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When did the Metal Gear Solid series peak for you and why?

When did the Metal Gear Solid series peak for you?

  • Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

    Votes: 202 12.2%

  • MGS2: Sons of Liberty/Substance

    Votes: 276 16.7%

  • Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes

    Votes: 27 1.6%

  • MGS3: Snake Eater/Subsistence

    Votes: 849 51.3%

  • MG4: Guns of the Patriot

    Votes: 148 8.9%

  • MGSV: The Phantom Pain

    Votes: 147 8.9%

  • MGS: Peace Walker

    Votes: 7 0.4%
  • Total voters
    1,656
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,897
See poll.

Personally, and this is not a revelatory take, but it was Snake Eater for me. I loved going back and time fleshing out Big Boss. I loved the camo and survival systems. It had some of the best antagonists in the game. Ocelot and Volgin were too good. The ladder. The soundtrack. And one of the best end game set pieces. It was just amazing.

Kojima and team did good here.
 
PlanetSmasher

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
Member
Oct 25, 2017
115,322
When did it PEAK? Twin Snakes.

MGSV has the best gameplay in any stealth game ever but that story...woof.
 
Mekanos

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,088
MGS3 is the "best" game but MGS1 connected with me the most, especially on a story level. Despite my first MGS game being Twin Snakes, I wasn't super enamored by it. It wasn't until I played the original version years later that I really fell in love with the game, its whole vibe and atmosphere is perfect. Most of the changes in Twin Snakes were for the worse. Even though I played MGS1 about 15 years after its release, it's comfortably a game that can sit in my top 10, top 5 on a good day. MGS3 is fantastic and obviously very high up for me as well, but everything in MGS1 just clicks for me and I come back to it the most by far.
 
J_ToSaveTheDay

J_ToSaveTheDay

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
18,775
USA
Snake Eater for me as well. Kojima's fanship for Western action cinema had become well known to me at that point, so seeing the bombastic Bond-like intro set a fantastic expectation, and all of the "survival" mechanics felt like a natural and fascinating extension of the awe of being able to use fire extinguisher discharge and the sound of broken bottles as cover/disruption in MGS2. Like it felt like the environment became alive with opportunity in MGS3. The game had so few robust interactivity peers back then.
 
Firmus_Anguis

Firmus_Anguis

Member
Oct 30, 2017
6,106
Absolutely loved 1 and 2, 4 was okay and had its moments, but the answer is 3...

MGS3 has everything. It's the absolute peak!

There was a sequel to 4? Hmm... Must've been a real phantom pain in the ass for me to forget... (it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist...).

Ground Zeroes is a better overall experience. There... I said it.
 
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Weiss

Weiss

User requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
64,265
Clever OP leaving out Metal Gear Rising knowing it would sweep the thread.

MGS2, totes. It's a masterpiece of video game storytelling and yes I am including the Rose codes in that assessment.
 
Ahti

Ahti

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Nov 6, 2017
9,163
MGS because it had the most entertaining story, interesting characters and also the best atmosphere. It went downhill from there on.
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,413
MGS1 is still the best all around game peak though

Moments
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E14rYwLUYAIfQjS

MGS4-Microwave-Corridor-2.jpg
 
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mute

mute

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,062
The first time playing the games at launch, it was probably 3. In hindsight and currently it is probably a tie between 1 and 2.
 
Seijuro

Seijuro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,858
I adore Twin Snakes, MGS2 and MGS3 about equally.
I voted for MGS2 though, because of the "twist" at that time. It made me change my approach to games regarding spoilers in a very, very profiund way, especially Kojima games.
From the gameplay itself it's probably MGS3, but they are all great and one should consume all 3 anyway.
 
ciddative

ciddative

Member
Apr 5, 2018
4,618
That conversation at the climax of MGS2

"Our beloved monsters -- enjoy yourselves" Un fucking forgettable

Super Bunnyhop did a great video on MGS2 (and the others), but a mainstream triple-A game deconstructing its own genre? There has never been and likely never will be another like it.
 
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beelulzebub

beelulzebub

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,579
At the time? 1.

In hindsight? 2. I hated 2 on release but it has gone on to become my favorite game ever made. So I voted for that. Truth is I love them all a lot. I will die on that hill that V is a great, under appreciated game.

Hot take 1: I do feel tempted to switch my vote to Peace Walker to ensure Twin Snakes is at the bottom lol

Hot take 2: 3 is my least favorite of the series because so much of it is spent in menus, and it took a third person camera re-release for me to actually enjoy it. Great game otherwise and Kojima firing on all cylinders as a writer.
 
Klaasje Amandou

Klaasje Amandou

Banned
Jan 4, 2023
220
1 - Very good
2 - Top 10 of all time
3 - Great, probably top 20.
4 - 0/10 actually my most hated game of all time, so disappointed
5 - Probably top 50 for gameplay, but the repetitive settings and horrendous story would put it outside my top 100.

So 2 > 3 > 1 / 5 > any other game > 4
 
Nairume

Nairume

SaGa Sage
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,904
It's a tough call between MGS3 and 5 for me.

5 is undeniably incomplete and what narrative there is undercooked, but there's no denying just how far and beyond better it plays than every other 3d game in the franchise. 3 is a more balanced game and is still incredible to play today, but it also took some rereleases to work out some of the kinks, and I'd honestly say it's a little unfair that 3 got a chance to get some critical updates while 5 will almost certainly never get what it needs.
 
Humanity

Humanity

Member
Aug 31, 2019
10,948
MGS4 is outstanding as a final entry to the series but MGS3 is peak Metal Gear with how it weaves the story and all the gameplay easter eggs packed into it.
 
Alienous

Alienous

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,597
The peak would have to be Metal Gear Solid 4.

It isn't the best game in the series but the journey to release, then actually playing it, was something special.

It opened with those eclectic in-universe commercials. I remember even the installation screen being exciting. Then you actually had Act 1 of the game live up to the hype - the visuals, the soundscape, the scale.

The cutscene to gameplay transition at the beginning of the FROGS fight is probably a highlight of the console generation for me.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jAmCm9ZHVPw

Just fantastic.
 
luca

luca

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,490
It peaked with MGS2 for me. I still remember playing the demo to death and getting the full game before official release day. The story was real good I thought and I loved the switch to Raiden and seeing this legendary Snake from another perspective.

I haven't completed Peace Walker. And I've had a hard time getting into MGSV. Do I play it if I'm just in for the story, or am I better off just watching a summary video on YouTube?
 
Damn Silly

Damn Silly

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,186
MGS2, absolutely. 3 gets close and Peace Walker is fun for what it is, but there's nothing quite like 2.
 
Ascenion

Ascenion

Prophet of Truth - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,057
Mecklenburg-Strelitz
I dunno? I guess MGS3? When I went looking for a stealth game I don't think any of them are actually all that great aside from MGSV. But even then I'd rather play Blacklist. So yeah MGS3. I enjoyed it the most.
 
ImaPlayThis

ImaPlayThis

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,054
at the time of release I would say 3, but looking back at the franchise as a whole, 2, but it wasn't a straight decline after, like peace walker is better than 4
 
coldsagging

coldsagging

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,860
1,2 and 3 are the perfect trifecta. All timeless masterpieces.

4 was a down step (but still cool), so I guess 3 was the end of the peak.
 
Bony Manifesto

Bony Manifesto

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,583
1 or 3 for me. 3 is the best, but after the first MGS Kojima had clearly lost interest in making games inspired by his favourite action movies and wanted to do more dramatic stories, which I've never been particularly engaged by.
 
bob1001

bob1001

▲ Legend ▲
Member
May 7, 2020
1,534
It has to be 2 or 3. I'd personally give it to 3 because I prefer the location + new camera angle. 2 and 3 are the only one's which have a good balance of gameplay, story and general MGS-style wackiness. 1 comes third but I feel hasn't aged as well as 2 and 3, 4 leaned into the wacky story at the expense of its gameplay and 5 went in the opposite direction so they're dead last.

They're all good games (all fantastic if you remove 4) but 2 and 3 are the pinnacle imo
 
Oreoleo

Oreoleo

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,946
Ohio
Objectively, 3 seems like the high water mark of the series overall. But personally I just love the hell out of 5 simply because the gameplay has the potential to be so dynamic. I've never cared about the MGS plot that much so the "unfinished game" critique doesn't hold much weight for me.
 
Diogo Arez

Diogo Arez

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 20, 2020
17,599
MGS3, 4 was still great but right after it dropped off a fucking cliff and never returned
 
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