With some games dating back to over thirty years ago, it can be difficult to put all Metal Gear Solid Games in order. Over the years, multiple prequels and spin-offs were released, making it even harder to discern the actual chronological order of the games. To guide you in this legendary gaming franchise, we’ve compiled the definitive list of all Metal Gear Solid games, both in order of release and in chronological order of the story.
Metal Gear Solid Games in Order of Release
Let’s first start with the original order of release of all Metal Gear Solid games. This includes some non-canon spin-offs.
- Metal Gear – Released in 1987
- Metal Gear (edited or NES version) – Released in 1987
- Snake’s Revenge – Released in 1990
- Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake – Released in 1990
- Metal Gear Solid – Released in 1998
- Metal Gear Solid/Metal Gear: Ghost Babel – Released in 2000
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty – Released in 2001
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance – Released in 2002
- Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes – Released in 2004
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater – Released in 2004
- Metal Gear Acid – Released in 2005
- Metal Gear Acid 2 – Released in 2005
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence – Released in 2006
- Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops – Released in 2006
- Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus – Released in 2007
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – Released in 2008
- Metal Gear Solid Mobile – Released in 2008
- Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker – Released in 2010
- Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection – Released in 2011
- Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D – Released in 2012
- Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops – Released in 2012
- Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – Released in 2013
- Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes – Released in 2014
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – Released in 2015
- Metal Gear Survive – Released in 2018
- Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 – To be released in 2023
- Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater – To be released in 2024
Metal Gear Solid Games in Chronological Order
Not all Metal Gear Solid gamestake place in the same canon. Some games, like the Acid series, are clear spin offs. These games take place in alternative realities and ignore the events from the ‘main’ games. These games are omitted from the next list. Other games, like Portable Ops and Survive, have disputed statuses. They acknowledge the events from the main games and don’t contradict them in any way. That’s why we do include these games in the following list. Here are all Metal Gear Solid games in chronological order:
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater/Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence/Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D/Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater – Takes place in 1964
- Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops – Takes place in 1970
- Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker – Takes place in 1974
- Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes – Takes place in 1975
- Metal Gear Survive – Takes place in 1975
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – Takes place in 1984
- Metal Gear – Takes place in 1995
- Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake – Takes place in 1999
- Metal Gear Solid/Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes – Takes place in 2005
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty/Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance – Takes place in 2007-2009
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – Takes place in 2014
- Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance – Takes place in 2018
For more information on the chronology of the Metal Gear Solid series, be sure to check out our Metal Gear Solid Timeline. The Timeline includes every game (both main and spin-off), as well as related books comics, movies, and more.
Best way to play the Metal Gear Solid series
Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to obtain every single Metal Gear Solid game. Some of them are pretty old and have become rare over time, and some have only been released on one specific platform.
With the release of Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and pc, the most essential parts of Metal Gear Solid are finally available to a wider audience once again. Thanks to backwards compatibility, the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S are also great platforms to experience a large collection of Metal Gear Solid games.
The Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 includes the original Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The collection also includes the NES version of Metal Gear and it’s sequel Snake’s Revenge, and both Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel and Metal Gear Solid 2: Digital Graphic Novel.
On Xbox One and Series X/S, you can play the Xbox 360 version of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection thanks to backwards compatibility. The HD Collection includes Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Peace Walker, as well as ports of the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. You can also play Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (as an Xbox 360 game), Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Survive on the Xbox consoles.
Even then, you’ll still miss out on a few chapters, though. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is only available on PSP (or Vita, through backwards compatibility), while Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots requires you to obtain a PlayStation 3. If you have access to a PlayStation 3, Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection is also a great starting point. For the original Metal Gear Solid, you can also obtain a PlayStation Classic, as the game is already installed on the mini console. Let’s hope Konami will release a Master Collection Vol. 2 to make even more classic games available once again.
There you have it: all Metal Gear Solid games in order! What’s your favorite game in the Metal Gear series? Drop it in the comments below!
