[Top 10] Best Metal Gear Games to Play Today (Ranked Fun To Most Fun)
The Legendary Big Boss
Metal Gear Solid is considered by the vast majority of critics and players as the best stealth game in the history of video games, which in turn made "Hideo Kojima" the creator of the franchise, one of the greatest games directors in history.
The Metal Gear Franchise is unique in many aspects, and by unique, I mean, you can't find anything like it in terms of story, gameplay, and characters.
The story is about "Naked Snake" a great American soldier that was irreplaceable, and after many espionage missions, he decided to quit and get out of America to create his own hidden fortress in Africa (Outer Heaven), to establish a place where soldiers are not controlled and used as pawns by their governments.
Indeed that was a terrible loss to America, so the American army decided to clone him, making three great soldiers (Solid Snake, Solidus Snake, and liquid snake). But the three brothers will turn the world upside-down trying to control it by all means, or protecting it from each other.
In this article, we will take a tour across the world of this great franchise.
10. Metal Gear
Avaiable on: MSX2
This is the first "Metal Gear" game designed by Hideo Kojima. It was developed and first published by Konami in 1987 for the MSX2.
The game was too good as an entry of a great franchise, but it was not perfect. The game was very hard at the time, but it was fun and unique.
The game revolves around an agent called "Solid Snake" who goes on a sneaking mission into the hostile nation of "Outer Heaven" (Naked Snake's hidden fortress), to destroy the metal gear, a walking tank with nuclear missiles.
9. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Avaiable on: PSP
"Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops", is the first "Metal Gear" published on PSP, set in 1970 in South America, six years after the events of (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater).
The story is about "Naked Snake or (Big Boss)" going after his former unit, FOX. The game also focuses on the founding of FOXHOUND as well as the beginning of creating the famous mother base (Outer Heaven).
It's not only a great introduction to "Peace walker, and "MGSV", but also a unique game for PSP, with remarkable moments, comic cutscenes, and a great story.
8. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Avaiable on: PS3, PS4, Xbox360, Xbox One, PC
Ground Zeroes is the prologue of "MGSV: The Phantom Pain", it's a small campaign with extra side missions, it's more like an appetizer for the players after years of waiting for MGSV, the game introduces us to the new gameplay mechanics, fascinating graphics, and more.
We can see that the game is after the events of "Peace Walker", playing as "Big Boss" again, as he infiltrates an American black site in Cuba, trying to rescue Cipher agent "Paz", and the child soldier "Chico", but the game ends up with a huge cliff hanger, make it, even more, harder to wait for MGSV, in contrary of what Konami intended by launching this small prologue.
The game was overpriced at launch with low content, and no doubt that it was unnecessary as a standalone game, but as part of MGSV, it's a very good game, a very unique introduction and you should absolutely try it out.
7. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Avaiable on: PS3, Xbox360, pc
Metal Gear Rising, is a spin-off, it's totally different from the other games in the franchise, with its new hack and slash gameplay mechanics.
The main protagonist is "Raiden" the cyborg ninja from "MGS4", and the main character in "MGS2". "Raiden" was not accepted by the fans to replace the famous Solid Snake, but time spared him from the hatred, and his change in "MGS4" as the badass cyborg ninja, made him famous to gain his own game.
Metal Gear Rising is great as a hack and slash game, with epic boss fights, fascinating characters, and a good storyline, but it's different from every other MGS game. If you are in love with the hack and slash genre, this game is definitely for you. But if you are expecting a stealth game, then this game is not for you.
Following the events of MGS4, after four years of the destruction of a shadow organization called "The patriots" who was running the world's war economy. After the defeat, Private Military Companies (PMC) have splintered into numerous factions, and another conflict is coming.
6. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Avaiable on: PS2, NVidia Sheild
When Konami announced Metal Gear Solid 2, fans were astonished by the improvements of the graphics at the time of PS2. The game shipped over seven million copies worldwide.
The story was very complex, full of plot twists, and deep themes such as: artificial intelligence, political conspiracies, and social engineering.
Playing as "Raiden" when he is sent to uncover the dirty secret of the big shell, a massive offshore clean-up facility seized by a group of terrorists who call themselves "The sons of the Liberty".
MGS2 was massive and still holds up till today, but critics were initially divided on the protagonist and the philosophical nature and execution of the game's storyline.
The game is serious but contains a lot of funny moments as usual, for example when Snake eventually makes his way into a large auditorium where military personnel are watching a briefing via projector screen.
Snake can either use this distraction to sneak his way past, or he can mess around with the projector for laughs. If the player keeps hitting the projector button, a pretty girl pops up on the opposite screen, immediately catching the attention of all the men in the auditorium.
Not to mention hiding in a cardboard box from soldiers, and moving around as a walking box anytime you want.
If you are a fan of stealth game, you should play this one.
5. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Avaiable on: PS3, PS4, Xbox360, Xbox One, PC
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was the most anticipated game in the franchise, with five years of development, bringing for the first time the open world to MGS, and adding new impressive mechanics.
The game is similar in many ways to "Peace Walker" as it's a sequel to it, using the same gameplay mechanics but adding more features that made it even more fun and astonishing.
There is no doubt that MGSV is the greatest stealth game yet, but in terms of the depth of the story, MGSV is a disappointment. The Metal Gear franchise is famous for its complex story, emotional moments, and well-written characters. But MGSV fails in all that.
In my opinion, Kojima focused more on creating a great open-world stealth game, but it seems that he didn't focus on the story.
You will always sacrifice something for making a huge open-world game with massive content and high graphics, and as you guessed, Kojima sacrificed the story. But in the end, MGSV is the greatest stealth game to this day in my opinion in terms of gameplay and content.
The game also provides you with funny new mechanics, like using a dog to help you with your missions, a walking machine, or your horse to move around faster. Not to mention the funny details that you will find in every corner like using decoys to deceive enemies, throwing playboy magazines to distract soldiers, and more.
If you want a solid stealth game that you won't find anything like, then MGSV is for you, but don't expect much from the story.
4. Metal Gear Solid: Peace walker
Avaiable on: PSP, PS3, Xbox360
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, is a piece of art, a surprising sequel to Portable Ops that no one expected. The game was first published on PSP and didn't get the credit it deserves.
Peace Walker has surprisingly a very deep plot, amazing comic cutscenes, and unique content. Following "Big Boss" creating his hidden fortress (Outer Heaven). You will also get the chance to create it by yourself piece by piece, by hijacking soldiers to work in your base, and spreading your new army to control over the world.
Peace Walker is a good start for new players to get into the franchise, and it is also a reflection of what MGSV should have been.
The game introduces Coop for the first time, so you can also try it with your friends and family.
The game is full of funny moments like the leap of faith from The "Assassin's creed" franchise, and other "Monster Hunter" references.
Also, the short section involving searching trucks for the nuclear warheads is loaded with Easter eggs in many of the trucks. Such as a truck loaded with metal gears (resulting in Snake's famous response), or "Hideo Kojima" the director of the game hiding in the back of one. And you even recruit him as a merc!
MGS: Peace Walker, is one of the greatest stealth games, and it's like a small version of the huge world of MGSV, but with more depth in the story, and with coop mode.
3. Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
Avaiable on: Nintendo GameCube
The original Metal Gear Solid is a memorable game, it is still considered one of the greatest stealth games in history despite its PS1 blocky graphics.
More often the remake on the GameCube "The Twin Snakes" is even greater, because it brings back the old masterpiece with greater graphics, and unique cutscenes.
You can now see "Shadow Moses" more clearly, with tons of details. The amazing plot of this game is still astonishing to this day, and the fascinating memorable boss fights, like "Psycho Mantis" the extremely powerful psychic, declaring himself the most powerful telepath and psychokinetic in the world.
When you fight this boss he will read your mind and he will tell you about your favorite video games (He is actually reading your device memory) so in order to prevent him from doing that, you have to unplug the memory and you will laugh from his response.
You can't also beat him because he can predict every move you make, in order to defeat him you need to switch your controller to the second player port. This will prevent Psycho Mantis from reading Snake's mind and now you can hit him hard.
Very unique and funny isn't it? Will thank god it was only our memory cards he was reading instead of our browser history.
The Twin Snakes is a great remake of a great game, and it's good to see a remake of the original Metal Gear as many players now find it hard to play it again with its old blocky graphics.
2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the patriots
Avaiable on: PS3
Metal Gear Solid 4 is the last chapter in the story, it is the continuation of the cliffhanger of Metal Gear Solid 2. MGS4 has the most memorable moments in the entire franchise, with satisfying endings for most of the characters.
The gameplay was better due to the new capabilities of PlayStation 3, and the final chapter was emotional, epic, and memorable, but the ending was not satisfying for everyone. A good ending indeed, but it could be much better.
Set five years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the story centers around a prematurely aged Solid Snake, now known as Old Snake, as he goes on one last mission to assassinate his nemesis Liquid Snake who is now taking control over the world.
MGS4 earned Game of the Year awards from several major gaming publications, including GameSpot, which hailed the game as technically flawless.
As usual, I would like to mention some funny moments in this game too to encourage you to play this amazing franchise.
The first one is when these new machines called "Gekko" are chasing Snake and they think that he is hiding in a cardboard box, and one of them was trying to smash the box, and you can read at the side of the box this sentence "No Place for Hideo Kojima" before the box get smashed.
Metal Gear Solid 4 plays on this when Snake returns to Shadow Moses Island later on in the game. Otacon contacts him on the codec and tells him to swap to Disc 2 to continue the story, of course, every player was in a panic searching for DISC 2 before suddenly remembering that the game is packed onto a Blu-Ray disc, with massive storage capabilities.
It was a joke from Kojima and it was even funnier to see "Snake" showing his annoyance.
MGS4, is a must play for MGS fans, or stealth fans.
1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Avaiable on: PS2, Xbox 360, PS3
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is a masterpiece, a unique piece of art in all aspects. The gameplay is more dynamic, and the story is the strongest element of this game.
Set in 1964, 31 years before the events of the original Metal Gear, focusing on the FOX operative codename "Naked Snake" in his mission to rescue a Russian Rocket scientist and sabotage a dangerous weapon.
The world in this game is dynamic as you move through jungles, deserts, and facilities, which allows you to use the environment around you to hide or defeat enemies. Gathering food, weapons, and supplies from the surroundings encourages discovery.
The story here is one of the greatest stories in the history of the videogames, with memorable emotional moments that you will never forget. The story brought tears to my eyes, even though I suffer from dry eyes!
MGS3 in my opinion, is a rare piece of art that no one can ever duplicate.
Now it's time for funny moments:
The first is when you fight an old man with a sniper called "The End" you can defeat this boss by many funny methods.
First one: You can go out to PlayStation settings and change the time and date, increase more ten year, and when you return to the game, the end will die from aging!
Second one: There is a cutscene including multiple enemies standing together and talking, and you can see 'The End" sleeping in a wheelchair. You can search for a sniper close by, and snipe him in this scene, and you won't find him later on in the game.
That's it for today.
This is the end of my list. Do you agree with it? Write down your opinion in the comments.
