Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

The Good
The most hyped game of all time. How does it stack up?

First, of all, it should be said that you will enjoy Metal Gear Solid 2 much better if you've played it's PlayStation prequel, Metal Gear Solid. In addition to featuring very similar gameplay, the storyline is Byzantine enough as it is having what you know of the original plot to fall back on.

Metal Gear Solid 2's strength is in it's gameplay. At first glance, it seems identical to the first MGS. Your job is to carry out your mission using stealth and, if necessary, violence. You duck around corners, avoid guards and cameras, and take down bosses in a variety of ways, usually revolving around a specific weapon and technique.

But once you start to get into the game, you realize just how much deeper it is than it's older brother. Considering that MGS was widely considered the best action game ever on a console, this is high praise indeed.

First of all, the slightly 2-dimensional feel the overhead perspective seemed to lend the original game is all but gone. Guards can now spot you from all angles, and almost all levels have multiple tiers and catwalks to watch as well. Also, the role of the first-person perspective is greatly increased. Snake can now fire his weapons in first-person view instead of in only four directions as in MGS1. This is useful, since the tranquilizer darts you will get take longer to send a guard into sleep if you hit their foot.

The AI is also incredibly improved (but be forewarned: this is only noticeable if you bite the bullet and play on something other than Easy mode). When discovered, guards will try to knock you out and then run a short distance away to radio for backup, so you can't immediately get up and cut them off. Spot a corpse and they don't just glance around and walk on, they sound an intruder alert and call the attack team in to patrol. The snowy footprint gimmick of MGS1 has been expanded into an all-out feature as they can follow blood trails, wet spots, and even the sounds of your footsteps.

Graphically, MGS2 is easily the best looking game ever conceived on the PlayStation2, and might just remain so for the duration of the system's existence. Like the original game, EVERYTHING is rendered, from the empty magazines of your weapons, to the individual ice cubes (which will melt over time) in a tanker minibar, to the eyelids of the characters. Cutscenes, which use the in-game engine, are a sight to behold. The models are almost as well rendered as the characters in the Final Fantasy movie -- give Konami one more generation of hardware and they'll have caught up to Square Movies.

The amount of detail put into this game can't be overstressed; this engine is a masterpiece both graphically and gameplay-wise. It's just fun to be able to cock your gun a short distance behind an enemy terrorist and watch him throw up his hands in surrender.

The voice acting is also top-notch. All of the voices from the original MGS return, and most of the new characters are tolerable at worst.

Playing MGS2 is one of the most fun experiences you can have for any console.

The Bad
Notice I said that PLAYING the game is fun.

Nearly every review for the original Metal Gear Solid game had only two gripes with the game: it was too short, and it had too much movie-watching and not enough game. Konami apparently decided the answer to this was to stuff the game full of MORE fluff and filler.

The characters are actually very cool, from old faces like Revolver Ocelot to new bosses like Fatman and Vamp. I know a lot of idiot fanboys hate Raiden (the young character who you play as instead of Snake for part of the game), but I found his character to be one of the better onces in the game.

When you get down to actual hours played, it's entirely possible to complete both missions in the game (which is broken into two parts: the off shore tanker and the environmental cleanup plant) in about the same time as it would to complete the original MGS. Granted, there aren't any tedious backtracking sessions like the supremely annoying temperature-key task in MGS1, but it's still just not enough.

Even worse is the sheer volume of codec speech. For those of you not familiar with MGS, the Codec is a combination story cipher and hint system that allows you to communicate with your support crew "back home." All you see is two faces and some numbers, while you hear Snake talk. This would be fine, except the game insists on delivering dramatic plot points through the Codec rather than as a movie. Listen up, Konami: There's a reason radio hasn't been a significant art form for fifty years. It just doesn't have the same impact hearing it on the codec. It's incredibly frustrating to watch a video of Snake meeting a new person, who is usually well-rendered, then promptly asking them "Do you have nanomachines?" and then dropping into the boring Codec. Why Konami had to rush this codec gimmick instead of producing well-directed cutscenes for all of this is mystifying.

This would be tolerable if the story was better (I will try not to spoil it). The original MGS had a plot that, while somewhat cheesy, was still enough to keep you going through the entire game. MGS2 starts off strong, and about halfway through the game the twists and turns to the plot start to kick in, and you start to think that it's really going to start cooking.

But as the plot gets thicker, the game gets thinner. Towards the end, Kojima nearly abandons the game format altogether, throwing cutscene after codec conversation at us. As the game winds down, wholly unnecessary plot points (such as the one involving the nanomachines and the AI program) just make the game seem silly. As a movie director...Hideo Kojima makes a damn good game designer.

By the time the near-infinite conclusion rolls around, it's just not fun anymore. The last 90 minutes of "game" are actually just two boss battles, one of them ridiculously tedious (the endless wave of identical RAYs) and the other laughably easy (the terrorist leader). The rest is just lots and lots of movie. I even skipped several scenes to try and get to the rest of the game, something I never did in MGS1.

The ultimate ending is weak.

Besides the poor storyline, there are only two other (minor) flaws to the game:

1. Despite it's increased use, there is still no way to move around in first-person mode. While I understand they weren't trying to make an FPS, it's untenable for furious fights with the enemy, where you have the choice of standing still and taking lots of damage, or wildly shifting from view modes to move and shoot, leaving you very disoriented.

2. Finally, I know Konami made a big deal about hiring movie musician Harry Gregson-Whatsisface to do the score, but nothing of his stands out at all. The only memorable themes in the movie are the re-arrangements of the standard Metal Gear Solid theme.
   
   The Bottom Line
   It might sound as if I'm slamming this game; I'm not. It's a blast to play through, even if it does get overly heavy-handed towards the end. And the sheer amount of secrets and Easter Eggs (look for several references to the original MGS, such as the "Limitless" bandanna and Johnny "Cramps" Sasaki) make it worth several runs.

This is a great, tense action game with many memorable moments and killer graphics, hampered only by a poor plot and horrible ending. Still, I would recommend this disc to anyone, and don't in the least regret dropping forty bones on it.

The Good
First of all to say, I'm a huge fan of animations and CG in general (sometimes even 2D ones, like in "Outlaws"), and this game gives you plenty of those. But that's not the point with this game, 'cos it was quite the opposite case. Real-time rendered animation are wonderful, but what I was eager in waiting was the time I'll be playing after each of those semi-longer breathtaking cutscenes. Yup, ingame quality is so well done that I enjoyed it as much as watching cinematics. Also, the thing was that they were all in real-time and not pre-rendered and then just saved as animation (more about that later). And those textures were so fantastically glued to the objects and polygons that it all looked as real, and gave you a feeling of watching some action movie.

Since I've mentioned ingame was even more taunting than watching cinematics, let's say a few words on that one, now. You move from third-person perspective, which varies (sometimes it looks almost as top-down, and sometimes quite up front, depending on the camera position, and if the current location scrolls along), and you can do quite a nice set of moves while in that mode. You can flip over the fence until enemy soldiers pass, hide in the locker, shoot around (while shooting in 3rd-person view mode, it gets something like shooting in those horror-survival series), fight, drag an enemy soldier, walk with box on top (now that's a great one, hehe), crawl (though that sometimes automatically switch you to first-person view if you're in the tight area that cannot be reached or seen from atop), use the corner view, and more. Now, for the precise shooting, you can also switch to first-person mode. While in it, you can do alsmot everything the same (except walking), but it's rather hard to fight in it, since when you make a circle strike, you turn for 360 degrees and get lost, hehe. Switch between the two modes is really wonderful, as all those texture at up-close look really great. Let's say a word or two about game parameters now.

You can set a few types of radars to have, and change more basic options than you'll need, from vibration to whatever I forgot right now. Also, when you finish the game (originally you play as Raiden), a new chapter opens that you can play, a 'Tanker Episode' which happened two years prior to game's story, and you play as Snake. There's one thing really interesting to observe while playing, and that's the enemy AI. For example, I was entering a small portion of a computer room that had two way of getting out. After the reinforcements were summoned upon, three of the guards spotted where I have entered. Now, in some ordinary mumbo-jumbo action shooting game, they'd just rush and there'll be some major shooting upon. But no, these just splitter and one sneaked from the each exit of where I was, while third one was staying outside in case I escape somehow (and that is when you play on Very Easy level, on European Extremely Hard, only difference is there are more soldiers, and game may over as soon as you're spotted). I saw everything form top-down at that part, so it's nice to observe them in action whenever you can. You can also try to distract some guard by knocking somewhere and then head the other way, pretty neat altogether, and I barely counted a few nice tricks this sequel possesses.

Going onto audio discussion, music is wonderful. It reminds a lot on music from "The Rock" movie, partially 'cos Harry-Gregson Williams was one of three who composed for that movie, but what Hideo and his team planned, and I'll say achieved, this does altogether bare a resemblence to some Hollywood action movie, only it's far better. While we're talking sound, I must say that no matter speech altogether was nicely done, sometimes it really looked awful. For example, Raiden sounding like a girl whenever he yikeses or sighs (it was enough for him too look like a girl, already), or the part Otacon was crying, even child would notice how much faked that was. But maybe original japanese version was better acted, I dunno. Japanese trailers look good, though, hehe.

Atmosphere was really nice, I especially liked all those women posters and pictures around the game, hehe, if that cannot increas the atmosphere, I dunno what can ;) Plus, effects and character movements (both your and enemy's) look so real you can't help but thinking it is real. Now to mention that real-time rendering thingy this game has. That is best shows after you finish the game entirely, both chapters, you get 8 cinematics from the game to watch, in which you can change character roles. For example, what in original story was Snake, you can put Raiden, Fortune, Snake form the original "MGS" or someone else instead. The model will change, though the voice will stay the same, since it's recorded for the game as it comes originally. The advice would be to replace female characters with such and male ones with such, then voice acting won't sound too strange, hehe.

This was somehow my first "Metal Gear" game I've played (seems I usually start most of series with sequels, hihi), so I didn't know what to expect quite, and I was expecting some game sorted by the missions. So basically, I thought that 'Plant Episode' is just the first mission, since it didn't seem as it can hold the whole story and characters I've previously seen in trailer. Boy, was I wrong on that one! The game is on the same place over and over, and you just can't get enough of it. You constantly discover new places, new perspectives, and story unfolds almost entirely on the same place. I admit it fascinated me how they made an un-boring game almost entirely on the same place. And it's not as short as other people say (well, at least not if you don't skip cinematics which are half of the game by themselves, hehe).

I've seen so many great games for PC, and just a week ago, I would swear that no console can have a better game than a computer. Well, the thing I realised is that consoles do not make games by themselves, it's the poeple that counts. Konami sure pulled this ace wonderously up its sleeve, and showed how making so many details and carefully planned points for ingame playing (even if they will be used couple of seconds) is more than appreciated. With this engine and everything, I bet they could increase number of levels, rooms, enemies and everything by a far which would make us play for over 80 hours, but would that still count as a quality then? By playing this game, you can always expect something new, especially after each of two endings it has.

The Bad
Yeah, right!

Actually, there is one thing. Hideo obviously tried to go on player's feelings when entering certain real-life videos and create something more than a documentary, something that would make us 'think' or that would sound more deep. Well, it's all a pile of crap. If it was animated, I couldn't care less. That ending really wasn't as expected as I thought will be. Endings doesn't need to be too long, but do need to be animated or using something that's part of a game's creation. It would be just enough for the screen to go blank after the final epilogue (that animated, I mean), and wee see the credits with the final song. Or maybe that final song would get more to expression if it would be in the background to the final animation, like the one in "Final Fantasy VIII".

The Bottom Line
It all sums up to that this game does not lack in almost anything. Well, that 'almost' can be replaced with 'time only', but if we'd be playing each game for weeks (like that "Planescape: Torment", or when I was playing "The Secret of Monkey Island" while I was 10, so it took me 2 years to end it, whereas it doesn't take me more than one day now), we'd miss all those new releases every now and then, wouldn't we? Well, actually, I can just say "everything that's good doesn't last too long", but then again, there's so much of the good stuff that it makes an endless array, so it does last.

This game has couple of nice factors. It manages to surprise you with the plot twists, and its plot is really kewl enough as if you'd watch some action movie. Doesn't stray too far away. The graphic is simply and art, an art achieved with the right textures at the right place. The music is great (especially the main theme), though speech could've been better (I've only played english version, though). The level of details and things you can do simply go extreme. It's not as if you can do everything you wish to, but in a simple way, it could even be put as that.

Now, I dunno about the first "MGS" (yet), but this game puts you in a role of a young lad, a FOXHOUND agent who is sent on a mission to rescue the president from the hands of yet unknown soldiers. However, you were trained for field action, but only in VR (or have you never tasted blood?), but seems you have a point-blank about your past. And what you considered as just dreams may be the reality you played your role in. Snake appears in this episode but only as your 'ally', not a character you can play with. However, once you finish the game (the one with Raiden), you'll get opportunity to play with Snake the "Tanker Episode" which happened two years prior to the game's original story, and experience what you though of a background story all along.

Alltogether, this game will give you about 12 hours of playing with Raiden and 2-3 hours of playing with Snake, and that is if you do watch all animations, but also do just as you were told to, and not snooping much around. It's a worthy experience though, helped me consider console game quantity doesn't much matter if there's a quality. Hey, this worked for me, and I love the game, but if you really dislike to see animations or listen to dialogues every now and then, then pass it by.

Oh, almost forgot. Yeah, this PAL edition, SE, whatever, comes with an extra "Making Of" DVD. For those curious enough, that DVD contains some half an hour long commentary of making of the game with Hideo Kojima and some other developers, some art concepts, bunchs of "MGS" and "MGS 2" trailers (on japanese, though), and trailers for some other Konami games ("Silent Hill 2", "Shadow of Memories" and few others). It also has some minor additions, but these are not worthy mentioning, and you'll know why when/if you get this game. Well, as the woman's voice tells you at the sole start, "Enjoy!" :)

The Good
MGS2 is a very different game, and while it still feels similar to its predecessor, the improvements are instantly noticeable. The core gameplay is just as good as it ever was - tactical stealth action where careful planning and imagination are rewarded.

Enemy AI is vastly superior to the original, and enemies no longer spawn infinitely, but a skilled player can even shoot their way out of a sticky situation, but staying out of sight is still recommended. The difficulty level is just right and there's plenty of gameplay variety, keeping the game interesting throughout. The game is also at least twice as long as MGS1, yet all of it was enjoyable. Even the mandatory shooting segments feel better than before, as you can individually target enemies' heads for quick kills or cripple them by shooting their arms or legs.

Compared to other games of its time, MGS2's graphics are gorgeous, despite the overuse of the color orange. The characters are human, but thanks to subtly cartoonish design, avoid falling into the uncanny valley. Voice acting is good, and even the worst pieces of dialogue are acted convincingly. The music is gorgeous too and makes the game sound like a high-budget Hollywood movie, but sadly the soundtrack still doesn't quite compare with MGS1.

The story is definitely something you either love or hate, and there's no denying that the cutscenes and Codec calls are far too long. But still... few other games have made me laugh, cry, cheer and cringe so often. Every character plays an important role and they're all fascinating in their own way, hero or villain. The plot also handles many themes completely unprecedented in video games, such as censorship, the nature of memes and information, mortality, atonement, child soldiers and so on. While most action games outright glorify violence without a second thought, the Metal Gear series is openly pacifistic, while still delivering its message in a package with lots of explosions and sexy characters. The ending, while it may seem like a mess to some, is very thought-provoking and atmospheric, definitely one of the best in video game history.

The Bad
It's not just that the cutscenes are much longer than necessary - there's also too many of them. For example, you may step into a room, watch a cutscene, walk a few steps, have a largely pointless Codec conversation and watch another cutscene before you an actually play. Most of the game's dialogue is redundant, pointless, unnecessary, filler and did I mention, redundant? Other times, the game is melodramatic beyond belief and scenes that were supposed to make me cry or gasp in shock sometimes made me laugh or roll my eyes. There's also an endless amount of exposition and explaining, which seems to be typical for a Japanese game.

Apart from the opinion-dividing story and characters, MGS2's flaws are minor. The game could have used better controls and camera angles, especially in the mandatory shooting segments, where you can't actually move when firing while in first person, though just the fact that you can do so is an improvement from the previous game.

The Bottom Line
Metal Gear Solid 2 is an original, well-made, challenging and thought-provoking stealth action game. The slight hiccups in game design never manage the ruin the big picture, so as long as a slightly pretentious story doesn't cause problems, the game is definitely something everyone should try at least once.