID 2: Sons of Liberty - Master Collection Version" and "METAL GEAR SOLID 3: Snake Eater - Master Collection Version" to address a blocking crash in cutscenes. A fix for missing audio in cutscenes is still being worked on.

For the impatient, it turns out there is a way to make METAL GEAR SOLID 2: Sons of Liberty - Master Collection Version and METAL GEAR SOLID 3: Snake Eater - Master Collection Version actually work on Steam Deck and desktop Linux since they're currently broken.

The best way would be to wait for Valve to roll out an official fix in Proton, but if you really can't wait the fix is relatively simple. Thanks to sleuths on the GitHub bug report you just need to get a copy of xaudio2_9.dll either from a Windows install, a different game or other methods like this website (use at your own risk, and get the 64bit version).

For Steam Deck, you'll need to be in Desktop mode (Steam Button -> Power - Switch to Desktop). If you downloaded it, make sure to unzip / extract the file, then in Steam on MGS 2 and MGS 3 right click -> properties -> installed files -> browse to open up the file manager. Then place the xaudio2_9.dll inside each to sit next to the main exe files.

After that, on each game set a launch option via right click -> properties and put this in the box on each game:

WINEDLLOVERRIDES=“xaudio2_9=n” %command%

After that, you'll find that they launch, but there's probably other issues but for now at least that will get each game to work. Some issues I saw include:

  • Overblown audio in MGS 3 that sounds distorted.
  • MGS 2 and MGS 3 on desktop Linux run way too fast, you'll need to find a way to cap the FPS. You can use Gamescope for this to cap the FPS to make them run normally like so:
    WINEDLLOVERRIDES=“xaudio2_9=n” gamescope -r 60 -- %command%

Here's a video doing it on Steam Deck:

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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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14 comments
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a0kami Oct 26, 2023
For the missing dll, as the microsoft developer redistribution guide for xaudio mentions, you can get a legit copy of the dll from the latest Microsoft.XAudio2.Redist nuget.org package, extract it (ark or 7-zip or whatever), then grab the dll under "build/native/release/bin/x64/".

It's slightly less shady.


Last edited by a0kami on 26 October 2023 at 5:01 pm UTC
Pengling Oct 26, 2023
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Quoting: Purple Library GuyOr, to put it a different way, the game's own developer is on this slower than Valve.
Although really, Valve moved on this pretty quick.
Yeah, I wasn't sure which angle to look at it from, haha! Valve usually seems to be fast on things like this, though.

Quoting: RaabenI'm guessing they have eyes on it as it's a pretty big name release and very suited for the Deck audience. Glad they are, not so sure how much faith to have in Konami fixing any of it in general.
What bugs me is that, as I said in the other news-thread relating to this, Konami is really odd about this sort of thing - sometimes they just contract out to suitable indies and that works well (and has resulted in several titles that work great on Linux and the Steam Deck), but this seems to be what happens when they don't do that*.

*Unsurprisingly, the only currently-working parts of this collection were handled by M2, who did the Castlevania and Contra retro collections, and who are quite famous for their Sega Ages titles, amongst others.


Last edited by Pengling on 26 October 2023 at 6:29 pm UTC
ElectricPrism Oct 29, 2023
I fail to see how this steam version is better than emulating PS2.

You can even literally just buy the game on eBay, turn it into a ISO or run it from a DVD-Rom.

Go ahead and take my money, but I expect quality in return. I would pay $60 easy to play a legit remaster of this game.

Reviews report the game runs at 720p, are the textures or AA as good as PCSX2? Probably not.

Somebody fill me in. The review score is 52%. Should I be buying this to support the company trying to deploy to PC? Are they acting in "good faith"? This game is nothing short of amazing in terms of story, but I expect my PC port to be the DEFINITIVE EDITION -- and I'm not convinced yet that this is the case.

Edit: Should I be using stuff like this? https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidmastercollection/mods/29?tab=images

It is a bit sad to need to turn to modders to do simple tasks like AI texture upscaling. Also, it's like what's the FPS limit on something like this? 30? 60?


Last edited by ElectricPrism on 29 October 2023 at 4:34 am UTC
Pengling Oct 29, 2023
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Quoting: ElectricPrismShould I be buying this to support the company trying to deploy to PC? Are they acting in "good faith"?
Konami is making some genuinely good efforts out there (and in those cases you can definitely say that they're acting in good faith, even though those cases often still get review-bombed, though that's a whole other story), but by all accounts this is not one of them. Support the good stuff, not this laziness.
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