Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty It was a game that had a skyrocketing hype prior to its launch, as a result of the reception with critics and the public that its predecessor had Metal Gear Solid in 1998.
When in the E3 from the already very distant 2000 The revelation trailer of this sequel was shown, we were able to verify that the game would boast an abysmal improvement in the graphic section, thanks to the technology of Playstation 2, and we also saw that the scope of stealth tactical dynamics would be expanded.
The advance of course shook the floor of the video game industry at that time, but if we look at it today we will realize that its resolution it just doesn’t fit under today’s standards.
With the intention of improving an old material and presenting it to the eyes of an audience that wants more and more 4K, the folks at Digital Foundry set out to employ artificial intelligence in the original trailer to scale it to that resolution.
“We use deep learning to improve and scale its presentation, in an attempt to refresh a genuinely classic piece of gaming history and free it from the constraints of its original format “says Rick Leadbetter of Digital Foundry before noting that in 2000 the trailer was of such high quality that it was impossible to share it online and therefore Konami distributed it in isolation on DVD so that the fandom could see it as intended.
To get a picture in 4K, the neural network used extrapolates the detail over a much higher pixel count to increase definition. “Analyze the image and use the 4K output as a canvas at the service of your own interpretation of the original content“Leadbetter adds.
One aspect that stands out is that artificial intelligence It is being used increasingly in remastering textures and enhancing pre-rendered video sequences.
But it also clarifies that it is about emerging technology that will improve over time and therefore there is still a trace of artificial intelligence when observing the images that went through the deep learning process.
Watch the progress of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in 4K (the first part is intended to explain the process and from minute 6:40 you can see the resulting material):