The jungle, a taut rope, and a whole cold war held inside one man.

When the community decides on instinct, this Metal Gear lands ahead of 92% of games. That's high, and the detail backs it almost everywhere. The sound first, ahead of 98% of titles, the peak of the profile. Then attachment, the feel of the controller and the wish to rediscover it, all three set near the top around nine games in ten, even if the early votes stay few, to confirm. Fun and the urge to take it to a desert island hold firmly above the middle. Only one thing drops to the center, art direction, ahead of just one game in two. The single snag in an otherwise remarkably consistent profile: loved on instinct, and loved in the detail.

Against the drier, more systemic stealth games, this one adds the breath of story, the emotion, the grand espionage score.

So, who's it for? For you if you love stealth that's lived-in, a hero you won't forget, music that lingers. Much less so if slightly dated visuals pull you out of the spell.