Some video game franchises keeping moving forward with each new installment: no prequels, no spin-offs, just one continuous story. Other franchises don't even bother with keeping a timeline in order, instead opting to keep its stories separate from one another.
And then there's Metal Gear.
For more than 30 years, Metal Gear has woven one of the most intricately-detailed storylines in all of gaming. While it's not always the easiest series to jump into, it's amazing that the franchise has kept its storyline intact after all these years. That being said, the games weren't released in chronological order: far from it.
As a matter of fact, the first Metal Gear game serves as the halfway point of the series - as a result, it's not always easy to tell which games come after which in the timeline.
So, if you're new to Metal Gear and want to start from the beginning (or just want to play through the series in a new way), here's every core Metal Gear game in chronological order:
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Setting:
• 1964
Main Character:
• Big Boss
Players learn of the origins of Big Boss, and play through the events that would begin the franchise-wide story. It's also one of the most well-reviewed games in the entire series, making it one of the best jumping-off points in the franchise.
Metal Gear Portable Ops
Setting:
• 1970
Main Character:
• Big Boss
While Portable Ops' place in canon is somewhat unclear, it served as a prototype of the army-building mechanics in Peace Walker and The Phantom Pain. Considering it was only ever released on the original PSP, it might be a bit harder to find than any of the other games on the this list, but it's still worth checking out if you're a hardcore fan.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Setting:
• 1974
Main Character:
• Big Boss
Picking up the story after Snake Eater, Peace Walker tells the story of how Big Boss turned his 'army without a nation' from nothing into a global superpower. It also pioneered the base building and personnel management of Metal Gear Solid V, as well as introducing fans to many of the story ideas in The Phantom Pain.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Setting:
• 1975
Main Character:
• Big Boss
Ground Zeroes, while relatively light on story, shows players how Big Boss went from creating a massive army to lying in a hospital bed with one arm missing. It's short, and there's not a lot of content to be found, but it's easy to find for a fraction of the full price. For a few bucks, Ground Zeroes is definitely worth playing.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Setting:
• 1984
Main Character:
• Big Boss
Without spoiling anything, The Phantom Pain is a story about revenge, giant tanks and Diamond Dogs. Going any further than that will spoil the game for those who haven't played it yet - just know that it's an amazing game, even if you're not well-versed on the series' lore.
Metal Gear
Setting:
• 1995
Main Character:
• Solid Snake
The original Metal Gear served not only as an introduction to one of gaming's biggest heroes ever, but to stealth gaming as a whole: it's the game that put Hideo Kojima on the map, and the fact that the game still holds up even today goes to show just how ahead of its time Metal Gear really was.
Metal Gear 2
Setting:
• 1999
Main Character:
• Solid Snake
Metal Gear 2 was an expansion and improvement on everything in the original: the sneaking, the characters, the story, the presentation, all of its was vastly improved. Surprisingly, Metal Gear 2 also set up some of the series' lasting tropes and traditions, despite the fact that most fans have never played the game.
Metal Gear Solid
Setting:
• 2005
Main Character:
• Solid Snake
If there's one game in the franchise that everyone knows about, it's Metal Gear Solid. For many, it was their first game in the series, and its story is one of the best in gaming history. Sure, it can get a little convoluted with nearly a dozen double-crosses throughout, but even to this day, there's really nothing else like it. There's a reason why so many people call it a masterpiece.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Setting:
• 2007/2009
Main Character:
• Raiden
It may not be as widely-revered as its predecessor, but Metal Gear Solid 2 is still a great game. True, its story about artificial intelligence and the nature of reality may have gotten a bit too complicated for its own good, but the gameplay is so solid that it's easy to forgive the game's storytelling shortcomings.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Setting:
• 2014
Main Character:
• Solid Snake
As the current end of the series timeline, Metal Gear Solid 4 had the unenviable task of wrapping up every lingering story thread in the entire franchise. Despite everything, Metal Gear Solid 4 succeeded: not only did it close the entire franchises' story up, but it gave one of gaming's longest-running and most beloved characters the send-off he deserved. Plus, even eight years later, the game is still gorgeous.
And there you have it: the entire Metal Gear franchise in chronological order. Of course, if playing through all those different games sounds like too much work, you can just go ahead and check out or comprehensive timeline of then entire series!
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