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GAF Votes: Metal Gear Solid series rankings (Voting ends Feb. 20)

1. MGS3: Best environment
2. MGS4: Interesting plot devices and semi-awesome story
3. MGS2: Aquatic Metal Gear

And can I just say that MGS fans that take the series seriously scare the fuck out of me?
 

Epcott

Member
  1. MGS3
  2. MGS
  3. MGS: PW (unsure, have yet to complete it... so far its great)
  4. MGS4
  5. MGS2

I'm pretty sure the unanimous vote for #1 will be MGS3.
 

Zissou

Member
1. MGS3
2. MGS1
3. MGS2

I enjoyed portable ops, but 4 was so disappointing that I have no real interest in playing peace walker or other future games in series.
 

Gilgamesh

Member
1. MGS3 - Cold War spying is the best, even in Metal Gear
2. MGS - too awesome
3. MGS4 - most technically advanced, and has some really great moments
 
I adore all the ones I’ve played for different reasons, what’s great about all these games is they have a different setting or theme, but for the sake of this thread I’ll try and rank them and be more objective.

1. Metal Gear Solid 3

From the closing scene, Big Boss’ salute has entered video game culture as a symbol of a masterpiece. Before this game was released speculation was rife. Was this Snake in VR with Raiden interfering? Was it literally a dream? No this is “OO Snake” Once ‘Operation Snake Eater’ begins; the pace builds up excellently and naturally. Whilst not as fresh or revolutionary like the first game, nonetheless 3 seems to have the greatest balance of weapons and environments. It also helps that the game doesn’t take itself too seriously, having a Major who goes on about a snake shaped gun that'd distract enemies, a save-buddy who goes on about swamp people, having an intelligence officer who goes on about a “huge pile of crap, … shaped like a giant tank, and goin' on a rampage and stomping' on people and houses and stuff. And this giant turd is carrying the nastiest missiles you ever saw. Like whenever it launches one of its turd missiles... whatever it hits - people, trees, buildings - turns into shit.”

2. Metal Gear Solid

It’s the character of the game, the CHARACTER that makes it so good. No other action game has such an original cast. This was the game that developed their origins the best. How many other bosses can you name from other action games, seriously? You’ve seen a big guy with a Gatling gun before, but not one with a raven tattoo that comes to life, you’ve seen a duel before but not one where he asks his opponent not to use the auto-shoot button "I'll know", nor have you seen a ninja that seems to get an electrorgasm from being continuously punched in the face. Most importantly this game turned a cardboard box into a symbol of valour...!

3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

MGS3 was about nature, 4 was about the unnatural. Camouflage is no longer a selection system but an automatic one. The Cobra unit from 3 were a bunch of old soldiers who went into battles with sophisticated weapons and had primitive emotions defining them, only truly alive in battle. The BB unit from 4 were literally sophisticated weapons with basic emotions only giving them the pretence that they might be alive underneath their battle suits. This game was great because it was about how a new age of twisted technology was destroying the age of old heroes that we saw in MGS3. All the best parts; a crummy robot being used in a Metal Gear face-off, the illusions of Octopus, the mid-battle resurrection of Vamp, the microwave scene… well these are all about Snake against technology. Raiden upstaged him, pulling off impossible stunts but losing his humanity, even Johnny is beginning to catch up with Snake and his skill. The boss told about soldiers having undying loyalty, but even this isn’t needed with the SOP system controlling everything with Nanomachines. MGS4 is great because it goes against MGS3, as the game progresses it becomes more about being chased by robots, until culminating in a final psychical brawl between two old veterans, both fighting against the age of ludicrous technology.

Honourable Mentions

4. Metal Gear Solid 2


“What you think you see is only as real as your brain tells you it is” MGS2 was a commentary on and of hype, whilst many developers regularly promise to surpass your expectations, 2 was about destroying them. At the end of the game, the world turns round and citizens walk around normally yet Raiden stands by himself, confused by the lack of pay-off, looking for a purpose beyond the events of ‘Sons of Liberty’ This is a metaphor of the player. In my game, Raiden threw the customizable dog tag “Snake” on the floor and it couldn’t have been more appropriate. It’s only a testament to Hideo Kojima’s artistry that he could create a product where more discuss what was missing rather that the excellence that was included. Stealing guards’ dog tags, disposing them by throwing them into the sea, leading them into collapsing bridges, and distracting them by popping melons were the kind of joys that were introduced. Then there’s everything else, a feminine soldier as a main character who was a killer as a child, bright environments, bosses who refuse to die, Solidus being a potential hero, the organisers of the US being the villains and not the “terrorists” which include Solid Snake himself. 2 took characters like Otacon and Snake and depicted them as enigmatic, dangerous and not always trustworthy. We understand them less than we did in the beginning. Somehow misinformation became a powerful theme for the game.

5. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Does Kojima care any more? He has singing robots, dinosaurs, Big Boss going out with a college student/Master Miller, there’s an in-game conversation about Kojima being a god, a villain called Hot ColdMan and one called Strangelove, usable tanks/ambulances made out of cardboard, a character whose main purpose is to talk about birds, special recruitment for a certain developer, and balloons that kidnap enough soldiers to create a reliable army. After the seriousness of MGS4 this was a welcome change of pace with enough zany Japanese charm. Emphasis is on creating a faithful army, creating the seeds of the ‘Outer Heaven’ for soldiers, mostly recruited from the mundane shacks/ factories, from Costa Rica in the midst of civilian warfare with the world facing a greater world war 3, it’s about creating glory from dirt. However this game somehow remains possibly the most light-hearted in the series. Even the most emotional parts are only because they remind of how dark the other games were. So this game isn’t on the same level as the other games, it’s not exactly 5 but has enough quirks to justify its status as a cult classic.
 

StuBurns

Banned
1. MGS2
2. MGS
3. MGS4
4. MGS3

I haven't played Peace Walker, Portable Ops is dog shit. If TTS or MG:GB counted, they'd both be between 1 and 4 on the list.
 

ecierif

Member
1. MGS1; The gameplay and story are refreshingly simple compared to what followed. (I don't love stealth gameplay, but the radar made things relatively simple.)

2. MGS3; Part of me thinks this is the best one, but the camoflauge/food submenus were annoying. I kind of missed having Soliton radar. The original camera was harder to handle but they eventually fixed that. The setting and bosses were some of the series' best.

3. MGS2; The first-person view added a new dimension to the gameplay. The bizarre story was interesting. Some boss fights were good. I found humor in some of the things people found annoying (Raiden, Rose, the la le li lo lu...). The setting may be my least favorite of them all, but the areas were designed fairly well.

4. MGS4; The gameplay disappoints in the second half, but it wasn't bad (except the really lame part where you follow the guy). It's a fun, visually stunning ride. At times, the story felt too convoluted and I think I fell asleep during the incredibly long ending, but sometimes it was engaging. It was entertaining to see many of the series' major players again, and fighting the bosses that made references to MGS characters. OctoCamo is much preferable to MGS3 camo. There are classic moments, though I don't love it as a whole.

5. MGS:pW; It was interesting. Its level-based nature made it seem a little disjointed, but it works especially considering that it was a portable game. I didn't get much out of the story and characters. The bosses felt a bit like endurance matches at times. I probably would've enjoyed it more if I had friends to play it with. And I never fought the real final boss because the work required felt like a grind to me.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
If it doesn't than it's bullshit. MGS1 is basically the same game rendered in polygons. MG2 is also canon.

I totally agree that MG2 (and 1) are both fucking awesome. And of course it's canonical. I just meant that the OP mentions only the Metal Gear Solid series specifically.

If OG Metal Gear counts I want to change my vote :p
 
1. MGS3
2. MGS4
3. MGS1

3 still has the best ending sequence (last couple of hours) of any game...ever. My only complaint with 4 was it wasn't quite long enough and the loading/installing technical limitation was ridiculous.
 

Flunkie

Banned
1. MGS3 - best bosses and story
2. MGS2 - very ambitious, and most of the ideas worked
3. MGS - nostalgia factor mainly, but was frustrating at times
4. MGS4 - best mechanics of any of them but wtf @ the story
5. MGSPW - I never did finish it finish it, but I loved that it felt like a MGS proper on the go
6. MGSPO - fun originally, but limited in scope

If we were allowed to rank the MGA games they'd be #1 and #2. I LOVED those games.
 

Kid Ying

Member
1: Metal Gear Solid 2
2: Metal Gear Solid
3: Metal Gear Solid 4

I think MGS2 and 4 were the most anticipated games of my life, 2 delivered and delivered pretty well, but 4 wasn't that great. It still is a good game, but 2 is the one i remember as the best. The original one was a classic and got me hooked in the series and i think the overall story and feeling put him in a better position than 4.
 
1. MGS3: Subsistence - The best pure game in the series. The depth of the level design and versatility of methods available to the player make it nigh-infinitely replayable.

2. MGS2 - The most interesting story of any title in the series, the intellectual zenith of Kojima's career and a significant footnote in the still-young history of games as a medium for artistic expression. Oh, and the game's pretty darn fun too (DEM DOGTAGS).

3. MGS1 - The purest, most honest, most straightforward game in the series. It's easy to see how this inspired a generation of gamers and game makers, and Kojima hasn't made another game quite like it since.
 

Squishy

Member
1. MGS2- I don't know how to explain why this is at number one, it just is.

2. MGS3- The manliest game ever made, and the best MGS in terms of boss fights and pretty much everything else. The camo index was great, CQC was awesome and relying on wildlife to survive was novel. There's so much content and attention to detail, and the gameplay mechanics are much improved from 1 and 2.

2. MGS1- For a PS1 game it holds up extremely well. I first played it in 2010 and was amazed at how good it was, and I couldn't imagine how blown away I'd have been if I played it when it came out. The sequels have refined and diversified the gameplay mechanics, but the first game does stealth the best. I found it quite difficult because ammo was limited and you couldn't rely on tranquilising every enemy you see.

They are all incredibly good games for different reasons and very hard to separate; ask me tomorrow and I might put them in the opposite order.
 
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