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Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) (VG) More at IMDbPro »

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20 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
The Greatest Game in History, 13 December 2004

Author: pardy_travis from St. John's

The Greatest Game in History.

That sets up some pretty high expectations. Reasons are plentiful: The character proxemics, the ambiance and the use of camera angles, mise-en-scene and the editing are skilled beyond many of Hollywood's films today. The characters themselves are deeply psychological. They're all troubled in some way or another, and yet, despite their own individual depth, they're also representations of a side of the human experience and psyche. Raiden is the brash, headlong energy of youth, but he is also the insecurity and inexperience that comes with it. It comes back on his own life, his romantic life no less, in a big way. Snake is Raiden's foil - strong and secure, with years of experience to back up his quiet confidence.

However, his expertise comes at a toll to his own mental health.

The game itself transcends the nature of video games. It uses its predecessor (MGS 1 was itself a revolution in the gaming world) as a symbol of games in general. MGS 2 comments not only on technology, the effect it has on each of our individuality, the nature of humanity in exploration, and our own inabilities to confront demons, but it does all this while reflecting ON THE NATURE OF GAMES THEMSELVES. Bar none, this game has no rivals - it is consummate gaming, and film-making, for that matter. Being both entertaining and thought-provoking, philosophical and compassionate, the games paradoxes and dichotomies are whole and beautiful. In short, this is the game to end all games. I kid you not.

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14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
A BEAUTIFUL sequel, 26 November 2001

Author: Johnny Quan from Dublin, CA, United States

When the first Metal Gear Solid was released on the Playstation, it blew every other game out of the water. It wasn't just a game... it was a piece of art. Not only was the gameplay excellent and heart-pumping, but the story was gripping and touching, the quotes were novel-like and cutscenes were as memorable as your favorite scene in any movie.

Now, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty has been released for the Playstation 2, with an improvement upon everything. The enemy intelligence has got to be the most impressive I have ever seen. They constantly radio in their reports of their guarding spots, and if you kill them, the ones they radio to will check out why they are not responding, forcing you to think before you shoot, unlike many other games. You can sneak up the guards and hold them up or snap their necks if you want, you can limp them by shooting specific body parts, or you can even make them bleed to death by shooting them a few times and letting them live.

The characters are still as three-dimensional as they were before (and I don't mean physically as models, but as a character by inner traits, motives and feelings). You'll feel very emotional for them. Whether you hate them because they're a backstabbing b*****d, or you feel sorry for them because of their past or situations that they are stuck in. The story is as gripping as the first, however, it IS a lot more complicated and one would probably have to play through a few more times to understand the plot a lot more. There are so many pieces of the plot that are in their own seperate places, that it's hard to put them together until you do play a few more times. It's almost impossible to give away the plot without spoiling anything, so I will not say anything, because this game is FULL of surprises. Even at the nearing of beginning of this game that you will be surprised.

Metal Gear Solid 2, in my opinion, is not as good as the first game, but it surely does not make this a bad game. In fact, this game is a worthy sequal, as much as The Empire Strikes Back was for the first Star Wars film (well, I liked the first better). There are some parts in Metal Gear Solid 2 that will seem too similar to the first game, which is the weakest point of this sequel, but the new quotes and philosophies, outstanding gameplay, wonderful story, and hilarious humor will make this game worth a purchase.

HOWEVER, if you have never played the first game, do so, before this one. This isn't like a James Bond film, in which every story is quite new. This game does continue with explanations to the first game. You can read the "In the Darkness from Shadow Moses" in this game, which summarizes (despite being about 349 pages) the events of the first game, though the summary has inaccuracies that were put in on purpose (most likely to put a touch of realism in which the author can't remember what everybody says...can't blame her, there's a lot of speech in it).

Another congratulations to Hideo Kojima and the crew at Konami for making the second best game out there (the best game out, in my opinion, is the first Metal Gear Solid still...).

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12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant in every way., 14 March 2004

Author: jjcgohanjr from Brooklyn, New York

How to describe the greatness of this game. Here I go. When I went to buy this on the day it came out. I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get home and start playing this right away. When I got home and put the game inside the PS2. The intro started and my jaw fell to the ground because it was so f***ing breathtaking. I knew this was gonna be one hell of a thrill ride.

The Graphics: Simply spectacular, probably the best I have seen on any console. Snake looks even more like a badass than ever. All the other characters look completley realistic.10/10

The Controls: Awesome, is easy to control snake,raiden and the weapons you get to use.10/10

The Story: Mind-Blowing. The plot is very dark and complex with so many plot twists from beginning to end. This will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat just waiting to see what happens next and I thought 24 had a lot of surprises but nothing comes close to this. This is the type of story videogames should have.10/10

The Sound: Excellent musical score by Harry Gregson Williams, very cool attention details and also great voice acting especially from David Hayter. Also with one of the greatest videogame soundtracks ever made. 10/10

Lasting Ability: Collecting all the dog tags is very fun but other people would probably stop playing it for awhile, mainly to free there minds of what they just witness.9/10

Overall: This is the greatest game ever made, simple as that. Took a lot of years to make this magnificent piece of art work. My hat goes off to Hideo Kojima and his entire MGS2 crew for creating this true Masterpiece/Classic. Too bad we have to wait for MGS3 to come out in November but trust me is worth the wait.(A++)

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Who needs Hollywood, 21 November 2001

Author: Marko Djordjevic from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

If get the chance to play this game, I'm certain you will never need to play another game. This is the defining moment in Video Game History. You will be amazed at all the detail this game has and I'm certain you'll be playing it over and over again. Just make sure that NO-ONE tells you anything about this game beforehand or it might ruin the entire game...be prepared for non-stop action, suspense and video gaming, that would make most Hollywood Action Directors blush.

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13 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Hideo Kojima never stops amazing me, 9 November 2003
Author: Josef Saffady (klono9@hotmail.com) from Hagfors, Sweden

For starters this is NOT an ordinary videogame. It is a movie/videogame.

Hideo Kojima has taken a lot from fans and critics regarding this game. People complain on the lack of "playability". in other words: there are to much dialouge & videos and to little gameplay. But Hideo has said a thousand times:

-This is NOT an ordinary game! It's movie/videogame.

So I don't understand why people are complaining on those particular aspects. It's like complaining on a book because it's only text in it! It's outrageous!! Ok ok there is a LOT of videos and a LOT of dialouges. But that is just what it's supposed to be!

So stop complaining about it already!

I think this game is one of the best games in the world. And it has a LOT replayability value. BUT you won't get the story, witch is the best thing about the game, if you haven't played Metal Gear Solid 1 recently. So you can say that MGS 2 is a followup on MGS 1.

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
A Game Ahead Of It's Time, 15 July 2006

Author: Erik (rik1u@yahoo.com) from Southern California

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I'm tired of reading so many reviews for MGS2 that are prefaced with "It's a great game but it made no sense at all and Raiden was gay." It is sad to see that so few people who played Metal Gear Solid 2 thought about anything deeper than what was explicitly told to them during the game. Yes the game is complex, yes things are not always explained as well as they should have been and yes Raiden is not as cool as Snake, however that does not change the fact that Metal Gear Solid 2 might be the most intelligent game ever created.

MGS2 is a work of postmodern art. Pick up any other game and you find it's about solving puzzles or hacking and slashing your way to victory with an overly-badass character. What Kojima figured was that videogames are inherently post modern, so why not take things to the next step? It's why rations automatically heal wounds, how ammo is found in a spinning box floating a foot above the ground, it's in how you have to wait for a loading time between areas, and in every other countless way the game tells you that it is a game - not real life. People wanted realism, instead they got a fat man on roller blades, a vampire and a main character who not only wasn't Solid Snake, but who was actually a whinny, selfish, childish ("Did you say Nerd?") girlie man to go along with countless other oddities. The game challenged so many players expectations and wants, almost taunting them to continue. It amazes me that in a series where the fans were all looking for realism, Kojima would create a game that forces the player to question the reality of everything around him. The plot of the game and the experience for the player are one in the same - human control. The S3's goal is to see if it can get Raiden to complete his mission and do everything they expect of him despite his not wanting to at every turn. It is the same for the player, 'this doesn't make any sense', 'why am I not playing as Snake?', 'Raiden, turn the game console off now!', 'why am I naked?!?!', etc. the game goes as far as to actually TELL YOU to stop playing, just to see if you will, but everyone kept playing. We all reluctantly got to the end, hoping for it to all make sense so we could rationalize it into some form of a possible reality only to find out that the whole point of the 'game' was to see if 'Raiden' would make it far enough to be told that it was all just a TEST to see if he would make it that far. Even once he knows this the mission is not over, he has no choice but to finish it and he reluctantly does, much in the same way that I doubt anyone got to that point in the game simply to drop the controller and quit. The backlash at this game stems from the success of the games message. The lack of 'control' players felt lead them to summarize the game with the usual "it doesn't make sense and Raiden is gay" that I hear to this day. Few people saw this aspect of the game and consequently few people appreciate it.

Raiden is a flawed character. Perhaps the gaming industry just wasn't ready for it, as virtually all the characters you'll find in today's games are the ideal, always badass, and generally the type that embody the best aspects of human nature, certainly not a whinny, self centered man who is embarrassed by his past. The fatal 'flaw' people always seemed to find in MGS2 was that you play as Raiden, instead the ideal game character, Snake. Raiden's flaws are the flaws of everyone, the flaws of your average person. The point that Raiden is in fact YOU is constantly driven home throughout the game. His noticeably feminine look to help female players identify with him, lines like "I've spent hours in VR, I feel like some sort of legendary mercenary", and "I've gone through VR for the Shadow Moses", the telling of Raiden to "turn the game console off now" and finally the part at the end where Raiden looks down at his dog tags and they have YOUR NAME ON THEM. So you see, the main character of MGS2 is YOU, and this is a fact that makes much of the arguing over Raiden seem fairly ironic.

The ending, where our flawed representative of the masses chooses his own life over the antagonist who dreams of taking back "freedom, civil rights, opportunities - The founding principles of this country," is a brilliant take on our selfish nature as a species. The AI tells you to look at the strange juxtapositions of morality around you. Solidus can only achieve his goals through killing Raiden, the Patriots pawn, while Raiden must kill Solidus to save Rose and Olga's child, thus willingly serving the Patriots. The depth of this game is amazing. Consider how the S3's plan was to censor information, much in the same way Raiden was censored from all of the trailers and clips of the game before its release. The actual hype leading up to the game mimicked the game itself. The most brilliant thing to me is how, Kojima can be substituted for the Patriots, the game itself for the S3 Plan and the player for Raiden. This is a game that talks directly to the player. This is not a story about terrorists and agents; this is an experience about us. A sequel created by our own expectations and experience just like the characters we dreamt up.

MGS2 is the perfect example of what the Patriot are trying to save. A treasure lost in the sea of garbage that the idiots produce everyday.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
A Movie in a games box., 10 August 2002

Author: RaveN_ImW (raven_imw@hotmail.com) from Liverpool, England

This is going to be short and sweet, Metal Gear Solid 2 is just what an interactive movie could be. Playing this game is just like playing a main role in a movie. The only way this movie could be more imersive is if you when on a holodeck like in startrek. Play it you wont regreat it.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
"The Matrix" of video games., 10 August 2004
Author: practiced_bravado from San Antonio, TX

"Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty" is the best action game ever made. It's also one of the best video games of all time. Creator Hideo Kojima and his team have made the impossible possible. They have created a sequel that outdoes the original in almost every way imaginable. It is a masterpiece that redefines what a video game can be and will be the standard of this industry for years to come.

If there's one thing all players can agree on, it's that "Metal Gear Solid 2" excels in its cinematic presentation. Not only in the cutscenes, but in the gameplay itself. The graphics are an awesome sight to behold. It's been almost three years since the game first debuted in the U.S. and yet few other game releases have surpassed its visuals. They are detailed, lifelike and stunning.

Interaction with the game's enviroment is encouraged and so is the open-ended gameplay. The sky's the limit when it comes to your imagination and curiosity. You can move around in stealth and collect dogtags off soldiers or be a "Rambo"-type badass and just kill everybody in sight. Your choices determine what the game's experience will be. Be inventive and you'll realize how deep this title actually is.

The game is divided into two parts. A "prologue" takes place aboard an oil tanker just off of the coast of the New York Harbor and the "main story" is set on a cleanup plant. If "The Matrix" stunned with you the surprise twist, then "Metal Gear Solid 2" will have your head spinning way before the end. It's talky, but if you stick with it you'll feel like you survived the ultimate mind bender.

There are two action sequences that "Matrix" creators the Wachowski brothers would probably envy. One is an awesome gunfight involving high-tech ninjas and the other is the climactic fight you engage in with samurai swords. Not only does MGS 2 mess with your brain, it is also the very definition of cool action. "Metal Gear Solid 2" is definitely a 10 out of 10. An A Plus. It's gonna take alot to top this installment of Solid Snake's adventures.

I'm sure Hideo Kojima will be up to the task. His "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater" will be released this November. Until then, if you have haven't played "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty". Then what are you waiting for? Go and buy it now! **** out of ****.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the Greatest games for Next Gen systems if not all time., 5 June 2002

Author: jmartinez8236 from Laguna Nigeul, CA

No game before has ever gripped you by your balls and swung you till you asked it to do it again. Its cinematic in ways most movies would kill for, its graphics are top of the bar, its sound makes you jump with every cock of the gun. And its gameplay is as flawless as it can get.

If this was a movie it would be in the top 5 on everyones list.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Most likely the best thing to hit the videogame world since Pong., 27 April 2001

Author: Aaron (just_some_guy60@hotmail.com)

Hideo Kojima has done it again.

The fifth addition to the official Metal Gear lineup is quite definately the best. Perfect AI, powerfull voice acting by the returning David Hayter, Patrick Laine, and Christopher Fritz, a professionaly composed score, and graphics that will make you swallow your tounge.

If you cant handle good games, stay as far away from this title as possible. Metal Gear fans and newbies alike, I urge, emplore, and DEMAND that you get this game.

So basicaly, it's lookin pretty good.

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