Looking Back On 25 Years Of Metal Gear: Why MGS1 Is The Greatest In The Series

Alex Osborn from GameRevolution writes:

"There are a handful of moments that I would consider life-altering for me as a gamer. Playing through The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time takes the cake, with the runner-up being my experience with Pokémon Metal Gear Solid. I never got around to playing the original Metal Gear titles that released on MSX2 and NES, so forgive me for my ignorance on what came before the PlayStation classic. That said, my introduction to the Metal Gear universe was odd, as I never owned a PlayStation back in its heyday. You see, I was a Nintendo loyalist.

"That all changed when my cousin urged me to play "some game" called Twin Snakes on GameCube. At the time, I had heard of Metal Gear, but since I didn't own a PlayStation console, I tuned out the MGS2 chatter at school. That all changed when I played Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, an updated remake of the PSone original. The game's cast of compelling characters and engrossing—albeit zany—plot had me hooked from beginning to end like no game before."

[insertcoin]

I wish I had a box to hide in right now.

[dbjj12088]

Or at least a dirty magazine, right?

[Ranma1]

Sorry, MGS3=BEST

[Theo1130]

You're absolutely right, the cold war era theme fit perfectly into the bs that is mgs.

[JonnyBigBoss]

Such a fantastic series. MGS4 is my favorite of the bunch since it has by far the best gameplay. The others have camera issues.

[alexcosborn]

Yeah, the camera is definitely the Achille's heel of the early games.

[alessandro10]

MGS3 its better, and the subsistance verion have the third person camera also

[alexcosborn]

Very true. They did work it out by Subsistence. Makes a HUGE difference.

[dbjj12088]

Disagreeing with fact. I guess you really can't put it past the N4G community to set aside their fanboy preferences.

[alessandro10]

i will say this is the exact order i will put the games IMO

http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

[ChunkyLover53]

I'd say Twin Snakes is probably the best in the series, followed closely by MGS3.

[NBT91]

Nah. Twin Snakes, at first glance is a terrific game, but the more you look at it, the less fantastic it gets.

The re recorded voice acting is not as good as the original, Pyscho Mantis lost his accent completely, despite the fact he still talks about his past for instance. The cinematics were over the top even for an MGS game, and the way they bought in gameplay elements from the PS2 games but didnt change the layout of any areas so they were never really used.

I mean, why let us hang off of rails when there are barely any locations in MGS1 where there is really any point in doing so? I get that fans wouldnt want the areas to change but it still made the new gameplay tweaks seem a little bit pointless to me...

And above all else - they should have remade MG1 and MG2 before MGS.

I still think 3 Subsistence was the best. Closely followed by 4 - if only it did not try to do way too much in such a short amount of time. The other games have a fantastic build up to the final chapters - 4 suddenly really picks up at the end of the Europe chapter and just constantly throws epic moments and plot revelations all the way until the end lol

Also other things with 4 - the Drebin system, points built up so much that ammo was always instantly available on the fly. It had more focus on combat and war - a detour from the stealth routes of the series.

[lastdual]

I agree that MGS3 was the best, but I think Twin Snakes gets a bad rap, usually for the wrong reasons.

What many conveniently forget is that the over-the-top cutscenes were added directly on Kojima's orders. Silicon Knights originally made the game directly the same, but Kojima wasn't happy with the conservative design and wanted more flash (a trend that he's continued ever since).

The voice acting did take a slight hit, but gameplay-wise Twin Snakes is an improvement in just about every respect. I've even seen people complain that the improved controls make the game too easy (whining about *good* controls!). I think some people are just grasping at straws.

[DarkBlood]

well david tried to get most of the original voice actors back so kudos for his efforts.

twin snakes will always be my favourite of the bunch i plan to replay that as soon as i can make some freaking advancement in peacewalker in my hd collection as im kind of stuck storywise as far as getting further im concerned with

[C L O U D]

This was like my first PS1 game... :')

The closing credits in MGS1 is amazing!

[alexcosborn]

Totally. Love the after credits tease. So very epic.

[Xperia_ion]

Sniper Wolf death scene rocked me to my core.

[KrimsonKody]

For me to say MGS4 sounds typical, being that it's the latest version, but MGS4 is pretty damn good!

I'm gonna try to put them in order of greatest, but it's gonna be hard;

MGS4
MGS3
MGS1
MGS2
Peace Walker*

*Peace Walker can arguably swap positions with MGS2. Peace Walker is one of the best portable games I've ever played.

A few favorite scenes, in no order;
Elma's parrot speaking to Otacon after the Vamp situation.
The Joys' death on the field of flowers.
Sniper Wolf alone on that old battlefield.
Fortunes' death scene.
Hell, even Raidens' abused childhood soldier story was touching. Raiden had it tough also, so don't think he's all sugar & creme.

Most annoying scene;
Raiden always yellin' "my body!" when Vamp paralyzes him.
If you played on the hardest difficulty, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

[telekineticmantis]

...

[TrueGaming]

IMO... Greatest PS1 game made! It was the first game that to me was worth $49.95. I was hooked on MG series from the first time I seen the trailer on the PS magazine demo disc. BTW can anyone provide a link for that??? MGS1 is my favorite in the series (even though every game was great in their own right) is MGS1 because it's the game that first introduced me to a qaulity AAA series of games that by themselves can be called the killer app on any console & make people say " WOW I gotta play that sh!t ! " There's only a select few titles that can make that statement...