Watch Metal Gear Scanlon or play the series?

I have a) not watched Metal Gear Scanlon because b) I have never played any MG game. With the current PS Golden Week sale on Metal Gear HD, will I gain anything from playing the games since I intend to watch Metal Gear Scanlon regardless? Is the gameplay worth experiencing if I'm going to experience the story through Drew and Dan? I already own MGS and have never played it, so that's not really an issue.

Eeeeeeh, you don't have to play them to enjoy MGScanlon, but I'd say they're worth playing if for no other reason than to give you a real understanding/appreciation of what Drew is going through. Considering how much freedom is granted to the player in this series, it's interesting to see how Drew tackles a situation in comparison to how you handled it.

Also, they're all really good games.

If you want to play the games then do so first then later down the line watch Metal Gear Scanlon. If you don't really want to experience MGS for yourself then go ahead and just watch Metal Gear Scanlon

I played the second game just to see if I could catch up with Drew. Did not like it so I really enjoyed watching Drew in pain

I played along for MGS3, and I'd recommend playing them first on your own. Maybe just watch if you can't stand the story or gameplay, but at least give it a try. They are good games with a lot of freedom, but it can be annoying to go through a story you already know. I also tried playing MGS2 along with them but went home for Christmas break and couldn't play, so I just watched the videos and have no desire to go back and experience that game on my own.

@accolade: Gameplay-wise, your experience could be very different from Drew's... As Dan points out again and again, there a lot of different ways a player can approach any given situation. So if you have the time they're definitely worth playing.

Drew had a LOT of trouble with MGS1 though, so if those 1998-era controls are too frustrating you might want to skip the first game.

When Drew was playing through the first game I started to go through the whole series and definitely feel like I got more enjoyment out of watching it because I did that. Whenever they came up to a boss I always looked forward to seeing how Drew dealt with it compared to the strategies that I used when I fought them. I also got a second chance to go through the story and pick up on things I missed the first go around. So I say it's definitely worth playing through the series, they are fun games still even without the nostalgia attached to them.

If you want to enjoy the story - play the games.

Drew's pace in the game can annoy you if you just want to see the story but it's hilarious if you're watching it to see their reactions and playstyle.

I can't watch it since I don't subscribe, but I'd say you should play them first, and then watch them. On a side note, I am not a huge fan of handhelds, so I don't play much 3DS or what have you, but today I played the demo for Snake Eater on there, and I'm surprised at how good it was. I mean, they made it play a bit more modern, similar to Peace Walker. I think I'll buy it on there. It would have been cool if the 3DS version was an option in the HD collection when it comes to starting MGS3, and when it asks you what you like. The differences from what I can tell so far (aside from the obvious 3D and two screens), is that you can aim over the shoulder, and you can duck walk.

Play 2, 3 and 4. One still kinda holds up but it's a little rough. Maybe watch MGScanlon for that one.

Shameless relevant plug!

As others have said, it is best to play the series for yourself first to enjoy the actual experience in a unique way. I have played these games several times on basically every platform they've been released on and still enjoy it. Watching how Drew played was fun because it was completely different from my approach to these games. I sort of feel like Dan has had a little too much influence on Drew's game play, strictly because of his coaching style. Dan's Run-and-gun, instead of actually treating them as sneaking missions...in most cases.

If you don't want, or have, the time to dedicate into playing it and just want to enjoy the story and banter of these two knuckleheads, it's an awesome watch.

Good stuff here. Thanks, duders.

just watch them. the gameplay in all the mgs games is terrible and doesnt hold up

I recently played them all for my first time.

MGS1 is a slog. Some parts are easy and you'll feel like a badass flying through them, then there's a giant tower filled with always-aware enemies you have to gun down and it seems more like luck than anything else if you make it through without dying.

MGS2 improves a little, but there are still some seemingly completely unfair stealth sections. And that final boss is just a fucking nightmare.

MGS3 is where the game play finally comes into its own. It's the easiest one out of the main quadrilogy. Generous amounts of health and stamina recovery, much better controls and almost so-good-it's-broken CQC. Easily the most fun game play in the series.

MGS4 is a bit harder than 3, but not much. The controls are the best the series has by a long shot, but the CQC has drastically lost its effectiveness and expect to die if you get spotted. Octo-camo is sort of great if you hated switching camo in the menu in 3, but instead you're stopping and waiting for it to adapt every time a ground or wall texture changes, so it ends up probably consuming more of your time in 4 than in 3, but at least you're not in a menu I suppose. I'm not done with this one yet. I just got to some stealthy tracking mission in eastern Europe in act 3 where they take away your camo that kind of sucks balls.

Definitely watch 1; definitely play 3. 1 doesn't hold up well at all and its systems aren't very deep so your playthrough will look almost exactly like Drew's; Drew was pretty terrible at 3 and you will have much more fun playing it yourself and (likely) actually using stealth and the environment to your advantage. 2 is up to you as it plays fine and Drew's play was inoffensive. 4 is a bad game and I did not enjoy the controls (nor the story and dialogue, to be honest) at all, so it's basically up to you whether you want to wait and watch Drew/Dan play/watch MGS4 or just blow through it yourself.

If you want me to make the decision for you explicitly, I'd say:

Watch 1
Play 2
Play 3
Watch 4

EDIT: I guess I'll add that I hadn't played any of the series until MGScanlon, and I was content to just watch until Drew got to 3 and I was curious whether it was actually that 'hard' to play (read: it is not at all). I played a little bit of 1, then played 3 and 4 and went back and played 2. A lot of people say that 4 has the best controls, but I think what they really mean is "controls most similar to a modern shooter." 3 and even 2 feel much tighter, and once you learn the control scheme you'll never have any issue doing what you want to do, whereas in 4 I actually had a bunch of trouble shooting guys until I learned that there was a way to shoot somewhat similarly to 3, but the framerate and engine still make it harder to pull off than in 2 or 3. I suppose it might be different if you're playing 4 guns blazing with assault rifles (like they seem to want you to), but I played through all 3 games using tranqs and stam kills only.

Should Peace Walker be played or watch Drew play that instead?

I say both! You don't need to play the games to watch the series, but the games are really great. So you should play them.

Having only played the tanker part of 2 and ground zeroes, I prefer to just watch Drew play. The old games had incredibly interesting gameplay at the times at which they came out but are overall kind of a chore to get through for many people. I'm definitely going to play Phantom Pain because GZ played super well (and was very well optimized on pc), but I'd rather watch the older ones.

The Metal Gear Solid games are much more fun to watch than they are to play. The only people who will try to tell you otherwise are hardcore MGS fans.

You can switch back to octocamo in the camoflauge menu.

Play them and then watch so you can rage out at all the goofy things that happen.

The games hold up fairly well if you understand their quirks. Metal Gear Solid Original Recipe runs pretty well despite so many games of that era being happy will 20ish fps. The biggest thing to remember that Drew didn't use in the first game was going into a load/transition acts like a checkpoint. So if you use all your rations and run through a door with a load you are stuck with no rations. If you go through a crazy long dialog and don't want to hear it again, but are at a tough part, run through a load door and back. If you used all your ammo and rations on a pointless fight with guards, you may want to just die and come back since as long as you follow that trick you probably won't lose too much progress.

A mild spoiler for the show, but not the game so don't be too scared to read it:

In one episode Drew goes through a really long dialog and then tries to grab two tricky items all in one run. He pretty much spends an entire episode of this. He could have heard the codec, checkpoint, get one item, checkpoint, got the last item, checkpoint and had a much easier time had he known you could do that. Not his fault, though, of course.

As someone who hadn't seen/played them before and has only followed along with MGScanlon (without a way of playing the main games at the moment anyway)... I'd say to play them first if you can. They try their best to not detract from it, and it's certainly enough for me to just watch them play it, but I'm sure it would be a lot more enjoyable not having to try and focus on the story and what Drew is doing (and what Dan is trying to get him to do).

I think their playthrough of it does add to the understanding of the series overall (possibly because Dan frequently nerds out on things you'd struggle to stumble across on your own playthrough) but it can get confusing with Drew trying to keep track but also having gaps between play sessions (you might find it frustrating watching all the MGScanlon Episodes in quick succession just because of how many episodes start with Drew having forgotten what he was doing and fumbling around for 20 minutes).

Peace Walker is interesting, and I personally enjoy a ton. I'd recommend playing it because it'll be rough watching Drew slog through it blindly because of how the game is set up in opposition to other Metal Gears.

Good luck with those S-ranks.

I think that I'd agree with this. I have fond and warm memories of all the core games, but it's true that especially the controls in MGS 1 don't necessarily hold up all that well. Then again if you were to jump straight into MGS 2 you might struggle with the controls anyway, because they are quite different to any other action game. Hopefully you'll at least try each game, play an hour or so in and see how you feel about it. Playing them by yourself is definitely the preferred way to go, but MGS 4 especially is so reliant on cut-scenes that you won't be missing much "gameplay enjoyment" if you were to just watch it.