So.. I've never actually finished a Metal Gear Solid game... played a little bit on my friend's PS1 back in the day.... played some MS4 but never finished it...

I enjoyed the gameplay of MS4... but the story was so unfamiliar and complicated and Japanesy that I eventually lost interest.

That being said, this new trailer looks fantastic, and I'd hate to not appreciate the game as much as I should because I couldn't follow what was going on....

Any resources to help get me up to speed?

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I realize there is nothing quite like playing all the games myself and being rewarded with a long crafted storyline, but I don't have time to do so. Thanks!

Pay a dude to shout METAL GEAR at you for like three days and ur pretty much there

Play the games

Wow, good luck.

Nanomachines. That's all you need to know.

Replay MGS4 (now has trophies!) and download the Metal Gear Solid database application from the PSN store.  Whenever a piece of terminology turns up that you don't understand, make a note of it and when you're done playing that session, look it up in the database.  You may also want to look up some of the main characters in the database before starting to replay.

Huff some paint.

You a guy who smokes cigarretts to see lasers and shoot dudes. He also rolls a lot, hides a lot, and grunts a lot. But if you don't take my word for it, I'm sure you can find practically all cutscenes of the entire series on Youtube.

Do you have a good amphetamine dealer?

There is not understanding the story, there is only tentative acceptance of Kojima

Here. Read the whole thing.

You own a PS3? Get MGS1 from PSN, get the HD collection, and get MGS4. Total cost is like $60 or so. It shouldn't take more than two or three weeks of casual play to finish them all.

And trust me, you really want to play the games, not read about the story online. It doesn't make any sense at all when you read it like that.

Wow. If you have enough time on your hands get the hd collection I guess. And maybe keep the MGS wiki close.

You own a PS3? Get MGS1 from PSN, get the HD collection, and get MGS4. Total cost is like $60 or so. It shouldn't take more than two or three weeks of casual play to finish them all.

And trust me, you really want to play the games, not read about the story online. It doesn't make any sense at all when you read it like that.

Download a torrent of all the cutscenes.

Get prepared for one of the most convoluted stories of all time.

Buy MGS1 on PS3 downloads, get the MGS HD collection and finish MGS4.

EDIT: Just realised someone else has already mentioned this.

You can pretty much sum up the story of MGS like this;

You see, there once was the Big Boss. He was a legendary soldier and he had a brother (now if he owned a brothel, that would be really weird right?). Revolver Ocelot did something, became Liquid (not the kind you will have to mop up later). Something something, a giant metal gear loaded with warheads. Solid Snake comes into play. Raiden is some kind of zombie corpse revived from a FOX-unit as a cyborg ninja. FOX-unit is some secret military ops. FOX-die is some kind of virus to eliminate them. Everyone is a clone of Big Boss, everyone. Because Snake is a clone, he ages very rapidly, see Molly the sheep for explanation.

Nanobots can cure/stop cancer (well duh) and give you immortal life, that's how everyone ever in the MGS-plotline was able to make a cameo in MGS4. Some female scientist made a vampire named Vamp. Vamp gets to fight Raiden, zombie on vampire action if you're into that thing. A lot of cows strolling by while they're fighting. Meryll has the hots for Snake ever since he has seen her in her undies. Now she can bust a cap in everyone's ass. Something about PMC and militias. I don't know what Zero has to do with anything but he's in there. I think he was a communist. Cold wars being fought, apparently the japanese have to step in to save the world from communism. The Cuban missile crisis was done by the Patriots. The Patriots are the illuminati. Something about the Big Boss still being alive, probably nanobots again. Forgot about Metal Gear, I guess that shows up now and then.

I don't know, you're better off learning the anatomy of every living thing that has ever existed in every single languages ever conceived. You never play a MGS for the story. I'm hesitant to call it a story because it plays out like a 72-hour lasting acid trip. Ask yourself this after every line of dialogue, can this be explained by nanobots? If the answer is Yes, you're playing a MGS game and you should accept it as the truth.

Well, it seems to be a prequel to MGS1, so you wouldn't need to play all of them, but it would help.

The ones that I would suggest playing to know what's going on in Ground Zeroes would be

Metal Gear Solid 3 (which you should play regardless, as it's an amazing game)

and

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Those two will catch you up on the story. Metal Gear 1, 2, Metal Gear Solid 1, 2 and 4 all take place after Ground Zeroes by the looks of it, so you can play those later if you still want to. The game isn't coming out for a long time, anyway.

Start with Twin Snakes. Make sure you read the synopsises for MG1 and MG2 first. Both are in the menu somewhere, under "Previous Operations". And watch the briefing videos after that, also in the menu. Then play the damn game. I don't know why they separated that stuff out from the rest of the story, but it's pretty vital.

After that, it's pretty straightforward. Get the HD Collection for 2 and 3, and then play 4. Then back to the HD Collection for Peacewalker.

That's actually not straightforward at all...

A wiki is usually the correct answer.

Play the games on the easiest difficulty. I'm sure you can get through them quickly.

@notdavid: All you have to do is buy 3 things, its not that bad. Alternatively he could buy MGS1 on PSN, then play MG 1 and 2 on the HD collection. Don't forget the Portable ops!

@Nottle: I feel like MG1 and 2 are easily skippable if you just read the briefings included with MGS. MG2 holds up reasonably well, but MG1 is a bitch to get through. And I never played Portable Ops, so I'm not sure if the story is that vital. 1, 2, 3, 4, and Peacewalker should get you the bulk of the story, and if you substitute Twin Snakes for MGS, all of them still hold up pretty well today.

Thanks for the all the feedback! Even the smartass ones, which I have come to fully embrace here.

That being said, I guess I have to quite school now and start playing the games.

as alot of others have said.just play the games. they really are not that long. you should probly be able to beat each game in ten hours or so..besides.these games are hihgly regarded as some of the best video games ever created.dont screw yourself out of playing them because your lazy. theres atleast a year or so until ground zeroes to come out.you got plenty of time.

Get the HD collection and a copy of MGS1 and have a blast. Really if you didn't enjoy it, why not just read a wiki around the time the game comes out. Hell, you might need to just to remember the crazy shit that happens in those games.

@notdavid said:

Start with Twin Snakes.

Oh boy.

@notdavid said:

@Nottle: I feel like MG1 and 2 are easily skippable if you just read the briefings included with MGS. MG2 holds up reasonably well, but MG1 is a bitch to get through. And I never played Portable Ops, so I'm not sure if the story if that vital. 1, 2, 3, 4, and Peacewalker should get you the bulk of the story, and if you substitute Twin Snakes for MGS, all of them still hold up pretty well today.

I'm the same way, never played portable ops, and only got through some of MG1. Really the anything anyone needs to know is Big Boss dies in MG2 and Gray Fox is in it. Also I never played Ps1 MGS, only Twin Snakes (don't know why so many people hate Twin Snakes). Just throwing out suggestions.

@hoossy said:

Thanks for the all the feedback! Even the smartass ones, which I have come to fully embrace here.

That being said, I guess I have to quite school now and start playing the games.

Just major in Metal Gear Studies. Sign up for MGS1000 take a lab, learn some modern military studies, philosophy, and the humanities. You'll soon be an expert on genes, meme theory. the cold war, and how the advancement of technology will be our downfall/ great benefit.

I recommend not reading any synopses and playing the games whenever you get the opportunity. the chronology of the series is already so fractured that the order in which you play them isn't terribly important...they all work pretty well as self-contained stories, although MGS 1, 2, and 4 should be played in sequence at least.

seriously though...Ground Zeroes isn't coming out anytime soon. playing through the Metal Gear series for the first time is a better use of your gaming time than anything else. I envy you.

@EuanDewar said:

Pay a dude to shout METAL GEAR at you for like three days and ur pretty much there

Something, something War Economy, something, something Nanomachines, something, something, The System.

I just replayed MGS4 and that's everything you need to know about that game

GameTrailers retrospective covers everything up to 4.

if you only want to catch up with ground zero, you should get the HD collection and play 3, then peace walker

you can try portable ops before peace walker, if you have the time and a PSP. but it doesn't matter much other than explaining how he ended up in Centro America and stuffs

timeline thing

MGS3->portable ops->peace walker->ground zero->MG1->MG2->MGS->MGS2->MGS4->Rising

If you're really in a rush, just play MGS 3 and Peace Walker since that'll catch you up to the current story arc. You'll probably miss a lot of the weird references and subtleties of the stories, but you'll probably make out just fine.

@hoossy: You can read the entry on Big Boss here (disclosure: I wrote a big portion of it) though it will spoil some (most?) of the other games.

I can also sum it up here if I find that thing I wrote elsewhere. Hold on...

Play 'em all.

ALL OF THEM, NOW.

@notdavid: and yeah, maybe Twin Snakes instead of actual MGS1, which hasn't aged all that well.

@hoossy: You've got a couple options at your disposal.

1. Buy the HD Collection and download MGS 1 on PSN along with MGS 4 if you don't already have it. Play them and if you have any other questions there is a FREE Metal Gear Solid Database on PSN. Download that and then dig through it to answer any remaining questions you might have.

2. Youtube + Internet There are a number of sites that have done retrospective looks at the series and hilighted the big talking points. This is obviously the most frugal and time efficient method however you most likely won't form any sort of real attachments to any of the characters like you would if you just go through and play everything.

If you feel up to it I'd really suggest just playing through everything. Its one hell of a ride.

@Demoskinos: reading your number 1 made me realize how much I wish I was going into the Metal Gear universe a virgin. OP has a crazy amazing gaming experience full of discovery ahead of him.

Twin Snakes is awful, pass on that if you can. I'd go back and play the original MGS1. It's only $10. These games really are a "You need to see it yourself" type of thing. You'll never understand references and characters if you don't.

Get MGS1 and the HD Collection and you are good. You said you have MGS4 so that too. Don't worry about Portable Ops, that game is literally worse than Hitler.Literally worse than Hitler.

@N7: Twin Snakes is not awful. I still don't get the shit people gave that game. Other than people nitpicking over some of the VO changes and other tweaks. The gameplay is way better since it ropes in all the MGS2 mechanics.

You have no chance. This comes from someone who played since MGS1 on the playstation. I still dont know what the fuck is going on. Love it though

@hoossy: Play Metal Gear Solid (PSone), Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear Solid 4 and then Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, in this order, and you'll be good to go. They are still great games. Play them on the easiest difficulty; you'll be able to enjoy the story without the frustration of the earlier games' maybe-outdated mechanics.

edit: do not play Twin Snakes for the GameCube. It is inferior. It has stupid action-y cutscenes, worse voice acting (Naomi and Campbell in particular) and a worse soundtrack. Trust me; play the original instead.

Quick synopsis of the appropriate information after brushing up myself (not really any spoilers): Naked Snake (A.K.A, Jack, A.K.A. Big Boss [soon enough]) is a super fly spy man in FOX, a part of the CIA. He was trained by The Boss, a super fly spy woman. In MGS3, the OG Boss defects to the Russians and it's Snake's job to take her down. He does so and thus earns the title of Big Boss.

Soon after, Zero (your commanding officer in MGS3) comes into possession of the Philosopher's Legacy - a pot built between nations valued at 1.2 trillion dollars - with the help of Ocelot (A.K.A, Revolver Ocelot). Zero founds "The Patriots" (A.K.A., La-li-lu-le-lo, A.K.A., Cipher), a shadow organization meant to govern the world. Think illuminati. Big Boss joins the outfit, at the behest of Ocelot. Big Boss sees it differently than Zero - as a tool of peace, to carry out the dream that his former mentor held. Big Boss becomes a public figurehead of the organization, so much so that Zero felt that he needed a back-up plan if Big Boss ever defied him. So he took his DNA and cloned him 3 times: Solid Snake (our protagonist in 1 and 4), Liquid Snake (our antagonist in 1 and 4), and Solidus Snake (our antagonist in 2). When they talk about how two sons were born, they mean Liquid and Solid (Solidus is born later). EVA, a spy from MGS3 and former flame of Big Boss, is the surrogate mother for these clones.

Shortly after that, Zero and Big Boss have a massive falling out, so much so that Big Boss leaves The Patriots with the intent to destroy them. He founds the Militaires Sans Frontiers. This organization is an altruistic PMC that provides military force for those in dire need of it, and has the dual intent of combating the immense influence and power of The Patriots.

This new game will be following shortly after the events of Peace Walker, which was - shall we say - a bit of indirect foreplay before the main clash between MSF and The Patriots. The boy in the cage is Chico, a young soldier that was in the MSF in Peace Walker. The young girl the scarred man talks about is assumedly Paz (Full name: Pacifica Ocean), a young girl also in the MSF. For a bit of additional, spoilery context to the trailer, At the end of Peace Walker it is revealed that

It appears that Snake has come to rescue them both from a new and entirely mysterious organization called XOF - FOX backwards.

As for the series timeline, it goes MGS3 (1964) >Peace Walker (1974) >Ground Zeroes (???) > MGS1(2005) >MGS2 (2007-2009) >MGS4 (2014). You should give 'em a shot! In order if you can.

@Falx said:

Buy MGS1 on PS3 downloads, get the MGS HD collection and finish MGS4.

EDIT: Just realised someone else has already mentioned this.

The combo pack also has the original two Metal Gear games as they were originally bundled with MGS3.

Should be played in sets: MGS1 and 2, MGS3 and Peacewalker, then ending with MGS4 which brings the stories together.

There's wikis, the MGS database, and I think GT did a retrospective on it.

@hoossy: HD Collection is your best bet, they hold up pretty well.

The story also looks like its going to take place after Peace Walker, so if you wanted to go quicker you could skip MGS1, MGS2 and MGS4 and just play MGS3 and MGSPW.

@Demoskinos said:

@N7: Twin Snakes is not awful. I still don't get the shit people gave that game. Other than people nitpicking over some of the VO changes and other tweaks. The gameplay is way better since it ropes in all the MGS2 mechanics.

Snake, backflipped off of a missile. That ruined the entire thing for me. Playing TTS and then going right into MGS2 is a big mistake because the cutscenes were so over the top and wild and incredibly more actiony than they had any right to be. Especially more so than MGS2. So if you see those cutscenes you'll probably think this is what the series is like, and while the game did get have some amazing scenes(The Liquid Snake/Solid Snake fight on top of REX for example, and then the entire Gray Fox murderspree), it's a bad representative I think.

I mean, okay, it's not a bad game, and it did a lot right. And David Hayter even gave up half his check just to make sure they could get as many of the original voice actors to come back, but if you aren't aware of what the series is and want to jump on, you may get turned off by the way the game is presented in TTS. I've seen some people interested in MGS and then they pick up TTS and got turned off because it was too much, so I'm not taking a risk.

Watch Metal Gear Awesome off youtube, that pretty much sums up the whole first game. Or y'know play the games.

(there is also that database on the PS3)