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Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for PlayStation 2 Videos >>
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for PlayStation 2
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Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for PlayStation 2
335 reviews   4.3 of 5

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Summary

I knew that Metal Gear Solid 2 would would be good, but I am truly in disbelief over how truly stunning the game is. I tip my hat of to Kojima and his team at konami for managing to bridge the gap between movies and videogames. This is the greatest piece of entertainment to come out in years and that's only scratching the surface of it. Metal gear focuses on what made it a great game in the first place--a killer story supported by its edge of the seat gameplay. If there was ever a game to display Sony's much hyped emotion engine this game is it. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and scream in disbelief. The graphics are unreal and the amount of detail is awe-inspiring. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but let's just say it's going to be hard to top this one. Here's a game that deserves a six!
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Summary

This game rocks and should blindly be given a perfect 10.

here is my personal review to the game with no spoilers. to make sure that there are no spoilers i will review the game only up to the point where we all played in the demo. yes, the game starts just like in the demo and the first boss battle is with Olga. and you guessed right, they did not shave her armpits.

for those of you who played the demo, there is nothing more i can say regarding the graphics in the game. for those of you who did not play the demo, i have only one thing to say. you don't know what the PS2 can do without playing MGS2. go out and get it.

ok here i go. once you pop the disc in you get the familiar screens just like in the demo, you can select newgame, load game, options, and extras (or i think its called secrets). i don't remember whether it was in options or secrets where there was an option to read previous history where there are three articles which describe the previous happenings including the two incidents before the MGS1 game. those two incidents were the ones in the history section of MGS1 although details of these two were kept to the minimum. it will take a LOT of time to read through. one article is 11 pages long, another is 125 pages long and another i 324 pages long. so tart with you onle see one article but as you go through each you get the next one, on the screen, you can exit the article in the middle and come back to the screen with the list of articles although i am not sure if you quit an article in the middle whether you get the next one in line. so just keep going to the next page untill then end of the article and exit.

on to the game. try to remember everything u can regarding the demo. everything is here. in addition the doors that were locked in the demo open now and you can explore new areas. Olga is much harder to fight even in the normal mode. much, much harder than the normal mode in demo. i will not spoil on how to finish the battle though. all i can say is, the shots we made in the demo don't even dent her. so i can imagine how the next boss battle will be. why do i say imagine instead of giving you hints. well gamers, forgive for i have sinned. i am very poor at games and thats what makes it fun for me. it takes longer for me to complete games or levels than it takes most of you guys out there to finish whole games. to make my point, i still haven't got the BIG A$$ bisham sword in Onimusha yet. i can go only until the 7th or 8th level. and when did i buy that game. the day it came out, and i got my free T-shirt too. ok enough about me, let't get back to the game.

after battling with Olga i start making my way back to the lower levels. oh wait, i almost forgot. you have a camera in your inventory by default to take pictures. that comes in very handy to use as binoculars. also there is an image galary where you can look at the pictures later. remember the mess hall where you have to use the chaff granade to get to the bullets for the gun. well in that room i had a lot of fun and dies a lot too. here's the first instance where i felt the game and its engine was over hyped. a guard was alerted by my presence and i hid under one of the dining tables, he saw me go in there and the radar immediately changed to red. over the loud speakers i could hear the head security shout to the others to converge to the room i was in which i don't remember if he called it the cefeteria or the mess hall. but my disappointment came when the radar came back to normal and all the gurds except the original was left in the room. i thought, what the f**k is this, i thought the guards were intelligent. i actully thought of pausing the game come to this board and lash out at konami for making the game stupid. but,soon came the moment i hadd to eat my words. th repeated my actions again and this time. one guard got down on one knee and started shooting at me while i was still under the table. i shot him and killed him (i got a gun by then) and the one beside me did the same and i killed him too. GOD THIS GAME IS AWESOME. the enemy AI is great. they rais or lower their shield depending on where you are pointing your gun. if you shoot their leg they bend a little and if you shoot the other then they raise their right hand as if to beg you "NO MORE, NO MORE" and they just hit the floor. but i noticed that even if you make a close range head shot they raise their hand. at some places i found the AI stupid, for example in the lounge where you have a long corridor where one guard goes up and down and another walks between the sofas. i forgot that there were guards here and went from one door to another and the guard came saying "what was that", he should have seen me, although i was not in first person mode to see where he was looking i did pass 5-6 feet from him. i guess the AI is week when you start because the enemy doesn't suspect any intriders on board, but once you start causing trouble they become much more intelligent. Brilliant Mr. Kojima. Brilliant. the AI is go good that even if you evade them and get away they will come on your general direction and still hunt u down. a card board box wouldn't help. i hid in the supplies room where you have your explosive with infrared sensors to crawl under and the guards came looking for me. i hid in the box, the first guard looked at it and ignored it while the guard beside him took a second look and lifted it up and you know the rest.

well, that's where i got sleepy and turned the game off wishing i didn' have to, but i have to come to work to NYC from NJ and you guys who do the same know that to come here, you have to wake up early yada, yada, yada.......... . i hate it, but i have to earn money to buy these games don't i. fun part is I'm at work and for the past 40 minutes have been writing this review and the only thing i did work wise was check my e-mails.

i have only one wish from you guys (and babes). i don't know if i can log in a log later in the day, but can you please bump this topic up for the benefit of others. thanks a lot in advance. i hope this review helped. i'll try to answer any questions you have, but can't guarantee immediate responses . be seeing you. MGS2 ROCKS. PERIOD.
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Summary

First of all I would like to ask anyone who will write a review of this: PLEASE DO NOT RUIN THE STORY FOR OTHERS!!! Also let me say that I rarely give a game all 5s (in fact this is the first one).

Just to let you know, I have gotten past the tanker part of the game and now I am on to the next sequence. In just a few hours of playing, I have been awed by so many plot twists and turns, and at least one HUGE supprise! I really can't say what it is; this is really something you have to experience for yourself. The story is so shocking that I have NO IDEA of what's in store for me next. All I can say is that I can't wait to experience it. I say experience rather than play because this game immerses you so much into the gameplay that you really forget that it is even a game. It is presented like a movie, and this is apparent from the very first time you pop that disc in and watch the intro. It blurs the line between games and movies, and is therefore a work of art. It is obvious that a lot of time and effort went into this game.

My only gripe is that sometimes when you want to turn a corner (especially when you are running from the enemy!) he'll hug the wall when you don't want him to. A few small instances also stand out such as the tendancy for him to put his back to a hand rail when you really want to jump over the rail. The control is great otherwise.
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Sound

The sound is very well done, probably the best to be heard in a game yet. Every little detail can be heard, from shots being fired, massive explosions, shell casings hitting the ground, and the faintest footsteps. Most of the important cutscenes are available in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, which is a neat feature, even though I would have wished all of the cutscenes were done that way. I think its OK though when you consider that my only complaint with the entire game is that. So what are you waiting for? Go buy it and play it already!

Gameplay

Are you familiar with the original Metal Gear Solid? IF so then there isnt much to talk about when it comes to gameplay. The interface, controls and camera angles are all smooth and slick, with lots of new and interesting moves and features you get to try out. I usually hate using analog sticks and I thought the first person mode would stink, but everything is pulled off here without a hitch. The intuitive controls quickly make MGS2 a game where you dont have to think in order to move and execute your intended actions, and that is a great thing, because it would have been a shame to see control and gameplay mess this classic up. The storyline and surrounding subplots are all very engrossing. You are not going to want to turn your PS2 off once you start playing. I barely managed to pull myself away to go to sleep!
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Summary

Let me preface this review by stating that I believe this game to be the best video game ever. With that aside, I've got a few issues with it. One of my few quirk with MGS was that the gameplay was pretty realistic, but when you fouht a boss all you did was die enough times until you found out what he would do everytime and then learned the 1 move that orked on him anytime. I'll assume that you've played or seen the demo, which ends with a great gunfight with Olga. You each dive for cover behind boxes and dodge each others grenades and bullets. The realism was exciting. Unfortunately, Olga was the only boss that came off a realistic. The rest were just like MGS and the fact that MGS 2 is merely a video game became obvious. My other "issue" with Sons of Liberty is one that I can't say without spoiling it. I've seen allusions to this in previous reviews. So I'll just say that I did enjoy some of the results, the sacrifice was not worth the gain.

I recommend this game to anyone. The beauty of Hideo's genius is that he allows the player to put a part of him or herself into the game. If you dislike blood or violence you can make a point to not kill a single person the whole game. Conversely, there are many weapons of mass destruction available to you.

Sound

Cinematic. I have a Dolby 5.1 system hooked up to my PS2 so I really, really enjoyed the sound in this game. The cut scenes really placed you in a movie theater. And during the game, I could tell where a sound was from which speaker it came out. The voice acting was also very good and the script was pretty good. There were moments in the game where I just wished everyone would stop talking to I could get on with my mission. Overall, the sound, just like every aspect of the game, created a very realistic environment.

Gameplay

Bosses aside, gameplay in MGS 2 is superb. I'm not the most accomplished gamer in the world, but because gameplay is so good I was able to complete most of the game without radar and it was great. Hideo makes up for the need of radar with superb gameplay. There are definate moments where you find yourself thinking "what would I do in that situation" or even "what HAVE I done in that situation" and to me that is amazing. Hideo has created a game so involved that you truly put yourself in the action and become part of the game.
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Summary

If you have not played, or beaten this game, please do not read my review, I might spoil some MINOR things, you have been warned.

This game is great, probably a solid 4.9 out of 5 with a few minor things that could have been done to make the game slightly better.

1. Solid Snake is not really the main character in this game. I do not mind Raiden, or playing as him, but I would have liked to have more action as Solid Snake, or at least be able to switch characters. The ratio of Snake to Raiden gameplay is about 20%(snake) to 80%(raiden), I would have liked about 50%-50%, it could have made it a little better.

This could have been solved by

a.) Making the "tanker chapter" longer.

or

b.) Incorperating some Snake gameplay into the Plant chapter.

or

c.) Adding a 3rd chapter

2. The guards are alot tougher than they are in MGS1, but the bosses, especially Solidus, seem to be not as intimidating as the bosses were in MGS1. The character development of the Boss characters could have been better too. We don't get to know the bosses too well, like we did in MGS1, it is more like Metal Gear 1(nintendo) where you just fight them as you go along. Solidus doesn't compare to Liquid in sheer evilness, and is pretty easy to beat.

All in all it is probably the best game I have ever seen, and better than the previous MGS in many ways, but it could still be better, and hopefully Kojima can fix the minor flaws, and blow us all away again, like I know he is capable of doing.

There will be a MGS3, no doubt about it, the ending leaves room for a sequel, the question is, when? Hopefully soon.
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