Metal Gear in Chronological Order
All 12 games from 1987 to 2025, arranged by when their stories happen rather than when they came out. The timeline moves 12 of 12 away from release order: Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is #12 by release but #2 in the timeline, and Metal Gear is #1 by release but #7 in the timeline. The full Metal Gear guide has both orders, the reasoning, and a free progress tracker.
| # | Title | Year | Release order |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Cold War prequel; chronologically the first | 2004 | #6 (later) |
| 2 | Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Full 2025 remake of Snake Eater that keeps the original story intact | 2025 | #12 (later) |
| 3 | Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops PSP entry set in 1970, after Snake Eater | 2006 | #7 (later) |
| 4 | Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Big Boss in 1974; builds Mother Base | 2010 | #9 (later) |
| 5 | Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Short 1975 prologue to The Phantom Pain | 2014 | #10 (later) |
| 6 | Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Open-world 1984 finale of the Big Boss saga | 2015 | #11 (later) |
| 7 | Metal Gear The MSX2 original that started the series | 1987 | #1 (earlier) |
| 8 | Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake MSX2 sequel set in 1999 | 1990 | #2 (earlier) |
| 9 | Metal Gear Solid The PS1 classic; best newcomer entry point | 1998 | #3 (earlier) |
| 10 | Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes GameCube-only remake of MGS1, never re-released on another platform | 2004 | #4 (earlier) |
| 11 | Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty The Big Shell incident; you play as Raiden | 2001 | #5 (earlier) |
| 12 | Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Solid Snake's finale, set in 2014 | 2008 | #8 (earlier) |
Track Metal Gear in this order → The guide's tracker follows whichever order you pick, chronological order included.