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Greatly builds off MGS1 and does so boldly both on gameplay and with the meta narrative it has.

This review contains spoilers

Much like creating a backloggd account, the Metal Gear franchise is something a lot of people have told me to try out for a very long time, but I just haven't gotten into it till now. To be honest, I really didn't have much interest in the series prior to a couple months ago. I randomly decided to buy a copy of MGS 1 on ebay, but even then I only played the game for a couple hours before I stopped. It wasn't till about a week prior to writing this review that I decided to actually play the game properly, and I was pleasantly surprised with just how much I liked the game. It was to the point where I pretty much immediately ordered a copy of MGS 2 as soon as I finished it. For the most part though, it matched my expectations to a tee. Aside from the anti-eugenics messages towards the end of the game, Metal Gear Solid was exactly what I thought it would be based on my limited knowledge of the series: a stealth game with political messages at the core of the story.

Metal Gear Solid 2, however, was nothing like what I expected it to be.

To be completely transparent, that's not a bad thing at all. But it’s almost like MGS 2’s entire mission statement is to subvert the players' expectations. I wasn't even alive for the great trailer bait and switch that they pulled off for this game, but the switch to Raiden still got me. I don't really think I'm fully equipped to do a full on plot analysis of this game– there's quite honestly just too much shit here. MGS 2 takes so many twists and turns that I never in a million years would have expected. I’ll give my thoughts on key aspects of it anyway though. Raiden is a genius protagonist. From almost the moment you meet him it's easy to tell he's meant to represent the player in a lot of ways. He played the same VR missions that you did in MGS1 as his training, and even (presumably) played through MGS 1 just as you did. This fact makes the huge twist at the end even more powerful. It’s hard to tell if the patriots are talking to Raiden or the player themself. Their rant about believing half truths, accepting “their fiction”-- it’s all the more chilling when it feels like they’re staring right at you and talking right into your ear. In a way, it's not that Raiden is supposed to represent the player, Raiden is the player. Like I said, I don't mean to do some huge overall analysis of the games themes here, but it's hard not to wonder if the Patriots S3 plan is Metal Gear Solid 2 itself. By literally playing this game and the first before it, did we fall in line with their plan? Are we the ones meant to be molded into Solid Snake? It's definitely some interesting food for thought. Speaking of the patriots themselves, it’s hard to put into words how exactly I feel about them. Being clearly inspired by Seele from Evangelion, I think they do a MUCH better job of the whole “secret society who controls everything” thing. They feel really threatening, and it's hard to tell just how much they have control over. Like, clearly it's a lot of shit, but it makes you wonder if they planned out everything ever in the history of the world after the United States was born. Which is another question, how long have they even existed for? I'm sure this is something answered later on in the series but for now it just serves to make them even more imposing. A lot of people today say that MGS 2 is still extremely relevant today with its theming. I couldn't agree more, and The Patriots are a lot of why that is to me. The GW AI, when laid out flat and simple, is just a means for the patriots to control any information they don't want people to see on a global scale. Basically large scale internet fascism, and the plain-and-simple way is the way that the characters in the game tend to describe it. But the patriots explanation of it– and their reasoning for it– almost makes you think that they have a point. The massive amounts of garbage information out there and the rapid and easy spread of it, is harmful to the human race. I mean, how many times have your parents believed in some stupid shit they read on facebook? In a way, The Patriots are right. The “half truths” we tend to believe due to all this garbage information does nothing but divide us and create problems. The Patriots want the player to believe that maybe they’re on your side. Maybe they really do have humanity’s best interest in mind… Which is exactly how they get you. You see it all the time in modern capitalist society, but billion dollar corporations get away with so much because they make the consumers believe that they’re your friends. Not that the patriots are on the same scale as just a mere corporation, but it's the same general idea. Something else that makes The Patriots interesting to me is that you are literally forced to comply with their orders. They’re clearly a bad thing for humanity, but you have to follow their orders in the end because Solidus wants you dead anyway. Speaking of Solidus, I find it hard to say what he was trying to do was even truly bad. Like, yeah, obviously blowing up a hydrogen bomb to create a huge EMP blast is sorta bad, and his motivations for doing so were somewhat selfish, but I can’t say I disagree with him wanting to be free from the patriots. The method to his madness wasn’t good, but the man had the right idea. It’s that sort of morally gray quality to solidus that made me like him as a villain more than I thought I would. Overall, the themes of MGS 2 are extremely thought provoking and relevant to this day. I didn't even really scratch the surface of what this game is trying to say, I just hit the parts most interesting to me.

I do have SOME gripes with the story though. First off, Emma’s death is really strange to me. Was I supposed to feel bad? Because I didn't. Emma is kind of a shit person, to be honest. You’re telling me that she WILLINGLY made the fucking Fascism AI (i've decided to call GW that) just so that her brother would notice her? Yeah, fuck off with that. And dont get me started on the weird, vaguely incest-y subtext there too. At least in the first game when Otacon accidentally made the next terrible blight on humanity with REX, it was by accident and he was being manipulated by others. Emma did this for a purely selfish reason that isn't even worth it in the first place. I guess you’re supposed to feel kind of bad for Otacon, but I still had my jaw dropped from the whole “my dad killed himself because I slept with my step mom” part. And the other thing that I have a problem with is… Rose. Rose is a manipulative bitch. She needed to take a break from the mission and get checked for borderline personality disorder or something because holy FUCK this girl would not stop. The intense amount of cognitive dissonance it must take to think that it is appropriate to complain to your boyfriend that he never cuddles with you after you fuck while you’re IN THE MIDDLE OF A MISSION THAT COULD DETERMINE THE FATE OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS MAYBE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE is INSANE. I think sometimes their relationship is cute, but for 90% of the game i wished i could break through my crt and personally tell Jack to break up with her on the fucking spot. Rose either needs to start smoking hella more weed or to get some serious psychiatric help.

As far as gameplay goes, I don't have as much to say about it as I do the story. It plays almost the exact same as the first game, just with some tweeks. First person mode is super nice, and I really liked the addition of the M9. I didn't really like that you had to go to a node to be able to use the radar everytime you went somewhere new, though. I guess it’s more challenging, but it's honestly more frustrating than anything. I also feel like sometimes the way that it was impossible to defeat enemies once they spotted you was a little annoying. Although, it definitely made the moment where you get the sword at the end and get to slice through all those enemies way more triumphant. The sword was so fucking cool, i wish you got more time with it earlier on even if it would break the game in half completely. I also really liked the big shell as a location. You end up almost memorizing the place in your head by the end and honestly it's just a really well designed place. It’s easy to understand on the surface yet complex enough for it to be a good location for the entire game to take place in. There's so many cool little details packed into this game, and i didnt even get to find all of them. There's probably an endless list of just the tiniest details in this game that exist to make the game feel more alive that most people probably wont ever notice, which just goes to show how much of a good job those things did at helping with immersion. Also, I'm baffled to know this game only came out a month after the ps2’s launch. Visually, this game is kind of stunning. I know i'm just biased towards the way ps2 games look in general, but seriously i think this game looks fucking amazing graphically.

I think that's about everything I have to say about this game. A lot of this was just organized rambling, but I hoped you enjoyed it anyway. Metal Gear Solid 2 is a masterpiece. Play it imo its peak


A masterpiece. It's completely bonkers and utterly ridiculous but it is all the better for it. To me this is the series at its peak. Glad it is getting more positive recognition in recent years but it still remains the Batman Returns of the series in a lot of ways. (Better critical reception than the first despite the first being viewed as the classic, very divisive audience response, much darker tone while also considerably more over the top, etc.)

Seriously one of the best games of all time. The gameplay is smooth, the character's are well designed and written, and the story snowballs into one of the most profound mindfucks in entertainment history. This game, hell this entire series, is a must play, but this one in particular continues to stand the test of time as each day goes by. If you know the ending, you know.

Better than the first part, didn't do much for me. Still, it was an enjoyable play and the story is nuts.

Colonel: "Your role -- that is, mission -- is to infiltrate the structure and disarm the terrorists"
Raiden: "My role? Why do you keep saying that."
Colonel: Why not? This is a type of role-playing game."

MGS2 but with Substance I guess.

Você não tem o direito de exercer o livre arbítrio

Absolutely amazing, it improved on every flaw I had with the original and gave one of the most insane but enthralling plotlines I've ever experienced in a video game.

Bem mais difícil que o primeiro e é o jogo responsável pelo que veríamos nas FOBs do MGSV. Extremamente brutal na previsão de eventos futuros e cheio de cenas marcantes.

Raiden é meu husbando.

Way better than the first one.
Also, Raiden is a very cool character!

While the first MGS game may be considered as the better game for many, I actually vastly prefer MGS 2.

The gameplay has seen some additional quality improvement, especially with the inclusion of first person aiming, and there's also fewer frustrating creative decisions in the game that makes playing it incredibly fun and tense.

One thing that I think the first game did better though was its story and characters. There's fewer and shorter cutscenes here, instead, the game prefers using codec calls when it comes to telling its story. Sometimes, this often feels like a cheap and lazy way of telling the story as the character still uses codec calls despite being in the same room as each other. As for the characters, Raiden is just isn't as badass as Solid Snake, and the bosses are nowhere near as intriguing as from the first game. However, their enccentric traits does go along way in making them memorable. With Fortune being my personal favorite due to her melodrama.

And ugh, that ending theme slaps though.

Só pedrada, não sou muito fã da gameplay mas a história é do caralho.

MGS2, One of the best games of all time and underrated in its own time, the perfect game to show off what makes the series so great as well as just what makes games as a medium so much more engaging than any other, It takes the cake for the most consistent game in the series.

Gameplay, It's a perfect growth from what was started with MGS1 but refining and adding on top of it, There's now a first person aiming system and outside of some awkwardness due to controllers being awful at precision aiming it feels great to use and adds a lot of depth to every combat encounter, hand to hand combat is now not only better but you can take out guards without having to either slam them to the ground where they stand or sniping them with a suppressor due to the changes to how guard alerts work, they no longer alert just because you grabbed them immediately notifying all the other guards in the area to close in on you immediately, and you don't get instantly failed for getting spotted by a guy who you could barely see due to the radio system, Guards need to radio in to HQ before alerts are set off, but if they're in progress of sounding the alarm OR are an officer who consistently checks in for status reports a search team is sent to check, and if the guard spotted you before getting knocked out the guards will go into a Caution phase for a while, this adds a lot of depth to the otherwise quite simple (and easy) systems from the first game.

Level design is just a massive step up from the first game, taking what worked from the original by having you navigate through a facility back and forth without feeling like you're constantly backtracking, you're constantly unlocking new areas without needing to trudge through a completely alien environment, and being a simple facility means it's easy to set up all sorts of hidden goodies and places to hide yourself or any victims bodies.

Bosses are incredibly fun, switching from this tactical espionage to this almost ninja like combat, and all the bosses have very interesting unique mechanics that practice core elements of the game, Fat Man being my favorite of them all, though the fight with the Rays near the end of the game is incredibly irritating.

Story is master class, balancing greatly written characters, interesting narratives and plot twists, and all the politics and deeper symbolism of it all wrapped in a nice bow

It's in an incredibly consistent game, probably the most consistent in the trilogy with only having one major snag with the pacing near the end, the game had my attention and I was all for it from start to finish, even with what we know now with the continuations of the story in MGS4 (and how a lot of them were explanations where they weren't needed or originally intended) the story feels perfect for bookending the story from MGS1.
It's one of the first games in a long time where I came out of it thinking to myself "I cannot wait to play this game again" and I consider that a massive praise by my own standards.

A must play, as is with all the games in the trilogy, but this is the game where it absolutely peaks and needs to be seen.

o jogo me quebrou mentalmente

This review contains spoilers

Yo ya sabia todo lo que pasaba en este juego, solo lo vi por YT y nunca lo jugué. La escena del presidente contándole toda la conspiración a Raiden me hizo recordar porque me gustan los videojuegos. Y luego esta esa charla en el códec... Uno de los mejores juegos que he jugado en mi vida. Por ahora Top 1 de este año.

Near perfection of the series of Kojima's games.

The whole thing about digitalized world and the censorship really hits hard.

A masterpiece and one of the best video games I've ever played. I barely have any complaints, if any.

My favorite Metal Gear Solid game. And it doesn't even start Solid Snake. You play as Raiden a very female looking man. He's the one carrying the mission to investigate Big Shell which is full of terrorist and has the president of the U.S as a hostage.

Wish I could talk about it more. But this is a Spoiler-Free review.

Hear me out, the twists in this game are insane. You'll feel like a fool by the end.

I'll just say: "Illusions might be more real than you think".

god dayun this shit goes hard affff


This review contains spoilers

Metal Gear Solid 2 has a well written, tightly paced, and prescient story. It's full of social and meta commentary, my favorite being how Raiden's misunderstanding of his role due to the Patriots' control of information mirrors the players that expected a completely different game due to Konami's marketing. It must have been a really interesting experience for those who played it when it came out. I didn't like how much the codec calls interrupted the gameplay but these segments were generally interesting enough that I didn't think much of it. It was also funny how frequently characters would be standing next to each other and decide to talk over codec because "someone might be listening". I get why they did it though - every cutscene clearly had a lot of effort put into them so it was likely necessary in order to cut down on development time.

The gameplay innovates a lot over MGS1. The improved enemy AI actually makes them a formidable threat which is still impressive to me compared to all of the newer games I've played. MGS2 also makes full use of the pressure sensitive face buttons on the Dualshock 2 controller. I prefer how most games handle shooting with triggers but slowly raising your finger off of the square button to lower your weapon feels somewhat immersive. There are a lot of neat little things like how ice cubes melt, and differently sized pans make different noises when you shoot them. You can shoot the radio on an enemy's hip so they can't call for backup, which makes for an interesting fact but I doubt anybody made use of it since if you're shooting at somebody you might as well just knock them out, right?

The boss fights didn't really work for me. Fortune doesn't feel very engaging and I think it would be better suited as a cutscene since you don't really do much besides dodge. The Vamp, Harrier, and Rays fights are just tedious. The sword controls in the last encounter with Solidus are awkward. I did enjoy Fatman, I think because it doesn't feel like such a departure from the normal gameplay.

Overall it's a very good game and I can see why it has had such an enduring legacy.

That half a star is because exploring the Big Shell is a pain in the balls but other than that

Absolute peak fiction

Yeah, this was absolutely bonkers in every way possible. Crazy ass story that’ll make you wish you had whatever drugs Kojima was on when writing this while simultaneously giving you an existential crisis because of how this game gets into your head. This was right up my alley but I do have minor complaints which are basically the boss fights and the crazy amount of long cutscenes with crucial story information (which I heard are staples of this series). Luckily enough for me I was reeled in from the start but I can see this game being exhausting for those who weren’t absolutely sucked in.

Gameplay is fantastic like it’s predecessor and the level design is good for the most part. I liked the weapons and there’s one you get at the end that’s conceptually really cool but it’s a bit finicky especially in the final boss fight. This game overall is probably one of the best ever made, may be overrated to some (I hate using the terms overrated/underrated) but it’s definitely a well appreciated piece of art that more people who consider themselves gamers need to play. Metal Gear Solid 2 is one of my favorite gaming experiences, it had me smiling all throughout and the ending had me tearing up. Definitely a game I’ll come back to every so often. On to Snake Eater!