The story behind the Metal Gear Solid Board Game is nearly as wild as the plot of a Metal Gear game, featuring a mix of delays and licensing issues, with odds stacked against it ever seeing the light of day before being rescued (much like Solid Snake rescuing Gray Fox) by CMON Games. But at long last, this cardboard adaptation of the Hideo Kojima masterpiece has finally reached the masses. From sneaking around in cardboard boxes to dynamic and exciting boss fights, the game’s tactical stealth gameplay has successfully made the jump from video games to board games. However, the whole package isn’t without its faults, leaving me feeling both satisfied and let down at the same time.
Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game is a campaign-style board game that retells the story of the first Metal Gear Solid game, originally released on the PlayStation in 1998. Designed for one to four players (at least according to the box; more on that below), the game has players move plastic miniature versions of series favorites like Meryl, Otacon, Cyborg Ninja Gray Fox, and Solid Snake himself through 14 scenarios featuring iconic moments from the game, such as the confrontation with Ocelot, changing the PAL Keycard, and, of course, taking out REX.
Unfortunately, there is one significant omission that didn’t make the cut: the final confrontations between Solid and Liquid are not recreated as playable scenarios. It’s a bummer that neither the barehanded fight on top of REX nor the Jeep escape is included. Perhaps the developers couldn’t find a way to balance or explain a 4v1 battle on REX or figure out how the escape would work with all present characters. Instead, they’ve opted to end on the high note of a dramatic and memorable team-up against Metal Gear REX. But in the meantime, the fan community around this game has you covered. Over on BoardGameGeek, user @Geoff907 and their wife devised and published their own unique Stage 15 for this game for you to try out, if you just absolutely need to get some of that shirtless fist-fight action into your game.
If you opt for the more expensive “Integral Edition,” the rest of the story bits that aren’t told through gameplay are instead presented in a striking 109-page graphic novel with art by comic artist Kenneth Loh. It’s reminiscent of the scenes in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker or the Digital Graphic Novels on PSP. But MGS wouldn’t be MGS without its CODEC calls. These little burst transmissions between Snake and his support team have been faithfully adapted to this new format, with prompts directing players to specific calls in the included Codec Book, as well as pre and post-scenario briefings. I particularly appreciate the care the developers have taken to make them just as campy yet informative as those in the video game. For example, Snake refers to how many actions he can take or offers tips on beating Psycho Mantis involving “Player 2”-like trickery. Even as a game made of cardboard and dice, this still feels distinctly Metal Gear.
Regarding gameplay, players take up to four actions per turn, chosen from those listed on their character’s unique player boards. As scenarios progress, players unlock new equipment, from Snake’s favorite sidearm, the Socom, to the iconic cardboard box, which can be used in future scenarios. This equipment expands each character’s skill pool, effectively replicating the video game’s “procure on-site” philosophy. Once players take their actions, it’s time for the enemies to act. Both generic guards and bosses have action cards that dictate their movements and behaviors, which can change depending on whether they’ve spotted the player. Guards also have a separate reaction deck used in various situations, such as spotting a knocked-out guard or investigating a noise.
Boss encounters pose their own unique challenges, forcing you out of your comfort cardboard box and requiring you to think on your feet. Each boss fight feels distinct, from Revolver Ocelot darting around while bouncing bullets off walls to the Hind D having multiple target areas to damage. Thanks to the game’s tile-based nature, each boss fight takes place on a unique, large board with special elements affecting the encounter. For example, in Ocelot’s arena, the injured Kenneth Baker can be hit and killed, adding a new way to trigger a game over. These special tweaks only enhance the excitement and tension of the encounters, as they are rarely designed to favor the players.
This element of randomness kept me on my toes, never knowing exactly how far guards would move or which way they’d turn. The added dice rolls for checking if my actions made noise or if enemy shots would hit me resulted in an experience that balanced strategy with luck. There were multiple moments where I held my breath as I pulled a guard movement card, waiting to see if I’d be spotted. I never felt the game was unfair, but I also never expected it to be kind. Metal Gear does a superb job balancing strategy and luck.
While the box suggests the game can be played with up to four players, at least for the campaign mode, I wouldn’t recommend going beyond two players. Personally, I found playing it as a solo board game offered the best experience. Each scenario specifies which of the four playable characters can be used, with the first two scenarios playable only by Snake. Only five scenarios in the entire campaign allow for four players (with no missions designed for three players), and the first four-player mission doesn’t appear until the ninth scenario.
From a narrative standpoint, this makes sense. It wouldn’t be logical for Snake to infiltrate Shadow Moses with Gray Fox at his side or for Otacon to tackle Vulcan Raven alone. But from a board game perspective, this limitation significantly impacts the experience, making it hard to convince my MGS-loving friends to play when only one of them could participate in most of the game, while the others had to wait for the last few missions. I would have loved to see optional modifiers allowing additional characters in two-player scenarios or “What if?” scenarios offering alternate viewpoints and player counts.
To the game’s credit, the developers addressed this issue by allowing up to four players in the “VR Missions” mode. This additional mode, which includes its own set of special unlockable equipment cards,
has its own caveat: a lack of content. The included VR Missions book features six mission types – Recon, Escape, and Sabotage, among others – but each type has only one associated map layout. While some tokens and traps may change between sessions, and you can swap in a boss model for extra challenge, the guard layouts and objectives remain the same. With the map never changing, once you know what to do, the mode quickly loses its luster. I hope that CMON or the community releases creative and fun new maps and missions to keep things fresh.
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More Board Games Based on Video Games
You can also check out our recent reviews of board games based on Dead Cells, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and Elden Ring.
