Best MGS to start with

My brother has been a long time fan of the Metal Gear Solid series. Two days ago, he got Ground Zeros for the PS4. I've seen some gameplay of it and it seems really fun, but I've never played a Metal Gear game before. The closest I've gotten to one is either Splinter Cell Blacklist or playing as Snake in Super Smash Bros Brawl. Please help me decide what game to start with. Note: We moved recently and haven't unpacked any of the MGS games except Twin Snakes, and with Watchdogs coming out extremely soon, I may just completely forget that I've been meaning to play anything else. Thanks.

Start with Metal Gear Solid 1 for the Playstation, and then just follow the sequels. If you can't get past over the graphics and overall age of the game, start with Twin Snakes which is essentially a remake of MGS1

No! Avoid Twin Snakes at all costs. It is awful. Start with Metal Gear Solid. Not even so much for the visuals, but moreso because the controls evolve over time. If you start with a later game in the series it may be hard to adjust to the first game.

Play the one without cutscenes ! ;)

If you want to understand Ground Zeroes I suggest playing Peace Walker since that will allow you to understand what happens in Ground Zeroes is rather important.

From there it depends what part of the story you want.

Peace Walker, MGS3, Ground Zeroes all go together to explain Big Boss.

MGS, MGS2, MGS4 all explain Solid Snake and are in a more "modern" era.

For an opinion

For story purposes MGS3 first, then Peace Walker because Peace Walker has a different play style than the rest.

For fun value and just enjoying the story, MGS1 because it's the best at introducing you to what MGS is. MGS is a little dated, but it's not like you are going back to the NES days, so it's fine.

@sargentpsgamer

Don't people care about Gameplay anymore ?

Doesn't matter where you start as long as you:

1. Play MGS 1 before MGS 2

2. Play MGS 3 before Peace Walker.

3. Play MGS 4 after playing EVERY other canonical MGS game. Simply the most satisfying ending to a long series.

Buy the legacy collection if you have a PS3.If you have an X360 get the HD collection and find a copy of the PC version of MGS.

Trust me. Don't listen to anyone else. You don't have to play EVERY MGS like an fanboy with OCD.

Of course, that's why I separated them. If you want a good start for story, then MGS3. If you want to play it for fun and mechanics of MGS then MGS1.

@sargentpsgamer

Or he can skip all story and you know.... Go for gameplay.... I mean Whats the point in gaming if one doesn't like gameplay ?

If you can't unearth all the editions of the MGS franchise, I would suggest in buying the Legacy collection. It has all the Metal Gear Solid games. It's probably dead cheap nowadays because it came out long ago, so buying it would essentially be a steal.

Play them in order of release. If you play them in the order that they take place within the fictional universe good luck understanding anything. Also MGS1 is the way to go, twin snakes is not a good substitute. As someone else said the legacy collection for PS3 has everything but GZ.

You know what... Screw it ! Play them All Chronologically.

MGS1

MGS2

MGS3

MGS Portable Ops

Mgs Peace Walker

Mgs5

MGS4:-)

You're welcome.

Play them in order

@suntzusamuel: What you see here is pretty much good advice.

But if you can get Metal Gear(not to be confused from Metal Gear Solid) it would really give you an idea of the history between Big Boss and Solid Snake. Then proceed with MGS 1 and the rest is up to you.