While it is a perfect assortment of games and a neat collector's object, I feel there are too many missed opportunities.
The Essential Collection is pretty basic: The three games one should play before going on to Metal Gear Solid 4 on the PS3. Unfortunately, there are missed oportunities here and even some missing "Essential" parts.
For one, the box for Metal Gear Solid 3 only comes with Disc 1 of Subsistance. You can even see in the main menu when you start up the game that there is originally a second disc. In the original release of Subsistance, there was Disc 2: Persistance, that included fully playable versions of Metal Gear 1& 2, the Snake vs. Monkey game with extra missions and Metal Gear Online. None of this is in the bundle.
There is another terrible disappointment here. Metal Gear Solid is included in the box set. This is nice, but it's only the original North American release from 1998 with new packaging. I personally saw this "Essential Collection" as a perfect excuse to finally officially release Integral to the American public. This was pretty much the last chance and it obviously wasn't taken.
The way I see it, this box set wasn't for me. Not because it isn't good, either. All three games in this collection are spectacular and worth playing. I've just simply played them all and this collection brings absolutely nothing new to the series. Heck, it's even stripped of original material. If you haven't played a game in the series, this is most defintely a good buy. But if you're already familiar with the series or a fan, chances are you've played these games dozens of times if you don't already own them.