Ranking Hideo Kojima's 8 Metal Gear Games

IGN

With the release of The Phantom Pain nearly upon is, we decided to take a look back at the iconic games in the series that Hideo Kojima himself has directed and see how they stack up against one-another. Though there are dozens of strange portable games, card battlers, remakes, and action-oriented offshoots to the series, we decided to focus on the core eight games that Kojima had full control of. We all adore games like Ghost Babel and Revengeance, but we left them off the list due to their limited Kojima development. On the dawn of the arrival of his ninth and final Metal Gear games, here are his current eight, ranked.

[ArchangelMike]

MGSV is about to take the crown.

[breakpad]

..MGS3 was conceived originally on PS2 not PS3 , they r wrong there...as for the best i say from story and direction perspective-> MGS 1 (the most serious one)... but the best combination of story , mechanics , graphics and gameplay is MGS3

[bradleejones]

I think you're right... Gonna be epic.

[Epicor]

My personal list (of what I've played):
1. MGS3
2. MGS
3. MGS4
4. MGS2
5. MGS GZ

I've got a good feeling about MGS5 (excluding Konami nonsense).

[just_looken]

Correct me of i am wrong but is there not 13 games? 14 with the phantom pain.

Metal gear

metal gear 2

metal gear solid 1-4

metal gear solid peace walker

metal gear solid portable ops 1 and 2

metal gear acid 1 and 2

metal gear solid on the gameboy color

metal gear solid twin snakes.

metal gear solid ground zeros well skip its a tech demo.

[solidsnake222]

These eight were directed by Kojima and therefore found to be canon. There are some arguments to be made for portable ops, but this is the undeniable list.

[mt]

did you play it ? tell us more about it.

[LAWSON72]

Just got the legacy collection, hopefully I have time to play them again

[Stringerbell]

Its a great collection minus the fact Twin Snakes is missing. Lots of fans like to tip their nose to that game but personally I love it. And its a damn shame that besides emulation we will never see an official HD remaster or re-release of the game.

[Barnaby-Jones]

I will always love MGS3! I've played through it so many times.

[Captain_Wormy]

Where the hell is Portable Ops? I personally liked MGSPO a lot more than Peace Walker.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Kojima didn't even like Portable Ops. I'm not judging because it's the one MGS I haven't played.

[bradleejones]

Opinions vary... But 4, 2, 3, PW, 1, snakes revenge. Never played the original. Edit. Never cared for portable ops.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

It's a tie between 3 and 4 but I also loved how crazy 2 was. I'm always terrible at trying to decide which MGS is my favorite -_-

[bradleejones]

Yep, I know what you mean. 2 was insane, which is why it rivals 4 for my favorite. The ending just wraps the game up so well. Played it years later and still way impressive. So many good MGS games...

[Yui_Suzumiya]

I want The Legacy Collection on PS4. I didn't have money outright for a PS4 so I had to trade in my PS3 last month to get $150 off at Gamestop.

[2pacalypsenow]

No portable ops? And MgS4 should be ranked higher

[s45gr32]

I agree with this metal gear ranking. Personally, MGS3 was the best game of the series.

[Edito]

For me Metal Gear Solid 1 is the best...

[oIITSBIIo]

I played MGS3 back in 2005 it was amazing at the time, but I couldn't replay it last year the control is horrible, I'm not sure how did I finished it in the first time =0.
Looking forward to play MGSV.

[chris13gt]

1.MGS
2.MGS 3:SE
3.MGS 2
4.MGS 4
5.MGS:PW
6.MGS V:GZ

[xwilldemise]

The list is pretty close to what I would come up with. I would only rearrange Guns of The Patriots, Sons of Liberty & Peace Walker so the list ends up being:
8)Metal Gear
7)Ground Zeroes
6)Metal Gear 2
5) MGS2
4) Peace Walker
3) MGS4
2) MGS1
1) MGS3

Also, from the looks of it so far Phantom Pain is looking to take the crown as the best MGS yet, Sept 1 can't come soon enough!

[bradleejones]

Mgs 3 I recall playing all day into the night, and beating it in basically 24 hours. I don't think I could do that in 2. Another reason 2 is high ony list. Why does everyone think 3 is the best in the series? Very good, but shorter than the others.

[Maldread]

It very close between MGS1 and MGS3 for me, but i have to say MGS1 because of Psycho Mantis, the whole Shadow Moses setting, the epic battles with Liquid Snake and the two different endings.

After that it`s MGS4 and MGS2 for me. Havn`t played Peace Walker and Ground Zeros was just a demo, so have to place it last. Didn`t like Sutherlands performance in it at all, so hope he steps it up in MGSV.

[scark92]

I hope MGSV surpasses past games, which means another Masterpiece.

[ocelot07]

I mostly agree with that list. But personally I would have MGS1 in first place and MGS3 in second. That is of course just my personal opinion.