Which is the best main line Metal Gear Solid game?

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SolidGame_basic

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Poll Which is the best main line Metal Gear Solid game? (106 votes)

Metal Gear Solid 28%
Metal Gear Solid 2 11%
Metal Gear Solid 3 34%
Metal Gear Solid 4 15%
Metal Gear Solid 5 11%

I’m still going with the original game. It was mystical for its time. It had a really cool story with amazing characters, writing and voice acting. There were so many epic moments that I had not never experienced before in a game. The remaining sequels improved on gameplay, but everything else not as much. It’s still my favorite game of all time. What do you think, SW? Best main line Metal Gear Solid game?

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Archangel3371

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#1 Archangel3371
Member since 2004 • 46854 Posts

I loved them all but I think that MGS 3 is probably the best one.

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mandzilla

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#2 mandzilla  Moderator
Member since 2017 • 4686 Posts

Metal Gear Solid 3 just edges out the original for me. Best story, best characters, best boss fights, best gameplay elements, best music, great pacing, awesome codec conversations with funny references and the most interesting setting.

The way I see it: MGS3 > MGS1 > MGS Peace Walker > MGS2=Twin Snakes > MGS4 > MGS Portable Ops > MGS5/Ground Zeroes.

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sakaiXx

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#3 sakaiXx
Member since 2013 • 16571 Posts

MGS4. I loved it so damn much.

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lundy86_4

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#4 lundy86_4
Member since 2003 • 62017 Posts

MGS3. MGS1 was still amazing for the time, but I think MGS3 is the best title in the series.

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Ant_17

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#5 Ant_17
Member since 2005 • 13634 Posts

MGS3, duh.

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nepu7supastar7

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#6 nepu7supastar7
Member since 2007 • 6773 Posts

My favorite will always be Metal Gear Solid 4. Best story and it showcased my favorite Snake.

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DaVillain

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#7 DaVillain  Moderator
Member since 2014 • 58608 Posts

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on PS3 was so ahead of it's time, it was so damn impressive on how it neutralize Blu-Ray disc, Xbox 360 could never run such a fine game.

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Zidaneski

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#8 Zidaneski
Member since 2003 • 9266 Posts

MGS3 for sure. I played 1, 2, 3, and 4 all around the same time but 3 was easily my favorite. All the games are weird and crazy but 4 just started losing me in the final act.

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AJStyles

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#9 AJStyles
Member since 2018 • 1430 Posts

Metal Gear Solid 2 is a Masterpiece and the best in the series.

It also has the highest Metacritic rating of all the MGS games. It is a FACT that it is the best MGS.

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BenjaminBanklin

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#10 BenjaminBanklin
Member since 2004 • 11530 Posts

3. It's creative as hell and a nasty little piece of work. The End's confrontation is one of the best moments in gaming. Kojima's best, easily.

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Alucard_Prime

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#11  Edited By Alucard_Prime
Member since 2008 • 10107 Posts

MGS1 on the PS1 is my favorite. I did play the NES game, and the 2nd MGS as well.

Which reminds me, this tune is great

Loading Video...

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Basinboy

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#12 Basinboy
Member since 2003 • 14559 Posts

None play better than V.

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Cloud_imperium

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#13 Cloud_imperium
Member since 2013 • 15146 Posts

Metal Gear Solid 5 for sure. Why? It has best gameplay. Previous games were linear. Stealth games are always better when they are not linear. Previous games dropped you in an area and then gave you path A, B or C to approach your objective. Here you can approach the area of mission itself from up, down, left, right, forward, backward. So much freedom. Screenplay is best in the series. It feels immersive and puts you right there with characters. I disagree with people who complain about sparse story. There is a lot of lore here. Video calls have been replaced with cassette tapes and 90% of em are worth listening. Also, the tone is more consistent than any other Metal Gear Solid game. There are no fart jokes, over the top moments (like Ocelot playing with revolvers for ages even during serious moments). This is dark, no bullsh*t and straight forward plot from start to finish.

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Cloud_imperium

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#14 Cloud_imperium
Member since 2013 • 15146 Posts
@davillain- said:

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on PS3 was so ahead of it's time, it was so damn impressive on how it neutralize Blu-Ray disc, Xbox 360 could never run such a fine game.

I see what you did there.

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TrapStar400

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#15 TrapStar400
Member since 2018 • 12 Posts

I have to go with the original, classic, metal gear solid first version. I remember when it first came out on Playstation 1. That's all me and my friends would talk about, it consumed our whole conversation for lunch break. I've watched the game go down hill over the years though.

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Zappat

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#16 Zappat
Member since 2018 • 1592 Posts

im gonna shoutout to the underdog MGS2. It still has a special place in my heart. Weird fucking game

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Howmakewood

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#17  Edited By Howmakewood
Member since 2015 • 7832 Posts

5, its a blast to play, esp with infinite heaven

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speedytimsi

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#18 speedytimsi
Member since 2003 • 1415 Posts

The reason i picked MGS3 is because of the food and camo options that made the game way more interesting.

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deactivated-5c56012aaa167

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#19  Edited By deactivated-5c56012aaa167
Member since 2016 • 2538 Posts

Twin Snakes. It has the most awesome cutscenes in the franchise history.

In other games when Snake beats a boss he just watches them explode/die like an idiot but in Twin Snakes he actually does something interesting.(Which shows us why Snake was really sent in the mission against the enemies with supernatural abilities)

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thehig1

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#20 thehig1
Member since 2014 • 7555 Posts

Metal Gear 2, but I can admit its because it was my first Metal Gear Solid Game.

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DaVillain

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#21 DaVillain  Moderator
Member since 2014 • 58608 Posts

@Cloud_imperium said:
@davillain- said:

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on PS3 was so ahead of it's time, it was so damn impressive on how it neutralize Blu-Ray disc, Xbox 360 could never run such a fine game.

I see what you did there.

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Lilseb93

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#22 Lilseb93
Member since 2015 • 392 Posts

I love everything about 3.

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Jag85

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#23  Edited By Jag85
Member since 2005 • 20632 Posts

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Reasons:

MGS2 had the best gameplay in the series. Its controls struck the right balance between flexibility (unlike the simplistic controls of MGS1) and tightness (unlike the clunky controls of MGS3). And it had the best level design, the closest the series has come to Metroidvania level design (rivalled only by the 8-bit MSX game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake). The only other MGS game that rivals MGS2's gameplay is MGS5 (which is a great example of open-world sandbox game design).

MGS2 had the most interesting story in the series, and one of the most ambitious stories in the medium, but was just too ahead-of-its-time. The themes it was dealing wouldn't become relevant to mainstream society until the rise of social media, internet memes, fake news and post-truth politics over a decade later, so its story felt confusing back in 2001 yet makes a whole lot of sense in 2018. What's also interesting is its postmodernism, deliberately going out of its way to flip narrative conventions on their head, a crazy bizarre story full of absurdity, and forcing players to suspend disbelief. It's the game that defines Kojima best, for better or for worse.

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Fuhrer_D

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#24 Fuhrer_D
Member since 2011 • 1136 Posts

V, its not even close.

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knight-k

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#25 knight-k
Member since 2005 • 2596 Posts

MGS1 followed very closely by MGS3

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Ghosts4ever

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#26 Ghosts4ever
Member since 2015 • 26136 Posts

Original MGS by far.

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Cloud_imperium

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#27 Cloud_imperium
Member since 2013 • 15146 Posts
@Jag85 said:

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

MGS2 had the most interesting story in the series, and one of the most ambitious stories in the medium, but was just too ahead-of-its-time. The themes it was dealing wouldn't become relevant to mainstream society until the rise of social media, internet memes, fake news and post-truth politics over a decade later, so its story felt confusing back in 2001 yet makes a whole lot of sense in 2018. What's also interesting is its postmodernism, deliberately going out of its way to flip narrative conventions on their head, a crazy bizarre story full of absurdity, and forcing players to suspend disbelief. It's the game that defines Kojima best, for better or for worse.

This is very true.

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Jag85

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#28  Edited By Jag85
Member since 2005 • 20632 Posts

Just for the record, MGS1 is not the "original" game, but it's actually the third game in the mainline Metal Gear series. It's the direct sequel to Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (a.k.a. MG2:SS) on the 8-bit MSX. And in many ways, MGS1 could almost be considered a remake of MG2:SS as well, since MGS1 recycled much of its story and gameplay from MG2:SS, which includes recycled gameplay elements, plot elements, puzzles, plot twists, set pieces and boss battles (but MG2:SS wasn't released outside of Japan, so most fans didn't realize that MGS1 wasn't as original as they thought). So MGS1 is like both a sequel and a remake of MG2:SS. Either way, the original game is Metal Gear (on the MSX), not MGS1 (which is the third game in the series).

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Sam3231

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#29  Edited By Sam3231
Member since 2008 • 3220 Posts

Poll results did not surprise me. Gonna have to go with 1.

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Zappat

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#30 Zappat
Member since 2018 • 1592 Posts
@Jag85 said:

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Reasons:

MGS2 had the best gameplay in the series. Its controls struck the right balance between flexibility (unlike the simplistic controls of MGS1) and tightness (unlike the clunky controls of MGS3). And it had the best level design, the closest the series has come to Metroidvania level design (rivalled only by the 8-bit MSX game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake). The only other MGS game that rivals MGS2's gameplay is MGS5 (which is a great example of open-world sandbox game design).

MGS2 had the most interesting story in the series, and one of the most ambitious stories in the medium, but was just too ahead-of-its-time. The themes it was dealing wouldn't become relevant to mainstream society until the rise of social media, internet memes, fake news and post-truth politics over a decade later, so its story felt confusing back in 2001 yet makes a whole lot of sense in 2018. What's also interesting is its postmodernism, deliberately going out of its way to flip narrative conventions on their head, a crazy bizarre story full of absurdity, and forcing players to suspend disbelief. It's the game that defines Kojima best, for better or for worse.

Very well put, I agree 100%

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foxhound_fox

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#31 foxhound_fox
Member since 2005 • 98532 Posts

Not MGS4, the only good part of that game was the opening Act, which I was expecting to take up far more of the game. The retcons and gratuitous fan service really hurt the game and the series as a whole.

I'd say the competition is pretty much between 2 and 3. @Jag85 has some fantastic points, but I personally liked the camouflage and CQC aspects of 3 more than the straight stealth of 2. But I probably put more time into 2, especially with the Substance version of the game. I probably beat it over 50 times at least, on every single difficulty at least once. I think the only thing I didn't do in MGS2 was get a FOXHOUND rating. I even did the no-kill run.

Ultimately the story of 2 wins out for sure, as 3 was a little more... far out? There were way more supernatural elements to 3, and it just went way over the top (that's not to say 2 wasn't over the top at all).

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henrythefifth

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#32 henrythefifth
Member since 2016 • 2502 Posts

MGS2. It was just magical for me. Played thru it in summer vacation back, well, cannot remember the year. But still, one of the best gaming experiences on PS2.

I've played all the others too, but they tended to be bit too tedious to be all that good.

I do love MGSV, but its not real MGS game. A real MGS game lets you play Snake at some point. In MGSV you just play a soldier who thinks he's snake, so it does not count as real MGS experience.

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#33  Edited By tofufriends
Member since 2018 • 1 Posts

For story it would be MGS3 Snake Eater, for Game design and engine it would be MGS5. MGS5 is the perfect metal gear, although the story elements are lacking in some respects especially how it 'recycles' mission. I thought it was really bad. But this was definitely what a perfect MGS Kojima was aiming for in terms of game design (and not the story). If they do a remake of MGS3 using MGS5 engine and mechanics it would be awesome.

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deactivated-5c18005f903a1

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#34 deactivated-5c18005f903a1
Member since 2016 • 4626 Posts

The first bit of MSG2... before you go to the orange place.

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Valgaav_219

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#35 Valgaav_219
Member since 2017 • 3132 Posts

I'm going with Snake Eater. Loved the environment and the ending actually felt satisfying like you'd reached a milestone and not all convoluted like a few of the other entries. Towards the end of Metal Gear Solid 2 everything got weird af and had me like wtf lol

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#36 Bread_or_Decide
Member since 2007 • 29761 Posts

MGS, because they got it right the first time.

MGS3 didn't get good until they added camera control in Subsistence.

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Valkeerie

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#37 Valkeerie
Member since 2013 • 326 Posts

MGSV: The Phantom Pain realized the character and moral concept of MGS2 better, because it allowed us to experience it instead of being handed through exposition. It banked on the series' ambition, but was well realized.

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deactivated-60113e7859d7d

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#38  Edited By deactivated-60113e7859d7d
Member since 2017 • 3808 Posts

MGS2 for the reasons stated above. MGSV was the weakest numbered one.

@Valkeerie said:

MGSV: The Phantom Pain realized the character and moral concept of MGS2 better, because it allowed us to experience it instead of being handed through exposition. It banked on the series' ambition, but was well realized.

It was done terribly. Exposition is Kojima's thing. He doesn't know how to tell a story without it.

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Valkeerie

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#39 Valkeerie
Member since 2013 • 326 Posts

That's why he doesn't do it on his own. He has writers, editors and producers. MGSV was the franchise's most accomplished with his name. However, Konami still produced a game without him, and we all know how that turned out...

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AsadMahdi59

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#40 AsadMahdi59
Member since 2005 • 7226 Posts

3 is my pick. Boss fights are a big part of it. I also like the jungle environment and survival aspect of it.

4 - Pretty good entry. Boss fights , not as memorable as the ones in 3 but the standard gameplay was pretty good all around. Too bad there wasn't more, particularly in act 5.

2 - thought it was just getting started when it was nearing the end. Don't really like its camera or controls either.

Don't care about 1. Would like to play Twin Snakes sometime though.

5 - gameplay is really good, AI is very near sighted though - like i can crawl into a camp from a mile away and the dude sitting in the tower won't spot me.

As for the story, I used to take the series very seriously - these days it's hard for me to stomach. However I'd probably give 3 the edge here.

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MisterVulpes

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#41 MisterVulpes
Member since 2018 • 797 Posts

@Cloud_imperium:

There’s literally a fart tape you can play to distract enemies.

OTT moments? Flaming giant whale? Skull unit? Stupid car ride with skull face? Quiet in general? Just a few.

Straightforward plot? What plot? There wasn’t one.

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uninspiredcup

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#42  Edited By uninspiredcup
Member since 2013 • 62651 Posts

I like Metal Gear Solid. It was novel, and didn't really have the excessive flab of later titles.

It has an oppressive, almost dystopian tone to it with fantastic music, I was never too keen on Harry Gregson Williams work compared to the simple repetitive tones in this game.

Loading Video...

It reminds me alot of the original Escape From New York (yes I know I know), where that movie barely had any lighting or action, with a far more claustrophobic isolated feel compared to it's sequel Escape From LA. Or indeed other "action" movies.

Gameplay wise it's more simplistic than 2's with the story reeled back, pure pantomime, but it doesn't reach incomprehensible levels of ridiculousness, it's pacing is just much better than the later games as Hideo Kojima became increasingly grandiose.

Much like 2 (although 2 was far better in this regard), it shows what can be accomplished on limited hardware if you have an artistic eye. It's just a bunch of crude polygon blocks, but the game manages to over-right that with style.

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Jshoelace

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#43 Jshoelace
Member since 2008 • 846 Posts

Massive fan of all the MGS games but 3 is the one I like the most. I'd put 4 not too far behind as it has some amazing sections but I can't think of a single flaw to 3. i wasn't too keen on the level where u have to follow someone in 4.

MGS is the reason why I still keep my ps3. Annoying as it takes up so much room..

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Life-is-a-Game

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#44 Life-is-a-Game
Member since 2005 • 1039 Posts

MGS3 > MGS1 > MGS4 > MGS Peace Walker > MGS2 > MGS Portable Ops > MGS5/Ground Zeroes.

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asnakeneverdies

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#45  Edited By asnakeneverdies
Member since 2016 • 3765 Posts

@Cloud_imperium: I disagree. Metal Gear Solid V has the best control scheme implementation, but the worst gameplay of the mainline non handheld games. That said, I concede that it's the most accessible one.

EDIT: I recognize Metal Gear Solid 3 as the best in the series. However, I voted Metal Gear Solid because that's where my heart is. ?

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Alucard_Prime

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#46 Alucard_Prime
Member since 2008 • 10107 Posts

I will try to find time to play MGS3 at some point seeing all the praise here, the HD collection just became BC today

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quatoe

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#47 quatoe
Member since 2005 • 7242 Posts

If I go just by the fun factor alone and how buttery smooth the gameplay is then I say MGS V.

But i ain't gonna do that. MGS 3 still is hands down for me the best of the series.

I love the environment, I love the whole survival aspect. And I love me some EVA so it wins.

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uninspiredcup

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#48  Edited By uninspiredcup
Member since 2013 • 62651 Posts
@Jag85 said:

Just for the record, MGS1 is not the "original" game, but it's actually the third game in the mainline Metal Gear series. It's the direct sequel to Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (a.k.a. MG2:SS) on the 8-bit MSX. And in many ways, MGS1 could almost be considered a remake of MG2:SS as well, since MGS1 recycled much of its story and gameplay from MG2:SS, which includes recycled gameplay elements, plot elements, puzzles, plot twists, set pieces and boss battles (but MG2:SS wasn't released outside of Japan, so most fans didn't realize that MGS1 wasn't as original as they thought). So MGS1 is like both a sequel and a remake of MG2:SS. Either way, the original game is Metal Gear (on the MSX), not MGS1 (which is the third game in the series).

It's a shame Babel is never brought up in these types of threads. Or, ever. Really. Good example of what can be done with extreme limitations.

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asnakeneverdies

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#50  Edited By asnakeneverdies
Member since 2016 • 3765 Posts

@uninspiredcup: Ghost Babel is not a Metal Gear Solid game. Most of these discussions are about the Solid series. Methinks most user accounts were discouraged from the 2D iterations due to their experience with the severely flawed 1987 original, or its Nintendo port, and are unaware of the massive improvements of 1990s Solid Snake.