Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots vs Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is an action-adventure FPS game (2008) while Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is an FPS open-world game (2015).
Quick answer: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has the higher Metacritic, 94 to 91.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
What each one is
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is filed under Action-Adventure and FPS. In contrast, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain under FPS and Open-World.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a 2008 action-adventure stealth game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami for the PlayStation 3. It is the sixth Metal Gear game directed by Hideo Kojima. Set five years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the story centers around a prematurely aged Solid Snake, now known as Old Snake, as he goes on one last mission to assassinate his nemesis Liquid Snake, who now inhabits the body of his former henchman Revolver Ocelot under the guise of Liquid Ocelot, before he takes control of the Sons of the Patriots, an A.I. system that controls the activities of PMCs worldwide. The game was released on June 12, 2008.
Ushering in a new era for the METAL GEAR franchise with cutting-edge technology powered by the Fox Engine, METAL GEAR SOLID V: The Phantom Pain, will provide players a first-rate gaming experience as they are offered tactical freedom to carry out open-world missions.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Setting See also: Metal Gear § Storyline Guns of the Patriots is set within an alternate history timeline in which the Cold War continued into the 1990s, ending before the turn of the century. The events themselves take place in 2014, and form the final chapter in the storyline covering the character of Solid Snake, providing conclusions to the events that led up to Guns of the Patriots . The world's economy relies on continuous civil wars fought by… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception Metal Gear Solid 4 received universal acclaim, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . The first review was a 10/10 from PlayStation Official Magazine – UK , commenting " MGS4 shifts gears constantly, innovating again and again". The game has been awarded 10/10 from Game Informer , as well as a perfect score in all categories (graphics, control, sound, and fun factor) from GamePro , Famitsu (40/40), and Empire . (Wikipedia)
Plot
Setting In the aftermath of the events of Ground Zeroes and the destruction of Militaires Sans Frontières (MSF), Big Boss ( Kiefer Sutherland / Akio Ōtsuka ) falls into a coma. Nine years later, he awakens and helps lead a new mercenary group, Diamond Dogs . Adopting the codename " Venom Snake ", he ventures into Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War and the Angola Zaire border region during the Angolan Civil War to track down the people responsible… (Wikipedia)
Characters
See also: List of characters in the Metal Gear series In contrast to previous Metal Gear installments, Kojima Productions conducted the voice acting and motion capture with English-speaking actors and stuntmen first. While facial motion capture was used before for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , it was done separately from the actual voice acting. The Japanese voice acting was dubbed over the English cast's performance afterward, in contrast… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic . Reviewers considered it to be one of the best Metal Gear games. It has also been cited as one of the greatest stealth games, and one of the greatest video games of all time . (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots | Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | — | 8.2/10 |
| Steam rating | — | Very Positive (92%, 107,873) |
| Critic aggregate | 94/100 | 91/100 |
| Price | Unknown | $19.99 |
| Install size | — | 28 GB |
| Steam Deck | Untested | playable |
| Released | 2008 | 2015 |
| Developer | — | — |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots vs Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsAction-adventure FPS gameMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom PainFPS open-world gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsNo descriptive tagsMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom PainStealth, Open World, ActionThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots ✓Metacritic 94Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom PainMetacritic 91Metacritic's critic aggregate, from the game's Wikipedia reception where it was never on Steam.
Content and scale
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots—Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain107,873 reviews · 13 add-ons · 28 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsUnknownMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain$19.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots takes 1 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The better reviewed of the two: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Metacritic 94)
Where they differ
StealthOpen WorldActionStory RichTacticalCinematic
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots | Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 (2GB) |
| Minimum CPU | — | Intel Core i5-4460 (3.40 GHz) |
| Minimum RAM | — | 4 GB |
| Install size | — | 28 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots · Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and 1 for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in scope?
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots lists little scope data. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has drawn 107,873 Steam reviews, ships 13 add-ons and installs in 28 GB.
Is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots or Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain better?
Neither carries enough reviews for us to score it reliably, so we do not call a winner. The table above shows what each does have.
Which is cheaper, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots or Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots or Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain?
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has the higher Metacritic, 94 to 91. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.