Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
PlayStation 2
Metal Gear Solid 2 holds the distinction of being the first game for the PlayStation 2 that I ever owned. Well, technically it is tied with Silent Hill 2 since I got them both at the same time, but we'll just look the other way on that point.
I was a huge fan of the first Metal Gear Solid for the original PlayStation. I couldn't wait for the second one to come out. To say I was excited would be an understatement. The fact that I could only play it on the PlayStation 2 was, to me, a huge selling point for the system. I always wait a few years to buy a new console when it comes out. But when Metal Gear Solid 2 hit the shelves, I was like: "damnit I'm getting a PS2 and I'm getting one now!"
I have fond memories of the game. Struggling through the tanker section. Being confused as hell when the old Raiden switcheroo went down. The boss battles, the explosive traps. Emma's tragic fate. Mostly I remember being overwhelmed by all the twists and turns that the plot took, but excited to see where the series would go in the future.
I never did enjoy this game as much as its predecessor, however. And playing it now in 2016 - I find that my opinion on this matter has not changed at all.
Everyone familiar with the Metal Gear Solid series should know to expect a crazy, borderline incomprehensible story line. Not that the basic story line is too hard to understand, they just throw at you so many twists/turns/double crosses/fake outs that you never really know what is the truth and what is not. This game is no exception to that rule.
The game starts out simple enough. Since the end of the first game, Solid Snake has been traveling the globe taking down any and all Metal Gear prototypes before they can become fully functional and put the world at risk. He infiltrates a military tanker off the coast of Manhattan to check things out, when the tanker is attacked by a mysterious third party.
Gameplay remains pretty similar to the first Metal Gear game. The main exception being that when you fire you gun, you can enter into first person mode and stick up your enemies. There are lots of other tweaks and changes too. You will find that the world is a lot more interactive than the first game. Graphically, the game is obviously better since it was released on (at its time) a next generation system.
Snake photographs the military's version of Metal Gear that they are developing and sends the pics off to his partner in crime Otacon. It is at this point that the aforementioned mysterious third party makes their presence known, killing the military's soliders, stealing Metal Gear, and blowing up the tanker.
Snake is presumed dead in the explosion. Years pass, and we find out that a massive structure known as the Big Shell has been built over the site of the tanker explosion in order to clean up the disastrous oil spill. Terrorists have kidnapped the president, hijacked the Big Shell, and are making their usual unreasonable terrorist demands. Similar to the Shadow Moses incident from the first game, Snake is sent in to resolve the situation.
Only, wasn't Snake supposed to have been killed in the tanker explosion several years back? Just when we are starting to get confused as hell, the game reveals that this is not Solid Snake being sent in - it is a newbie named Raiden. And that is the big twist of the game. You think you are going to play as Snake the whole way through, and instead you switch characters to Raiden. Lots of fans hate Raiden and like to mock him - and I can see why he is unpopular. but I never really had a problem with him.
Raiden infiltrates the Shell, and it is like a brand new game. The tanker chapter with Solid Snake was simply the opening act. Everything still controls the same with Raiden as it does with Snake, so don't expect any earth shattering changes to take place. It is still kind of a shock though to find out you are controlling a whole new character.
Although you don't play as Snake, that doesn't mean he is not part of the story. He is sent in as a part of a separate operation. Eventually he and Raiden meet up, and it is explained that he did survive the tanker explosion after all. Well, duh.
The majority of the game plays out in a similar manner to the original Metal Gear Solid. You sneak around. You avoid cameras. You watch a lot of long and sometimes boring cut scenes and Codec conversations. You fight a lot of fantastic bosses. Really, as far as game play goes - the boss battles are pretty much the most fun thing about the game.
I did have some major problems with the game though. First of all, I found it extremely difficult to shake alert status after being spotted. If you move to a new area, the enemies follow you and the alert stays alive, unlike in the last game. If you try to fight your way out, enemies spawn infinitely and WILL kill you. Hiding is basically useless. I found it actually more advantageous to just let myself be killed rather than run around and waste all of my health items trying to shake pursuit. And that to me is a major design flaw. There is no reward whatsoever in staying alive and doing things the hard way.
As I mentioned, the story lines in these games can get a little messy. This game is 100% more convoluted than its predecessor. I hate constantly comparing it to the original Metal Gear Solid, but when you have a direct sequel like this it is hard not to. In the first game I had a basic grasp on everything going on, despite all the plot twists. With this game, I have beaten it multiple times and I still have no idea what the hell was really going on.
So ultimately I found this game to be not as epic as the original MGS. There are a lot of improvements, especially with the graphics, the controls, and a few other fun tweaks thrown in here and there. But the whole alert system in the game had me more frustrated than anything else. And, really, the bread and butter of the Metal Gear Solid series is its story line, and I just wasn't as entertained this time around.
The story had its shining moments. I loved the tanker incident. I loved Emma Emmerich's role in the plot. All the Dead Cell (this game's version of Foxhound) character's had nice background stories. I didn't care much for Raiden and Rose's relationship though. I was intrigued by the idea of the Patriots, but their role in this confused me. Same thing with Ocelot and Solidus. Who was playing who and who was really the mastermind? I have no idea. This game leaves the player with far too many unanswered questions for my taste.
On the whole, though, this game still holds a favorable impression in my mind. Yeah the story is convoluted. Yeah, the alert system is rubbish. Yeah, the game's locations are bland and repetitive. But I still had fun playing it.
The beauty of Metal Gear is that you never know what is going to come next. What bombshell the game is going to drop on you. Even though I have played this multiple times over the years, I still find things surprising me. I notice things I had never noticed before. And the game is fun, too. Yes, I hated the alert system. But if you throw that out the window, I have no problems with anything else as far as gameplay is concerned. I enjoy first person view. I enjoy holding up enemy soldiers for their dog tags and items. The boss battles are epic. I liked attempting to follow what was going on.
I liked the game. Was I crazy about it? No. This game will, for obvious reasons, always have the shadow of its predecessor hanging over it. Compared to the original, it is an okay game. On its own, it is likely better than just okay. But being so biased I don't know where exactly to draw the line. I think this grade sums up my feelings on the game perfectly.
Overall:
B
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