PixlBit

BaD #24

Hello Pixlbit, how are you? Previously on Pixlbit, I talked about my experience and thoughts about Metal Gear Solid. This time I'll be looking at everyone's favorite, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

                     

Metal Gear Solid 2 might in fact be the most controversial of the Metal Gear games as well as convoluted full of different twists and unexpected surprises. They can go either way though. But you may be thinking, what's wrong with the game? The game starts off very well in fact. The game starts you off as Snake again, this time sneaking into a tanker to investigate because there are reports of a new Metal Gear. No not a game, but the bipedal tank of the same name.

From here you can finally see all of the games improvements and new features over the original. First off, the game looks way, way, way better than the first MGS. The gameplay has been tweaked, it controls way more better, everything feels more smooth and precise. The stealth mechanic has been improved tremendously, as you have more options for stealth and dispatching enemies. You can now shoot in 1st person mode, you can hide in lockers, hide enemies in them that you've either tranquilized or killed, shoot in cover, hang over ledges, and more. The enemies are more smarter too, the enemies communicate in teams and if you leave a trail, they'll find you. There's more things I'm forgetting. What more could you want out of life? But you may be asking, this game sounds like everything we wanted in a Metal Gear game, what's wrong with it?

Well, an accident happens in the tanker and they blame the whole thing on Snake. So? You might say? Well in that accident, Snake is presumed dead. Uh oh, who are we going to play as now? Well what I'm about to tell you is what has divided fans and people alike. From there, you're on another mission as you must rescue the president from terrorists on an oil tanker and the game switches you to you to a new character named Raiden. You are probably thinking, so? Well here's the thing, Snake is presumed dead, the game refers to you as Snake, thinking he must have cheated death. The game never tells you at that point that you're using a different character till you get to a cutscene and he removes his mask. The character reveals himself to be Raiden and thus is one, if not the biggest lie in gaming history. It gets worse, you'll be playing as Raiden for 90% of the game, that's almost all or the remainder of the whole game. But that's not all.

Personally, I don't think he's a bad character, I think he's a cool character, but I'd rather be playing as Snake instead. The gameplay is still the same though, you still get to sneak around and stuff. The problem people have with Raiden is that he whines about stuff during the game, that and constant arguments with his girlfriend via codex communication. But he isn't afraid to speak what's on his mind and defends what he thinks of the situation based on what he's talking about. That may be one of the main factors besides the facade you were led to. Snake still has a major role in the plot so he isn't completely gone, is just that people would rather play as him over Raiden. That and Snake was already an established character people knew from the first MGS, and I guess people weren't too keen on the change all of a sudden. 

The boss fights are very neat though, when you fight a boss enemy you have 2 ways of defeating them, either by killing or non-lethal methods. There's this part in the game where you have to fight off a lot of Metal Gears, 25 of them. Taking down 1 of them in MGS1 was hard enough, but 25? That is some ludicrous odds of taking down that many, but it definitely was one of my favorite parts. It kinda feels like an endurance round though.

Alot of the controversy (outside of Raiden) comes from plot points in the story and twists. There are some parts that didn't make sense and made you go wtf, but what Metal Gear game doesn't? It does take the cake at least from the Metal Gear games I've played. But I guess it's what makes MGS2, MGS2.

Final Thoughts: The game is great, it took the foundation the first Metal Gear Solid established and it improved upon it, gameplay wise. This was an early PS2 game and you'd be surprised how well it was crafted so early on in its lifecycle. The thing is people felt cheated using Raiden, those moments he is communicating with his girlfriend, outside of convoluted twists and plot points, it just added to the controversy. But as I've said, the game is great and definitely worth a playthrough. But still, that was just pure brilliance never telling you you were playing as someone else. I thought it was pure genius despite people not liking that. I think MGS2 might make a great anime, since it makes no sense just like alot of anime out there, but what do I know?

I heard Raiden is better in MGS4 and in Rising, but I haven't gotten around to those yet.

Well that's it for this one, it was rather short but there's a chance I'll give away too much if I say more.  Did you ever play MGS2? Thanks for reading and...