I have never completed any of them. If I were to I would buy MGS 1 on PSN store and then wait for the collection that comes out in the fall to play 2, 3, and Peace Walker and would then buy MGS 4. Is this a good idea? Also, is Numerical or Chronological order the way to go?

Jesus Christ, yes, do it.

edit: yes, in numerical order. Play MGS, MGS2, MGS3, MGS4 and then Peace Walker. You could also play Portable Ops before Peace Walker.

I would wait and see if they are packing in mgs1 as a download first, but yes you should play these games. And i would recommend playing them in order of release.

Do it. Exceptional games. Play them in release order, and then in chronological. That's what I did.

YES!  Those games are fucking amazing!  1-4 and PW are some of the greatest games you could play!  Portable Ops is alright.

@InfiniteGeass said:

I have never completed any of them. If I were to I would buy MGS 1 on PSN store and then wait for the collection that comes out in the fall to play 2, 3, and Peace Walker and would then buy MGS 4. Is this a good idea? Also, is Numerical or Chronological order the way to go?

definitely.

MGS4 is unapproachable if you do not know any of the MGS events.

Go in numerical order. And hold off on purchasing MGS on PSN. There's the chance a code will be included with the PS3 version of the collection. I would wait until we get more info.

MGS3 subsistance has excellent port of the original MSX Metal Gear and 2 - Solid Snake, but all the games have same themes "rescue scientist, fight a renegade military troop there's a ninja and final battle with a giant mech." The  metal gear series are all about continuing theme from MG2 Solid snake, boxes, smoking, nukes are bad, this is my last mission, "there can only be one snake and one big boss." But if you go through the Solid series you'll understand those themes.

I'm in a similar predicament. I played MGS1 (well, MGS Twin Snakes) on the Gamecube, then missed out on MGS 2 and 3. I picked up a PS3 eventually and the first game I bought was MGS 4. So, I've played the first game and the "last" game. Should I go back and play MGS1, then 2, then 3...or should I just read a summary of the vents of MGS 1, pick up the HD collection, and play MGS 2 and 3?

@michaelfossbakk: http://chipandironicus.com/videos/ Watch the let's plays of one and two, then play 3. Or just LP all of them, though 3 is fucking amazing so I'd still recommend playing it.

If you've got a PS3 just get the PSN version of Metal Gear Solid 1.

This, 2 is really hard to go back to. I played the HD collection and dozed off while playing 2, 3 still holds up though.

I think they all hold up really well, and I played through the entire series for the first time two years ago.

yes i enjoyed playing it.. I never regret buying those things, but for know my interest is with Ghosts N' Goblins.. :)

I think you should consider watching the cutscenes for 1 on youtube (or wherever). I tried playing it recently, and did not find the gameplay especially interesting or responsive compared to the rest. The graphics are also... well, PS1, so maybe pick up Twin Snakes if you can or, as I said, watch the cutscenes only.

2 and 3 are the best in my opinion, and comes with the HD collection, as well as Peace Walker which is also pretty great.

4 is fucking nuts! In a good/bad way, you should play it either way.

So this thread is a year old, but I'mma drop something in here. If you can, don't play MGS1, play Twin Snakes for the Gamecube. It is way more digestible by modern standards and is a great way for people new to MGS to get into the fiction.

this is so wroooong aahhhhhh

Twin Snakes is a good game, sure, but the decision to hire on an action movie director to redo all of the cutscenes just makes it so tonally different to be a part of than the original. Suddenly we have our hero doing ridiculous backflips and other crazy antics that seem more appropriate coming from a Devil May Cry game or MGS4/Rising Raiden than Solid Snake. But then he goes back to playing like regular ass Snake? I dunno. Having grown up with the Metal Gear Solid series(seriously they are like my favoritest games ever) Twin Snakes is such a weird thing. Its story is Metal Gear Solid, it plays like Metal Gear Solid, but it doesn't watch or feel like Metal Gear Solid.

I played Twin Snakes first so I guess I don't have the same nostalgia, I did play MGS on the PS1 afterwards and enjoyed it, but I would still recommend Twin Snakes. Also, the action in the cutscenes of Twin Snakes is more consistent with the rest of the series than the original is, I know a lot of people complain about silicon knights fucking up the cutscenes but I thought they were fine, and all the original emotional moments still hit with the same impact. I don't know, I just feel like MGS fans are jaded toward the first game, and sure it's a classic, I just think Twin Snakes is a better experience for modern gamers.

MGS1 was how the events unfolded in reality. Twin Snakes was more how the events were told to the public.