Hey Metal Gear fans, can you tell me which game is best when it comes to gameplay?

Just finished metal gear 5 and it was amazing, gameplay was so good that I can’t even express in words. Taking down an entire army which includes multiple tanks and gunship with your own army (with my own army I mean summoning your own helicopter, tank and sharpshooter quiet) was just crazy. Or you can just go non-lethal stealth with your D-dog and take them out quietly. The amount of freedom and gadgets you have at your disposal is just mind boggling.

This game converted me into fan and I would like to have more metal gear so can you people recommend me the best metal gear games when it comes to gameplay.

also this song was just too good.

The one you just played.

5 or Peace Walker.

Gameplay: 5>2>1>PW>3>4

Story: 2>1>3>4>5>PW

Overall: 2>1>5>3>4/PW

PP is one of the best playing games of all time!

5 :(

To help you along though, I'd give 3 a shot. It has the most options/ sandboxy environments of the older ones ( 4 plays fantastically as well and gives you even more control over snake than you have in 5 except......you end up playing like litterally only 5 hours of game and watching 10 hours of cutscenes or something so yeah the rest of the series has a more even split between gameplay and cutscene). Its also very playable without much knowledge of the rest of the series, just like 5.....Man a mix of mgs 3's story +survival stuff with mgs 5's open gameplay would be the perfect mgs game imo.

And despite that my favorite overall as it is is still unquestionably mgs2. I love *almost* the whole series though.

Peace Walker is the only mgs game I didn't enjoy at all, the whole story came off to me as bad fanfic and I hated everything about the simplified controlscheme, reduced stealth options, remedial base management and enemy AI.

@liquiddragon: does metal gear 4 really sucks that much when it comes to gameplay?

@superprohero: Yup, it's a half step of what they had with 2 and evolved in 3 and what they wanted to get to in 5. Feels very clunky and unsatisfying.

hmm.. i guess from a technical standpoint it would be 4, especially with the streamlimed camouflage, having aim & shoot on the triggers and having a varied amount of weapons. But the game doesn't always put you in situations that lead to 'fun gameplay'. 3 is personally more fun to play, but you have to be okay with tinkering with menu's to adjust for the right situations. It's my favorite game. the gameplay of 2 feels like a big improvement over 1 by having some neat physics (melting icecubes, pipes that release steam) and first person options. Playing this before MGS1 might also ruin the best parts of the game.

MGS1 is a hard one because it's such a different game at this point. Almost no first person options, mostly isometric, very close quarters combat focused and a game where you absolutely need to take advantage of stealth, because you can't shoot your way out of it. I still love it, but seeing Drew struggle with it, maybe a newcomer wouldn't enjoy it. It's totally worth trying though, because it's an absolute classic.

I sort of understand the idea that you want to play the best 'playing' games of this series, but i have to stress that all these games are very narrative based and would be 100% more enjoyable if you played them in order of release. Like the highpoint of 4 is that it wraps up all kinds of narrative threads in spectacular fashion, not necessarily that the camouflage system is more streamlined. Same for MGS2. When people talk fondly about that game, it's about the narrative and it's connection to MGS1. Not necessarily because people enjoy activating terminals to gain access to their minimap. Or enjoy hanging on rails to increase their grip level.

Shoutout to Peace Walker which is probably the closest to MGS5 in gameplay and story. However, remember that this is originally a PSP game and has it's limitations because of it. But the whole idea of building up your motherbase and recruiting enemies to work for you is all there. And it features most of the characters you met in MGS5.

Ground Zeroes was sort of a standalone demo for Phantom Pain, so if you haven't played that yet it's worth picking up. Storywise, there's not that much to it. But i still got a lot of time out of doing all the missions and trying to get better at it.

Some extra ramblings:

I tend to see a lot of those 'which metal gear is your favorite' type of lists, and often people that don't care for the gameplay but are mostly there to see Kojima display his trickery think that 2 and 4 are the best games. While people that enjoy Metal Gear beyond the narrative threads value 1 and 3 more. Just some food for thought.

THE ANSWER : Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Seriously though, it would definitely be MGS 5 and Ground Zeroes.

From a technical standpoint it would you'd probably be best to work backwards through the series, which is a rather bizarre way to experience the games from a story standpoint.

the one you played.

As a hardcore fan of all the games 5 has the best gameplay by a large margin.
I enjoy playing MGS1 and 2 a lot but they're a totally different game compared to 5, 3 is good but guards have better hearing and eye sight which ruins what i enjoy about the first two games, 4 is really not fun to play but the story and cutscenes are unmissable.

@onemanarmyy: Well I don’t know man I really don’t play games for stories, also is there even a way to play mgs1 without emulation?

also will this collection do?

MGS3 has the best gameplay of the series and i will fight this point til i die. I get why 5 is the answer everyone gives but while the controls are super tight the encounter design is all over the place, there’s no real boss fights in the same way. MGS1-3 are fantastic playing games with and I’d reccomend everyone go back and give them a shot.

Also Metal Gear (1987) still feels great lol, I don’t like MG2 as much because it gets way too fiddly and the base is less coherent, but the first game is a stealth game on the small scale and a zelda dungeon on the large scale. It’s good.

Revengeance seems good, i will buy it sooner or later. also ground zero was nice.

@superprohero:

There is a PC version for MGS1 , but after looking around, it seems pretty hard to get a copy of that. And you need to use a fanmade update to make it run on modern pc's, so it's quite a hassle. It wasn't a great port neither. If you own a PS3, the best purchase would be Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection , which has all the vital games up to Peace Walker.

• Metal Gear^[b]
• Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake^[b]
• Metal Gear Solid^[c]
• Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions^[c][d]
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty^[e]
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater^[e]
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker^[e]

Other than that, yeah emulating MGS1 is kind of the only option to play it on modern systems :(

If you don't own a PS3, than buying that HD collection is indeed the best option.

You have played the best one from a mechanical standpoint so if you "don't play games for stories" then you should just walk away having had a really nice time with MGS5.

yes i do own ps3 and thanks for the help.

Metal Gear Solid was always a series you played for the story, not the gameplay. You tolerated the gameplay because the story was so interesting. Phantom Pain is the only one in my opinion to flip that trend and make you play it for the gameplay and tolerate the story. Unfortunately if you are looking for a game in the MGS series even remotely close to V (I refuse to call it 5, but thats a whole other topic) in regards to moment to moment gameplay you are going to be disappointed.

@onemanarmyy:

Hmm, in my country Legacy Collection is costing around 70$ is it worth the investment?

edited

anyways i am gonna do it. uncharted 4 was crap for me i just hope this is better then that.

Wow that was too bold, i really don't want to be disappointed. for me gameplay>>>>>story, but still i will give it a try.

5 by a long shot! All the other Metal Gear Solid games are amazing in own right though and definitely worth playing.

Just do it for the story and all the crazy stuff they do with games as a medium, not for the gameplay.

@superprohero:oh wow, that's a hefty price. I don't know if Playstation is doing any holiday sales on the PS store, but i remembered i bought this edition through the PS store during some holiday. That was years ago though, and i don't see the legacy edition on the homepage for the PS store. Is it still available? Maybe keep your eye on that if you're willing to wait.

If you're not certain that you will enjoy the games i would probably not pay 70$ for it. Counterpoint: You get all the metal gear you desire for the price of a new game. I can't make that decision for you of course :) .

If you're able to buy through amazon, this would be a much more acceptable price. Otherwise, i guess the only viable option is to go with that HD collection instead and miss out on MGS1 (and the original metal gear games which are at least fascinating to look back on).

At least both options will give you the best versions of the games.

Edit: Metal Gear Solid 1 is purchasable on it's own at the PS store. So you could just buy the HD version and MGS 1 seperate if you would want to.

@onemanarmyy: God dammit man only if i was American. but anyways i am gonna do it, i just hope this game is more entertaining than uncharted 4 because that game sucked hard for me.

I have a somewhat similar mindset to you and I only like 4 and 5. Don’t bother with the rest, or do, and find out for yourself.

@superprohero: MGS 1 is purchasable on it's own at the PS store for me. That + HD version might end up cheaper for you? You'll lose out on the original Metal Gear games and the VR missions of 1, but those are not essential. You could also watch The MGS1 demo to see if MGS 1 is something that you might enjoy playing at all before you buy it.

I fear this is going to go badly but I appreciate the stubbornness.

5 has the best gameplay.

3 is the best overall game and one of the best stories in all of video games.

Probably mgs2 or mgs4.

Joke answer: Metal Gear Acid 2... but I'm only partly joking. Real answer: you already played the best one by a wide margin. I love the other games, but they all feel like shit to go back to. I imagine it would be even worse if you don't have any nostalgia for them. The only one I haven't replayed recently is MGS4, so maybe that's ok. However, if what you liked was the freedom, then Peace Walker is probably the closest to MGS5 in that regard. My personal favorite is MGS3, but I like the story and characters way more than I actually like playing it.

Once you get a feel for the mechanics i'd actually say MGS 2 plays very well, obviously you dont have the options that you have in 5 but the controls are very snappy and well designed for the tight corridors you'll be infiltrating. And unlike most other MGS games theres a decent amount of optional gameplay and extras. (in the substance version)

Be warned it's very different from MGS 5 though. If you're after story and want a better idea about what the hell happend in MGS V play MGS 3 & Peace Walker.

Once you get used to the unconventional controls they all play great except MGS1.

Under the criteria of best gameplay: 5>4>3>2>1

@superprohero:

You might want to use spoiler tags for your OP first sentence or mention there's MGSV spoilers in coming in the thread title. Some people are still playing through it and well, it looks like you just ruined a juicy surprise. Thanks.

Just play all of them; they are all great games. 5 is definitely the best gameplay wise, but the others hold up well for what they are. Personally I have a soft spot in my heart for 2 because it's the first one I played. 2 was also, weirdly, ahead of it's time when it comes to some of the topics it takes on/it's overall themes.

Most people will say 5, but I actually think 3 controls a lot tighter than 4 or 5

Snake Eater 3D would be if it weren’t on the 3DS...

Purely gameplay wise I’d have to say 4, considering how much of a massive step forward it was compared to 3.

Also anyone saying 3 should specify Subsistence, because the original camera kind of ruins that game.

As a massive fan of 1-4 I completely bounced off 5, I really didn’t find it as fun as other people seemed to, also I had no interest in the story of PO or Peace Walker so 5 being in that sort of period really didn’t hook me at all.

5>3>2>1>4

MGS4 is a mess.

Hah, no way in all hell 4 loses in gameplay to any other than 5, you can say whatever you want about story and whatnot, but gameplay wise 4 is the best after 5 period.

I was not a fan of the UI and mechanics of 4. The camo mechanics were better than 3 since they streamlined it, but 4 still felt really clunky overall.

@rebel_scum: What spoiler are you talking about? All I see is examples of things you can do in the game that were the whole focus of the marketing for this game.

V-MGR-PW-4-3-2-1 in that order. I include Ground Zeroes as part of V.

MGS5. But I personally enjoyed the overall experience of the PS3 version of Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker more.

It's got a ton of fun upgrading and bite-sized stealth missions. Better story than MGS5 in my opinion as well.
You fight a ton of giant robots.

I would say 5 and 3. Not sure why 3 gets so much hate, it's probably my favorite one.

Play all of them. As much as some people like to pretend the earlier ones have gameplay you just have to suffer through for the story, that's utter bollocks, they all had incredibly satisfying stealth gameplay. Probably the best out there. Play at least 2 and 3, though I really like 1's tight design too. You can probably skip 4 though tbh but might as well play it.

It is still clunky but it is definitely the evolved form of MGS clunkiness. I cannot believe you would think MGS1 less so.

I mostly agree with this except that I would flip 2 and 3(specifically the subsistence edition) in all three categories. 2 is fantastic but 3 was on a whole other level.

5 is the best. Then Peace Walker. Then 4 maybe, though it's not really that fun. Then 3, 2, then 1.

I have a list on my profile that says more than I could remember to. All I need to add to this thread is that Portable Ops is underrated.

5 is the only really good one in terms of gameplay. The other games are really difficult to go back to, requiring convoluted button combinations for seemingly simple actions (and as one of the few games to use the pressure sensitive buttons on PS2, expect to shoot some dudes in the face while trying to put your gun away). 4 is probably still playable, but those other ones - while great in their day - can be tough to go back to. Especially if your frame of reference is 5, then you'll probably be disappointed by the old-school linear stealth aspect of those games.

Honestly, you might be better off getting a GB subscription and watching Metal Gear Scanlon.

Gameplay: 5

Story: 3

Overall: 1