The true reveal of Metal Gear Solid 2 is not that we play as Raiden instead of Solid Snake - it's that the antagonist of the game does not exist. It's pulling back the curtain to find that the man behind it died a century ago. The most powerful nation on Earth is essentially an algorithm with a mind of its own, akin to a runaway train that everyone "in charge" pretends they are responsible for. There is no individual you get to blame. Not the politicians, not the CEOs of major corporations. Not even the current or former presidents of the United States have any idea of what's really going on. The algorithm will replace these people the second they stop being useful. In my opinion it's a much better conception of "the system" than what you see in most conspiracy fiction: a small, shadowy cabal of people pulling the strings from behind the scenes. The reality is that all of the powerful people we blame are just the ones who managed to latch on to the algorithm of capitalism and milk it for all they can. There is no grand design, nobody is in control, everyone responsible for setting this system into motion is long dead. Which is why Otacon says the Patriots "have been dead for 100 years".

Every choice you (and Raiden) make perpetuates this status quo, and every radical political cause (like Snake and Otacon's 'Philanthropy') is effortlessly co-opted by it. MGS2 conveys this idea in a way that only a video game could: By playing as Raiden, you are forced to directly confront the futility of any resistance. You can approach MGS2 in a million different ways with an expansive arsenal of tools, getting no kills or alerts and discovering every secret in the Big Shell, or do the exact opposite. But the end result is always the same: You kill Solidus, the only threat to the Patriots, after they explicitly tell you it's exactly what they want. If you opt out entirely and "turn the game console off" you're still doing something you were ordered to do. Even if you choose not to play, you lose to the Patriots. MGS2 places you in the position of the post-information age, digital subject: Imbued with detailed knowledge of every single way you are being oppressed and exploited, you still choose to follow orders. You are so overwhelmed by information, some true, some false, that is causes a kind of exasperated compliance.

This is simultaneously a commentary on the nature of video game stories as an immutable, pre-programmed series of events not as different from film narratives as we like to think; Any "choice" is always an illusion, whether it's in Metal Gear Solid or a Telltale game. Any game that sets out to fulfill the concept of "player freedom" in its story will always fail. Video games stories are (at their best) about interactivity, not choice. They let you play out a pre-ordained role and do some improvisation, not write the story. Kojima understands this, and it's why he borrows so much from film. It's also why the criticism that his games are too much like movies is kind of pointless; he's just recognizing the inherent similarities of the two mediums.

On a less meta level, this lack of free will in MGS2 underscores the reality that capitalism, American empire, the very norms and values of American society, whatever the antagonist of the game is - cannot be destroyed from within. It is a system that has achieved self-awareness. Any possible attempt to destroy it has already been anticipated with an infinite number of contingencies. Emma Emmerich gave her life to destroy the GW AI and it was just replaced with a backup. The battle has already been lost, and it was decided by a microscopic processor in a fraction of a second. Solidus (a perfect stand-in for the kind of right-wing populist we wouldn't see for awhile in 2001) was the only person in power trying to oppose the Patriots, but his fatal mistake was believing that the Patriots were essentially a deep state globalist cabal, rather than the nigh omnipresent force they really are (they aren't really a "they", but an "it"). Like Snake said, "the Patriots are a kind of ongoing fiction". But even the legendary Solid Snake, the archetypal hero who opposes the system with clear-eyed determination, is completely dumbfounded after the credits roll.

And that's because this enemy is simply beyond the abilities of one man, even if that man is a Snake. It can just create its own soldier to surpass Solid(us) Snake and even mass-produce them, and your actions throughout the game prove it. No tactical espionage action can defeat what is essentially an idea - one that has infiltrated the furthest depths of the human soul. The only hope lies on a society-wide level: An alternative has to be built by everyone from the ground up, through finding what is true and meaningful in life and passing it on to the next generation. Slowly, generation by generation, an alternative capable of opposing the great algorithm can be built. And it has to be one that people can have faith in, in a spiritual sense.

But the encroachment of the internet into our lives is making this less and less feasible. By replacing the traditional nuclear-armed metal gear with Arsenal Gear, an AI that controls the internet, Kojima is essentially framing the internet itself as a threat equal to or greater than that of nuclear weapons. It is an instrument of human separation much more powerful than the splitting of an atom. The quote at the beginning of Raiden's chapter tying computers and nuclear weapons together bolsters this interpretation.

The digital age has turned human life into a scrambled mess that is impossible to parse. We create entirely idiosyncratic, patchwork realities for ourselves by finding various "truths" through our own individual exploration of the internet and jury-rigging them together. We relate to each other less and less, and mental illness is widespread. This overload of information makes us increasingly neurotic, isolated, and unable to determine truth from fiction. The collective human mind is being broken (or at least pounded into a new shape) against the collective neuroses of the internet, and nobody knows what to do about it. We're all alone right now, each of us left with the isolating task of finding our own truth amidst the cacophony. Even the algorithm fears for our future, yet it's still the only entity with a solution: Censorship. Make the noise stop. Honestly, has anyone thought of a better idea?

Let me be real with everyone: I’ve never played a metal gear game before. I’ve never played the first game, have only watched a tiny bit of the third game, and know how hated the later games are. So when I saw the substance version of metal gear solid 2 for a super cheap price I kind of had to go for it, besides I’ve never played the series so why not get it? So I bought the game and went straight back home and slammed the disc into my ps2…

This game could quite possibly be one of the biggest masterpieces ever crafted. The story really does rely on you knowing what happened in the previous game (I read a big ass wiki synopsis and multiple YouTube videos so I’m good) and like most Kojima games there are cutscenes that you could practically make into your own franchise of movies in a single game. Other than that you’re all set!

So we start off the game playing as snake, who is trying to find information about a new metal gear but finds out someone else is trying to snag it (liquid from the previous games and some new faces). After that portion you then play the rest of the game as Raiden, debatably one of the most hated characters for a while…I kinda like him. Now don’t get me wrong, I can understand why people didn’t like him at the time but some of the reasons they gave are pretty stupid ‘oh he’s super whiny’, ‘he repeats himself too much’, ‘he asks way too many questions’, personally I found him a great protagonist and as an opposite to snake in a way I found him really cool. As for the rest of the game the other characters are super good. Fortune is mysterious (I won’t spoil what happens during the end but it explains everything), vamp is super cool and funny, fatman is…well he’s fatman. Yeah the story to this game is really great.

The gameplay to metal gear solid 2 is also really good. You come to grips with it pretty quickly and after you do the rest of the game is pretty much a breeze. The boss battles to start with aren’t the most special but as you go on they get cooler and more adventurous. There are also some really nice set pieces that come in later which I won’t spoil.

Overall, did I enjoy my first metal gear game? Definitely.
Should I play the first game? Yes
Am I looking forward to the third games remake (if it happens)? Sure

Great story, solid gameplay (see what I did there?), Raiden is a great new protagonist, Otacon is such a legend, did not enjoy escorting Emma and what happened after…still a good game tho

(Edit: THE SNAKE EATER REMAKE EXISTS!!!)

Now this is a 3D platformer!

I played this game quite a few years ago when I had a wii and played the hell out of it, and years later I still love it. This is definitely the game that got me into the mario series as a whole and what better game to begin with. There’s so much emotion here and the levels are really well-made. In my opinion this is a must have for the wii.

Great gameplay, excellent story, 2 Luigi’s