Boss battles are a standout feature of the legendary Metal Gear Solid franchise. Many of the series’ most iconic moments are connected to these special encounters. Whether they be honest one on one fights or the player taking on one of the mechanical walking battle tanks of the IP’s namesake, players are in for a unique experience whenever they encounter one.
Some of these memorable encounters are a cakewalk while others make players tear their hair out. Fortunately, most of the games have numerous difficulty modes, ensuring no encounter is truly impossible. Additionally, the difficulty, or lack thereof, does not necessarily mean it is a bad fight.
10 Too Hard: Peace Walker (Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker)
The PSP title Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, has perhaps the most boss battles of the series. The Peace Walker fight will test players’ endurance and patience, even on the first encounter in the story, and it only grows more tedious as one takes on stronger iterations in bonus operations. Without sufficient supplies one will end up in a stalemate, dodging the attacks while having no weapons to hurt the walking tank.
9 Too Easy: The End (Metal Gear Solid 3)
A true sniping battle with this geriatric soldier is pretty tough, but one can bypass the fight entirely with a couple of methods. Firstly, he can quickly be dealt with after the cinematic in front of Ponizovje Warehouse with the SVD. Take out the sniper rifle and eliminate him before he wheels himself away. Alternatively, one can either wait a week or fast forward the PS2’s clock while at the battle and the sniper croaks from natural causes.
8 Too Hard: The Fear (Metal Gear Solid 3)
While MGS3’s bosses are seen as some of the series’ best, most of them are quite easy. The Fear is an exception, however. On the harder difficulties, he can be especially troublesome to track down in the arena due to the stealth camouflage and the speed at which he jumps from tree to tree. His attacks also pack quite a punch.
7 Too Easy: Fortune (Metal Gear Solid 2)
This one is not so much a boss battle as it is a timed survival test. It is impossible to hit the member of Dead Cell with bullets, so one must simply dodge her railgun until the elevator comes down and a cutscene starts. It is more of a puzzle than a dynamic fight, and becomes a cakewalk once one remembers how to avoid damage.
6 Too Hard: Vamp (Metal Gear Solid 2)
Vamp has numerous tricks up his sleeves in Metal Gear Solid 2: The Sons of Liberty when Raiden takes him on. To those unfamiliar with his patterns, it can be a particularly troublesome bout.
If one does not shoot out the lights, his throwing knife stuns the player if it hits their shadow. On extreme difficulty, the amount of damage each hit inflicts makes it an almost unfair match.
5 Too Easy: Metal Gear Rays (Metal Gear Solid 2)
The idea of fighting numerous Metal Gear Rays is more intimidating than the actual sequence. On earlier difficulties, they go down easily. Just shoot the knee to reveal its weakness and then hit the vulnerable opening in their mouths. While the number of Rays one must eliminate increases on harder difficulties, the attack patterns remain largely the same.
4 Too Hard: Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear Solid)
For anybody playing MGS1 without paying proper attention to the codec, the Psycho Mantis fight is almost unbearable. All it takes to make it a fair match is plugging the controller into the second slot, making it harder for Mantis to read the player’s moves. One can still win without this trick Colonel Campbell suggests, but it will be more frustrating.
3 Too Easy: Fatman (Metal Gear Solid 2)
The notorious bomb-maker takes up a significant chunk of the early Plant Chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2, but the actual fight is pretty easy. One simply has to watch out for the bombs he plants and disable them before they explode. One is usually given more than enough time to freeze the Semtex, however. He moves around on rollerblades and shoots an automatic weapon, an attack that is predictable and easy to dodge.
2 Too Hard: Sahelanthropus (Metal Gear Solid V)
The Sahelanthropus fight from The Phantom Pain takes place on one of the biggest battlefields for a boss fight in the series. The mech chases Venom Snake throughout a huge section of the map.
One can run as far and for as long as they’d like, but hiding is futile. The weapons do little damage, so one can continually feel frustrated if they fail right before finally delivering the finishing blow.
1 Too Easy: Liquid Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid 4)
The dramatic concluding bout in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots goes on for a while, but does not take much skill to beat. Once the two combatants are on their last legs, the segment takes most of the control away from the player. It is an undeniably dramatic moment, and it is probably better for it to be easier than needlessly frustrating. The final fistfight is drawn out, but the final exchange between the two is a beautiful culmination of the characters’ relationships.
Next: 10 Hilariously Weird Things Only The Metal Gear Solid Franchise Could Pull Off
