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[Eddie-Griffin]

Two of the most well-known respected stealth action games released the same year just a few months apart, Thief: The Dark Project, and Metal Gear Solid, releasing on the PC and PS1 respectively in 1998.

Both are critically acclaimed with loyal fans who dedicate entire communities on discussing these franchises, from their ups and downs, to comparing mechanics across entries. At the time of their releases no other game within the stealth-action genre were as praised and paraded as icons as much as these two, and for many people that still applies today.

Both games also came from two highly respected developers, Looking Glass Studios was a pioneer in 3D gaming and texture mapping with Ultima Underworld, a game so far ahead it took 3 or 4 years for many PC developers to catch up with it, influencing games like: Quake, Doom, Tomb Raider, Unreal, Half-life, The Elder Scrolls series, and others. They also produced other influential and ground breaking titles such as System Shock, Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, Flight Unlimited, and Car and Driver.

Konami was already a popular console developer releasing familiar titles like Castlevania, Gradius, and Contra. The director of MGS, Kojima, had previously released popular titles like Policenauts and the cult favorite Sega CD game, Snatcher. Just a year before the release of MGS, Konami released the cult favorite Castlevania: Symphony of the Night which is a highly sought after title by collectors.

But one question remains, between Thief and MGS, which was the better game overall? What advantages do you think one has over the other in gameplay, story, mechanics, and game world?

 

[TintoConCasera]

Metal Gear Solid is an awesome game, but when it comes to the actual stealth, Thief is miles above.

 

[Labadal]

From a gameplay perspective, I would choose Thief every day of the week.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Metal Gear is good for story and characters, but as it was said above, Thief is much better when it comes to actual gameplay.

 

[DerivedDataCache]

Calling MGS1 and 2 stealth is a stretch.
Splinter Cell should be considered the first TP stealth title.

 

[01011001]

I mean, objectively Thief, but I like MGS more

 

[Arachnid]

Thief is a better stealth game, but Metal GOAT Solid is Metal GOAT Solid and Kojima is the GOAT dev, pretentious or not. Easy choice for me.

Spoiler

Don't @ me brian0057

EDIT: God damn it, idk man. I love Theif and its mechanics. I also love Metal Gear and its characters/story/bosses. MGS4 was the best MG has ever done at stealth, and MGSV was competent too, though not up to its standard.

I felt a small twinge of guilt for my initial answer because I also love Theif. I still think MG beats it out for me. MG is lucky Splinter Cell isn't in this race though.

 

[rofif]

MGS.
Thief is boring. It is a perfect stealth game though

 

[Icymanipulator]

MGS easily

 

[Chiggs]

Thief for me. Metal Gear Solid is a great game, though.

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

THIEF is the better stealth game.

MGS had the stronger narrative.

Both are amazing, but they are very different games and shouldn’t be compared to each other over all.

 

[zcaa0g]

MGS for fanboys. Thief for people who actually know what they are talking about.

 

[Space Runaway]

Thief. Just incredibly strong stealth implementation and level design.

MGS is superior in presentation but the stealth mechanics are still basically 2d based, the game is too bogged down by the story (Fine until replays) and the combat in the original MGS is pretty crap(Not properly realized until MGS2). Especially these days.

 

[brian0057]

Thief is a better stealth game, but Metal GOAT Solid is Metal GOAT Solid and Kojima is the GOAT dev, pretentious or not. Easy choice for me.

Spoiler

Don't @ me brian0057

EDIT: God damn it, idk man. I love Theif and its mechanics. I also love Metal Gear and its characters/story/bosses. MGS4 was the best MG has ever done at stealth, and MGSV was competent too, though not up to its standard.

I felt a small twinge of guilt for my initial answer because I also love Metal Gear. I still think MG beats it out for me. MG is lucky Splinter Cell isn't in this race though.

I'll shank you in an alley when you least expect it.
/jk

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Never played Thief but saw videos. It's way more stealthy. In MGS, if you got decent gaming skills running and aiming with a PS1 gamepad back in the day and dont waste your bullets you can actually run and gun in that game to a good extent. Personally, I'd rather play MGS. Just looks more fun.

 

[Mozzarella]

I prefer Thief games, much better level design and gameplay.
Metal Gear Solid first 3 games are excellent games too. I still cant decide which i like better MGS or MGS3, i feel the first one had better story but the third had better gameplay.
Thief is like the Dark Souls of stealth games, it has subtle lore/storytelling and does not handhold the player, in comparsion Metal Gear Solid games are like Witcher/RDR/TLOU type, where the cinematics, characters and story shines while the gameplay is good/decent.

I think Thief aged a bit better though, just played it 3 years ago and i found it enjoyable, but i also found it challenging enough, its not an easy game, its not for everyone, i would confidently say its a Hardcore stealth game, actually most old PC games are hardcore, i used to play Commandos 2 Men of Courage back in the day, its a stealth tactical game, its pretty hard.

 

[TintoConCasera]

i used to play Commandos 2 Men of Courage back in the day, its a stealth tactical game, its pretty hard.

Based.

Used to love those games as a kid, probably the best videogame franchise to ever came out of Spain.

2 was hard, but if you want to get your balls busted, try the first game. It's expansion pack (Beyond the Call of Duty, iirc) was even harder. I remember spending multiple days as a kid just to beat the demo level. Fun times.

 

[Mozzarella]

Based.

Used to love those games as a kid, probably the best videogame franchise to ever came out of Spain.

2 was hard, but if you want to get your balls busted, try the first game. It's expansion pack (Beyond the Call of Duty, iirc) was even harder. I remember spending multiple days as a kid just to beat the demo level. Fun times.

Yeah the first was brutal, even more than the second, but i for some reason didnt mention it, i always thought 2 was the best lol, when i was playing 1 i was stuck on the first level (the island), i had to call my big cousin to finish it for me and i tried to learn from him, he was like 8 years older than me and he introduced me to those games.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

I dare say Thief is not well known at all besides the few PC gamer boomers that were active in the late 90s.
Comparing Thief to the MGS franchise seems silly.

 

[bender]

Left testicle or right testicle?

 

[Excoman]

Stealth is important part of Metal Gear series, and it really evolved over the years into something special (I am sure that other stealth games are doing some things much better, but comparing them is pointless), but I don't think any fans of the series love it because of stealth first and foremost.

 

[bender]

...but I don't think any fans of the series love it because of stealth first and foremost.

I think that statement gets less and less true as the MGS series progressed, especially around the time of MGS3 and by the time you got to Phantom Pain, that's one of the major draws.

 

[WeAreVenom8659]

Hmm, I’m unable to vote (maybe due to my member status?), but my answer is Metal Gear all day.

 

[Verchod]

I dare say Thief is not well known at all besides the few PC gamer boomers that were active in the late 90s.
Comparing Thief to the MGS franchise seems silly.

Both released the same year I believe. Both were well received. Metal gear was obscure at the time and this game only became well known because of the playstation. Thief was a fairly high profile PC game when released. Consoles weren't necessarily the lead format then.

Also, once is a stealth based game, the other is a cartoon'ish B-movie turned into a game.

 

[Nocturno999]

Metal Gear. But enhanced (taffer patch) Thief 2 is one of the greatest.

 

[jaysius]

Left testicle or right testicle?

Remove the shaft... problem solved?

 

[bender]

Remove the shaft... problem solved?

 

[Barakov]

Remove the shaft... problem solved?

 

[Lord Panda]

Thief easily.

 

[Gojiira]

They arent really comparable. But one had a greater impact on gaming in general and that is MGS.
I played every Thief game and with things like The Dark Mod etc it still holds up and yes it offers a more involved stealth experience. But it lacks the story, characters, bosses etc that make MGS so memorable.

 

[spinfive]

Metal Gear Solid because it's more enjoyable overall from a story and gameplay perspective apart from the actual stealth mechanics that are done better in Thief. Also to OP it's PS1 not PSX. Not sure why people still call it that.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Thief. But MGS will win the poll simply because more people played it.

 

[I Master l]

IMO First person perspective and stealth don't mix very well especially for older narrow FOV games

 

[Roberts]

I haven’t played both in more than 20 years and even then the less patient me liked Thief better. More immersive, better gameplay.

 

[GymWolf]

Mgs is my goat but thief is clearly the best stealth game, not even close.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

I noticed some people are comparing franchise for MGS but only the single game for Thief, this thread is only about the first entries for each.

I dare say Thief is not well known at all besides the few PC gamer boomers that were active in the late 90s.
Comparing Thief to the MGS franchise seems silly.

Thief is a well know franchises with multiple entries, the first game was a best-seller and had much coverage (maybe to much) in PC-centric media.

They arent really comparable. But one had a greater impact on gaming in general and that is MGS.

Impact in what way?

Both released the same year I believe. Both were well received. Metal gear was obscure at the time and this game only became well known because of the playstation. Thief was a fairly high profile PC game when released. Consoles weren't necessarily the lead format then.

Also, once is a stealth based game, the other is a cartoon'ish B-movie turned into a game.

That's one thing people forget, MGS was the first game that really got attention in the US. Even then it was still more popular in Japan until MGS 2.

While other games Kojima related released in the west before they were obscure niche titles that were only sought after once MGS 2 released and made Kojima popular with b-movie anime fans.

I think that statement gets less and less true as the MGS series progressed, especially around the time of MGS3 and by the time you got to Phantom Pain, that's one of the major draws.

MGS did pick up the stealth with V, but V also has the least going on and is more serious than goofy compared to the previous games, which is a reason why many fans liked the series, leadng to mixed reception from fans.

Personally, I though it was alright though it dragged a bit too long. The mechanics improved a lot but the world and writing wasn't that great, even if it was probably the most coherent plot in the franchise.

 

[amigastar]

The sound design in Thief was just awesome. Atmosphere also. I choose Thief.

 

[TheGecko]

Actual stealth. Thief hands down.

Overall package. MGS.

I chose can't choose as they are both the king of their genres.

The modern devs, blue hairs can't even dream of making games of that calibre.

 

[bender]

MGS did pick up the stealth with V, but V also has the least going on and is more serious than goofy compared to the previous games, which is a reason why many fans liked the series, leadng to mixed reception from fans.

Personally, I though it was alright though it dragged a bit too long. The mechanics improved a lot but the world and writing wasn't that great, even if it was probably the most coherent plot in the franchise.

I'm not sure what "least going on" means, it's the most mechanically deep MGS game. I do have my bias though as I love the Fulton system introduced in Peace Walker.

The story was a let down, especially compared to its' predecessors.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

I'm not sure what "least going on" means, it's the most mechanically deep MGS game.

What does mechanics have to do with a lack of things going on in the game? A large part of the game is treading through empty fields, there's a lack of on screen action compared to other games and the story is also toned down so you don't get that much either. It's funny because MG4 was railed for it's 5 hour cutscenes but they went too far in the other direction for V imo.

Mechanically the game was arguably the best in the series.

 

[bender]

What does mechanics have to do with a lack of things going on in the game? A large part of the game is treading through empty fields, there's a lack of on screen action compared to other games and the story is also toned down so you don't get that much either. It's funny because MG4 was railed for it's 5 hour cutscenes but they went too far in the other direction for V imo.

Like I said, I wasn't sure what "less going on" was referring to. There are dense and quiet areas in MGSV, that's the nature of open worlds. I'd say it's as action packed as anything else in the series.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Like I said, I wasn't sure what "less going on" was referring to. There are dense and quiet areas in MGSV, that's the nature of open worlds. I'd say it's as action packed as anything else in the series.

I remember doing a lot of exploring in very empty, repetitive areas in MGSV, but I haven't played it in years so. I remember liking ground Zeros more but I haven't played that in years either.

 

[Azurro]

What is that other game? Obviously it's MGS.

 

[bender]

I remember doing a lot of exploring in very empty, repetitive areas in MGSV, but I haven't played it in years so. I remember liking ground Zeros more but I haven't played that in years either.

Ground Zeroes is really dense compared to the maps in Phantom Pain. You can select drop zones in Phantom Pain to get you into the dense areas quickly but there are plenty of side missions that put you in barren areas as well as missions that have you traverse the maps so you'd get a mix of everything.

 

[Arachnid]

I'm not sure what "least going on" means, it's the most mechanically deep MGS game. I do have my bias though as I love the Fulton system introduced in Peace Walker.

The story was a let down, especially compared to its' predecessors.

Disagree. MGSV was mechanically a step down from 4 when it comes to actual stealth mechanics.

 

[Thabass]

Never played Thief unfortunately, regardless if I had, it would still be Metal Gear Solid.

 

[Fuz]

Thief, there's no contest.

 

[Filben]

Phew, vastly different games. Thief is more of a simulation and better at stealth. MGS is heavily character-focused and focused on storytelling, for which, I personally, don't care that much. I was never really hooked by its characters and its story.

So Thief for me.

 

[Fuz]

Metal Gear is winning because it's an easy game that needs no skill to be completed.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

never played thief for whatever reason, but MGS was the first game that made me do a double-take at the PS1 (i was heavily in the n64 camp at that time).