REVIEW - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)

Hey guys, sorry for the long break. As I said I just wanted to take a little break off for the holidays just to catch up with my family and finish an anime which I want to review soon. Today however we'll be looking into the highly anticipated (at least, for the time) sequel to one of the best games ever released on the original PlayStation. A very controversial game in fact, one I'm sure you all know.

Konami's infamous Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for the PlayStation 2.

Metal Gear Solid 2 starts off two years after the Shadow Moses Incident from the original game. Solid Snake has left his mercenary life and joined up with an official UN Anti-Metal Gear group known as Philanthropy. Snake is sent to New York Harbour to infiltrate a Tanker which is going along the New York Harbour under US Marine Jurisdiction. The reason for this is that Philanthropy can get pictures of the Marines new Anti-Metal Gear Metal Gear (Yep, a Metal Gear to destroy Metal Gears AIN'T THAT A TWIST) so that they can blow the whole thing open on the internet. Unfortunately for Snake, Russians seize control of the ship and kill most of the Marines on board. After taking out the leader's daughter (with a M9 Tranq. gun so she didn't actually die), Snake heads to the lower holds where he finds Metal Gear RAY. After snapping a few pics for Otacon (who by the way comes up with some really bad puns), the Russians take control of the Metal Gear, thanks to the not dead and two armed Revolver Ocelot (for those who never played Metal Gear Solid, Ocelot lost his arm thanks to Grey Fox chopping it the hell off). Ocelot kills his allies and then Snake proceeds to confront him while the ship explodes around them. Under some very strange shit which isn't explained until Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Ocelot's mind is temporarily hijacked by Liquid Snake. Through Liquid's arm which was grafted onto Ocelot.

You Heard me.

After this the ship blows up and Snake is presumed KIA along with all the marines and Russians.

Fast Forward to 2009 and we take control of FOXHOUND's newest recruit Jack, codenamed Raiden. Raiden is sent into the Big Shell clean up facility off the coast of New York, which was set up after the oil from the tanker leaked into the sea. The Big Shell was taken under control by a terrorist group known as both Dead Cell and The Sons of Liberty (TITLE DROP.). Their demand is Thirty Billion US Dollars in exchange for the life of the US president James Johnson who was on a a government sponsored tour of the Shell that day. Raiden ends up encountering Dead Cell and a strange, familiar looking man by the name of Iroquois Pliskin (WHAT KIND OF A NAME IS THAT). What lies ahead for Raiden has to be the most bat shit insane, confusing yet brilliantly written story in any game in the MGS Saga. I understand why people hate this games plot, I do. It can be really hard to follow and the fact that they swapped the series main character out for a whiny, very unmanly man kind pissed people off. But I for one didn't see them as an issue. Why?

The gameplay was too damn fun.

The gameplay in Sons of Liberty is essentially the same as it was in Metal Gear Solid except with a few new features added in. The game is still all about Stealth and remaining undetected ad you navigate your way around the Tanker as Solid Snake and the Big Shell as Raiden. There aren't many gameplay differences between Snake and Raiden minus the fact that Snake starts off with a gun whereas Raiden has to procure his weapons on site. Many new ways to approach enemies were added in this game. For one, you can now aim your weapon in First Person, allowing for precise and accurate aiming. Body effects were added, such as Sneezing after being in a cold/rainy area for too long. A Sneeze could attract the attention of nearby enemies, so the player would have to take medicine to stop sneezing. Enemies were also a lot smarter now, as they would Radio in for backup (which, you could destroy their radio before they got the chance to) to cut off any and all escape routes you had. Enemies also didn't disappear when you killed them, so hiding their bodies inside lockers or in dark areas was a must to avoid detection. I found the overall control to be much better than the original game aswell, with a new dodge feature added which is really cool and useful in some situations. 

The graphical finesse of Metal Gear Solid 2 is quite a feat for one of the earliest PS2 games released. The attention to detail is so acute and so refined that it can make you think that at points this was a game released on the PS3. For example, in the Tanker Chapter you can enter a diner area near where you fight Olga. Behind the bar there's a few pans hanging up on a rack, each one getting smaller and smaller as you go up. As a result, shooting each one makes a higher pitched noise as you shoot them. It's attention to detail like this that I like in game developers. MGS 2 is one of the best looking games on the PS2 without a doubt thanks to that.

The soundtrack was composed by an American man by the name Harry Gregson Williams, who was set with the dangerous task of remixing the original games main theme. Thankfully, the theme song was remixed in such a way that it was actually improved, and in fact, the soundtrack and voice acting in Sons of Liberty are top class. Some of the best songs ever composed are in this game, and you should totally buy the soundtrack with it's techno-orchestra tracks.

To simply put it....this game was for the longest time my favourite ever made. The storyline, gameplay and graphics all amazed me back when I first played it in 2003. I was just in love with this game. now it's 2013 and to be fair to it, it's aged amazingly well, even if I think Tales of Xillia is a slightly better game. But personal feelings aside....get Metal Gear Solid 2, whether you buy it on PS2, Xbox, PC, Xbox 360 or PS3, it's an amazing game and one of the finest Hideo Kojima has ever made.

Story: 7.5

Gameplay: 10

Graphics: 10

Sound: 9

Personal Enjoyment: 9.5

FINAL SCORE FOR METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY: 9.2/10