Metal Gear series

The term Metal Gear series refers to both the original Metal Gear games and usually as a catch-all term for all canon Metal Gear games. This doesn't include games such as Snake's Revenge and Metal Gear Acid.

The original Metal Gear series consists of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, with the full canonical Metal Gear series consisting of both Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid games.

Overview
Each game involves the character Snake (usually Solid Snake) sneaking around maps and avoiding soldiers. He is armed with various weapons, most of which exist in the real world. At certain points in the game he has to fight various bosses who have different superhuman or supernatural abilities. Usually, the penultimate boss is the latest incarnation of the weapon Metal Gear.

Metal Gear Series
The full series consists of the following games (in release order).

Metal Gear
In the year 1995, a gigantic fortress known as Outer Heaven, founded by a legendary mercenary is constructing a gigantic weapon of mass destruction. The U.S. Government decide to contact Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND. Big Boss, commander of FOXHOUND, sends in his most trusted agent, Gray Fox. However, before any information could be gathered, Gray Fox disappears with his last message simply reading "Metal Gear..." It's up to new FOXHOUND recruit Solid Snake to infiltrate Outer Heaven and put a stop to the construction of the world's most powerful weapon.

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Four years after the destruction of Outer Heaven, Solid Snake has gone into retirement. But all is not well, as the creator of a new species of algae known as OILIX, which could produce petroleum-grade hydrocarbons with little expense and effort, has been kidnapped by the renegade nation Zanzibar Land, which has become the only country left with Nuclear Strike capability. New FOXHOUND Commander, Colonel Roy Campbell has no option but to call Solid Snake out of retirement. Snake has to sneak into the fortified Nation, rescue Dr. Kio Marv and retrieve the OILIX program, and take down the men behind the terrorists...

Metal Gear Solid
In the year 2005, during a routine training mission on a remote nuclear disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island, FOXHOUND members being led by Liquid Snake rebel against the U.S. Government, demanding the remains of the legendary soldier Big Boss. Roy Campbell, former commander of FOXHOUND calls Solid Snake out of retirement one more time, to infiltrate the stronghold, find out if the terrorists have the capabilities of firing a nuclear missile, and stop them if they do. His other objective is to rescue the two hostages, DARPA Chief Donald Anderson and the President of ArmsTech Kenneth Baker. The fate of America rests on Solid Snake's shoulders.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty
Solid Snake and Otacon, after surviving the Shadow Moses Incident, form Philanthropy with the intention of flushing out and eliminating the imposing threat of Metal Gears. In the year 2007, information has leaked that the Marines have built a new Metal Gear to combat the over abundance of Metal Gear REX's. Infiltrating the Tanker the new Metal Gear RAY is being transported on, Solid Snake is assigned to take photographic evidence of the new Metal Gear. As he finishes his Mission, however, the Tanker is blown up and sunk by Revolver Ocelot, taking Solid Snake with it.

Another two years later, as US President James Johnson is taking a tour of the Big Shell (created to clean up the oil spilled by the tanker) terrorists calling themselves the "Sons Of Liberty" being led by a man calling himself Solid Snake, take over the Big Shell, demanding thirty billion U.S. Dollars. New FOXHOUND operative Raiden is sent in to eliminate the terrorist threat and rescue the President.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
After the end of the second world war, the world was split into two, marking the beginning of the Cold War. In the year 1964, FOX operative Naked Snake is sent into Tselinoyarsk in a Virtuous Mission to rescue Russian scientist Sokolov who was working on a terrifying new weapon, capable of launching a nuke from anywhere on the planet. Just as Snake is about to complete his mission, his mentor, The Boss, defects to the Soviet Union, taking Sokolov and two miniature nukes with her.

One week later, Snake is sent back into Tselinoyarsk to once again rescue Sokolov, defeat the members of The Boss' Cobra Unit and destroy Sokolov's creation, The Shagohod and to kill his former mentor, The Boss.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
In the year 1970 Big Boss has retired from FOX. However, he and Major Zero are being accused of starting a revolution in FOX and stealing a new American weapon. Snake has been captured by FOX and with the help of a Green Beret, Roy Campbell, must recruit soldiers and stop the renegade unit in order to clear his name.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
The year is 2014. Following the Big Shell Incident, the restriction of military intervention on foreign soil has been eased, fuelling the need for private military companies to fight proxy wars for business purposes. Nanotechnology has become prominent, both to enhance the capabilities and enforce the loyalty of mercenaries. The nanomachine system that the PMCs use is called "Sons Of The Patriots" or "SOP". The five largest of these PMCs are owned by a single mother company named Outer Heaven, operated by Liquid Ocelot. Amassing an army rivaling that of the United States, Liquid prepares to launch an armed insurrection by taking control of SOP. With the world once again in crisis, a rapidly aging and disillusioned Solid Snake is deployed into the Middle East by Roy Campbell to terminate Liquid once and for all.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising
This game will star Raiden and will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the PC.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
This game will star Big Boss and takes place in 1974 in Costa Rica and will depict the rise of Outer Heaven.

Metal Gear Games
The Term Metal Gear Series is not normally used to refer to non-canonical games, they are more often refered to simply as Metal Gear Games. These games are:


 * Snake's Revenge
 * Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
 * Metal Gear Ac!d
 * Metal Gear Ac!d²
 * Metal Gear Solid Mobile

For a detailed history of games releases, see Game Releases.