METAL GEAR SURVIVE

My friends, my associates, they come to me, years ago, when this Metal Gear: Survive first appeared, and they say, "Vito, this game, it’s a disgrace, a cash grab, a betrayal of the family name of Metal Gear." They curse it, they spit on it, they say it’s no good, nothing but a shadow of what came before. And I, Don Corleone, I listen. I nod. I respect their opinions, for loyalty and friendship are the foundation of our world. But in my heart, I am intrigued. This game, this strange child of survival and stealth, it calls to me, like a favor asked in a quiet room.
A few weeks ago, I make a decision. I acquire a copy, a simple transaction, and I load it onto this... this Steam Deck, a marvel of our modern times. And what do I find? I find a world that demands respect, a world of strategy, of cunning, of survival against odds that would break lesser men. The mechanics, they are tight, like a well-tailored suit. The base-building, the scavenging, the thrill of defending what is yours—it’s not the old Metal Gear, no, but it has its own honor, its own strength. I play, and I am not disappointed. I am, dare I say, having a blast.
The hype, this noise, this chorus of complaints—it’s like a storm that passes. People, they forget to look with their own eyes, to judge with their own hearts. They hear "spin-off" and they think "betrayal." But I tell you, this game, it’s not perfect, but it’s far from the garbage they claim. It’s a soldier that fights for its place, and it earns it.
So, I, Vito Corleone, say this to you: do not believe the hype. Do not let the whispers of the crowd sway you. Pick up Metal Gear: Survive, give it a chance, and you may find, as I have, that it’s a game worthy of your time. And if you cross me on this, well... let’s just say, I’m a man who values loyalty. Capisce?

Wormhole Detected
Metal Gear Survive gets a bad rap, and honestly, I get it. As a Metal Gear game, it’s terrible. But as a weird, janky survival game built on the bones of The Phantom Pain, it’s surprisingly fun and addictive once you stop comparing it to Kojima’s work.
The story is a mess. The presentation is all over the place, and the tone lands somewhere between “cheap sci-fi spinoff” and “fan mod gone wrong.” You’ll go from a proper cutscene to static character portraits with voice-over and text boxes because the team probably didn’t have the time or budget to animate full scenes. It’s jarring and weird. The writing tries to mimic Kojima’s style without any of the nuance, and the result is mostly forgettable. The AI companion, Virgil, is annoying as hell, and the cast doesn’t leave much of an impression.
But once you stop thinking of it as a Metal Gear game, it starts to click. The survival loop is actually fun. You’ll manage hunger, thirst, oxygen, and gear durability while scavenging supplies in hostile environments filled with crystalline zombie-like creatures called Wanderers. Base building is satisfying and meaningful. You’ll craft fences, farms, workstations, and water purifiers, then assign rescued survivors to jobs to keep your camp running. Scavenging runs are tense and rewarding, and the crafting and upgrade systems give you a steady stream of new toys to chase. Early on you’re poking zombies through fences with a spear (which is goofy as hell), but as your arsenal expands, you’ll be setting traps, upgrading gear, and building defenses.
The core gameplay is solid because it uses the Fox Engine, the same one from Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain. Movement, aiming, and stealth all feel tight and responsive. Combat is simple but satisfying, and exploring “The Dust” (low-visibility areas where your oxygen slowly drains) adds a sense of tension and danger that works surprisingly well. The game even throws in tower defense-style horde sequences that can be chaotic but exciting.
The always-online requirement is pointless and frustrating for a primarily single-player experience. The microtransactions are downright offensive. Charging players for extra save slots is abhorrent and inexcusable. The early game can be a grind, and the story never really recovers from its half-baked presentation.
Still, once the systems and mechanics open up, Metal Gear Survive is genuinely fun. It scratches an itch I wasn’t expecting, and the Fox Engine makes everything feel great to play. It’s unique, oddly charming, and unlike any other survival game out there.
Metal Gear Survive:
As a Metal Gear game, you suck.
As a survival game, you’re pretty good.
Recommended, if you go in with the right expectations.

No where near as bad as people say. its not a good mgs game but its a great zombie survival game

Honestly, the game is really fun. I love the whole base building aspect as well as the combat survival system. The only thing that I dislike about this game is that it's roughly a decade old now. You will not find anyone playing the game on multiplayer, making it extremely hard and less fun to progress by yourself on once you beat the story. I'd only recommend buying this game if you have nothing else to do, and like this type of game play (and if you can convince some friends to play the game with you).

WARNING: This is a game that requires a constant online connection, even in single player. I completely understand if that is a deal-breaker for some. It would be for me too. At best it's inconvenient.
The best phrase to describe this game is, "Metal Gear: Isekai". You do literally get transported to an alternate dimension with zombies. I love zombies and the fact I get to essentially play MGS5 with zombies is phenomenal to me. The story is actually very engaging and the combat is anything but boring, it can become repetitive but I like to have fun trying out new things and experimenting with traps and specific structures. You manage a base too, albeit much smaller than Mother Base but it's a survival game. It's actually really engaging building up your base defenses and managing resources.
This game did not do great and the online scene is completely dead so you will have an incredibly difficult time trying to get all the way to the post-end game content. You need to join a Discord server in order to consistently find online matches. The online mode is where this game really takes off. I'm sad that the special infected in the online modes aren't present in single player, meaning you will need to play online to experience the entire game.

Spoiler-free review
Metal Gear Survive is an amazing game but it’s not a “Metal Gear” game. Unlike the core Metal Gear games, this game doesn’t have a captivating story with movie-like presentation. Its ties with the Metal Gear saga are anecdotal. Metal Gear Survive’s short story and handful of characters are “bland”, especially the generic main player character.
What elevates this game for me is … it’s multiplayer co-op mode : Salvage.
Salvage can be played solo but it requires preparation and knowledge of the game’s mechanics. Playing Salvage with a team (or just one more player) is an amazing experience. With a limited amount of gadgets and ammo of your choosing, you get to challenge your loadout, trap layout and techniques against increasingly bigger waves of Wanderers (Metal Gear Survive’s zombies). Figuring out efficient trap placement is a long term goal that’s really rewarding.
The best experiences I’ve had are on the hardest difficulty setting : Extreme. It takes some time to reach the requirements to play Extreme Salvage but it’s worth it for the sheer intensity of the last waves. There are daily and weekly Salvage missions that have different modifiers. Everyday, you get a “new” challenge !
The single player game can be seen as a tutorial for the multiplayer mode as well as a relaxing and active way to farm materials to maintain your character's efficiency in Salvage mode. You also get to passively farm materials with your single player base layout and crew. Once the initial grind is over, it only requires you to login some minutes every day to get a worthy payoff !
Improving my arsenal, my knowledge of the game and my bases’ productivity are my main motivations to continue playing after beating the story.
Issues
Now the sad part … the game doesn’t have a big player base … It’s hard to rely on the QuickMatch function to find teammates. It’s better to join the Metal Gear Survive Discord and play when others are actively playing the co-op mode. Add the people you see to your Friend List and it’s easier to join their games in the future (through an in-game menu) ! The community is great and helpful. New players join all the time ! The game is still active at the right times.
The game is online only. Your character data is stored on Konami’s servers. Multiplayer is not fully server based (one player is the host and the others are the clients). Depending on your connection with the host, you can experience some delays (lags).
If Konami’s servers are busy for maintenance, you cannot play the game (not even the single player).
There are some small bugs left but nothing truly bothersome or game breaking.
The game received criticism for its in-game shop (using real money to purchase Survive Coins). I’d like to add that :
you don’t need to purchase more character slots (story missions can be replayed) → character slots (up to 3 extra) are worth it if you want to have multiple bases passively generating resources at the same time
you don’t need to buy any Kuban or BattlePoint time limited boosters → these boosters are worth it to unlock the higher tier cosmetics nameplates during time limited events
With enough patience, you can also acquire Survive Coins for free (from weekend daily login rewards and the event shop).
Should you buy it ?
Metal Gear Survive is definitely worth it during a sale ! Don’t think of it as a Metal Gear game but as a multiplayer Tower Defense game with Survival elements (durability, hunger, thirst). If you join the game’s Discord, you’ll get into online games pretty fast. Check out some gameplay videos of Co-op Salvage to see if you like it !

metal gay survive - this game could have been great if they polish it. It's just okay, chaotic and messy but not terrible game