7 Long-Running Video Game Franchises (And Where To Start With Them)
5. Metal Gear
Start with: Metal Gear Solid
The Metal Gear series started all the way back in 1987 with Metal Gear but that doesn't mean that you should start with that one. The original Metal Gear and its sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake have aged poorly and most people ignore them for the far superior Metal Gear Solid.
If you're worried about getting lost, Metal Gear Solid contains a “Previous Operations” segment in its main menu which will catch you up on the events of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
Metal Gear Solid is where most people started with the franchise anyway.
It was one of the first games to be labelled as "cinematic", telling a deep story that still holds up today. Gameplay-wise it holds up better than most original PlayStation-era 3D games do. The combat isn't great but that just works as a nice incentive to play the game stealthily.
The game's also quite short, giving you a nice taster of the series. If you don't like what you get here in the around ten-hour campaign, then you probably won’t like the much more complicated games with movie-length cutscenes that come later on in the series.