Essential Gear

Should I buy the Metal Gear Solid Essential Pack?

I’ve never played the metal gear solid series but i heard the 4th game is amazing. I want to buy it but i’ve heard that I’d be totally confused playing it if I haven’t played the previous 3. Should I buy the essential pack or just the 3 previous games. Which would be cheaper?

Playing MGS4 without playing the other games would be like watching star wars Episode 3 without ever watching the other movies. It can be done, but you will not enjoy the story line nearly as much. That being said, MGS4 does a pretty good job of explaining the back story to new players. It will be a little confusing but there is still some good fun to be had.

If you want to enjoy the full story line, (and it is one of the best I have seen in a video game) I would recommend playing the other games though. They are good games even though they are older so it is not like a chore to play through them (my friend got the essentials pack and played them all this past month for the first time, He loved them all.) The three games that you really need to play are Metal Gear Solid 1 (PS1) and Metal Gear 2 and 3 on the PS2. There have been other games, but they are not as important. All three of these games can be found in the Metal Gear Solid: The Essentials Collection.

Play them in this order though 3, then 1, then 2, then 4. That is the order the story line goes and it will be best if you do it that way.

These games are like a finely crafted movie. The Story line is full of twists and turns that do not have the same impact if someone were to just tell you what happened in the other games. The best way to experience it is to play the games yourself, not read about them.

I speak from experience here. I played MSG2 first (without playing MGS1) and it was fun. It was only years later when (when I finally played MGS1) that I fully appreciated how epic the story line truly is.

So to sum it up, if you just jump into MGS4 without playing the other games, you will have fun, but it will only be an 8 out of 10 experience. If you play the past games (and they are fun too) MGS 4 will be off the scale on how good it is. My friend had the same experience as me.

p.s. sorry this is so long.

Prepared #4 – Essential Equipment (Preparedness series)