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Sony PlayStation 2
Review
What's your reason for owning a PlayStation 2? Most likely, the answer is "Metal
Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty." This may seem surprising now, as people mock this
title these days but that's simply because this was one of the most anticipated
game released ever. Sequel to PlayStation smash hit "Metal Gear Solid," the fans
went insane after seeing the trailers at E3 and hyped all kinds of things: Big Boss's
return, Gray Fox's re-resurrection, Solid Snake with a mullet. All of these were
not in the game when it came out... ok, except for Snake's mullet. People don't
realize how amazing this game is, except for the people who never heard the hype.
Those people think the game is genius. And it is!
 Let's
start off with the graphics. While it has nothing to do with the game's quality
itself, I believe that Sons of Liberty is about as good as the PlayStation 2 can
go (Update: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater seems to have taken this title away
from Sons of Liberty) The details are amazing! When people first see the cut scene
of Snake walking on the bridge, they don't realize that that's actual in-game graphics.
Almost all of the cut scenes are done in real-time. When they realize that the cut
scene and codecs are over, and it's time to play, they can't tell any major difference
in graphics between gameplay and cut scenes. Sure, the cut scenes have facial expressions
and such, but that's due to motion actors. The way they made the Tanker look like
with the rain, it reminds me of walking in the rain. The way the water pours down
the rails, down Snake's gun, it's simply amazing. Rain is just a small amount of
the great visuals. There are so many examples, but I'll only give a small one. In
one area, there is a bar. A bucket of ice is on the counter, and shooting it will
knock it down. Looking at the ice, you'll notice that it starts to melt until it's
water. That's just a small example of the ridiculous "realism" that KCEJ put into
this game.
Gameplay wise, this game gives it's predecessor a swift kick in the ass. Snake can
now run AND walk thanks to the analog stick actually noticing how far you're pushing
it. He can hold up enemies, hang off of ledges, do pull-ups, peek around corners,
do a jump-shot, hide bodies, hide in lockers, roll, and a lot more. Are the controls
complicated? Not at all! Since the Dual Shock 2 has pressure sensitive buttons,
the L2 and R2 buttons can be the Item/Weapon change AND quick equip buttons. This
enables First Person View to be R1 and TRIANGLE be ACTION. The First-Person view
is definitely the best upgrade from the first Metal Gear Solid, as you can, finally,
aim your gun! Sounds funny, but it would have been very useful in the first Metal
Gear Solid. While you can't move in First Person View, the aiming system is all
you really need.
The sound is amazing. If you haven't noticed on the back of the box, the music is
composed by Harry Gregson Williams, who has also done music for a lot of movies,
such as The Rock, Armageddon, Enemy of the State, and Phone Booth. The sound is
dramatic and good enough to be in a movie. Almost every area in the game has it's
own music and different Alert, Evasion, and Caution music. It all blends together
too, so it truly sounds like there's an orchestra behind the set playing. The sound
effects are great, and voice acting, just like the last game, is setting the bar
higher than the standards of games.
 Some
more game features, such as collectable dog tags make the game have high replay
value. Then there are the secrets, and surprises. Oh, the surprises. I don't want
to spoil anything, but let me just say that after the Tanker chapter, expect to
have some weird shit happening. This is the main reason why people don't like this
game, but if you analyze the themes, you will see that the surprise was necessary.
Besides, it makes Snake look a lot cooler than he used to be. The story is very
confusing to some. I had to beat it plenty of times to understand it, as there are
many twists and folds. I hated it at first but after beating it and watching through
the story a lot of times, I loved it. It's hard to understand and first, but once
you get it, you'll like it. If you have ever seen a psychothriller or movies such
as Vanilla Sky or 2001: A Space Odyssey, you'll know what to expect. Hell, go rent
Ghost in the Shell before playing this game. I find the themes somewhat similar...
The amount of hidden messages, cut scenes, etc, are amazing. There are so many funny
conversations in the Codec that you can hear. Ever wanted to know what your girlfriend
thinks of you being in a woman's bathroom? Ever wanted to knock a girl out and crawl
all over her... and call her brother? From a guard pissing on your head, to a bikini
poster, where knocking on the crotch area of the girl will trigger an alert, the
game gives more than enough humor to give a break for those tired of infiltrating
some big huge place taken over by some armed group of terrorists. There are so many
of these humorous extras, and they might even help you! Punching a guard's package
will knock him out for good, and setting adult-magazines down will distract guards,
just to name a few.
To all of those who say this game sucks - go play Doom or whatever. Who cares if
Metal Gear Solid was better in your humble opinion? Does that make Metal Gear Solid
2 shitty, period? No. This is still a must-have game.
My Score - 9.4/10
Goodness
Very fun game, lots to do, lots of replay value, unlockables, suspense, gameplay
rocks. Turns into an ultimate trip.
Badness
A lot of stuff after the Tanker Chapter. And you see a guy nude. Don't worry,
it's just his ass. The Codec conversations sometimes occur even when the characters
are right next to each other, which a cut scene would have been better for.
Madness
It's the first time you beat the game, and you have no clue as to what the fuck
happened.
The Lowdown
You have to play this game. It's amazing and might make your expectations for
other games set higher than usual. I say buy it, really. (Update: With Substance
released, I say buy Substance. Substance has Sons of Liberty included, and has a
fuck load of extras)
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