Pushing the limits of what a game can be, with complicated characters and themes, the Metal Gear Solid games have always blurred the line between video game and film. Ten minute plus cutscenes used to play havoc with being called down to dinner! I often found myself in trouble for choosing over to listen to Otacon over my Mum.
The last decade has been hard for the series, with Konami seemingly hellbent on alienating both it’s creator Hideo Kojima, and the fans. But there’s light! The recent Master Collection gives us hope that one day MGS4 will be freed from the constraints of the PS3, and we have the new remake of MGS3. I’m hoping for more to come, despite the overall story seemingly having reached a conclusion.
I’ve been playing the series since I was thirteen with the release of the original Metal Gear Solid. So what do I make of them all? Time to rank every Metal Gear game that I’ve played!
8 – Metal Gear Survive – PS4, 2018
The Phantom Pain had great mechanics. So you wouldn’t be crazy to think that a game making use of those mechanics would at least be alright.
Metal Gear Solid is proof that that isn’t always the case. An ugly cash grab showcasing the worst of Konami at the time. A quick buck to made to be made from a series without it’s leader to protect it.
It doesn’t play as well as or look as good as the game it’s based on. Drab and convoluted. The dialogue is lacking and treats you like an idiot.
After several hours wandering around, hoping for improvement, I laid my avatar down in a puddle and waited for him to starve. For a game called Survive, dying was the only aspect of the game I fully understood.
I couldn’t finish this game. It’s an affront to the series. Avoid.
7 – MGS V: The Phantom Pain – PS4, 2015
Yes, The Phantom Pain is this low down the list.
Blaring ‘Take On Me’ out over the loudspeakers as I landed my chopper into a hot zone and went loud was just as enjoyable as being dropped off with D-Dog hundreds of meters away and making my way in silently.
Mechanically it’s the best MGS by a mile. The furore over the voice cast was a storm in a teacup too. It was the right choice to differentiate Solid Snake and Big Boss vocally the nearer in time frame they got. Kiefer Sutherland did a good job.
What lets MGS V down is the story, as it’s both messy and incomplete. It just peters out.
With repeated missions and an inconclusive story, MGSV ends one of the greatest stories in gaming with a whimper.
The Phantom Pain shines at points. But it’s truncated, abrupt and ultimately disappointing.
6 – MGS 2: Sons of Liberty – PS2, 2001
Bar perhaps GTA6 I’m not sure a game has ever been more hyped. Sons of Liberty had immense expectations placed upon it.
Kojima’s Snake/Raiden bait and switch was upsetting at the time, but now I see it as just one of the many ways in which Kojima wanted to tell a scary and prescient story. Digital curation and no real truths, years before social media. What do we want to pass on? Who are we?
Technically it’s an amazing achievement. A real showcase for the PS2 with smashed glass and weather effects. The opening Tanker section is one of my favourite bits of Metal Gear overall.
Big Shell has never matched up to that for me, and EE is infuriating, but I have a much better understanding of what the story is about as an adult.
I no longer dislike it. Parts of it I even adore.
5 – MGS V: Ground Zeroes – PS4, 2014
It was released on its own so it gets an entry! There are caveats of course. As a prologue to The Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes isn’t very long. Ninety-odd minutes to do the main story.
But also as a prologue to The Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes manages to contain the large majority of it’s sister title’s strengths with pretty much none of the weaknesses.
Performing a rescue mission, we’re provided with an open area to sneak through as we see fit. How you approach it is entirely up to you!
Much like GTA, if you want to get on with things you can, but if you want to muck around, then fill your boots.
With streamlined storytelling, top notch graphics and audio, modern controls and strong replay value it’s worth playing.
4 – MGS 4: Guns of the Patriots – PS3, 2008
The ability to pause cutscenes might not balance out the game being trapped on the PS3, but it is huge. Especially with the length of some of them. Guns of the Patriots truly is the most cinematic Metal Gear. A full conclusion to both the Big Boss and Solid Snake aspects of the series, it’s got a huge job to do
MGS4 felt like a road trip, visiting famous locales as it gave the series a sense of finality.
That’s not to say it didn’t still have some surprises. Just the thought of returning to Shadow Moses still blows my mind.
I’ve never been sold on Drebin or his points system. Thematically it makes sense but it jarred with what I expected from the games up to that point. This was a big move away from OSP.
Still, it played decently and made the most of the newer hardware.
Part conclusion, part nostalgia trip, this game was a fitting end for Solid Snake. Fingers crossed for Master Collection Vol.2.
3 – MGS: Peace Walker – PSP, 2010 & PS3, 2011
Originally a PSP game, I played this on the Xbox 360. It plays well, taking Big Boss on a journey that pleasingly explains his change from famous soldier to leader of an ‘army without a nation’. I’m really glad I played it before getting into The Phantom Pain.
Due to the limitations of the original hardware the game is split into smaller mission areas. I never found myself getting bored with visiting similar places and the leaner story was one of the stronger in the series.
The artwork in particular, used instead of video, was beautiful. Hayter’s Snake voice was getting a bit crazy at this point though. Much like Bale’s Batman it seems no one put a check on just how throaty and gravelly it should get.
Don’t overlook this one because it was a handheld game. It’s important in the mythos and a great game in general.
2 – MGS 3: Snake Eater/Delta – PS2, 2004 & PS5, 2025
Kojima once again defied expectations, taking us back to the sixties and focusing on someone most of us didn’t know much about, Solid Snake’s Dad Big Boss.
Kyle Cooper’s Bond like opening sequence even had a title song. A real dive into the sixties setting.
Snake Eater swaps the concrete jungles of MGS and Sons of Liberty for a real jungle. This was a massive achievement on the PS2, and looks amazing in Delta.
In a series of great bosses, The End is a high point. A cheeky shot early on in the game could prevent the entire boss fight. though you’d be missing a great; a real battle of snipers.
Meeting a young Big Boss was a big departure but it worked, not only giving us a great game but a large part of the history that lead up to Solid Snake. The remake in the form of Delta keeps everything that made it special, with quality of life and graphical improvements only adding to it’s quality.
1 – Metal Gear Solid – PS1, 1998
An obvious but correct choice. From the moment I saw a demo I was all over it. I had to have it. Never would have guessed I’d still be playing it twenty-five years later.
MGS was unlike any game I’d played before. It was like I was controlling the main character in a movie. The lengthy cutscenes aren’t for everyone, but just the briefing tapes alone show so much care. They set the scene perfectly and are superbly well acted.
Cyborg Ninja. Revolver Ocelot. Vulcan Raven. Liquid Snake. The cast of characters is outrageous! But the game and story commit to them fully. As it does to things like making the controller move, or reading your memory card. Wasn’t the code on the back of the CD case? A diabolical meta puzzle!
Crazy boss battles (A Hind-D?!). A cool main character. Double and triple crosses. Breaking the fourth wall. 556ers and pineapples.
I’ve never had to watch the butt wiggle of a soldier before.
Metal Gear Solid is the best Metal Gear game. In fact, it’s my #1 game full stop.
There you go! I’ve pushed up my cardboard box and pushed my opinion out there. Let me know what you think!
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