I bought a copy of the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection, and now I need to know which game to play first? I already played MGS4 years ago, but now I want to get caught up. Which should I start with

1 2 and then 3

@slyspider:

You might want to do Metal Gear Solid 3, then 1, then 2. That would be in chronological order for the story. I don't think 3 has anything in it that spoils 1 or 2. I'm going to warn you now, 2 is a head trip. It's pretty dense in a way only Kojima can get. So it's best to save it for last if you can if you want any chance of understanding it sans guide.

Don't think you really need to play the NES Metal gear games, but you can blow through those in an afternoon if you want. I found them slightly helpful for Solid 1.

Play them in order they were made. This playing out order nonsense is weird. I've played all of them except 4 when they came out and it didn't really make a difference.

Speaking of the legacy collection; I still need to get that. It's becoming harder to find for a decent price surprisingly (I do still know where to get it, though).

Play them in order of release, that's how it's intended.

The "Oh Shit!" moments work better that way.

Play 1 first. I played them in order of release because I like watching the progression of game design and graphics just as much as the progression of the story.

It would be foolish to play a series like this in chronological order. It would be such a mess to try and play 1 immediately after 3, you'd go from a game where the default walk is detectable to one where the only movement option is running (aside from crawling).

I don't know how well MG on the MSX/NES hold up; either way, it's not really the same genre as the MGS games.

I would challenge you to play MGS1. I played it for the first time in 2010, and enjoyed the fuck out of it. Unless you're a PC master race graphics whore (which, for the sake of your undying soul I hope you're not) it's tolerable and even quaint - the PS1 is very distinct in its 3D rendering. If you must, play Twin Snakes, but no matter what play MGS1 in one form or another. It's the jumping off point for all the insanity both story- and political-message-wise that Kojima stuffed his games with after. Some people think he's a genius, others a hack. Rather than becoming an extremist, experience it as a crazy, improbable game with loves on battlefields and rogue AI controlling the world and terrible infants. Don't get sucked into the baring-of-the-heart Kojima has rendered in video game form, but don't dismiss it as pretentious bullshit - it's a bit of both.

I think I will play it in release order, thanks duders!

Play them in order of release. They're pretty much maximized to be played that way. The original MGS will give you frame of reference for MGS 2 and MGS 1 and 2 will give more weight to MGS 3. Then Peace Walker.

THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MGS1 IS...... it expect you to know a lot about Gray Fox and Big Boss before hand. MGS3 Subsistance has an emulation of MG1 and MG2 Solid Snake, which still play very well, especially MG2 Solid Snake and that use the same mechanics that work in later games. But yeah, that is something that's worth playing through especially since Big Boss in MGS3 and Peace Walker comes off like a lovable nice guy then a super villain.

Now it's up to you if you want to play them. I'd say sample them and then read a wiki if your not interested. But like all the core elements are just basically remade on each game after. Rescue a missing Scientist, a rouge american military group is up to no good and then fight a Metal Gear.

I'd recommend MG2 Solid Snake the most, that basically plays like MGS1.

@ch3burashka: I had to laugh at the PS1 rendering comment. I totally agree. PS1 games aged much better than PS2. PS1 has a sense of faster action coming from the cartridge era where as ps2 had a slow enjoy our environment feeling.

I plan on doing a 1-5 play through in the future. I guess I should find a copy of this.

Definitely play them in order of their release. By playing them in chronological order, you miss out on a lot of stuff. Definitely read up the stories of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 before you begin (unless you wanna play those as well, but the backgrounds of those stories are in the main menu of MGS1). 1, 2, 3, 4 then Peace Walker really is the way to go.

@ch3burashka: I just recall, does anyone remember the early publications for MGS1 with magazines reading "YES THIS IS IN REAL TIME." But then it was actually pre rendered art that never appeared in game?

Technically the PS1 could have done this, but all of this just looks like Pre Rendered cinematics of that era.

Do what few fans outside of Japan had the chance to do and start with the MSX games, and then just go in order of release. Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, MGS1, VR Missions, MGS2, MGS3, MGS4, Peace Walker. And then watch the digital comics after all of that I guess.

Play them in order of release. Played through Metal Gear Solid last month, still totally holds up!

@crithon: I do remember that, and I believe they did get around that by saying it was in real time on an earlier version. More of a tech demo than representative of the final game. Early previews have always had problems with expectations based on early versions which may end up impractical.

But, eh, I remember being pretty stoked by it. ha. And I did love the game. So, mission accomplished I suppose!

@truthtellah: Mostly I remember Edge magazine putting this up with a BOLD FACE "THIS IS IN REAL TIME!" And yeah, technically the PS1 could do that, but it ran in super low resolution at the time there would have been JAGGED pixels on that katana. And when we talk about that era, quake 2 and unreal colored lighting, so again it wasn't unreasonable.

I just remember seeing that in the 1997 trailers of MGS1, the big hype demo that reminds me a lot of the current MGS trailers. As hyped I was for this trailer..... I never played the game like this, even years later, I never tried like the C4 tricks.

digging around the net, I discover this early prototype.... wow, like what a concept video

again at the time, it doesn't seem unreasonable, but it's running at such a high res the PS1 couldn't do that.

Play in order. The old games aren't important really - you can start with the first MGS and you'll do just fine. The story makes little sense no matter what you do, but they're fun rides.

Play them in release order, don't play them in chronological it might get weird for someone new

I'm kinda baffled that you played MGS4 without having played any of the others, but yeah, you should just play theme in release order.

It would be pretty jarring not to play them in release order, given the implications of your knowledge of the story as well as the graphical fidelity. I played MGS the first back in an era at least somewhat close to its release, so I can enjoy it without being completely turned off by the PS1 era graphics, but it might be more difficult depending on your situation.

The original Nes Metal Gear. That's what I did when I bought the Legacy collection. Funnily enough I also played Mgs4 several years ago without having played any of the previous entries.

Never owned a Sony console and I'm 20 so the NES was a little old for me by the time I was born

@slyspider: so have you tried Twin Snakes or Smash Bros Brawl? And was all the fan service stuff they did those games too much? or too silly?

Metal Gear appearances of Nintendo systems are very enjoyable, even 3DS MGS3D which has like 40 minute cinematics on a portable system..... which is ridiculious, but still a lot of fun.

Do it from release of games.

I'd go story order if you can take the shift in graphics.

@slyspider:

I got the Legacy Collection, and I was a bit overwhelmed. I'm here to give you the best answer possible. The collection contains Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, MGS, MGS2: Sons of Liberty, MGS3: Snake Eater, Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of The Patriots & MGS Peace Walker. Get Ground Zeroes too. Your two opens are to play in Chronological Order, which would mean beginning with Snake Eater and concluding with Guns of The Patriots. Release order would mean beginning with Metal Gear and concluding with MGSV Ground Zeroes (if you get the latter.)

If you are curious, you can access Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 through the Snake Eater game menu, whilst the Metal Gear Solid and VR missions can be downloaded with the download voucher that comes with the collection. I suggest you plan in release order, so that you can enjoy the twists as they unveil themselves and play the series as Kojima intended them to be played, and so that you can enjoy the series as it evolves in story and mechanics.

MGS3, MGS: Peace Walker and MGSV are prequels in which the story centres around Naked Snake, and MG, MG2: Solid Snake, MGS, MGS2 and MGS4 tell the story of Solid Snake. They're related in a way, but I won't tell you that, since you probably should see for yourself. So, the series basically tells two stories - the story of a legend (prequels) and the second story of his legacy. I suggest you play Release Order for the reasons I mentioned. Enjoy the series!

@slyspider: I started with MGS2 and half the time I had no clue what was going on and all the references were lost on me. I think the best way is just to play them in an order they were released, although I'm not a MGS expert by any means.

@slyspider:

This man knows the order. It's not chronological, but it's the only sane way to do it. Playing MGS3 and then go back to MGS1 would be insane for newcomers.

MGS IV was the first for me.

Give the MSX games a shot, but if they start to feel like a grind, make sure you read the backstory included in Solid. Those two games, especially the first one, are hard to get into now. Story-wise, though, they're absolutely vital.

I'm not sure how they're packaged in the Legacy Collection, but in the HD Collection they're on the menu for Snake Eater.

Release of games (1, 2, 3 and 4). Chronological is more for those who have already played everything once. If you happen to get into the series and want to be ready for Phantom Pain, Peace Walker is also required reading. MGS2 is the weird red-headed stepchild of the series though, it's significance isn't really obvious in isolation, you need to play the others. Depending on your perspective, this could either make it great or the worst thing ever.

Kojima and Co. made it that way for a very particular reason, trust me, this is the way to do it.

Would a guy on the internet lie to you?

I just beat Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, pretty tough little cookies, but still very interesting. MG2 far outweighs the previous adventure, especially now that Snake can crawl in it. I suggest playing them in order of release, that's what I'm doing.

Order of release... including the MSX games.