Okay so i need help with the metal gear (solid) series.

First of all in what order should i play them.

And second of all do you need to play Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, MG Rising and MGS portable Ops.

In the order of release

Yes play all of them

EDIT: You can skip Acid

You forgot the bastard child of the Metal Gear series, Snake's Revenge!

You really don't need to play the first two (if you really want the story look up the paragraph long summary of them) and I think Kojima has already retconned a lot of Portable Ops. I haven't played Rising yet so I can't say.

In chronological order if you slightly care about the story

Metal Gear Solid 3

Portable Ops

Peacewalker

Metal Gear 1

Metal Gear 2

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid 2

Metal Gear Solid 4

Metal Gear Rising (if you want to play this as well)

The Phantom Pain falls between Peacewalker and Metal Gear 1

I have played all the metal gears games aside from MG and MG2, is peacewalker relevant to the story, i started it and played the first 30 mins and it seemed to be starting as some random side story but obviously i haven't really delved into it at all other than that so don't really know the relevance if any.

@m_shini: Peacewalker is relevant yes

Everyone is forgetting is about Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel!!!!!!! For the Game Boy Color!!

Which is completely non-canon, though reminiscent of the MSX Metal Gear games in some interesting ways, while also having the ability to hug walls as introduced in Metal Gear Solid 1.

But yeah, Ac!d, Ghost Babel, and probably Portable Ops are really not canon at this point. For what it's worth, if you don't want to buy every game in the series, I do suggest you watch a let's play on YouTube or whatever of whichever ones you don't personally play. Reading a synopsis will give you the important plot points, but you'll miss out on some of the weird recurring elements of the games, and miss out on the experience of some of the fucking ridiculous things you have to do in those games.

This. As a big fan of playing stuff in chronological order(especially with such a story based series as this), I say follow this.

@m_shini: Peace Walker is a pretty crucial installment in the series narratively.

Just get the HD collection and play 2 then 3 then Peace Walker (better if you have a coop buddy for that one). Don't play MGS 3 first. It'll be harder to understand if you didn't play MGS 2. It's a prequel to the second game and explains the origins of a major concept in the MGS universe, but you won't know what that concept is (nor will you care) if you don't play through 2 first.

@wazwify: Playing in chronological order in terms of the ongoing storyline is not the greatest idea in the world as you'll be jumping dramatically between gameplay quality - each MGS game basically heralded a new console generation.

If you want the basic experience then the main storyline is contained within:

MGS1

MGS2

MGS3

MGS4

I wouldn't bother with AC!D or Portable Ops but if you really want more then Peace Walker is pretty good.

@wazwify: there's the chronological order below, but why not just wait till the legacy edition is out (thats if you have a ps3)

http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Gear-Solid-Collection-Playstation-3/dp/B00CTKHXFO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371417260&sr=8-1&keywords=metal+gear+solid+legacy+collection

@bisonhero: Portable Ops is cannon

I say don't do this. Play them in the order of release. Better reveals, better characterizations and heavy thematic progression if you play them in order.

DO NOT PLAY IN ORDER OF FICTION, PLAY IN ORDER OF RELEASE SINCE THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME

The story is written in a specific order and meant to be experienced that way. By changing the order you are ensuring that a lot of things won't connect properly, and that the references do not make sense or they may make you confused. I cannot stress this enough. Imagine if you watched NEW Star Wars instead of the old Star Wars first. You would be robbed of the subtle reveal of Yoda, where it turns out he is little green thingy yet the jedi master. If you saw new Star Wars first he would just be some sort of guy on the council that seems self important. You will ruin the experience if you do not go in order of release.

You don't really need to play MG 1 and 2 but they factor into the story a lot, so read their wiki entries (careful not to spoil future games). MGS 1 is really rough to play today, so if you can't deal with it that's ok. There is a comic of it that covers the main story (see youtube), or you can just read up on it. Then head into this:

MGS 2

MGS 3

(Portable Ops is very optional, it is not a Kojima spearheaded project though he did have involvement in it of course)

MGS 4

Peace Walker

Cheers.

Edit: Playing 3 first, for example, makes playing 2 a completely different experience.

Edit: If Rising is your thing (you can always try the demo) after you have played the other games, feel free to play it after the other games. It's more of a side story though.

You can play them in order of release, that's fine. Everything will fit into place.

Quoting to reiterate this!

This is the correct path to take

Why is everyone hating on Ac!d....its a good game.....really, it is. I guess you dont have to play it cause its in some weird alternate universe or something and thus not cannon, but if you like some deck building then do it if you have a psp.

@mrfluke: Yea i will get the Legacy edition so i wanted to check things up before i play

@goranp: Yea youre right that makes the most sense so im gonna play them in order of release

Thx :)

Well the most important thing is to not do anything ridiculous like not playing them in order of release. There's way too much meta cross referencial stuff you will miss out on if you start with MGS3 for example.

Handheld titles do add to the story but you will be pretty much fine with just the main entries in my opinion.

So just go MGS, MGS2, MGS3, MGS4 for the main storyline.

At this point you will probably have had enough of Metal Gear for the rest of your life (or until MGS5 is out) but if you feel like you need even more go for the side entries.