Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

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!