A few days ago I talked about the original Metal Gear Solid and despite a lot of the dated aspects and criticisms I had towards the game I still really liked it. The story was ahead of it’s in terms of political themes and what video game narratives can stay. Addressing real world issues, conflicts, and what the choices of mankind could transpire into. Metal Gear Solid showcased the horrors of war, the economy and politics surrounding it, and what governments truly are when you remove your blinded patriotism to them. It’s incredibly written and the story alone makes putting up with the dated gameplay and frustrating moments worth it. Once I finished that game I was excited to immediately start up the second game shortly afterwards. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the highly anticipated sequel back in 2001 and one of the PlayStation 2’s launch titles. A test to see what the next generation of home consoles could handle, and where Hideo Kojima could take his work next. Advancements my friend, and it’s a good thing I mention that as it would serve as a major theme for Metal Gear Solid 2. The sequel, much like the original, was way ahead of its time in terms of what it talked about compared to most media and games at the time.
Metal Gear Solid 2 has always had a weird history in the franchise when it comes to its release and even now. The main themes Hideo Kojima wanted to explore with Metal Gear Solid 2 was the public’s belief in general politics, spread of information through online discourse, the usage of artificial intelligence, and fabrication of information. A lot of these topics weren’t big back in the day as they were just getting started out, but as time went on these concepts would blow up in the face of others. Leading to a lot of the chaos we witness nowadays, but I wanna save some of this discussion up for near the end of this review. Metal Gear Solid 2 refined the formula the first game set up by removing a lot of the annoying bits or finding more clever ways to disguise them. It’s a great example of how to do a video game sequel, but at the same time parts of this game feels off for some fans. Again, a lot of these themes wouldn’t be incredibly relevant until years later. It’s either you understood what Hideo Kojima was trying to say or you didn’t. Which then leads me to mention how absolutely nuts Metal Gear Solid 2 is compared to the first. The first had its weird moments like a psychic hovering in the air wearing a gas mask, but the second is much stranger. Pulling off moments that would feel uncanny even for the first game.
Before the 4th and 5th Metal Gear Solid games existed, Sons of Liberty was considered the black sheep of the Metal Gear Solid series. Standing on a tightrope between being a great sequel and the weirdest Metal Gear Solid game to ever be made. Well that wasn’t until Metal Gear Rising came out. That’s when the title for weirdest MGS game was taken. Returning to the second game now you can appreciate a lot of what it did. Ask someone about Metal Gear Solid 2 now and it’s regarded as one of the smartest games ever made. A game we should have paid more attention to as we could’ve prevented a lot of what it tried to warn us about. Metal Gear Solid 2 is better than a lot of people remember it being, and having played it for the first time I can confidently say I am on this side. In fact, I consider Metal Gear Solid 2 to be superior to the first. A statement I do expect people to torch me alive for, but it is what it is. I’ve heard fantastic things about the third Metal Gear Solid, but as of right now Metal Gear Solid 2 is my favorite in the series. However, I’m not going to say Metal Gear Solid 2 is a perfect game. Far from it. There’s a lot of things in this game that make it easy to understand why some people didn’t click with it back in the day. I would even go as far to say that Metal Gear Solid 2 feels more like a movie than a video game.
Do I hate this? No, I actually don’t mind cinematic video games. Some of my most favorite titles of all time lean heavily into their presentation, storytelling, and world building. If you think hard enough about it, every game is a narrative game. Kojima pushed what cinematic storytelling can be in video games, and Metal Gear Solid 2 is a pure example of how much of an artist he is. So let’s journey back in time to the PlayStation 2 era. To one of its most critically acclaimed titles back then and now. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a work of art, and today we’re gonna be talking about why it’s more relevant than ever. With that said let’s venture further into enemy territory and see what conspiracies we can unravel.
Story
Our story takes place two years after the events of the original Metal Gear Solid. Here’s a brief summary of what happened if you don’t know. Grizzled man with glutes as round as a pair of hot fresh buns gets called in for a dangerous job. Infiltrates island that’s named basically the shadow version of a biblical figure. Fights boomer cowboy, witnesses two heart attacks within the first hour, and blows up the tank shortly afterwards. Walk in on a guy pissing himself, fight a cyborg ninja with bare hands, and meet your best friend. There’s a stereotypical hot girl because why not and a dude who controls the telly with his mind. Then there’s a sniper lady and you gotta travel back to an earlier area to get a loaded sniper rifle then load yourself on pills. Then get captured, learn you have a brother, and escape with ketchup. Take down a chopper alone, kill a sniper lady, watch best friend cry over a relationship he’d never have, and insert disc two because this game was too big for the original PlayStation to handle. Kill a dude with a ton of ravens, attempt to deactivate a robot, fail, and learn your old teacher was your brother in disguise. Destroy robots, fight brother without a shirt, and escape with either hot girl or nerdy best friend who is honestly your boyfriend at this point because you move in together after this. Drive into the sunset, roll credits. Honestly just look up the Mega64 video they have a better way of showing you.
Anyways, cut to the events of Metal Gear Solid 2 where we step back into the shoes of dear old Solid Snake for the first two hours. Otacon and he decided to form their own non-government organization and make it their sole duty to bring down any Metal Gears armed forces plan to use or expose them before they can do so. They learn the marine core have obtained a Metal Gear by the name of Ray and infiltrate a tanker to see whether this is true or not. As they board the boat they realize they aren’t the only ones after Ray as Russian forces storm the vessel and kill all of those above deck. They’re led by Colonel Gurlukovich who we then learn is working alongside Revolver Ocelot, former member of FOXHOUND who served Liquid Snake. Wanting to stop Metal Gear Ray from ending up in the hands of terrorists, Solid Snake infiltrates deep into the vessel where they eventually locate it. He manages to take some photos and upload them online. Hoping they can use them to expose the marine corps and government to the people, but just as this happens Ocelot enters the room. Killing Gurlukovich, hijacking Ray, and blasting a massive hole in the ship. Splitting the vessel in half and killing everyone through either the fierce energy of a blue laser or drowning, because it’s a boat. Solid Snake is presumed dead since the incident by the media and the whole thing is labeled a disaster. An event the public would fear.
Two more years pass and a massive oil rig has been built to clean up the mess that happened all those years ago. However, the rig has been seized by a terrorist group called the Sons of Liberty and they attacked just when the US president was touring the right. They have several hostages and plan to kill them all unless their demands are met. Worst of all they are led by a man who claims to be Solid Snake. The one that died two years ago. Not wanting another Shadow Moses to happen or something worse the government sends one of the best infiltrators, Jack. Nickname to Raiden as the previous codename they had was Snake, and they wanted to honor him. Raiden manages to get into the rig undetected and his goal from there is clear. Locate the president, try to bring him back to safety, learn what the Sons of Liberty are planning, and stop it. All the while uncovering a conspiracy lying beneath it all that may just tie back to the government he spent all these years fighting for. He may even learn darker truths, but helping him on his duty is another infiltrator who broke into the base named Iroquois Pliskin. He too wants to uncover what’s going on, and overtime you’ll learn who he is (it’s really obvious) and what his true goals are.
Gameplay
This game takes the formula the original set up, refines a lot of the elements at play, and in my opinion is the much better video game. Not to say a lot has changed since the first game. Most of your journey takes place from a top down perspective and if not from a set camera angle. Move around and try to avoid the sight of enemies, because if they spot you and you aren’t fast enough to knock them out they’ll call for reinforcements. A design choice I quite like, you can prevent them from calling in more enemies if you knock them out. Metal Gear Solid has always been a stealth series and so you’ll be hiding behind cover, sneaking beneath places they’d normally not check, maybe use the new tranquilizer gun to send them into sleep mode, or utilize one of the many other gadgets you may have picked up. There’s a lot of equipment you’ll find along your journey, and some of it may prove useful during situations where your basic skills aren’t enough. Stuff like thermal goggles to see enemies or explosives hidden from the naked eye. Better guns to combat enemies, and much more. You’ll also want to keep your eye out for these terminals lying everything. They give you access to each sector’s map and these are needed to know where you’re exactly going or spot out enemies outside your vision on the miniature radar.
You could use first person mode to see what’s up ahead, and new to Metal Gear Solid 2 is being able to use a gun while in first person mode. Most guns will have a laser sight built onto them, and you can use them to carefully land headshots. Which is especially useful for the tranquilizer as a direct headshot guarantees an immediate knockout. Be warned that knocking out too many enemies will raise suspicion and a team of elites will be sent in to check and wake up the resting soldiers. Learn how to adapt to the scenario on hand, figure out what is best, pick up new gear, and get to where you need to be. Occasionally you’ll face off against a boss that either tests what you’ve learned up until that point or brings out tricks you haven’t seen before. Maybe you will fight a guy who places bombs around the arena, or someone who can move and hide quickly. A lot of boss fights in Metal Gear Solid are more like puzzles rather than actual bosses. Testing you on certain skills or your patient, but stay calm and you’ll eventually bring them down. Learn of what is going on, get to the bottom of this literally and figuratively, and prevent World War III from happening. Again. Good luck Raiden. Two games from now you’ll be a cyborg warrior.
Thoughts
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a very interesting game despite in some way doing more of the same. Personally I feel that it’s a much better video game than the first and that the story while being crazier kept me more captivated. The purpose of a first game for most franchises is to set up the groundwork, and it definitely shows here as Metal Gear Solid 2 takes the world and gameplay aspects of the first and runs wild. However, not a lot has changed since the original in terms of mechanics and some people may find it to be a more cinematic driven game rather than an actual video game. The final moments of Metal Gear Solid are literally almost an hour worth of cutscenes and dialogue broken up by the final boss fight. This game is not afraid to indulge in its narrative and themes, but remember those themes are the reason why it’s aged better than a lot of people expected. The phrase “art imitates life” has never been more true with this game as it predicted some of the problems we’re facing in the real world today. Before we can address these topics and I’m someone who tends to ramble on about narratives for a bit I’d like to at least talk about what gameplay aspects I liked. MGS2 is MGS1 but better and with less frustrations.
The formula is just about the same, but some of the gameplay tweaks make it a more enjoyable experience for me. I like the world design more as despite there being quite a bit of backtracking like the first game it’s able to disguise the repetitiveness of it. The game takes place on an oil rig with two sectors. Each with a centerpiece, the six surrounding struts, and bridges that connect the struts. If you have to backtrack to a previous strut it’s easy to know where to go seeing how you are basically running in a circle. Just go the other way and eventually you’ll get there, and the struts are letter labeled so telling them apart is easy. You grow more familiar with the world as running back and forth in it is easier, and the oil rig to me feels more focused in scope compared to the vast and diverse regions of Shadow Moses. I also appreciate how besides the mini-map on the radar to see what’s ahead they give you an actual map in the pause screen. Allowing you to highlight each sector and read out their names, so even if you are lost you can check where you are and remind yourself where to go. Playing this game feels much better and I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve gotten used to how it feels. I remember saying Assassin’s Creed 2 didn’t feel great to play, but after playing all three entries in the Ezio trilogy I came to the conclusion that the controls weren’t bad. Even they were all identically the same across each game.
When it comes to the first person point of view I like how you can aim your gun while doing so. The first game had some really janky-ass combat and trying to use silenced weapons was useless because your aim and where you’re pointing wasn’t always shown very well. With the ability to shoot while looking in front you can now land more precise shots and also pull off some cool strategies. This is the first game in Metal Gear Solid history to give you the ability to hold foes at gunpoint. Get close enough while they’re not looking and aim a gun at their head. Threaten them, and I do believe it wasn’t until Metal Gear Solid 5 you could demand info. I like how the keycard needed to open certain doors doesn’t need to be whipped out everytime, because that was one of the first game’s biggest inconveniences. The boss fights are much better in design and I had a lot more fun fighting them than the ones in the first. It’s either the mechanics are better, the game does a better job prepping you up, or signalling to you what to do. The encounter with Fortune does a great job signaling you can’t fight back. Bullets won’t land on her and the only way out is the elevator which just left. So the encounter is focused around waiting until your way out arrives while explosions happen around you. The fight with Fatman has you managing a fast moving opponent who plants bombs around, but you spent the last hour diffusing and locating bombs so you should know what to do here. Your first flying vehicle fight gives you heat seeking missiles. What’s at play is more enjoyable than what is at play in the first.
That wraps up about everything I have to say about the gameplay, so onto the game’s themes and topics. Metal Gear Solid 2 is the game quoted for being the ultimate predictor of all the problems we’re facing today. I stated almost all of them in the intro, but I’d like to go through each one by one. There’s the general belief in politics and how the purpose of a politician is to guide and lead the people. Be a representative of society, or at least that’s what most people believe. Politicians have their own desires and sometimes what they want doesn’t align with what the people want. They can twist their word into something else entirely and the people may still follow along even though what’s clearly being done is wrong. The people are either blinded by the words being spoken amongst them, or outraged with not a clue of how to solve a problem about to be enacted. Politics aren’t very good, but at the same time imagine a world without politics. Without any way of controlling or mitigating chaos amongst the people. What is a world without law and order? A world where we can’t govern ourselves? We hate politics, but we kinda need some basis to go off of. Then there’s the spread of information online and how some of it’s fabricated or lies. A topic you should probably know by now seeing how it happens a lot now. Might be spoiling it, but the plot twist isn’t surprising seeing how it’s the exact same VA and character model.
Pliskin ends up being Solid Snake and eventually tells Raiden of the photos he took two years ago during the tanker mission. How they wanted to expose the use of mass murder machines in the army and what war has led to. However, the government found a way to twist these truths and instead framed Solid Snake and Otacon for being terrorists. Would you look at that? Rather than admit a problem is their fault they instead pinned it on someone else. A person attempting to do the right thing. The game goes into a monologue at some point talking about the news and the giant echo chamber we now know as the internet. A fluctuation of all these different ideas and beliefs. Arguing over what is right, wrong, and what the public should believe in. The Patriots, a secret group that controls the country, manipulates what the media depicts so everything is in the favor of themselves. We see this sh*t happen all the time now. “Art imitates life” right outside our f*cking doorstep. With politicians literally making lies about individuals who are trying to live their lives. “They’re endangering the country” okay how so? What have they done to harm others, because right now it seems like you’re creating excuses or using emotions to rile up the people. That or finding ways to get rid of issues you don’t want to address or even tackle.
Then there’s the game talk about artificial intelligence. Pushing for tech we don’t understand and just about when we realize it’s bad it’s far too late. AI is ruling the world, taking jobs from folks, growing too smart, and we now overly rely on AI for help. This game predicted the harm AI can do and we should’ve paid more attention. I don’t want to make this all doom and gloom, so what about the rest of the story outside of politics? It’s pretty darn good. Having the player swap to another protagonist after the first two hours was a bold choice back then, but I understand why they did so. Not only to offer a perspective change, but frame new interesting questions that they probably couldn’t do with Solid Snake. Once you enter the rig and spend the next hour running around in it you’re offered a butt load of questions. Who are the Sons of Liberty and why is their leader claiming to be Solid Snake? There’s a second infiltrator abroad that being Agent Pliskin, and what’s his goal in all of this? Well it’s easy to tell he’s actually Solid Snake undercover, hey look plot twist, but now the question becomes what is he doing here. Why is Revolver Ocelot working for a new faction, why is the daughter of the Russian colonel working for them despite Ocelot shooting her father two years prior, and just who the hell is Raiden? What’s his deal in all of this? Same exact questions we asked with Solid Snake in the first game. What’s our history? What is our life like in and outside of war. How come whenever Raiden gets called by his lover Rosemary he’s conflicted on talking about himself. At first I was annoyed because it sounded like they were in a toxic relationship, but then you learn more and realize there’s nothing really backing Raiden as a person. Why did he of all people go on this mission? Is it to protect someone, or is there more to what he's doing?
Trust me, the truth behind all of it is crazy and I want you to figure it out yourself. This game is one wild ride. It will take you places you won’t expect and despite it all not adding up at times you can’t help but be intrigued with what they’re saying. The performances and cinematography is still top notch with the only performance I wish could be better being Raiden’s performance. He just felt a little flat to me, but this was common amongst games in the PlayStation 2 era. The only other complaints I have is that I wish some of the antagonists were better, but they’re still very good with one of my favorites here probably being Fortune. Metal Gear Solid 2 is a strong recommendation in my book. It’s better than the first game and a masterpiece way ahead of its time. If you played the first and lack the motivation to continue please just keep going. It will get better and it certainly did with Metal Gear Solid 2. I’m even more excited to check out the third game, and from what I’m told it’s the best the franchise has to offer. Kojima really made peak back then and in the end I am going to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty a 9.5/10 for being superb.
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