Starting Metal Gear Series

[ZombieSuicide]

I want to start getting into Metal Gear! It's one of the series I managed to miss and I don't know where to start. I have a 360 and that's about it, not sure what games in the series I can get. Talk me through it, recommend me games to get/skip. All input is valid input on this one.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

However you manage it, get a copy of MGS3 Snake Eater, preferably the Subsistence edition.

 

[go-10]

honestly I wouldn't recommend skipping any of them as they're all great games... the main series anyways, you can skip the handheld ones except for Peace Walker. However going back to the old ones can be a bit rough the controls are not conventional and the entire system is super outdated and aged horribly, still it's not impossible to get adjusted to them, at this point though I think you'd be find just playing Snake Eater, Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes, and Phantom Pain, that's more or less the full Big Boss story

 

[Kae]

honestly I wouldn't recommend skipping any of them as they're all great games... the main series anyways, you can skip the handheld ones except for Peace Walker. However going back to the old ones can be a bit rough the controls are not conventional and the entire system is super outdated and aged horribly, still it's not impossible to get adjusted to them, at this point though I think you'd be find just playing Snake Eater, Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes, and Phantom Pain, that's more or less the full Big Boss story

I don't know about skipping the handhelds, Ghost Babel on the GBC is damned good even if it's non-canon, but anyway I agree with this all of the main series and Peace Walker.

 

[fenrizz]

However you manage it, get a copy of MGS3 Snake Eater, preferably the Subsistence edition.

I second this.
MGS 3 is (in my very humble opinion) the best game in the series.
Although, I'm not sure how much you'd appreciate all the references to the previous two games without having played them.

The best would probably be to play them in order of release:
Metal Gear Solid (PS1)/Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GC) The latter is a remake of the former.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons if Liberty, Substance edition reccomended. If you're going to skip any of the games, this is the one to skip.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Subsistence Edition. As mentioned above
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Possibly the weakest entry in the series, in my opinion.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Have not played this yet, so I cannot offer an opinion.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Just get the HD collection and play them in order they came out. You'll miss out on MGS 4 since it's a PS3 exclusive, but you can watch a playthrough of that on YouTube.

And yes, just as everybody said, MGS 3 is the best in the series. It's one of my top 10 games of all time, actually.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Whilst I'd love to advocate the chronological playthrough, the gameplay leaps really screwed me up when I did my full run before Ground Zeroes launched. But as with many people I have Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater as my number one. I found it had the right balance of gameplay and story, even if the controls are clunky as all hell. I always struggle going back to pressure sensitive input... However at the very least if you find you can't get into the first Metal Gear Solid, there's a digital graphic novel that covers the events of the first game.

You can pick up the Legacy Collection which contains Metal Gear (MSX); Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX); Metal Gear Solid; Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty; Metal Gear Solid 3: Peacewalker and finally Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Or just the HD Collection which just has MG, MG2, MGS2, MGS3 and MGSW.

 

[BarryMcCociner]

A 360? You're gonna miss out on three essentials, there.

You'll be able to play SoL and SE fine enough, but I'm not sure you can get Metal Gear Solid, I know for sure you won't be able to get MGS4, and you won't get Peace Walker.

You could emulate MGS1. It's not like Sony and Konami haven't made enough money to consider emulation of a 17 year old title harmful.

 

[Leg End]

I want to start getting into Metal Gear!

Fuck yeah!

I have a 360 and that's about it

Fuuuuuuck.

Consider getting a PS3 but otherwise, pick up the HD Collection and you get most of the essentials but you really want/need to play Metal Gear Solid if you want to truly understand everything, and there are not many options to do so other than a PS1 or getting a copy of The Twin Snakes if you have a Gamecube. Oh and you'll miss out on 4 which completes the timeline and you'll have the worst version of V if you choose to play it because jesus christ those framerates.

 

[ShakerSilver]

You need to play all the main series games in release order. If all you have is a 360, then your options are quite limited.

MGS1 - Emulate on PC, only the PS1 version; Twin Snakes, while having nicer graphics and mechanics, suffers from the game design not being adapted to fit the updated mechanics, which ends up breaking a lot of things (like Ocelot's boss fight).
MGS2 - On the HD collection for 360
MGS3 - On the HD collection for 360
MGS4 - This game is only on PS3, so you don't seem to have any options. You can watch it on YouTube, but despite how extremely long the cutscenes are, it has some of the best gameplay in the series (for at maybe 2 or 3 of the 5 acts).
MGSPW - On the HD collection for 360; people say skip this, but I say DON'T. MGSV is a direct sequel to the events of the Peace Walker so it's absolutely necessary that you play it.
MGSV - Both Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain are on 360.

 

[ZombieSuicide]

I want to start getting into Metal Gear!

Fuck yeah!

I have a 360 and that's about it

Fuuuuuuck.

Consider getting a PS3 but otherwise, pick up the HD Collection and you get most of the essentials but you really want/need to play Metal Gear Solid if you want to truly understand everything, and there are not many options to do so other than a PS1 or getting a copy of The Twin Snakes if you have a Gamecube. Oh and you'll miss out on 4 which completes the timeline and you'll have the worst version of V if you choose to play it because jesus christ those framerates.

Sounds like I have to get a PS3, lol. Thanks for the input guys, much appreciated.