It’s been ten years since Konami’s Metal Gear series concluded with 2015’s The Phantom Pain, and the industry has been weaker for it. Created by Hideo Kojima, the franchise helped usher in multiple generations of gaming, dating back to the 8-bit era with the original game’s release for the MSX2 home computer in 1987.
With each new entry, Metal Gear pushed the envelope of cinematic storytelling, not just in terms of borrowing the visual language of film for cut scenes and action, but also weaving a twisting, operatic yarn filled with rich characters, dramatic stakes, and frequently heavy philosophical themes. Originally inspired by classic Eighties movies by directors like John Carpenter, the franchise eventually found its own identity — equally bizarrely goofy and navel gazey — while introducing gameplay systems that would be copied by just about everyone.
The main games follow two protagonists across converging times — both named Snake. The modern era, beginning with the 1987 original all the way through 2008’s Metal Gear Solid 4, is the story of Solid Snake, a gruff operative who must face his mentor and later, mortality, as he discovers he’s just one of multiple clones. That mentor, Naked Snake (later known as Big Boss), serves as the hero of the games set during and after the Cold War. They’re two different people, but in the hands of players, one Snake is as good as the next.
The games are rarely power fantasies, but most definitely empower players to think strategically in-game — as well as critically of society in ways that borders on conspiracy theory. Through its sci-fi and political themes, the Metal Gear series blends the entertainment value of the best action films and anime while being strangely precognitive about the social issues the world faces today.
For a series of its age, you’d think there would be more flops over time, but Metal Gear has had a pretty stellar batting average — with only a small handful of titles even approaching mediocrity (and only one outright disaster). And still, there’s a clear hierarchy to the franchise; at their peak, the best Metal Gear titles are among the greatest games ever made.
Now, after a decade in the shadows, the franchise is back with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, a remake of 2004’s Metal Gear Solid 3. Its producers tell Rolling Stone that they’re using the remake to look back on the series’ history and train a new generation to carry the torch.
With that, Rolling Stone is taking a look at said history, and determining which foundational texts remain most essential. Here’s every Metal Gear game, ranked from worst to best.
‘Metal Gear Survive’
Image Credit: Konami The less said about Metal Gear Survive, the better. Following Kojima’s departure from Konami in 2015, the company had little to no clue what to do with the franchise without its key creative lead. Rather than attempting to fully commit to true continuation, they instead tested the waters with a multiplayer survival spin-off set in a parallel dimension.
While Metal Gear has always toed the line between heightened action and full-blown sci-fi, pivoting the games’ concept to a full-blown zombie survival game was a hackneyed gimmick. Bearing little resemblance to anything even remotely great about the series’ setting or gameplay, Survive was completely dead on arrival and killed any lingering appetite for the IP until this year’s big MGS3 remake, Delta.
‘Snake’s Revenge’
Image Credit: Ultra Games; Konami Following the success of the first game — specifically the NES version that arrived in North America in 1988 — Konami was quick to capitalize with a sequel targeting the western market. The first (and only, until Survive) entry in the series developed without the involvement of Kojima, Snake’s Revenge only tangentially feels like a Metal Gear title.
Like its NES predecessor, the game is much uglier than the MSX2 version of Metal Gear, with bland environments lacking in texture and a completely forgettable score. Despite a somewhat ambitious opening sequence where the dark jungle night is lit by flare, the game’s action-heavy focus veers away from what made the first one great. Snake’s Revenge exists more as an oddity than an essential part of the series’ history.
‘Metal Gear Acid’ / ‘Metal Gear Acid 2’
Image Credit: Konami For its two first forays onto the handheld PlayStation Portable device, Metal Gear started more modestly than anyone had hoped. Rather than true tactical espionage action, players were given a stopgap duology of Acid games, which served as turn-based strategy games that utilized a trading card system.
Looking back, the Acid games made sense for the PSP’s strengths — their slower pace of play fits a mobile gaming sensibility, although later games would show that an authentic Metal Gear Solid experience was, in fact, entirely possible on the device. Despite being mostly footnotes, there’s a lot to appreciate about the Acid games from a technical standpoint; the second game’s cel-shaded visuals were marvelous for the time.
‘Metal Gear: Ghost Babel’
Image Credit: Konami Although it’s technically also called Metal Gear Solid (Ghost Babel is the Japanese name), this Game Boy Color title isn’t exactly a direct port of the 1998 PlayStation classic. Instead, it’s set in an alternate continuity and serves as a direct sequel to the original 1987 entry. Blending the gameplay of the MSX2 titles — specifically Metal Gear 2 — with many of the modernized abilities pulled from the PlayStation games, Ghost Babel is a delightful hybrid of mechanics from two different eras of the franchise. In many ways, it plays even better than the early games and certainly looks better than anything on the NES, but its portable nature forces the gameplay to be broken up into 13 levels rather than having the consistently flowing overworld that’s part of the series’ core appeal.
‘Metal Gear’
Image Credit: Konami The granddaddy of stealth games, the original Metal Gear was an impressive feat when it arrived on the MSX2 home computer in 1987. Featuring a methodical approach to infiltration, where players must use their wits to dodge more threats than they take down, it was a refreshing change of pace from the action-heavy fare of the arcade and early console era.
Creator Hideo Kojima is well known for his cinematic and pop culture influences and, from his very first outing with Metal Gear, it’s all on display. The game centers on a First Blood-like jungle mission starring a spec-ops commando named Snake (a name borrowed from Kurt Russell’s character in Escape from New York). Even the box art features an illustration that’s nearly identical to Michael Biehn in The Terminator. But Metal Gear’s greatest success is how handily it exceeds pastiche and ends up being a game so engaging, it would itself become the standard to shamelessly copy.
‘Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops’
Image Credit: Konami After two decent attempts to make Metal Gear mobile on the PSP with the Acid games, Konami finally decided to go for broke with Portable Ops — a 2006 title that actually plays like Metal Gear Solid. Specifically, the game is a direct sequel to Metal Gear Solid 3 and follows Naked Snake on a mission to quell a revolt in Colombia circa 1970.
The game looks a lot like its PS2 counterpart, Snake Eater, and showcased the immense power of the PSP at the time. Mechanically, Portable Ops introduces the concept of ally recruiting and squad building, wherein enemies can be co-opted into Snake’s ranks to serve as playable characters in-game. This conceit would be expanded on in later entries, but it’s impressive to recall that the system began here in a handheld release.
‘Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake’
Image Credit: Konami Even though Konami had commissioned another sequel to the original game directed toward the western market with Snake’s Revenge, they were wise enough to know that Kojima himself needed a shot at making a true successor to Metal Gear. Arriving in 1990 (the same year as Revenge), the official Metal Gear 2 is one of the most seminal entries in the franchise — perfecting on the ideas of its predecessor while introducing tons of new ones that would be carried over to the PlayStation era eight years later.
Despite being bound to 8-bit technology, Metal Gear 2 is easily one of the most cinematic games of its time. Its moody, synth-based soundtrack instantly evokes the films of John Carpenter; the radio conversations are less silly and more dynamic; there’s even something to the color palette that makes it feel like grimy midnight movie from the early Eighties. Picking it up today, the game still plays incredibly well, which is a testament to how groundbreaking it must have felt at release.
‘Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes’
Image Credit: Konami As a concept, Metal Gear Solid V is a fascinating beast. The final game in the franchise before the whole thing went kaput is technically two different products, with Ground Zeroes serving as an appetizer to the true game released over a year beforehand. Being a prologue, it introduced players to the sleek new visual style and immersive stealth gameplay of MGS V, although its distinctly only a bite-sized experience with a story that can be completed in roughly two hours.
It’s hard to say if Ground Zeroes would’ve worked better being fully integrated into the full game it precedes, but as a self-contained action jaunt, it’s effective for what it is. Given the ludicrous body-swapping plot device of The Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes ends up being the last time fans ever get to play as one of the series’ true protagonists. It’s a fun anomaly that, thankfully, no other developers decided to imitate as a marketing ploy for their own franchises.
‘Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker’
Image Credit: Konami Following 2008’s Metal Gear Solid 4 — which chronologically serves as the end of the main franchise — Kojima decided that he’d spent the rest of his time with the series continuing to flesh out the exploits of Big Boss (née Snake) in the Cold War era that will ultimately lead into the original Metal Gear.
Combining gameplay elements from both Portable Ops and MGS4, Peace Walker stands as the peak version of a handheld Metal Gear. Improving upon of the recruitment system of its PSP predecessor and incorporating a more reliable over-the-shoulder camera, it feels in many ways like the precursor to Metal Gear Solid V, foreshadowing the eventual swan song for the series almost half a decade before its conclusion.
‘Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty’
Image Credit: Konami For fans of a certain age, memories of Metal Gear Solid 2 can be tough to relive. One of the most anticipated games ever at the time, the sequel famously delivered just about everything Metal Gear Solid sickos had wanted — for about an hour. Then, came the rug pull.
Unlike every game prior, MGS2 doesn’t actually star Solid Snake; instead, it teases players with the prospect during a short prologue before switching gears entirely to introduce its true protagonist, Raiden — a wispy, whiny facsimile of Snake whose entire purpose is to relive a simulation of the previous hero’s exploits for plot reasons. Time has softened the perception of MGS2, and mechanically, it’s arguably the purest Metal Gear Solid game there is. Its speculative fiction narrative eerily predicts many of today’s biggest real-world concerns — from fake news to AI — making it feel more prophetic in hindsight than how befuddling it was at the time.
‘Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’
Image Credit: Konami Stupid name aside, Revengeance holds a special place in Metal Gear canon as the only full-tilt action game in the franchise. Developed by PlatinumGames — the premier maestros of pulse-pounding, sweaty video game carnage — the 2013 title tosses out any semblance of stealth in lieu of cyborgs with big ass swords eviscerating people limb by limb.
The game also serves as a mea culpa for MGS2’s Raiden, letting players embody the once-boyish protagonist who became a bad ass killing machine during the events of MGS4. Following the story of the 2008 game, Raiden is on the war path to bring down the shadowy deep state called The Patriots using the most violent means possible. Like Raiden’s first outing, Revengeance’s ridiculous plot ends up being accidentally prophetic, with a vile, nationalist American politician for a villain whose mission to make America great again now feels downright unnerving.
‘Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’
Image Credit: Konami As a send-off to the Metal Gear Solid series, The Phantom Pain both works and doesn’t. Technologically, it’s a knockout, bringing the series’ cinematic style to its apex with vibrant graphics and lighting effects and extremely realistic motion-captured cut scenes. Mechanically, it’s pretty much the best-playing entry in the series, pulling together all the series’ best elements into a near-perfect stealth action formula.
And yet, there’s issues. Set nine years after its prologue, Ground Zeroes, the game’s story bends over backwards to justify swapping out Snake for a body double, with players taking on the role of “Venom” Snake, a man surgically made to look like character who’d starred in every entry from Snake Eater to Peace Walker. Within its self-contained narrative, there’s some effective emotional heights, but in the grand scheme, it’s mostly an avalanche of retcons to justify shoddy storytelling. While The Phantom Pain ends up being the pinnacle of Metal Gear as a gameplay experience, it’s also a sad reminder that the franchise blew its load on a climactic ending back in 2008 with MGS4.
‘Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots’
Image Credit: Konami Originally, Metal Gear Solid 3 was intended to be the end of the series, bringing the story of both Solid Snake and his mentor Big Boss to a narrative close. But, after caving to fans’ demands, Kojima saddled up for one (not quite) last ride with Guns of the Patriots. Clearly intended to be the then-stopping point for the franchise, it tells the story of Solid Snake’s last mission and trots out dozens of old characters and plot points for a full-on victory lap for all things Metal Gear.
Set only a few years after MGS2, MGS4 picks up with a now-elderly Solid Snake, whose aged a lifetime due to the unstable nature of his cloned DNA. The game’s setting and systems are the most sci-fi inspired of the franchise, with virtual camouflage and AI-controlled bots at players’ disposal. The pacing suffers from exorbitantly long cinematic scenes (one is literally 90 minutes long) but with many of its threads tying together the decades-old saga, there’s some justification. Although Konami seems keen to continue the franchise in the future, this is its true canonical resting place — and it’s one hell of a climax.
‘Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater’
Image Credit: Konami After (temporarily) setting the sun on the tale of Solid Snake over the course of four games, Kojima intended to close the loop with an origin story for the OG Snake who would become the series’ Big Bad. Unlike the previous games that drew inspiration from late Seventies and early Eighties cinema, Snake Eater leans heavily into its Sixties aesthetic, pulling its operatic, tongue-in-cheek tone from James Bond films —tonally contrasting with just about every other entry in the series.
Despite this, it feels like the purist distillation of the original concept of a Rambo-like jungle mission, wherein a single operative must survive against all odds. Snake Eater famously introduced camouflage and stamina management to the system, necessitating players hunt and eat to stay in good health. Set at the beginning of the timeline, its story is simpler but no less goofy (in a good way), and to many it remains the best entry in the franchise.
‘Metal Gear Solid’
Image Credit: Konami Despite all the technical advancements that would come later, the PlayStation’s first Metal Gear Solid remains the series’ strongest outing — a testament to creator Hideo Kojima’s cinematic ambitions that still works as a perfect video game.
The game’s single location setting inside an Alaskan military base makes for an ideal spot where players infiltrate, then retrace their steps in a Metroidvania fashion after finding the correct key card or tool to open new spaces. Its memorable cast of characters — from the support team on Codec comms to the colorful villains of FOXHOUND — are all three-dimensional and have gripping backstories. There’s twists and turns, cyborg ninjas and clones, and a perfectly paced story that never wears out its welcome.
Playing Metal Gear Solid in 1998 felt like a vision of the future of gaming, where tight controls and cinematic storytelling merged, bursting at the seams with creativity. Today, it’s as effective as ever; even with its low-poly models and environments, its as cinematic as gaming gets.
