There are almost no franchises that dominate an entire genre of game like the Metal Gear games do with stealth. Sure, other series like Splinter Cell and Syphon Filter came along to try and compete in the space, but even to this day, the first name that most people think of when they hear stealth is Snake and Metal Gear. Brainchild and defining franchise for the now-legendary creator Hideo Kojima, this series has gone from humble beginnings before stealth was even a real concept in games, to a nearly abandoned franchise after his departure. While the future of the series may be uncertain, the legacy is undeniable. Not every game in the franchise is as spectacular as the others, and age has certainly taken its toll on some, but that didn’t make this ranking any easier. Perhaps the only thing more complicated than the story of these games is knowing which ones are the best, so we’ve crawled through all the vents, hid under every cardboard box, and held up every guard to rank all the Metal Gear games from best to worst.

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