It's very controversial at the time, to have Raiden (Voiced by Quinton Flynn) as the main protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2, rather than established hero, Solid Snake (Voiced by David Hayter). I don't really dislike the character. I just would like to play as Solid Snake. Raiden is just a little dull. One thing that I really hate is how the creators of the game, deceive and trick gamers, by thinking that Solid Snake was playable, in the whole game. They did this, by misrepresentation their demos, leading up to the game release. It's wrong that they didn't inform, the gamers that Solid Snake is only playable in the first mission, and that, the rest of the game, the gamer controls Raiden. Talk about a dishonor swerve by the creators. I really dislike Solid Snake's removal as the playable main character, but I was willing to finish the game, regardless, even if I have to play a whiny baby face character like Raiden to get through it. Despite that, Metal Gear Solid 2 manages to be a good fun game. The game heavily utilized the PlayStation 2's capabilities, in its graphics and gameplay. While the bare mechanics remain relatively untouched, there were a lot of great improvements was added to this game, while also keeping the identity of the series intact. The horrific textures, the jumpy animations, bad camera angles, and awful controls from 1998 Play Station One original, are all now gone. This lead, to better gameplay. I like, how you can now, crawl, duck, and prone around, during sneaking missions. I also love how you can climb or hang from a balcony or swim if you want to. The best thing, they added, was aiming and shooting in first person mode. I just wish, they along Solid Snake to be as supporting AI, throughout the game. The interactivity is also incredible for a 2001 game. The game has smarter enemy AI. Now, guards can get suspicious if a sentry fails to deliver their status report, and deploy protective riot gear should the player be spotted. It's so much challenging. I like how enemies shake & urine themselves when held up at gun point. It's get even funnier, when the luckless soldier with chronic digestive problems return from the first game. I love the action set pieces and bosses battles. Each one is very unique. My favorite is the bombing disposal mission. My least favorite is any of the swimming levels. The Interactive to the world is very impressive. I love how the raindrops hit characters & bounce off. You can break bottles, glasses, and even create bullet holes in the walls is a highlight. This game is great in the graphics and still holds up, even today. Also noteworthy is the soundtrack. A fantastic musical score by Harry Gregson-Williams underlines the entire game. There are moments when the music matches the on screen action so perfectly. The voice acting is very strong; particularly from David Hayter, but like the previous game, the game also suffers from exposition diarrhea. It has way too much long stretches of somewhat boring codec conversations. Sometimes, you might heard something smart, being said, but the majority of the time, its mind-numbing lecturing and uninteresting. Sadly, you still can't skip, most of them. While most of the gameplay was universally acclaimed; the cinematic of the game is probably the biggest fault. I was a bit confused on the philosophical nature and execution of the game storyline. The game has this avant-garde surrealism and post-modernism felt to it; remind me of the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Hobbes, and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, as well as the more recent social media and social gaming trends. I know, that the game wanted to be gripping and thought-provoking, but it came across as messy. Themes such as political conspiracies, memes, social engineering, censorship, and artificial intelligence are somewhat unsatisfying explored. Directed and created by Hideo Kojima, the story revolves the "Big Shell", a massive offshore clean-up facility that has been seized by a group of terrorists that call themselves, the "Sons of Liberty". Their plan is destroy the facility and create a cataclysmic environmental disaster if their demands are not met. The player take control of Raiden as he must find a way, not only to stop the terrorist threat, but also find out, who his allies and his enemies are, when a world-shaking conspiracy is discovery. According to Kojima, the original plot of the game revolved around nuclear weapon inspections in Iraq and Iran and had Solid Snake trying to stop the Metal Gear while it was located on an aircraft carrier, in a certain time limit. However, the political situation in the Middle East became a concern and they decided that they could not make a game with such a plot. The tanker in the released game is based on this original plot. Significant changes to the game's ending were made late in development following the 9/11 attacks in New York. Needless to say, Metal Gear Solid 2 is the single most confusing game in the Metal Gear franchise. It has the most overly convoluted plot from all the series. Still, there were a lot of great homages and inside jokes to other films like 1981's Escape from New York, 1997's Titanic, and 1968's Space Odyssey that made this, very entertaining. I also love the returning cameos from the first game. It made fun to watch. Overall: While, the original game had a better overall story, more memorable bosses & more moments that have stayed in my memory. I still would recommend playing MGS2 nonetheless. It's a great game & is rightfully remembered as one of the best of the PS2 era. So, stop hiding in your little box, and play it!
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
(2001 Video Game)
Let's gear up for Metal Gear Solid 2. It's good, but why do we have to play as Raiden, most of the time!? I wanted to play as Snake.
18 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers