"Who dares, wins"

For many, Metal Gear Solid was the PSone’s finest title. The first blockbuster 3D sneak-em-up and more cinematic than anything before it, Metal Gear was a landmark, spawning an entire stealth genre, elevating director Hideo Kojima into the spotlight alongside Mario creator Myamoto, and placing protagonist Snake Solid up there with Sonic and Lara as a gaming icon.

Swimming in a sea of hype, Metal Gear Solid 2 simply had to be worth the wait. And it delivers – but at a price.

Following Solid Snake, now running an anti Metal Gear organisation, Sons of Liberty begins on an oil tanker, but soon moves to the main portion of the game, the less evocative setting of an oil refinement facility called Big Shell. It’s a divisive decision, but explained by Kojima on the Bonus DVD: "I had the idea for two different areas, but we soon realised that the Tanker episode wasn't going to be big enough, so we used both".

Controversial

It’s not half as controversial as the choice of main character, however. Sure, the Tanker has you playing as Snake – but by the time you get to Big Shell, you realise that whoever this girly white-haired Snake wannabe is, he aint the hero of Shadow Moses. His codename soon changes, however – and you’re stuck playing Raiden, sneaking around, cart wheeling gracefully and bumping into a marine who looks suspiciously like MGS1’s main character.

Again, though, Kojima can explain: “I wanted to further develop the character of Solid Snake," he comments, "and that’s hard to do when you’re playing as him. Now Raiden is a beginner, Snake seems so much more impressive”.

It is without a doubt the biggest gripe players will have with MGS2, but there’s no doubting Kojima’s storytelling works a treat. As MGS2 progresses, from Raiden’s perspective Snake seems a truly heroic father figure, and it makes ploughing through Sons of Liberty's considerable cutscenes and dialogue all the more compelling.

That’s not to say Metal Gear Solid 2 is all talk, no action – far from it. The guards, for instance, set a new benchmark for enemy A.I., calling for backup, causing riot shield carrying re-enforcements to arrive; cornering you, ducking behind walls and pinning you in with gunfire; retaliating with hand-to-hand combat, if you get too close. There’s even a window that pops up in the corner letting you know what they’ve been alerted to, which simply couldn’t have been done on PSone.

They can also be toyed with, which presents MGS2’s greatest joy. Distract them with books and lockers containing ‘adult pictures’; use them as a human shield when you’re getting gunned at; catch them unawares and hold them up, making them wiggle to give you items – including the dog tags needed to unlock end-of-game rewards. Shoot their radios and they won’t be able to call for backup, letting you to cripple them with no alarms, and watch them hobble hopelessly towards safety – then throw them into the waiting depths to their doom.

Sadistically enjoyable

It’s tragically, sadistically enjoyable stuff, and coupled with more stealth options – hanging from rails; hiding in lockers; crawling under tables; shooting in first-person mode – it makes MGS2 an incredibly satisfying tactical espionage action expose.

Sons of Liberty is also a standard-setter in terms of presentation. The industrial setting may mean the backgrounds seem a little bland, but characters look phenomenal and are expertly animated, and water effects are a sight to behold. Cutscenes meanwhile are lifted straight from Hollywood, and voice acting is suitably hammy, increasing the melodrama factor tenfold. The musical score too is awe-inspiring, with the entire soundtrack – including a rousing rendition of the MGS theme itself – composed by Harry Gregson Williams, best known for his work on films like The Rock.

Exceptional in gameplay and presentation, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty sadly stumbles on the pacing and screenplay of an excessively elaborate post-modern plot. The codec screen is used far too often, about a quarter of your first run-through (a good three hours or so) will be spent watching cutscenes, and towards the end Kojima literally gets lost in the message he set out to present.

Where MGS1 was an essay on genes, family and inherited legacy, MGS2 focuses heavily on the idea of memes – that passing on our beliefs, culture, traditions and ideology to future generations is every bit as important as passing on our genetic materiel. Sadly, much of this is conveyed through a last hour made up of pompous, preachy dialogue, and many of the important plot twists are lost in the execution. That said, there’s a frighteningly deep narrative in there, and Metal Gear Solid 2 is also full of surprising, delightful little Kojima-isms. When the colonel calls to tell you to turn your console off because you've been playing too long, you’ll wonder if your PS2 is, in fact, actually haunted.

Not to be missed

Whether you’ll love or loathe MGS2 will depend entirely on your personal taste. Some will despise Raiden, find the going distastefully weighted too much towards watching, listening and reading, and less towards action, and generally wonder if Kojima was trying to make a game or tell a story. Others will entirely elate in the wider plot arc, deeper characterisation, evolved stealth dynamics and improved cinematics. For them, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty will be one of its generations best blockbuster releases.

Either way, Sons of Liberty is another affecting, idiosyncratic Metal Gear experience, and should definitely not be missed.

GAME's Verdict

• Metal Gear's standard-setting stealth melodrama taken to new heights
• Peerlessly compelling and cinematic
• 'Fission Mailed'; 'I need scissors, 61!' ... tons of little Kojima gems

• You'll do as much watching, reading and listening as you will actual playing
• Kojima lets his moralising get in the way of his storytelling
• Raiden: you'll either put up with or detest him

Review by: Mark 'Metal Geeeeaaaaar' Scott
Review Published: 28.12.03