Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

aka: Hejin Zhuangbei 2, MGS2, Metal Gear Solid III
Moby ID: 5211
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Description official descriptions

In 2007, two years after the Shadow Moses incident, Solid Snake - now working for a freelance organization known as Philanthropy - infiltrates the oil tanker U.S.S. Discovery, investigating the development of a new Metal Gear-type weapon. A confrontation with a Russian military group as well as an old acquaintance from Snake's past adventure leads to a massive detonation, after which Snake is presumed dead.

Fast-forward to the year 2009: the player takes control of Raiden, a rookie agent operating under the order of the Colonel, apparently a member of a reformed Foxhound unit. His initial assignment is to infiltrate the offshore clean-up facility Big Shell and rescue the President of the United States of America, who was kidnapped by members of a terrorist organization known as Sons of Liberty. However, the matters become increasingly complicated as almost everyone Raiden communicates with appears to have a hidden agenda, and it is hard to tell a friend from foe...

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is the sequel to the espionage action game Metal Gear Solid. Much of the gameplay remains the same, as the game's protagonist has to sneak past guards, outsmart them using various gadgets, and defeat the tricky boss enemies. There are a host of weapons to be picked up throughout the game, some old, such as the FAMAS and Socom, and some new, such as the AK-47. Martial arts combos can be used to disable guards. It is possible to crawl through small spaces, peek around corners, and perform acrobatic leaps to get away. The protagonist can also hang from railings, effectively hiding from guard, or stick his gun in a guard's back, surprising him. The cardboard box is also back, and can once again be used for hiding.

Gadgets such as sneak suit, mine detector, thermal goggles, and others can be found along the way.. The radar from the original game is still there and alerts the player to guards' positions and also shows their field of view. If an alarm is sounded the radar is disabled while the hero has to escape. In some situations, it is necessary to enable the radar before it becomes possible to use it.

Like its predecessor, the game is heavy on codec conversations and cutscenes. All the cutscenes in the game use the in-game 3D engine; the characters' movements are motion captured animations.

Spellings

  • 合金装备2 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

270 People (215 developers, 55 thanks) · View all

EVP Sales, Marketing, Operations
VP Marketing
Product Manager/Director of Marketing
Associate Product Manager
Senior Manager Creative Services
Director of Public Relations
Senior Public Relations Specialist
Director of Marketing Communications
Consumer Services
Sr. VP Product Development
Director of Production
US Localization Producer
QA Manager
Lead Tester
QA Liaison
Testers
Packaging & Manual Design
  • Department X
Special Thanks
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 94% (based on 71 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 163 ratings with 12 reviews)

Most in-depth game EVER!!!!

The Good
First off the graphics are amazing, I have never seen graphics like these on a PS2 game ever, besides GT3 of course. The story is truly amazing, it feels like you are a action hero in a movie. There are a number of weapons at your disposal, I preferred the AKS-74U. Also the environment around you seemed so lifelike you could touch it - lets say if you shoot the wall, it would leave a mark on the wall. The blood in the game looks very life-like also. My suggestions to anyone who plans on buying the game, or someone who already has the game is to watch all the cutscenes, it makes the game even more exciting.

The Bad
The thing that I didn't like about the game was, when you would run behind the guard he wouldn't hear a thing. That made the game a little easy. And also you would play as Snake for a short period of time. Than later on it would switch over to Raiden. I didn't dislike Raiden, but Solid Snake is the man, and it's so much fun to play as him, instead of Raiden.

The Bottom Line
An action packed rollercoaster ride, packed with brutal boss fights, an emotional story line, ruthless enemies, and one of the coolest action hero's of all time SOLID SNAKE !

PlayStation 2 · by Muhammad Khan (2) · 2004

A great game that OD'd on storyline

The Good
- Wide selection of weapons and items; grouping option in the menu made things easier to find

  • Stellar graphics and locales

  • Controls are great, although it seemed hard to target enemies in first person mode

  • Fantastic sniper section

    The Bad
    - More reliant on shooting and killing instead of stealth; much more of an action platformer than Metal Gear Solid 1

  • Story is so complex and thick you can cut it with a knife; they're trying to make so many points it's hard to keep track of

  • Some of the cutscenes, especially the final two at the end, are WAAAYYY too long

  • Raiden looks a bit too anime for a game such as this

  • The final boss, Solidus Snake, looks like a Doctor Octopus ripoff, except with only two mechanical arms, he'd be Doctor Bipus!



The Bottom Line
Essentially, you play two characters in this Stealth/Action classic series, Solid Snake and Raiden. Snake fights through a prelude part of the game on an ocean tanker, while Raiden is used the bulk of the game on an ocean-based complex outside of New York City. Your job is to rescue the President from this complex, who has been taken hostage by terrorists. After many boss battles, challenges and plot twists, Raiden comes across Arsenal Gear; dozens of Metal Gear-type killing machines. I'm not going to get into the nitty-gritty of the story, but ultimately (SPOILER!!!) your entire mission was staged by AI entities determined to see if human behavior can be controlled. If so, they'll know that they can control the multitude of 'nonsense' information on the internet, decide what's most important, and pass that story down to later generations (the AI can't trust the stupid humans to know what's important or not). At least, that's how I understood it. A lot more to it, but that's the gist of it.

The game is highly addicting and enjoyable just like the first, but I think it lost some of the original's charm. It seems like it bit off more than it can chew when it came to the movie part of it, and I think it detracted from the overall experience.

PlayStation 2 · by lado (25) · 2012

One of THE most anticipated games ever?..... um..... yeah!

The Good
I've played Metal gear solid, I was heavily impressed by it's bold steps and mix of action and tension. I heard about the craze this game always had in game events such as E3 etc.. Remember that literally millions of people wanted to have this game on its first day of release, so, I remember what the first game was like, and I got exited too! I was very lucky to buy this in the U.K a day before its release and payed a hefty £45.99 for it! "but why would you pay that much?!" ... well, the original game was THAT good!

I certainly loved the presentaion of this game! It, simply, shines with a difference of quality like a big budget movie. The soundtrack paces this game correctly. I have studied music and have produced similar lines of such sounds like in this game, and, I have to say..... NICE! When I entered a room after being hunted by guards, I felt the tension was definately held by it's precise score (and me reacting with the words "man, that sounds nice" helped too) Harry Gregson Williams did the musical score (and also for such films like The Rock) and, I can honestly say, that he wasn't chosen for having a popular name!

It's something you should experience yourselves, as is, with most of the rest of the game.

The Bad
This game is so plot driven, it's like watching a movie. Maybe a bit TOO much movie! Theres definately a lot to accomplish in the game and a great addition to the series. It's a shame that I think of it as just an 'addition' instead of a game of it's own.

Please don't get me wrong on this, but the games creators sole idea was to have the main character for the first game seen in a different perspective.

To me, personally, it was as if the second James Bond movie, was about someone else's encounter with James Bond, and not about bond himself... and I really wanted the main character back!

I am definately a fan of the games director and creator Hideo Kojima, and this game was a totally cool seeing Snake strut his head-banded stuff as you played the role of another character.

As I mentioned before, this game is definately plot driven and to review it for gamers who like all types of games is quite a challenge! This game has some amazing graphics! Maybe not AS interactive as it should, but there is plenty to feast your eyes on, even birds taking a dump from above! (It's actually good to think of a games charming points, that being, a bird dumping , even as anticipated a game as this.. the creator did not let up the chance to have a bit of gameplay humor!)

Deep down though, throughout the game, after the first 'quarter' I was itching to play as Snake again. Also I wont spoil the plot by revealing too much about the charaters.. So I will just mention the game itself...

The Bottom Line
This game is top, top, top of its class! Without a doubt, I can't stand games when the developers stick a stealth bit in for no reason if it wasn't meant to be for it's first outing (such as the tomb raider series went..) I don't mean to beat up Tomb Raider, because I was a mega fan of the first Three games! But that just proves how to go about ruining a successful game by changing and experimenting too much. I am glad to say Metal gear does not do it this badly!

Ok, maybe I'm being a bit too harsh, I rate things always as a first hand experience, I feel sometimes, with a great game (thought of maybe like a favourite basketball team) being up top with the best for years, then, patiently you support it and see it tumble. For me, thats how I personally feel about the Tomb Raider series.. But who knows, many people are bound of not to of seen that 'basketball team's early years before and are now expriencing their new way of learning from past mistakes!

For example.. For people who have never played Metal Gear before, You are definately going to be impressed by this game, long cut scenes and all!

There are some amazing points in here which keep you wanting to visit again, such as, getting ALL those dog tags! In this game you can do loads of stuff (respectfully) with knocked out bad guys! You can drag, drop, hide and....um... drag some more! There's nothing more satisfying in this game than dragging around a guy who's been shooting at you and finding you out for 20 minutes! (ok, maybe shooting watermellons is just as much fun too..)

Yes there is alot of story to follow in this game. I found myself waiting for a cut scene to end to save and finish for the day, and ultimately being drawn into playing for "just another 5 minutes". I just loved sneeking around the place too much fun! And to have it stopped by 10 minutes of chatter was a bit annoying when I was geared up for action!

The game always leads up to a point your going to have to be ready for, (such as the great introduction to a boss fight!) Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty is a top quality game! But the thing is, you're going to have to experience this one for yourselves to find out if you like it or not.

p.s If you're going to pay £45 for this now.. don't, you can find copies everywhere for at least £20 because people are buying the re-make of this game and it lets you play snake all the way through!

The definate bottom line is... if you have played the first one and haven't played this, get Metal Gear solid Substance! Because it's the same game and more! But if you are a fan, get this! Remember, this game was made by Hideo Kojima for a reason, and that reason was to creat a more varied world of Solid Snake. But we wouldn't be human if we couldn't critisize!

PlayStation 2 · by MrBee (28) · 2003

[ View all 12 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Action figures

Just as for the original, a line of action figures has been released by McFarlane Toys. Most of the main characters are depicted and as an added bonus each individual figure comes with a part of the new Metal Gear. Collect them all and assemble the monster!

Development

The development budget for Metal Gear Solid 2 was somewhere in the region of 10 million US dollars.

Ending

Pretty soon as the game starts and you get used to controls, you are requested to enter your name, date of birth and such things (like in some typical Square RPG games). In the ending animation, when Snake asks Raiden about that dog tag he's wearing, Raiden looks at it, before he throws it away, and in that cinematic, on a dog tag, you see your name and info.

Intro

On the opening of the game, there's one piece that somehow does not fit the game without any explanation. First, we see some roman letters (numbers) etched on stone, then we see some Japanese ink writings on a paper, and then we see programming data and computer code. Hideo Kojimo commented how that was to show the advance of civilization from storaging data. First through stone, than using paper, and the least digital data which is the only that doesn't have its existing time period. And that is then connected to the game and especially Arsenal Gear as an AI with great capability to track, store and control data.

Making of

On the Making Of MGS2 documentary that comes on an extra DVD, Hideo Kojima said that idea for Metal Gear series originated from his playing 'hide and seek' with his son.

North American version

In comparison to the Japanese version, some extra gore was added to the North American version. In the Substance re-release this was revoked.

Raiden

In order to cover up the character Raiden, the promotional trailers for the game showed several scenes with Solid Snake in different scenes. In the final game, Raiden is involved in the same scenes, but in Snake's place. Hideo Kojima used computer tricks to cover up Raiden and no one knew of his existence until the game was released. However, the manual spoils the surprise on its very first pages.

References

  • Just as in the original Metal Gear Solid, a poster for Hideo Kojima's previous game Policenauts can be found in the Computer Room in the Shell 1 Core.
  • If you look quickly in the scene where Snake logs into the computer to send the pictures to Otacon, you can spot another reference to Policenauts.
  • During the game, you will come into contact with a man named Pliskin who is actually former protagonist Solid Snake in disguise. The name is a direct reference to "Snake" Plissken, the main character played by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter's movies Escape from LA and Escape from New York.
  • A crazy Bomber man, one of the bosses is named Fatman. That was also a name of one of the atomic bombs that fall onto Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  • The names of the characters Jack and Rose were taken from the main characters of Titanic. This film also influenced the decision to set the first chapter of the game on a sinking tanker.
  • emma's nickname (E.E.) and full name (Emma Emmerich-Danziger) are references to E.E. Danziger, a character in Jack Finney's novel Time and Again.
  • In the flooded basement of Shell Core 2, you can find a rubber duck floating harmlessly in one of the air vents. While it's possible that it's just a humorous detail, it's most likely a reference to the original tech demo for the PlayStation 2 which featured a rubber duck floating in a tub.

Series

In a Gamespot interview done shortly after the finishing of the American release, Hideo Kojima has amended a former comment about MGS2 being the last installment, saying, "I really think that Metal Gear has to live on in some form. But as I said at the end of Metal Gear Solid, I really think it is time for me to hand the director role over to someone else. I might do the initial planning for the next game but not much more than that."

He goes on to mention that the future of a certain character who is disliked in some gaming circles is still uncertain.

Soundtrack

Due to the success of Metal Gear Solid, the development team had a higher budget for the sound of the game. However, they didn't know who they would hire to compose the score for the game. One day, executive producer Hideo Kojima and sound director Kazuki Muraoka went to see Replacement Killers at the cinema. They both liked the movie a lot, and the music from the movie seemed pretty good. So, they flew to US, and got Harry Gregson-Williams to make the score for Metal Gear Solid 2. They actually took his music from other movies, such as The Rock, Enemy of the State and some and put on one CD, and told him they'd like to make this video game with a Hollywood type of soundtrack. He also saw the interest in composing for something before he actually saw the picture, since when composing for movies, he always got inspiration from the pictures. And so the soundtrack for MGS2 was created.

Women

Looks like developers of Metal Gear Solid 2 had focused minds on some things while making a game. You open a locker, you see wrapped up posters of a women, you enter the dining hall, you see framed pictures of women in swimming suits. There is even a poster of the Charlie's Angels movie in one room.

Working Title

During development, the game was originally going to be called Metal Gear Solid III (MGS3 for short), which would have completely skipped over the second installment of MGS. This can be seen in the Metal Gear Solid 2 Grand Game Plan by Hideo Kojima.

Awards

  • EGM
    • February 2006 (Issue #200) - #82 out of 200 of the "Greatest Games of Their Time" list
  • GameSpy
    • 2001 – PS2 Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
    • 2001 – PS2 Action/Adventure Game of the Year
    • 2001 – Best In-Game Cinematics of the Year
    • 2001 – Best Force-Feedback of the Year

Information also contributed by Big John WV, FinalGMR, MegaMegaMan, Mejs, J. Michael Bottorff, Juan Pablo Bouquet, Macintrash, MAT, Ray Soderlund, xofdre and Zovni

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Macintrash.

Additional contributors: MAT, Unicorn Lynx, Ganjo, Apogee IV, DreinIX, —-, Cantillon, Caelestis, Patrick Bregger, Thomas Thompson, FatherJack, 64er.

Game added November 17, 2001. Last modified March 11, 2024.