This is Objection Network’s countdown of the top 25 video game series of all-time. We’re counting down to the best franchise ever on March 31. For more info on the voting process, click here.

14) Metal Gear (2 votes, 95 points)

Chris: Anyone who voted for this referred to it as Metal Gear Solid, but hey, let’s throw a bone to the NES version. It introduced several important characters for the series (even if almost all of their names changed) and Hideo Kojima had his hands in it from the very beginning. It’s almost remarkable that the series survived an eight-year gap between Metal Gear 2 and the first Solid game. Now, it’s become one of the cornerstone franchises in the industry.

I have tangential experience with MGS, but not much else. I’ve watched quite a bit of 3 and 4 being played, as well as the insanity known as Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (excuse me while I go all-caps here for a minute but THE FINAL BOSS IS A SHIRTLESS NANOMACHINE-INFUSED SENATOR WHO TRIES TO KILL YOU WITH AN ELBOW DROP). If anything, skirting around the peripheral of the series has left me even more confused than I probably should be, but damn if I’m not still interested in more.

There was another eight-year gap between MGS 4 and 5, and now Konami and Kojima have gone their separate ways. What that means for the future is unclear, but it’s been a hell of a ride to this point.

Shaun: I remember when everyone thought Hideo Kojima was insane for Metal Gear Solid 2? Turns out the guy is just consistently ahead of his time. What at what point was bonkers is now seen to be impressively prescient, and I think that’s what consistently elevates the games of this series–sure, they are about stealth, and war, and fun with cardboard boxes, but they touch on the real world, and where we hard headed, in surprising and sometimes terrifying ways.

As I get older, I also appreciate Kojima’s insistence on using his games to make commentary on the nature of us, the players. Metal Gear Solid 2’s elaborate “Solid Snake Simulation” was a shocking and meta plot turn, and Metal Gear Solid 5 has a similar thread. Is Solid Snake a god among men, or would the experiences he had endured turn anyone into a legendary soldier.

Bonus points: Creating one of the best stealth games, and one of the greatest games ever, in Metal Gear Solid 5

Negative points: The handling of Quiet. So much squandered potential, all in the name of sex appeal.

RELATED LINKS:
(15) Fallout
(16) Persona
(17) Tales
(18) Saints Row
(19) BioShock
(20) The Sims
(21) Grand Theft Auto
(22) Halo
(23) Animal Crossing
(24) Silent Hill
(25) Donkey Kong
#50-26
Intro/Honorable Mention

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