 Box Front
 Box Back
Member Rating
85.3%
(74 votes)
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| Console:
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Sony PlayStation 2
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| Region: |  |
| Year:
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2001
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| RFG ID #:
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U-072-S-01230-A
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| Part #:
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SLUS-20144
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| UPC:
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083717200215
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| Developer:
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Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (KCEJ)
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| Publisher:
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Konami
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| Rating:
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| (ESRB): Animated Blood , Animated Violence |
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| Genre:
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Action/Adventure
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| Sub-genre:
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Tactical Espionage
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| Players:
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1
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| Controller:
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Standard Controller
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| Media Format:
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DVD x1
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Collection Stats:
- 606 of 7620 collectors (7.9%) have this game in their collection
- 8 of 7620 collectors (0.1%) have this game in their wishlist.
- 5 of 7620 collectors (0%) have this game for sale or trade.
Overview:
Metal Gear Solid Sons of Liberty is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Metal Gear Solid. Featuring a diverse cast of characters, unique and complex storyline, cinematic presentation, and stealth gameplay the game became dubbed a system seller.
Review:
Shimra's review:
I'm going to skip my normal introductions and background and get straight to the core of the review because frankly I have a lot to say.
Metal Gear Solid 2, if you do not know by now for whatever reason, is a stealth/action game that has an enormous emphasis on story and cinematics. Players will play for a decent segment of the game, then find themselves either listening to a codec conversation between two or more characters for a fairly long time or players may find themselves playing the game for a few minutes than watching a cutscene that can range anywhere between 3 minutes to 40 minutes. That's how the game plays out, there is no two ways around it. The game is honestly about half gameplay and half cinema. That being said this is what typically draws in players considering the stories of the Metal Gear Solid series are complex, compelling, and typically fantastic. Just like the original and those that followed, Metal Gear Solid 2 has it's awe inspiring moments.
Before I begin this next segment, one thing should be noted. Metal Gear Solid isn't exactly known for it's gameplay. Sure it is fun, but clearly more time is spent constructing the cinematics, dialog, and story than fine tuning the gameplay. Instead of what could be a phenomenal stealth experience players are left with a good stealth experience. Granted the gameplay is extremely far from bad, it is easy to see that if the developers put as much effort into the gameplay as they did anything else, the game would be more balanced.
Players take control of Snake and Raiden (Raiden for the bulk of the game) and find themselves sneaking through various scenarios in order to stop terrorist plots. As a stealth game players can either kill bad guys and hide their bodies, tranquilize bad guys, or completely avoid them. The option is completely up to the players which is fantastic. Once spotted players find themselves in 'Alert Mode' which essentially means back up is arriving to the area where you were spotted so you have to either hide or run. That being said it is often best to proceed through the game cautiously. In order to do so, Raiden and Snake are able to hang from ledges, crawl through air ducts, jump off ledges, and use a variety of items and weapons. The weapons in the game, while fun, are honestly kind of useless beyond the occasional boss battle. Firing a non silenced weapon will usually just set off an alarm so there really isn't much point in using one. The gameplay is far from bad, but it could be better and longer. Skipping cinematics, the game is about 4 or 5 hours. Maybe less.
Before we get to the story, let's talk about the graphics and music. The graphics serve their purpose and the music fits the mood. Same with the sound effects.
Hopefully by now you would have realized that Metal Gear Solid 2 is played for the story and cinematics. And for the most part the story is fantastic, compelling, and full of promise. The game is told in two arcs, Snake's arc and Raiden's arc (Raiden's segment about 7/8 of the game). Simply put, the story revolves around Ocelot stealing Metal Gear Ray for Snake's part, and for Raiden's part there is a terrorist takeover of The Big Shell (an oil rig of sorts). Both of the arcs are directly related to one another and raise the complexity of the plot. And boy is the plot complex. Characters are introduced left and right often with lengthy cutscenes about their origins and whatnot, plot twists are thrown in frequently, and a few enemies from the past reappear. The plot is extremely engaging and entertaining, and even though there are plot twists left and right it isn't too hard to follow.
That segment of the review was for the first 2/3; now let's move on to the part of the game where Kojima thought it would be funny to defecate all over the players' hopes and dreams. From here on out there are MAJOR SPOILERS.
***Here. We. Go.***
***Players are taken to Arsenal Gear, which is like under the oil rig or something and is for whatever reason inhabited by hundreds of ninjas with swords, and futuristic stuff and literally thousands of Metal Gear Rays which could could absolutely not fit anywhere in Arsenal Gear unless there is like a wormhole I am unaware of. The ninja that we say earlier, is Olga from Snake's chapter who is helping you because the patriots are going to kill her child, but she's also helping Solidus so whatever. Solidus is now an octopus with robotic tentacles for some reason. He's the single most pathetic villain in any game ever. I'll get back to him later. Fortune, who has had like two appearances where she didn't really do anything dies pretty instantly after somehow deflecting bullets without the help of the nanomachines the patriots gave her. And oh, the colonel is a computer run by the patriots. And the Big Shell is thought to be a Patriots training program for turning people into Solid Snake. ***
***But really it's the Patriots' attempt to get Raiden's nanomachines, control the world, and have Solidus and Raiden fight in an epic sword battle in the middle of a burning city with no police/fbi/cia intervention after arsenal gear just plowed into the enormous city. This is because Solidus who rarely appeared in the game (but now has tentacle arms) was president of the USA and he was also Raiden's father figure when Raiden was a boy soldier killing people left and right. But Solidus is like dead set on bringing down the Patriots who screwed him over. Except it was all part of the Patriots plan to make Solidus think he was taking them down. So the whole sword fight/octopus fight between him and Raiden makes no sense. And the fight itself has Solidus shooting fire from his tentacles while flying around and you get messages from the colonel (who is a computer) and your girlfriend (who is a computer) telling you to kill Solidus. Also Raiden's girlfriend may or may not be a computer. This is because after Raiden impales Solidus he's like standing in a crowd of people looking at his body while Snake gives him a horrendous speech about freedom which makes no sense while they are both dressed completely idiotically compared to everyone else but no one notices and no one seems to care that the man who just impaled a robot octopus man is right in front of them. Then Raiden hugs the computer chic girlfriend who is standing there for some reason. And Ocelot, who was being controlled by Liquid (who wants to take down the Patriots), steals blueprints or something and the flies off undramatically while liquid continues to control him through his arm. And the Patriots are responsible for anything and everything. The whole thing was set up by the Patriots. No plot holes exist because that's how the Patriots intended it to be. And the Patriots all dead in like the 60's or something. And you don't know who the Patriots are. But they did everything. The Patriots is the correct answer for any and all questions about the story of Metal Gear Solid 2. ***
***The. Patriots. Did. It.***
***Oh and the gameplay changes into a hack and slash with terrible controls and you like start killing thousands upon thousands of people with a sword for whatever reason while the alarms are all going off and snake is shooting people. All the while the colonel is sending you bizarre messages which are almost amusing. Then you fight 1000 Metal Gears but the fight ends after like 6 or so. And even though you might start to think it is completely idiotic and none of it makes sense you just remember the Patriots did it.***
The game was amazing. And is amazing. For the first 2/3. Then Kojima craps all over the players' face and wipes his ass with their tears. The story turns into a crap fest, and the gameplay goes to hell. One of these days Kojima is just going to come straight out and say, 'I can't believe you people enjoyed me crapping all over your faces.'
Shimra's Review Score
40%
Shimra's Review First 2/3 of the game score Score
90%
Extra Media:
$5 Blockbuster Gift Card
BradyGames Official Strategy Guide
Registration Card- back
Registration Card- front
Manual (Reverse)
Ad - Coming Fall 2011
Variations:
Related Games:
Page Credits:
| Michael Collins: |
Page design, HTML code, scans.
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| Eddie Herrmann: |
Perl script.
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| Rick Johnson: |
Miscellaneous information
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| Anthony Terzi: |
Title Correction, Misc
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| Kevin Christensen: |
UPC, Subgenre, Media Format, Game Rating, Rating Content Descriptor.
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| VACRMH: |
Photos
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| Shimra: |
Overview, Review, Edited the review
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| bombatomba: |
Year Correction
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| Zagnorch: |
Photos
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| Shadow Kisuragi: |
Misc
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| Jacques Paul: |
Photos
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Last Updated: 2018-11-11 00:50:13 |
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