Metal Gear Solid vs Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear Solid is an action-adventure game from Konami (1998) while Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is an FPS open-world game (2015).
Quick answer: Metal Gear Solid has the higher Metacritic, 94 to 91.
Metal Gear Solid
What each one is
Metal Gear Solid is filed under Action-Adventure. In contrast, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain under FPS and Open-World.
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.
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 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)
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 | 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 | 1998 | 2015 |
| Developer | Konami | — |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Metal Gear Solid 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 SolidAction-adventure 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 SolidNo 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 ✓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—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 SolidUnknownMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain$19.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
Metal Gear Solid 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 (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 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 | 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 · Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Metal Gear Solid 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 and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in scope?
Metal Gear Solid 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 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 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 or Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain?
Metal Gear Solid 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.