RetroGaming

I think MGS1 is an excellent game, but in my opinion the subsequent games improved on the formula massively. MGS2 had a very similar vibe, and yes whilst I'd agree that some of the bosses can be frustrating, it felt like they were trying to do weird and interesting things (like defusing bombs whilst fighting fatman, and taking out a huge number of metal gears in a single fight). MGS3 just feels like the complete package to me: the best bosses in the series, an incredible soundtrack and a mostly standalone, well written story.

One thing I missed in MGS3 was sneaking around in tight interior spaces. The tanker sequence in MGS2 is a highlight of the series for me - going unnoticed in this heavily guarded ship with the rain streaming down the windows with that jazzy soundtrack playing.

I'm struggling to think of many games that capture the vibe of MGS1. The early Resident Evil games perhaps spring to mind - trying to survive alone with limited ammo and a conspiratorial backstory.

the best metal gear is and forever will be metal gear rising: revengeance.

why, you ask?

NANOMACHINES, SON

It's probably more because it was my first and I've played it far more than any other game in the series, but I love MGS1 too.

Part of it is that Kojima's weirdness is reigned in a bit so the story is tight and relatively easy to understand while still having meta stuff like the psycho-mantis shenanigans, which was a fairly new thing in the 1990s.

You’re not wrong. I enjoyed Snake Eater too, but MGS1 was the best all the way up until MGS5: Phantom Pain.

They’re all charming in their own ways, tho.

Metal Gear 2 was also good. We really missed out by not getting a port of that to the SNES or Genesis.

I think the third game (are you playing the re-release with the fixed camera controls? https://metalgear.fandom.com/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_3:_Subsistence) opens up after you’ve gotten past the first couple of areas. I’d rank the third just below the original. If some of the cutscenes were shorter, I’d put them on equal footing.

But if you’re not into it, I wouldn’t force it. There are too many great games to play something that’s not fun for you. I never finished the fourth game because of that, and I never even started the fifth even though I bought it on sale for $5.

Also, give the Gamecube remake of the original a shot (The Twin Snakes). It was essentially the original baked into the game engine and control scheme of the second game.

Having only played the original releases other than Twin Snakes I have to disagree simply because the mechanics and controls got vastly better with 3, 4 and 5. Only thing really bad about 5 is the unfinished story. Gameplay wise, I think it's the best one.

The fact the he created such a great cinematic game in an era where this kind of game didn't exist is mind boggling. I felt like I was playing a movie with its camera angles, dialogs, general mood and the master piece opening sequence.

He was like 10 years ahead of the industry

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 1 for PC was an amazing game with a similar feel

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes ranks number one for me; the original story with updated control scheme and graphics is awesome. Then it's a toss up between 2 and V. 2 is a solid game in the same mould as the first, but V allows me to Fulton extract unsuspecting enemies which is a genius mechanic that allows me an immense range of fuckery.

I'd claim MGS1 may simply be the best game released on PS1 over all, but I am not sure I can objectively say it's the best of the series. Every main line game in the series that followed has some legit reasons to possibly claim they are better (I'm give a slight edge to 3 or maybe V personally). And which game did I play the most? Metal Gear for the NES, the flawed thing that it is was just go fun once you got good at it, like all the Metal Gear games.