Summary
Series creator Hideo Kojima guided theMetal Gearfranchise from its inception in 1987 until 2015’sMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. While the game designer departed with publisher Konami under bad circumstances, he has since released the incredibly uniqueDeath Stranding, with its sequel and other curious games likeODon the way, proving that he is not done sharing his art with the world.
Even ifThePhantom Painwas the last thing he did in the franchise, theMetal Gearseries has created an eternal legacy within the medium, providing it with some of the best and most iconic stealth games ever made. Its labyrinthine story spans six different decades, and it can be hard tokeep track of theMetal Gearchronology, so this list should (hopefully) clear up any confusion.
Updated on June 13, 2025, by David Heath:The MGS3 remake, Metal Gear Solid Δ, has since been pushed back to coming out at some time in 2025. Which makes sense as it didn’t look like it’d be done within 2024. Yet even this is considered tentative and could change. However, it hasn’t stopped Konami from advertising Deluxe and Collector’s Edition versions of the game. That’s all well and good, though neither will matter much if the base game doesn’t come out, or ends up being a weak remake. It looks promising so far, but only time will tell if Δ will live up to the hype. Until then, this list has been updated with a few more tweaks and some new inclusions. One would think all the mainline games had already been included, but there are still some oddities out there that offer, and this list wouldn’t live up to its name if it didn’t include every (official) Metal Gear Solid game out there. So, here are more Metal Gear Solid games in chronological order.
Despite being the third numbered entry,Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eaterstarted everything chronologically and would plant the seeds for the overarching conflict across the games, albeit in retrospect. Naked Snake’s mission to stop a rogue Soviet faction from launching a nuke revealed Big Boss' origin story, as well as that of the series' multi-agent Revolver Ocelot and of the mysterious Patriots. They all seem so innocent at the start of the game, only to reveal their other facets by its end.
Gameplaywise, it was a big improvement on the priorMGSgames, with the new CQC mechanics expanding on Snake’s hand-to-hand combat options anda whole host of secrets to findin its new jungle setting. Its new characters left an impact, too, with Snake’s mentor, The Boss, being a particular fan favorite. Fans had hoped Kojima would get to make an even earlier prequel detailing her past. It may still be on the cards ifMetal Gear Solid Δdoes well. But without Kojima at the helm, it isn’t the tantalizing prospect it used to be. AfterPortable Ops,Peace Walker, andMGS5, the story of the Boss and Big Boss is perhaps full enough as is.
The reasonMGS3’s remake is calledMetal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater(Δ being ‘delta’) is that the symbol represents “a difference without changing structure”, referring to its use in mathematics and science to represent macroscopic changes in variables. In other words, the game is aiming to be a bigger, grander version ofMGS3, but it will still follow the same story, complete with the same script and vocal performances from 2004. On the one hand, some may find this disappointing. The reason theResident Evilremakes caught on so well was because of the changes they made to the original stories. It helped them stand apart from their forebears.
On the other hand, re-localizingMGS3could’ve been seen by fans as Konami further trying to remake Kojima’s work in their image. With the recent furor over its default look skippingMGS3’s yellow filter (available as a ‘Legacy’ option), it’s definitely safer for them to update the game’s graphics and gameplay for modern times than to rewrite the story in its entirety. For instance, the ‘Legacy’ gameplay option will replicate the originalSnake Eater’s controls, complete with the top-down camera. ‘New Style’ will incorporate features from later games, like third-person aiming, crouch-walking, and a free-moving camera.
Damage will also be reflected in real-time, as outfits can get torn and riddled with bullet holes, and Snake can be bruised and scarred by injuries. Konami’s really hoping it’ll take off as, even though it’s been delayed from its original, vague 2024 release to a vague 2025 release, they’re advertising Deluxe and Collector’s Editions, including patches, Yoji Shinkawa art from the originalMGS3(he isn’t involved in the remake), and a diorama of the opening Dremuchij area with Snake’s backpack. Fancy new graphics and setpieces aside, people have yet to see how its gameplay will turn out.
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D
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This ‘Delta’ approach also applied toMGS3’s first remake,MetalGear Solid: Snake Eater 3Don the Nintendo 3DS. Having already made a bunch ofMGSgames for the PSP, Konami wanted to test out the 3DS' capabilities, and they consideredMGS3to be ‘the best game’ for doing that. Its stereoscopic 3D could really bring out the jungle foliage, and the gyroscopic capabilities of the device could help Snake balance on bridges and branches.
Players could also use the 3DS camera to make their own PhotoCamos, which could help players sneak more easily if they produced the right patterns. Otherwise, it’s basically the same game and story with some graphical alterations (e.g. all the Kerotans have been replaced with Yoshi’s). However, it was originally meant to have optional Side Ops likePeace Walkerusing Tselinoyarsk’s different locations for different missions. The feature ultimately wasn’t finished, though it can still be accessed with a little hacking.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, thehandheld spin-off, is considered somewhat canon, as it’s referenced in later games. However, it’s only brought up tangentially, and few (if any) of its story beats are ever followed up upon. It was about how Big Boss and a young Roy Campbell teamed up to stop the FOX Unit, which had gone rogue under its new leader Gene, a super soldier designed specifically to succeed The Boss. It’s also the chronological debut of Frank Jaeger, aka Solid Snake’s future mentor and frenemy Grey Fox fromMetal Gear 1toMGS1. Before then, he was ‘Null’, a survivor of the ‘Perfect Soldier’ project, whose memories and emotions are suppressed via a sensory deprivation tank.
The game introduced many elements later titles would expand upon, like recruiting enemy guards and taking them out on missions as extra playable characters. However, they aren’t as refined as those later games. Dragging guards to a drop-off point isn’t as snappy as sticking a Fulton Balloon onto them. As such, it’s not considered an essential game to the timeline and has often been skipped in favor of its sequel,Peace Walker. But if it turned up on, say, anMGS:Master Collection Vol.2, it might find a new audience that could appreciate its gameplay.
UnlikePortable Ops,Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walkerhad Kojima at the helm and thus got more recognition. He even planned on calling itMetal Gear Solid 5' before thinking twice about it, as he thought fans might be annoyed over needing a handheld to play the next official entry. Yet in execution, it feels more like a direct sequel toMGS3thanPortable Opsdid. It’s about Big Boss, now disassociated with Major Zero and the US, investigating a US-affiliated organization setting up nukes in Costa Rica. But it also shows the ideological dividebetween Big Boss and Zero, as they come to very different conclusions on how to make the world one.
The game was rated T, so it wasn’t as violent as other entries (e.g., Big Boss' knife is replaced with a stun rod), but its drama can still hit hard—as can its weirdness, as it features singing AI robots (provided by Vocaloid), dating side-missions, and fights against monsters from Capcom’sMonster Hunter, including an original design based on Metal Gear REX. While the game was made with the PSP in mind, it played excellently (if not better) on the big consoles via theMetal Gear Solid HD Collection, where it reached a wider audience. It even lets people ‘transfar’ their old PSP saves to the PS3 version to play them on the big screen.
Part of why people were cold on theMaster Collection Vol.1was because it was essentially a repackaging of theHD Collection, but withMGS1replacingPW. If aVol.2came out, it would need more bells and whistles to make it appealing, and a freshPWport could do that. It would unlikely be able to let players ‘transfar’ their old saves, but it would give new players a chance to co-op on missions online, and use its crazy co-op weapons. Like the railgun that requires a second person to charge it up via dynamo, or the Human Slingshot that requires 4 people holding different pieces of it working together.
Ironically, after concerns over callingPeace Walker’Metal Gear Solid 5', Kojima ended up making the next officialMGSgame a sequel toPeace Walker, taking place mere days after the end of its second, hidden ending. Clearly, going from PSP to PS4 wasn’t as much of a concern as going from PS3 to PSP. Or at least that was the plan. Instead, to recoup the cost of the game’s production, the immediate part showing Big Boss saving hisPWteammates Chico and Paz from Camp Omega in Cuba was released separately asMetal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes.
Fans, in retrospect, even figured where it would’ve appeared if it was released as part ofMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, likely following the scene where Kaz is talking to Venom Snake in the helicopter after being rescued in Afghanistan. But in its released form, it felt more like a very pricey demo forMGS5. The main story mission took about an hour to beat, and less so for veteran players. But it came with plenty of extras, like the quirky Déjà Vu (collecting as many flashbacks toMGS1as possible) and Jamais Vu (playing asMetal Gear RisingRaiden attacking Snatchers with guns) missions.
If players had saved data fromGZ, they could also unlock extra perks inMGS5, like any troops that exfiltrated from Camp Omega. But nowadays, it’s easier to getGZas part ofMGS5: The Definitive Experience, where these extras are unlocked automatically. So, there’s no reason to play the game separately unless people can find itgoing for dirt cheap prices.
HadMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Painbeen given the development time todo all it set out to do, the series would have finally come full circle, connecting the prequel games to the originalMetal Gear. Instead, thanks to the strained relationship between Kojima and Konami, the result was missing some key ingredients. For example, Kojima hinted players could return toGZ’s Camp Omega, which they can’t. Many of the Side Ops are repeated because the developers didn’t have time to make original ones on par withPeace Walker. The suspiciously silent Venom Snake also had plenty of lines cut from the final game.
They weren’t story-altering, but it would’ve given him more personality if they stayed (e.g. responses to Paz in the medical ward, and DD and Quiet on the field). Then, most notoriously of all, the “Kingdom of the Flies” mission, which saw Venom Snake and Eli’s arcs get wrapped up, was never finished and reduced to a work-in-progress extra on special editions of the game. Still, the story had some good ideas, and the gameplay was top-notch, letting players complete missions any way they liked. They could be as sneaky as possible, go in guns blazing, or think way outside the box (e.g. chuck a smoke grenade into a truck before driving it to mask it from guards as it moves).
If only it had aDirector’s Cut editionlikeDeath Strandingto close off those missing plot threads and reintegrate any missing bits that could’ve enriched the experience. Then Venom Snake’s journey of revenge against Skull Face for the death of his comrades and the destruction of Mother Base would’ve been much more satisfying.
With the prequels now put aside,Metal Gearis the real-life start of the series. The one every game follows on from, released way back in 1987. Solid Snake makes his debut as a rookie agent for the elite group FOXHOUND. He’s sent into the military nation Outer Heaven by his COO, Big Boss, to save his mentor, Grey Fox, and stop the titular nuclear bipedal tank. This game is quite quaint by today’s standards, with some jank here and there (having to constantly equip and de-equip pass cards, etc.), but it shows many of the traitsfuture stealth-action classicswould follow.
While it still has its twists (some of which have changed thanks toMGS5), its storytelling is surprisingly quick and straightforward, thanks to the MSX’s memory constraints. Kojima’s trademark verbosity would have to wait until its sequel to arrive. The easiest way to play it today is via theMaster CollectionVol.1. The NES port, while infamous for its infamous localization job (“I FEEL ASLEEP!"), isn’t as solid as the MSX original (pun unintended), though it’s still better than the stodgier C64 version, with its tiny sprites, braindead AI, and awful music. Though both of them lack the titular Metal Gear, replacing the machine with a giant supercomputer instead.
WithMGS3’s remake on the way, and most people wondering about anotherMGS1remake, some have wondered ifMG1will also be remade. It’s arguably the one that needs it the most, thanks to the subsequent games changing the canon, and the extra room it offers for expanding its side characters. However, whether fans would take to it without Kojima and his old crew is another matter, as it would require more new material thanMGS Δ.
The canon sequel,Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake,saw Solid Snake come out of retirement to infiltrate a new military nation, Zanzibar Land, to save the abducted scientist Dr Kio Marv and retrieve OILIX, a genetically modified organism that could produce a cleaner, safer alternative fuel source to oil. The game feels much more familiar to later fans, as the MSX2’s extra memory meant Kojima could add more of his narrative touches, like grandiose speeches, high drama, and sudden twists,like Snake’s connection to Big Boss, and to his old allies like Grey Fox.
The extra memory also helped the gameplay feel more like its followups, like the radar showing where soldiers were positioned, and mech bosses that could actually move and fight, like Metal Gear itself. Other set pieces would actually get carried over wholesale toMGS1, like the run & gun tower section and the elevator ambush. Maybe Kojima and co thought they could get away with it becauseMG2wasn’t officially released in the West until it was included inMGS3’s ‘Subsistence’ re-release. It’s since turned up in theHD CollectionandMaster Collection Vol.1.
Before those releases, fans had to make do with a fan translation made in 1997 by Maarten ter Huurne and Takamichi Suzukawa, which also retained the original game’s celebrity faces for its characters (Mel Gibson as Snake, Sean Connery as Big Boss). It’s not as convenient to play as the official releases today (no tap code guide, etc.), but it’ll give modern players a taste of what fans had to go through to playMGS1’s predecessor.
The MSX games may be where the series started, and both they and Kojima’s visual novel games gave him a cult following. But it wasMetal Gear Solidthat truly skyrocketed the series and Kojima to their legendary status. It sees Solid Snake head to an Alaskan island to stop his old unit FOXHOUND from using Metal Gear REX to launch a nuke and face his own past in the process. Big Boss may be gone, but here he learns about how he was ‘created’ from Big Boss' genes and meets Eli, aka his twin brother Liquid Snake, for the first time.
While its sequels would add neater extras like CQC and the ability to mod weapons,MGS1still holds up well today with its smooth, silky, stealthy gameplay. It had some iconic setpieces of its own, like Psycho Mantis' memory card reading, and the fight against REX itself was an exciting experience. WithMGSΔ nearly done, fans wonder if anMGS1remake will be next. However, according to new series producer Noriaki Okamura, remakingMGS1would take more effort thanMGS3as it would require more changes to accommodate new gameplay techniques. ItsGamecube remake,The Twin Snakes,didn’t have those changes and ended up becoming a very different experience.
