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Metal Gear Solid vs Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Metal Gear Solid is an action-adventure game from Konami (1998) while Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is an action-adventure FPS game (2008).

Quick answer: Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots are too close, or too thinly reviewed, to separate on the numbers; the table below shows what each holds.

Metal Gear Solid

1998 · Konami

94Metacritic

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

2008 · Studio not listed

94Metacritic

What each one is

Metal Gear Solid is filed under Action-Adventure. In contrast, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots under Action-Adventure and FPS.

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid is a 1998 action-adventure stealth game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation. Directed, produced, and written by Hideo Kojima, the game is the third mainline installment in the Metal Gear series, the seventh chronologically, and serves as a sequel to the MSX2 game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990). The game's story follows Solid Snake, a former Special Forces operative who is pulled out of retirement by the U.S. government to infiltrate Shadow Moses, a nuclear weapons facility that has been taken over by rogue unit FOXHOUND, led by Liquid Snake. Solid Snake must liberate hostages and prevent FOXHOUND from using Metal Gear REX, a mecha capable of delivering a nuclear warhead anywhere in the world, while confronting his own origins.

Description from Wikipedia

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

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.

Description from Wikipedia

Story, characters and reception

Metal Gear Solid
Plot

Setting Metal Gear Solid takes place in an alternate history in which the Cold War continued into the 1990s, ending at some point near the end of the 20th century. The game takes place in 2005, six years after the events of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake , and form the third chapter in an overarching plot concerning the character of Solid Snake. Characters Main article: List of Metal Gear characters § Introduced in Metal Gear Solid The protagonist is Solid… (Wikipedia)

Characters

Main article: List of Metal Gear characters § Introduced in Metal Gear Solid The protagonist is Solid Snake ( Akio Otsuka / David Hayter ), a legendary infiltrator and saboteur. During the mission, Snake receives support and advice via codec radio. Colonel Roy Campbell , Solid Snake's former commanding officer , supports Snake with information and tactics. (Wikipedia)

Reception

Reception Prior to release, the game's demonstrations at several trade shows between 1996 and 1998 had received a positive response. This had generated significant worldwide interest in the game prior to its release in 1998. Critical reception Metal Gear Solid received "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator website Metacritic . (Wikipedia)

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
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)

At a glance

Metal Gear SolidMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
GamingPickz Score——
Steam rating——
Critic aggregate94/10094/100
PriceUnknownUnknown
Install size——
Steam DeckUntestedUntested
Released19982008
DeveloperKonami—

Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.

Metal Gear Solid vs Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, 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.

  1. Genre and premise

    Metal Gear SolidAction-adventure game
    Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsAction-adventure FPS game

    What each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.

  2. How it plays

    Metal Gear SolidNo descriptive tags
    Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsNo descriptive tags

    The tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.

  3. Reception

    Metal Gear SolidMetacritic 94
    Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsMetacritic 94

    Metacritic's critic aggregate, from the game's Wikipedia reception where it was never on Steam.

  4. Price

    Metal Gear SolidUnknown
    Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsUnknown

    Read live from Steam and subject to change.

Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 0 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.

Difficulty and who each is for

By the tags players apply, Metal Gear Solid is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.

Common questions

How different are Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots in scope?

Metal Gear Solid lists little scope data. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots lists little scope data.

Is Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots 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 or Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots?

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 or Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots?

Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots are too close, or too thinly reviewed, to separate on the numbers; the table below shows what each holds. 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.

All comparisons

How 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.

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