Metal Gear Solid Series: Beginner's Guide and Game Rankings

One of the best and most important video game franchises ever made, Metal Gear Solid is famed for its stealth action and cinematic storytelling. Its narrative advancements in the PS1 days and the risks it took during the PS2 era are why the franchise is so beloved, and are what put Hideo Kojima truly on the map.

The franchise has always been of an incredibly high quality, but after the fallout between Konami and Hideo Kojima, the series was put into hibernation, with no new entries since 2015. After a 10-year wait, though, the IP returns with a Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater remake, which brings back the third game.

Ahead of its release, we are revealing our Metal Gear Solid series guide, which documents how to get started with the franchise and all games ranked. Below you will find guidance and information to help you make the best decision with where to start and which games you need to play.

Metal Gear Solid Series: How to Get Started

At its core, the Metal Gear Solid series consists of five mainline, numbered entries with various spin-offs, most of which are considered canon and important to the overall plot. Because of the fact all these titles released over the span of 18 years, you will be playing games with vastly different graphics, mechanics, and gameplay as you work your way through.

Most of the Metal Gear Solid games are playable on modern hardware, like PS5 and PS4, but nothing has been done to update how they feel to play. As such, some of the older entries may feel a bit archaic at times. They're still more than worth playing, however.

There are two ways you can get started with the Metal Gear Solid series, and it is determined by what order you want to play the games in. There's the release order and the chronological order.

Metal Gear Solid Series in Release Order

The first way you can approach the Metal Gear Solid series and get started with it is by playing the games in the release order. This way, you get to experience the franchise as a fan would have from the beginning, and pick up on all of the big advancements Kojima Productions made in visuals, storytelling, and gameplay.

The release order of the mainline Metal Gear Solid series is as follows:

• Metal Gear Solid
  Release Year 1998
  Availability PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, PSP, Nintendo GameCube, PS1
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
  Release Year 2001
  Availability PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, PS Vita, Xbox 360, PS2, Xbox
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
  Release Year 2004
  Availability PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, PS Vita, Xbox 360, PS2
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
  Release Year 2008
  Availability PS3
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
  Release Year 2010
  Availability PS3, Xbox 360, PS Vita, PSP
• Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain / Ground Zeroes
  Release Year 2015
  Availability PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC

We recommend playing the Metal Gear Solid series in release order, as it's outlined above. This way, you get to follow the story as it was created by Kojima Productions and note all the improvements made as you jump from one game to the next.

Metal Gear Solid Series in Chronological Order

The second way you can experience the Metal Gear Solid franchise is by playing the games in the chronological order of the years they take place in. This allows you to follow the story in the order all of the events actually happen.

The chronological order of the Metal Gear Solid games is as follows:

• 1964 — Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
• 1974 — Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
• 1975 — Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes
• 1984 — Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
• 2005 — Metal Gear Solid
• 2007 — Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
• 2014 — Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

For your first time playing the Metal Gear Solid series, we do not recommend playing in chronological order. Doing this means you'll be jumping between console generations often, and getting to understand mechanics only for them not to be present in the next game. Playing in chronological order is best saved for when you're more familiar with the series.

Metal Gear Solid Series: All Games Ranked

Now you've got a better idea of what order to play the Metal Gear Solid games in, we're now going to rank them. All the entries are worth playing and are considered excellent, but there are some that rise above others as the greatest video game experiences ever made.

Did you find our Metal Gear Solid series guide, documenting how to get started and all games ranked, useful? Post any of your own recommendations and thoughts on the franchise in the comments below.