Metal Gear Solid (1998)

Konami Computer Entertainment Japan

PlayStation · PlayStation 3 · PlayStation Portable

4.49 from 4054 ratings · #24 top rated on Grouvee

7392 members have it in their collection · 178 playing now · 1324 backlogged · 987 wish listed

How long? Main story 12h · with extras 14h · 100% 18h (from 83 logged playthroughs)

Metal Gear Solid is a stealth game created by Hideo Kojima which follows the MSX2 video games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Despite a transition to 3D, Metal Gear Solid's gameplay remains similar to his predecessors. The game utilizes a traditional top-down view and the player must navigate the protagonist Solid Snake through the game's areas without … Read more
Metal Gear Solid is a stealth game created by Hideo Kojima which follows the MSX2 video games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Despite a transition to 3D, Metal Gear Solid's gameplay remains similar to his predecessors. The game utilizes a traditional top-down view and the player must navigate the protagonist Solid Snake through the game's areas without being detected. Detection will set off an alarm which draws armed enemies to his location. Conversations with Snake's allies and cutscenes are used extensively to advance the plot and gain more insight into it. Metal Gear Solid is regarded as one of the greatest and most important video games of all time, and helped popularize the stealth genre and in-engine cinematic cutscenes. Read less
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Release dates

  • Sep 03, 1998 (Full Release) (Japan) PlayStation
  • Oct 20, 1998 (Full Release) (North_America) PlayStation
  • Feb 22, 1999 (Full Release) (Europe) PlayStation
  • Mar 21, 2008 (Digital Compatibility Release) (Japan) PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
  • Jun 18, 2009 (Digital Compatibility Release) (North_America) PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
  • Nov 19, 2009 (Digital Compatibility Release) (Europe) PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable

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Rating distribution

5 stars
2497
4 stars
1140
3 stars
342
2 stars
62
1 star
13
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Community All Reviews Statuses

Lygodesma

Status Lygodesma Apr 4, 2025

Replaying this rn. I've said it and say it again: it's amazing how unimportant actual gameplay is, because this is mainly by its looks and feels, by its camera angle, controls, visuals and sounds an secret agent simulator. The gameplay is just slightly adjacent to that. Just the fact that I press select to have a phone call, a button …

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Replaying this rn. I've said it and say it again: it's amazing how unimportant actual gameplay is, because this is mainly by its looks and feels, by its camera angle, controls, visuals and sounds an secret agent simulator. The gameplay is just slightly adjacent to that. Just the fact that I press select to have a phone call, a button that I rarely ever press on the controler and an action that I never do, makes me feel to be in that kind of position. But arguably that is party of the gameplay, just in a unusual and creative way. Great game, achieved a lot with so little.

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kingbk83

Status kingbk83 Jan 20, 2025

Metal Gear Rex kicked my ass a bunch of times, but then after using a combination of chaffe gernades and stinger missiles, I was able to get him in the first part.

The second part, if you just get under his legs enough where the radar turns blue and he can't lock on, you can hit him easily with missiles …

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Metal Gear Rex kicked my ass a bunch of times, but then after using a combination of chaffe gernades and stinger missiles, I was able to get him in the first part.

The second part, if you just get under his legs enough where the radar turns blue and he can't lock on, you can hit him easily with missiles in the cockpit.

Almost finished. I can see why this is such a renowned classic.

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kingbk83

Status kingbk83 Jan 19, 2025

There are so many twists and turns in the story of this game. It feels at times like a soap opera haha.

kingbk83

Status kingbk83 Jan 2, 2025

There is a part in this game with stairs that is like the NES Ghostbusters level, but actually fun and actually beatable without the need of Game Genie.

kingbk83

Status kingbk83 Dec 17, 2024

That sniper fight with Wolf was not easy. You have to take a medication to not shake, then you have to get down and aim, but if you get hit, your aim gets all out of whack, and then you have to keep your ammunition up, as well as your energy. I eventually won, but took a few tries.

And …

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That sniper fight with Wolf was not easy. You have to take a medication to not shake, then you have to get down and aim, but if you get hit, your aim gets all out of whack, and then you have to keep your ammunition up, as well as your energy. I eventually won, but took a few tries.

And then that torture scene... I like that the game breaks the fourth wall, but I can see why this game was so groundbreaking in the mid 90s. It was a game made for adults. Mortal Kombat isn't for kids? This game is not only violent, but it has deep, dark, disturbing themes that make Mortal Kombat look like a cartoon. I definitely see why it's a classic, but I can also see why it's not meant for kids.

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kingbk83

Status kingbk83 Dec 7, 2024

One of the reasons I truly enjoy the Switch is it's a great home to play games I missed out on like this one.

What a great game.

ggwilliams9

Status ggwilliams9 Nov 11, 2024

I have no nostalgia for this specific Metal Gear Solid game. I have played all the other mainline games and mostly enjoyed them (MGS2 especially). MGS1 is everything I hoped it would be, but also falls short in ways I didn't expect. The 4th wall breaks that happen throughout the game, always left me feeling unnerved. Just as the government …

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I have no nostalgia for this specific Metal Gear Solid game. I have played all the other mainline games and mostly enjoyed them (MGS2 especially). MGS1 is everything I hoped it would be, but also falls short in ways I didn't expect. The 4th wall breaks that happen throughout the game, always left me feeling unnerved. Just as the government is controlling Snake in order to do their bidding, I am controlling Snake to experience the Spy Thriller power fantasy.

       The game is painful when you know that Snake is being tricked into starting Metal Gear Rex.  The enemies leaving the room the player needs to be in to do this felt ridiculous. Its almost making fun of the ways games break the promise of the experience they are offering to make the game more playable.  In this story though, the moments of illogical gaminess are the enemy getting the upper hand by tricking Snake. The player is forced to commit these errors even if they see the truth of the situation. 

Reviewing this game is hard because you could spend weeks on the consequences of each purposeful design decision. I have been thinking about these aspects since I finished the game. A lot of the antiquated boss fight mechanics have been mostly forgotten. Old school in that games don't often have boss fights that are beaten once specific best way; it always feels cheesy. Playing this game didn't answer many of the mysteries the later games had me wondering about, but I think this is still an essential experience.

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killerstar

Status killerstar Oct 28, 2024

I'm watching a lets play and by god, the writing in this game is just uniformly terrible and the story is complete incoherent nonsense. The sad thing is... comparing this to Death Stranding, Kojima hasn't improved a bit in almost 30 years.

kingbk83

Status kingbk83 Oct 14, 2024

So happy this came to Switch. I missed out on it during one of my longer "video game hiatuses" and now revisiting it, I can see why it got the hype it did. The storytelling, the strategy, the music, the challenge, the puzzle solving... it's truly living up to it's billing as a classic.

StrictSnow

Status StrictSnow May 26, 2023

Also I know I literally just posted a status. But. I'm so surprised by the Metal Gear Solid news. I've never seen a company announce that they're making a remake and bringing the original (ish) to modern hardware in the same announcement. That's wild.

It's also wild because I've been playing through the series with a first timer, not-big gamer …

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Also I know I literally just posted a status. But. I'm so surprised by the Metal Gear Solid news. I've never seen a company announce that they're making a remake and bringing the original (ish) to modern hardware in the same announcement. That's wild.

It's also wild because I've been playing through the series with a first timer, not-big gamer and the surprise on her face during the Psycho Mantis segment was absolutely something. I showed her some of Castlevania SOTN beforehand at some point, because the acting is hammy and we've watched Castlevania together. When Psycho Mantis mentioned it, she looked at me to make sure she wasn't crazy.

Seeing someone truly be surprised by Psycho Mantis was an absolute joy

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theali

Status theali Jul 18, 2022

Played it in 2021 an I loved it. A Masterpiece!! Hideo Kojima is a real guinius. Story, characters, game play, Easter eggs etc. Every real gamer should play this game.