Top 20 Metal Gear Solid Boss Fights (10-1)

Well we've gone through the first 10 out of 20 of the greatest boss fights of all time. So which ones are left and which are my favorites? Let's dive in.

#10. Vulcan Raven: Metal Gear Solid

When you see a guy wielding a freaking CHAINGUN, the best thing to do is crap your pants. Unless you're Solid Snake. We already kind of fought him when he piloted a tank and this time you fight him man-to-man. It can be both frustrating and awesome. Definitely one of the tougher fights in the game, it had you going through an enormous freezer room playing cat-n-mouse with this guy.

The key is setting traps, because using regular ammunition isn't going to cut it. Use C-4, using remote controlled missiles and even freakin Stinger missiles (how he doesn't die from a single stinger, I have no clue, best not to question it). This is probably the one point in the game that I can remember where using traps is practically required. If you can't adjust to that, good luck.

If you've stocked up on C-4, and remote controlled and Stinger missiles, and can sneak up on him, you're in for a great fight. If not, it can be incredibly frustrating but like the other tough fights, beating him will make you feel awesome and give you even more respect for the awesomeness that is Snake. Now all that's left is Metal Gear itself.

#9. Metal Gear RAY: Metal Gear Solid 4

We've fought Metal Gear models before, even a fleet of RAYs in Metal Gear Solid 2. So what makes this fight so special? Well YOU also get to pilot a Metal Gear model, REX from the first Solid game. After the nostalgia porn and reflection that you feel throughout Act 4, you get to see two Metal Gears FIGHT EACH OTHER! And you pilot one of them. It's as awesome as it sounds.

The fight is actually very well programmed and fits into the game surprisingly well. Again, the set-up is awesome. Act 4 was a mostly quiet chapter (not that I'm complaining because it was still awesome) so when you hear that rumble from the ocean and see RAY rise from the depths and realize what's about to happen, it's an amazing thought. Use machine guns, missiles, lasers, even melee combat between giant robots.

I'm really amazed at how fun the fight is despite the game being stealth-based. This is a fight, like many others in the series, that could have gone very wrong but Kojima and his team put together an incredibly enjoyable brawl, with a surprising amount of movement room despite how big they are. We've been taking down Metal Gears for over 20 years, but I don't think we ever expected to see two fight, especially with us piloting one.

#8. Crying Wolf: Metal Gear Solid 4

Just like Screaming Mantis, this was a callback to a fight from the original Solid game. Hell it's even fought in the exact same location as that fight. Just like that fight it's against a sniper (inside of a wolf mech-armor this time), only this time she's brought some friends with her. It also takes a few elements from the fight against The End (later on the list) such as tracking her movements.

The best part about doing this fight, is getting a non-lethal defeat on her without ever being seen by her minions. It takes patience and practice, but it's in the middle of a blizzard and if you use that to your advantage, you can do just that, and in a game that encourages that kind of play, it is immensely satisfying when you can achieve that.

The fight against Crying Wolf was intense, had a great environment, was nostalgic, and was also a little challenging (primarily if you were going for the no-kill and no-alerts route). It's a perfect fight for this list.

#7. Vamp: Metal Gear Solid 2

You will fight this guy a few times throughout the series, once in Metal Gear Solid 2 and once in Metal Gear Solid 4. Basically Vamp is Raiden's archenemy and they have a constant rivalry through those two games. The first time you fight him though is when you're playing as Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 2.

Inside the Big Shell, Vamp waits near a pool of water that is so thick that if you go into it, you're dead. It kind of reminds me of the fight against Ocelot in the first Solid game yet Vamp is much more acrobatic and will throw knives. Those can also PIN YOUR SHADOW TO THE GROUND which also pins you (don't ask me, the Metal Gear franchise can be very goofy like that).

He is a tough son-of-a-bitch and it can very difficult to defeat him using tranquilizers. But when he goes down, it oh-so sweet to see him go under that water, yet he does come back. So he can fall into it (and goes down there quite often during the fight) but if you take one step in there, you sleep with the fishes. What a cheap bastard. Still a great, challenging fight that I feel often gets overlooked.

#6. Sniper Wolf: Metal Gear Solid

To be more accurate, this is the second time you fight her. This obviously the fight that the one against Crying Wolf in Metal Gear Solid 4 is a callback to. She's given you good reason to want to take her out, from shooting Meryl to capturing you, etc. And you had literally just defeated the Hind-D and took out an elevator so your adrenaline is likely running through the roof.

Unlike the first fight, which is actually pretty easy, this one can be pretty tough. If you're using the Sniper Rifle (and you probably are), you better have stocked up on Diazepam which allows you to hold your breath, otherwise hitting her is going to be a bitch. That's not to say that you have to use the sniper rifle. If you've got remote controlled missiles you can even use those.

The fight gives you a little flexibility with it which I liked, even though I usually use the sniper rifle. It all ends with probably one of the earliest examples of a developer creating real genuine sympathy for a boss after defeating them. It's a really a sad moment when Snake pulls the trigger on her. And it's a defining moment for Snake, Otacon, and their relationship. Character-wise it was great, and gameplay-wise it was great.

#5. Metal Gear REX/Liquid Snake: Metal Gear Solid

You can go ahead and say I'm cheating with this one but these two bosses need to be placed together. Even the video I'll put for it has them together. It starts with one of the largest bosses, gaming had ever seen at the time with fighting Metal Gear REX with your Stinger missiles. Hit it enough and a certain character will make a heroic sacrifice allowing you to fire the stingers at Liquid himself.

After defeating REX, it's time for the Cain and Abel story of the first Solid to come full circle. A hand-to-hand fight against Liquid on top of REX. He's got a few cheap moves but learn them and you can go nuts. You have three minutes before the base goes boom. Even after you deplete his health all the way, you still haven't beaten him, not until you knock him off of REX.

This fight had a great deal of emotion and power behind it because even with the research on genetics by Kojima, the Cain and Abel plot was set-up remarkably well and Cam Clarke, as hammy as he was as Liquid, made you really feel the hatred that he felt for his brother. It was excellent execution and it built itself to a phenomenal end boss fight (though you technically have to fight him again).

#4. The End: Metal Gear Solid 3

Making a boss fight that can last well over an hour is a very dangerous thing. But Kojima pulled it off by making one of the most intense and flat-out awesome fights imaginable. Who would have ever thought that a sniper duel against a man who's over a hundred years old would make for one of the greatest boss battles ever?

The fight takes place across 3 MAPS! It's a battle of endurance and tracking as you constantly need to be checking your stamina to make sure it will last you and hunt for food if you don't have any. At the same time you need to track him down and shoot him before he shoots you. But there's also many ways to deal with The End. You have an opportunity to shoot him early on, or you can save the game, move your PS2's internal clock ahead a week and find that he's died of old age.

Even with all the flexibility and fourth-wall breaking opportunities, nothing quite beats the test of endurance on Snake that the fight against The End brings with it. Sniping in video games, just doesn't get any better than it did with this fight.

#3. Psycho Mantis: Metal Gear Solid

Ah, Psycho Mantis. Quite possibly the most famous boss fight in the entire series and arguably the most creative and unique ever. No that is not an exaggeration. Back in 98, this fight was insanely groundbreaking and it broke the fourth wall in every way possible.

It starts with Mantis' awesome theme playing and him taking control of Meryl. Then he reads your memory card and rumbles your controller. Then during the fight itself, he cannot be hit (at least as far as I can tell). He will read Snake's mind, tell where he's going to shoot and dodge. The only way to beat him is by unplugging your controller and plugging it into the other socket (no that is not a joke). And of course he's constantly mind-controlling Meryl.

There had never been a fight like this back in the day. While we've seen fourth-wall breakage similar to this now, the same could not be said back in 1998 when Metal Gear Solid was released. It was a perfect display of how creative and remarkable Kojima was and that's why it takes the #3 spot.

WARNING: THE NEXT TWO ENTRIES HAVE MAJOR SPOILERS FOR METAL GEAR SOLID 3 AND METAL GEAR SOLID 4! IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED EITHER OF THEM DO NOT LOOK AT THE ENTRIES! Or do it, but don't blame me.

#2. Liquid Ocelot: Metal Gear Solid 4

 

The final boss of the console games (until Rising is released that is) and it is nostalgia porn at its finest. Ocelot as I said had become MAJOR character since his first appearance in Solid and all of Metal Gear Solid 4 was building up to this fight. Snake has just gone through the most hellish experience imaginable with the horrific walk through the microwave hallway.

And it comes to this, the top of the USS Missouri, a beautiful sunset in the background and music from all four of the console games in the background as the fight progresses, character movements match the games in question, and lifebars are taken from the respective game when the music from said game is in the background. Not only that, but it's a brutal fistfight. This is a fight where when you play, everytime one of them is hit, you will find yourself wincing.

Kojima knows how to pay respect to his franchise, hell an entire act in Metal Gear Solid 4 was devoted to the original Solid game, but this was about as awesome of a love letter to fans as you could imagine. As a loyal follower of this franchise, I salute Kojima's remarkable callback to every console game in the series. Thank you for this fight.

#1. The Boss: Metal Gear Solid 3

You will never feel more guilty about killing a character in a video game than you will after this fight. Not only is it an incredible, adrenaline-filled fight with arguably the biggest badass in the ENTIRE SERIES (and that's saying a lot) but it's got so much emotion behind it as she's Snake's (okay his father Big Boss) mentor and spiritual mother.

It starts with her driving the point home that there is no such thing as an enemy in absolute terms, something that the entire game was trying to say and the fight that followed made it arguably the most well delivered message of the entire series. She gives her entire history, showing how much she respects and cares for Snake and then gives him 10 minutes for the greatest fight of their life. And boy is it ever.

She is not a pushover in the slightest and you are probably going to get your ass handed to you quite a bit. You need to use everything that you've practiced in the game, your weaponry and your hand-to-hand combat if you want to have a chance at victory. When you do beat her, you'll feel like you're on top of the world.

For a minute at least, because then Kojima forces YOU to pull the trigger on her to kill her and if you don't tear up slightly here, you have no soul. It was an incredibly thoughtful decision to do that but it drives game's message home even further and as said before is probably the most guilty you'll ever feel after killing a video game character.

Not only is this the best fight in the series, it's a major contender for the greatest boss fight in history, and it further shows Kojima's mastery of that kind of craft as well as making us feel incredible emotion from video games (even if his stories can be incredibly hard to follow sometimes). I'm sorry Boss, I didn't want to but Kojima made me do it.