The Metal Gear games are some of the games that many gamers have grown up playing and the franchise still hangs somewhere there among the most favorite. First released in 1987, the game did not only change the way stealth games are today, but it is arguably among the first in the genre.
Developed by Konami, a good number of successful and interesting games have been released under the franchise with some coming under as the main games while others were released as spin-offs. Let’s have a look at them as they were chronologically released.
Table of Contents: Metal Gear Games
Metal Gear Games- Main Series
Metal Gear
Release date: July 13, 1987
Original Platform: MSX2
Yes, it was over 30 years ago that the Metal Gear was released as a stealth game primarily for the home computer, MSX2. Inasmuch as it was simplistic when compared to what it has come to today with a storyline that was straightforward, the game was still one that came as nothing before it.
It was designed by Hideo Kojima who at the time wanted to do something with an entirely different concept from other things that existed. Although, as a rookie with the company at the time, his idea would be rejected at first, it was later accepted and it would bring us here many years later.
The game will later be playable on different other platforms including NES, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, PS2, 3, and PS Vita, as well as Xbox 360 and Wii Virtual Console.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Release date: July 20, 1990
Original Platform: MSX2
Three years after the release of the first game in the series, the second came also for MSX2 which at the time was mainly popular in Japan. It maintained a lot from the first game but to enhance it, sound was added so that when you use weapons, the enemy gets to hear. It had more stealth experience than the first.
Subsequently, it was playable on other platforms other than MSX2 such as PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, and Wii Virtual Console
Metal Gear Solid
Release date: September 3, 1998
Original Platform: PlayStation
Not taking anything from the previous releases, for many, this is where the game really began. Konami introduced 3D gaming and there is a real storyline here that was not seen in the previous ones. The gameplay was made livelier with interesting boss fights.
First developed for PS, it was later released in 2004 for Nintendo GameCube but this time around, the title was Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Of course, there were a number of changes that were brought to improve the game including the graphics.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Release date: November 13, 2001
Original Platform: PlayStation 2
The first thing that Kojima did here was to replace the veteran protagonist, Solid Snake, with a rookie, Raiden. This did not go down well with a lot of gamers that have come to relate with Solid Snake. The anger of many was the bait that was used to pull them by featuring Snake on the pre-release materials.
With that, the storyline of MGS 2 shifted. The gameplay was also improved upon and the graphics was also enhanced thanks to better technology.
Created for PS2, it later became playable on other platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox, Xbox 360, and even Microsoft Windows.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Release date: November 17, 2004
Released for: PlayStation 2
If the trivia ever becomes the best MG, it will have to be Snake Eater. Set in a time of Cold War in the Soviet Union, the game brought a whole new idea of stealth to the franchise making use of open-air battle, camouflage, and some very interesting survival elements which all enhance the gameplay.
Released for PS 2, we still wait to see a Metal Gear game that will be released better than Snake Eater. In fact, it is considered to be among the best games of all time thanks to a strong storyline, setting, and everything else.
In 2015, it was released again as Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence which had some things added to it with an online mode.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Release date: June 12, 2008
Original Platform: PlayStation 3
With the high point attained by Snake Eater, the burden of keeping things up fell on Guns of the Patriots. While it was good, it didn’t look as good as it actually was because of the previous game in the series.
See Also: Metal Gear Solid 6 Release Date and Rumors: Here’s What We Know So Far
Coming as Solid Snake’s swansong, it was brilliant and at the same time sad. For yet another time, we got introduced to snake only for his part to be over for good in a game that was riddled by long cutscenes. The main purpose of the game was to tie the various plots that were left loose and that was done just fine.
Created for PlayStation 3, it has remained exclusively playable only on the platform.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Release date: April 29, 2010
Original Platform: PlayStation Portable
Peace Walker also ranks among the best Metal Gear games. It tells the story of Big Boss and the beginning of the Militaires Sans Frontieres which is his army. Featuring four-player online co-op, the game was designed for the PSP but would later be remastered for PS3 and the Xbox 360.
The game picked a lot of gameplay mechanics from the MGS4 and it lays the grounds for the MGS5.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Release date: March 18, 2014
Original Platform: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
Although it came as a standalone game, this would have fit more as a prologue to the MGS 5 or even as a demo, however, it is sold as a standalone game. Nonetheless, the Ground Zeroes is still a fun game to play even though it takes less than an hour to wrap things up.
It starts from the end of the Peace Walker and then it sets the stage for The Phantom Pain bringing together Stealth and action in a good way.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Release date: September 1, 2015
Original platform: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
The Phantom Pain picked from Ground Zeroes in a rather good way with the emphasis more on gameplay than even the storyline. While this has made it more fun to play, gamers that have followed the franchise were not so much thrilled with the idea.
The game was left hanging because Hideo Kojima and Konami parted ways even before the game was completed. The game has remained the most divisive among other Metal Gear games with one side of the divide arguing it has to be among the best while the other side is not totally agreeing. For us, it has to be with the best if the gameplay is what you are looking at.
Metal Gear Games: Spin-offs
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
Release date: April 27, 2000
Original Platform: GameBoy Color
A 2D stealth action game, this was also released as Metal Gear Solid in the west, it picked up so much from the original game but did not maintain so much of the elements that came with it. Develop for the GameBoy Color, it is not one of the most popular titles in the franchise.
Metal Gear Acid
Release date: December 16, 2004
Original Platform: PlayStation Portable
This was developed specifically for PSP and it came almost completely different from all other games in the series as a turn-based strategy instead of the stealth game that the franchise had maintained.
Metal Gear Acid 2
Release date: December 8, 2005
Original Platform: PlayStation Portable
The Metal Gear Acid 2 maintains all from the MGA 1, also coming as a turn-based card game. Also, it was exclusively developed for PlayStation Portable. The graphics was much better than the first, but as stated, almost everything else remained very close.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Release date: December 5, 2006
Original Platform: PSP
Portable Ops may not be the best game when it comes to the storyline, but it does well with the gameplay. It plays a good role in the series by giving both the Peace Walker and The Phantom Pain a nice base.
Metal Gear Solid Mobile
Release date: March 19, 2008
Original Platform: Symbian
Metal Gear Solid Mobile was a great game for mobile gamers giving an experience that is almost as good as the original thing. However, it was only designed for the Symbian Operating System which was at the time, the most popular mobile OS.
Metal Gear Solid Touch
Release date: March 18, 2009
Original Platform: iOS
The next among Metal Gear games that would come for mobile use was the Solid Touch that was developed exclusively for iOS. Unfortunately, it was taken off the App store shortly before the release of the iOS 9 in 2015.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Release date: February 19, 2013
Original platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, OS X
Developed by PlatinumGames, it was released after the MGS 4. Interestingly, it may top the chart among the spin-offs even though it is a short game. The strength of the game was mostly with the gameplay as well as the elements in the game.
Metal Gear Survive
Release date: February 20, 2018
Original Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
The most recent of the Metal Gear games, Survival was released in 2018 and this time around, it became the first game to be released since the divorce between Kojima and Konami, a survival game, it is good in many ways, but not necessarily what you can call the best.
Conclusion
Metal Gear games have sustained for more than 30 years now and the franchise seems to still be having enough steam for the future. However, with the departure of the brain behind the games in the title, we wait to see what the future holds for the franchise.
