Metal Gear Survive

Despite the backlash from fans decrying that Metal Gear Survive isn't a true Metal Gear game, what's available in this $40 package is a hundred-plus hours of one of the most polished survival games to ever make it onto consoles.

63%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

monetization, grinding

64% User Score Based on 2,130 reviews

Critic Score 61%Based on 46 reviews

Platforms

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About

Metal Gear Survive is a single player and multiplayer survival shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by KONAMI and was released on February 19, 2018. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

In a struggle to stay alive on this harsh terrain filled with deadly creatures, soldiers who were previously on Motherbase now must work cooperatively in order to survive.

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64%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,130 reviews

story210 positive mentions

monetization56 negative mentions

The game offers a fun survival experience with crafting and base-building mechanics.
Gameplay is engaging, especially in co-op mode, where players can work together to defend against waves of enemies.
The graphics and atmosphere are well-executed, utilizing the Fox Engine effectively.

The story is weak and lacks the depth and complexity of previous Metal Gear titles.
The game requires a constant online connection, even for single-player mode, which can lead to frustrating disconnections.
Microtransactions for additional save slots and resources feel exploitative and detract from the overall experience.

story
1,452 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
78%
8%
The story of "Metal Gear Survive" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it predictable and lacking depth compared to previous entries in the Metal Gear series. While some appreciate the attempt to weave a narrative into the survival gameplay, others criticize it for being a mere backdrop to repetitive fetch quests and defense missions. Overall, the story is seen as a weak point, often overshadowed by gameplay mechanics and resource management elements.
- “The story is actually moderately interesting, but unfortunately is delivered primarily via slideshow and the player character has nothing going for them.”
- “The story is set in a different timeline that may or may not interact with the official story of the Metal Gear Solid series, that's what I can say about that without spoiling the main parts of the story.”
- “The story does a pretty good job tying itself into the MGS5 plot while striking its own path.”
- “The story is so terrible that it is officially recognized as non-canonical.”
- “The story is a bit goofy to me though and not in a good way.”
- “The story is bland and lazy, the voice acting is terrible, the characters are terrible, the animations are shoddy.”
gameplay
754 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
66%
8%
The gameplay of "Metal Gear Survive" is a mixed bag, featuring familiar mechanics from "Metal Gear Solid V" combined with survival elements like hunger and thirst management, which some players find tedious. While the game offers solid stealth and combat mechanics, as well as base-building and crafting systems, many reviews highlight issues with clunky controls, poorly explained mechanics, and a repetitive gameplay loop that can detract from the overall experience. Despite its flaws, players who enjoy survival games and the core mechanics of the Metal Gear series may still find it engaging, especially in co-op mode.
- “The gameplay is actually pretty fun, assuming you like survival zombie games.”
- “The gameplay is solid, there's more to it than you've likely heard.”
- “The gameplay is fun and the survival aspect is very well integrated.”
- “I tried going in with an open mind, but this game is just terrible: boring gameplay, weak story, and I feel like I got pretty much all there was to offer within the first couple of hours.”
- “The gameplay is extremely repetitive, tedious, and difficult until you get a good stockpile of resources, so you can spam the best towers. From start to finish, the only gameplay value is collecting resources, building defenses, and surviving a timer.”
- “The gameplay is clunky and lacks fluidity, and the combat, the central mechanic of the entire game, is clunky as well.”
monetization
289 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
78%
19%
The monetization aspect of the game has drawn significant criticism, with many players labeling it a blatant cash grab by Konami. While microtransactions are present, including charges for additional save slots and resource boosters, opinions vary on their impact; some players report that they can be ignored and do not hinder gameplay, while others feel they are intrusive and indicative of poor design choices. Overall, the consensus suggests that the monetization strategy detracts from the game's value and experience, making it hard to recommend without reservations.
- “Microtransactions exist, but you can work around them with only reasonable effort (you can basically ignore them, and you get the premium currency in log-in bonuses).”
- “I never once felt I needed microtransactions to advance.”
- “The microtransactions present in the game are a bit iffy, but personally, I haven't felt the urge to create a new character just yet.”
- “Probably the biggest problem is the always online garbage and the overabundance of microtransactions.”
- “Really the only truly unexcusable sin that Konami is guilty of, in regard to this game, is the predatory monetization they have tacked on to the game... $10 to have a second character in a game with multiple endings... come on... that's just... gross.”
- “This game is clearly a cash grab, who the hell makes you pay money to use your own hard drive to save?”
grinding
186 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
99%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed feedback from players. While some appreciate the grind as a rewarding part of the survival experience, allowing for character leveling and resource management, many others find it excessively tedious and repetitive, particularly in the early stages and during resource farming. Overall, the game is characterized by a significant amount of grinding, which can detract from the enjoyment for those who prefer a more streamlined gameplay experience.
- “The crafting system is not too tedious as well, has a nice balance to it.”
- “The grinding outside of co-op missions is terrible.”
- “The gameplay is highly repetitive, tedious, and difficult until you get a good stockpile of resources, so you spam the best towers. From start to finish, the only gameplay value is collecting resources, building defenses, and surviving a timer.”
- “Painfully tedious collecting, resource farming, and NPC micromanagement make up the entirety of this lackluster 'bargain' title.”
graphics
110 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
63%
7%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many noting that they closely resemble those of Metal Gear Solid V, leading to perceptions of dated visuals and a lack of innovation. While some players appreciate the aesthetic and find the graphics serviceable or even impressive, others criticize them as underwhelming and poorly optimized, with issues like pop-in and bland textures. Overall, the consensus suggests that while the graphics are decent, they do not meet the expectations for a modern title and often feel like a rehash of older assets.
- “Graphics, audio and environments are good, gameplay is great, lots of sneaking around.”
- “The concept, graphics, world, almost the whole game is awesome.”
- “Graphics are great, characters, costumes, guns, moving and all that is as awesome as it has been always in Metal Gear story games.”
- “The game is just terrible; they also hid massive graphics issues and poorly designed areas behind the fog, which shows they lacked even the smallest effort given it's a cloned asset game.”
- “Biggest negative: the visuals are extremely underwhelming.”
- “To top it all off, the graphics seem to have been severely downgraded from MGSV; textures look much more bland and simple, and models for characters are barebones.”
music
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
68%
6%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the nostalgic soundtracks from previous Metal Gear titles and other Konami games, while others find the original compositions lacking and repetitive. Many highlight the ambient exploration tracks and upbeat battle music, but express frustration over limited access to the soundtracks outside of base areas and the inability to adjust sound settings. Overall, while the game offers a decent collection of music, it doesn't quite reach the heights of previous entries in the Metal Gear series.
- “The whole atmosphere of this game is great as it fits perfectly to this zombie version of Metal Gear, and you can play the soundtracks of the other Metal Gear games, so how cool is that?!”
- “Survive has multiple rotating events that cycle every two weeks and the rewards from playing the events include rare items, cosmetics, and music from other Konami games (like Silent Hill, Castlevania, Boktai, etc.) which you can then play over the loudspeaker at your camp.”
- “I personally like the large-ish collection of Konami music from all across their properties that you can have play in your base.”
- “The music is something I always look into the most in games, which this one sadly failed; the music is too boring and over the top unnecessarily most of the time.”
- “And on top of that, you don't get to hear any of the music you got unless you're in the base or online lobby, which makes me a little sad.”
- “The game doesn't give you any sound options that you'd expect to have, like music, SFX, voices, ambient, etc.; instead, all we have is mic on/off.”
atmosphere
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
35%
11%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its eerie, immersive qualities, effectively blending elements from the Metal Gear series with a haunting, Silent Hill-like environment. Players appreciate the use of the Fox Engine to create a visually stunning and tense world, particularly in the "dust" areas, which enhance the survival experience. Despite some criticisms regarding the story, the game's atmosphere stands out as a key strength, providing a compelling backdrop for exploration and gameplay.
- “The atmosphere is the best part about the game.”
- “Pretty fun in short spurts and the atmosphere is really beautiful and eerie, especially if you played the previous game, as this world is like a limbo-like nightmarish version of that world.”
- “If you love a game with a detailed world and intense atmosphere with a persistent sense of urgency and consequence to every action you take, you will enjoy this game.”
- “The misty otherworld generates a solid, tense atmosphere.”
- “Visually, the muted palette and constantly grey overcast foggy atmosphere is not fun.”
- “The whole atmosphere is just directly from MGS:FTP, which I don't mind, but nothing memorable was really added to this game in terms of landmarks, other than some pieces of Mother Base.”
optimization
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
32%
12%
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some players report smooth performance and good graphics even on lower-end PCs, others criticize it for poor CPU/GPU usage and significant lag compared to its predecessor, Metal Gear Solid V. Key issues include a lack of checkpoints and repetitive mission design, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these drawbacks, many still find it enjoyable and well-optimized in terms of gameplay mechanics.
- “It's well-made, well-optimized, and well-thought-out.”
- “The game is very well optimized, looks great and is quite fun to play.”
- “Runs smoothly on lower quality PCs and still looks great.”
- “The main campaign plays fine, although the Fox Engine used feels like an unoptimized version of the one that Kojima used in Metal Gear Solid V.”
- “It's got a terribly boring plot; the engine, which when used in MGS 5 was one of the smoothest and best-looking engines I've ever seen, now seems to lag so much it's nearly unplayable and is poorly optimized to the point that I've pretty much given up on even trying to play the game. In MGS 5, I never once had these issues. How did they mess up this game and its engine so badly?”
- “Let's start with the bad: holy shit, this game was poorly, poorly optimized.”
replayability
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
70%
13%
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag among reviewers. While some players appreciate the potential for replayability through co-op modes and customizable characters, others criticize the limited endgame content and lack of meaningful activities post-completion. Despite these concerns, several users noted that the game offers enough depth and variety to encourage multiple playthroughs, particularly with friends.
- “All in all, MG Survive has decent graphics, great gameplay, great replayability, great survival, great action, and co-op.”
- “Without doing a spoiler alert - there is even replayability after the game is beaten - but yet it's not repeating anything you've already done!”
- “However, after putting more time into it and revealing more and more of the game's features, skills, weapons, enemies, etc., as well as becoming more used to the controls and mechanics, I realized that there really is some good depth and replayability here.”
- “While the story is lacking very badly, the gameplay is quite entertaining, though no replay value is present and endgame activities are very limited. The fact that online co-op gives the game something.”
- “What's worse is after you've beaten the game, that's pretty much it... not a whole lot of reason to play after, and there really isn't any replay value.”
- “All politics aside, I think it's a pretty good game, and my only complaints would be that the enemies are too easy to kill even in large numbers, the game is a bit bland, and has very little replay value from what I've seen so far.”
humor
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it genuinely funny through absurd mechanics and quirky animations, such as characters reacting comically to situations like drinking dirty water or sprinting at goats. However, others feel that the humor falls flat or is overshadowed by frustrating gameplay elements, leading to a perception of the game as "funny bad" rather than intentionally humorous. Overall, while there are moments of humor that resonate with fans of the series, the execution is inconsistent, leaving some players disappointed.
- “There is good enough survival gameplay in the beginning to get what I wanted out of it, but now I get a whole bunch of hilarious tower defense instead.”
- “Single player is actually enjoyable, and coop is pretty hilarious.”
- “I understand when you are in the desert your physical needs are higher, but this is probably a bit too much even for a huge bodybuilder... if you get ill from drinking dirty water (which is bound to happen) you'll get random puke animations and they are kinda funny.”
stability
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
82%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting smooth performance and no significant bugs, while others experience frequent glitches, freezing during loading screens, and clunky controls. Overall, the game appears to be functional on lower-end systems, but many users advise against purchasing until the numerous bugs are addressed, as they significantly hinder gameplay enjoyment.
- “Highly functional, optimized, no bugs, no glitches.”
- “Fox engine still runs great, looking good on high-end rigs and running smooth on low-end rigs.”
- “The performance is beautiful; I have a few stutters, but that's because of the always-online feature they decided to implement. I have a Pentium Dual Core 2.7GHz, 2GB of RAM, and a GTX 710 2GB. The game runs at 30fps on all minimum settings (ultra and low literally make no visual difference other than performance) and it runs great.”
- “If you want a very good survival game, that doesn't crash because it uses an inferior engine that should have been replaced 10 years ago and not released because it's a buggy mess, then this is for you.”
- “Let's also ignore the fact that the game freezes on loading screens a huge percentage of the time.”
- “Game is currently unplayably buggy, do not purchase until Konami fixes the bugs.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that while the game offers engaging weapon variety and base customization that can evoke a sense of creativity, players struggle to form emotional connections with the generic characters. Additionally, the uninspired voice acting contributes to a lack of emotional depth, leaving the overall experience feeling emotionally flat despite moments of tension and excitement.
- “Emotional rollercoaster.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Character development in the game shows potential but ultimately falls short due to poor execution, leaving players disappointed despite some promising moments.
- “The character development in this game is truly remarkable, allowing players to form deep connections with each character.”
- “I was impressed by how the characters evolved throughout the story, making their journeys feel authentic and engaging.”
- “The depth of character development adds layers to the narrative, making every decision feel impactful and meaningful.”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the protagonists.”
- “I was disappointed by how predictable the character arcs were; they didn't evolve in any meaningful way throughout the game.”
- “The game fails to provide any real choices that impact character growth, leaving the story feeling linear and uninspired.”

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61%Critics’ scoreBased on 46 critic reviews

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13h Median play time

55h Average play time

6-50h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 37 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Metal Gear Survive is a survival shooter game with science fiction theme.

Metal Gear Survive is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 55 hours playing Metal Gear Survive.

Metal Gear Survive was released on February 19, 2018.

Metal Gear Survive was developed by KONAMI.

Metal Gear Survive has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its monetization.

Metal Gear Survive is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include How to Survive 2, Overkill's The Walking Dead, How to Survive, Outpost: Infinity Siege, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and others.

Metal Gear Survive

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