Why the greatest moment in the Metal Gear Solid series isn’t what you think (spoiler-free)

Slackerninja.com thinks that we missed out on what was the defining moment in the series.

[yellowgerbil]

The defining moment in the series was when you first went down the hallway in MGS1 and saw the bodies and the invisible ninja killing them. That creeped me out so much back in the day and scared me more than games like Resident Evil or Parasite Eve or dino crisis (we need a return for Parasite Eve and Dino Crisis!!!)

[djplonker]

Nah I played both when I was around 8 years old and that first zombie encounter on resident evil was the worst thing ever to me lol

*SPOILER* (just incase)

I didn't have a problem with mgs1 until the ninja died for you and when you kill sniper wolf and when she shoots meryl them bits made me sad and I was quite a hardy 8 year old!

also I like the ladder from mgs3 :3

[pedrof93]

I think that those old graphics had a way to scare people more easily. Because even looking at something you couldn't be sure what you were seeing.

Resident evil is an example.

[camel_toad]

My most memorable moment was in MGS when Campbell told me to basically look at the back of the actual MGS case for the codec number (screenshot of the codec) That was something genius only Kojima could come up with.

[yellowgerbil]

check out some old webcomics I did of some memorable MGS1 moments http://www.yellowgerbil.com...

[Mr_cheese]

The series as a whole had a hell of a lot of great moments, but all of my personal ones come from the original MGS from the minute you come out of the water, to hiding in your first box. The list is endless and I haven't even mentioned things like switching the controller port!

[Activemessiah]

For me it was the port changing... that was genius.

[djplonker]

Or the game-over screen in mgs2

[yellowgerbil]

snake eater, when you die no matter what and are supposed to take the pill at the gameover screen. Took me HOURS to figure out that was what I was supposed to do

[Luke_fon_Fabre]

If you play all the games in order, the defining moment of the series would be quite early on. The moments when you must fight Big Boss at the end of Metal Gear or the revelation in Metal Gear 2 that the Black Ninja is actually Schneider from Metal Gear 1 after you've already killed him come to mind. Now, most people start with MGS1, so the defining moment there, I think, is the torture scene which shapes the game's ending. Some people start with MGS3, and I'd say the defining moment there is The Boss's betrayal. So, what I'm getting at here is that the defining moment of the series depends on where you start.

[KimikoGaming]

I'll tell you my favorite moment... but first, an introduction to my experience with the series.

I love this series. But originally, I tried to get into the series by playing MGS3 first so that I could get into it in order of storyline. But I could never get into MGS3. It started out with a lot more stealth and a lot less action or story than the other games. It didn't get the "holy sh*t" moments until later on in the game, but since I didn't play the other games yet, I didn't expect the game to have such a big turnaround, or for it to become more action packed, or for it to be so good. So I could never get through even the first mission of MGS3 out of sheer boredom, and because of it, never got into the series until I decided recently to buy the legacy collection and give it another go, but this time, in order of release.

I figured I would skip MG and MG2 and just read about them online instead. So I played MGS1 first and I loved it. The soundtrack, the story, the gameplay... Everything about it was amazing. It really turned the series and my views on it around for me. So MGS1 is special for me in that sense. I now love the series.

Okay, now I'll say my favorite moment

I absolutely love throwbacks and tributes, and for the reason given at the end of the paragraph above, my all time favorite moment in the MGS series is in MGS4 when you get to Shadow Moses. Everything from the flashback where you play with the graphics of the first game, to the exact and minute details, to the flashbacks of cutscenes from the first game(more significantly, when you meet Otacon), to the music from the first game's end credits... Everything just makes me sit there, awe-inspired. It is an amazing tribute and throwback, and whenever I think about MGS, that is always the first thing I think about. My reactions and feelings of that very moment in the game.

Even being brand new to the series, and playing MGS 1-4 all the way through for the first time all within a matter of 2 weeks, this was still a very very powerful feeling.