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Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (commonly abbreviated MGS2) is a stealth-based game that was developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2001. Directed by Hideo Kojima, it is the fourth game in the Metal Gear series and the sequel to the critical and consumer success Metal Gear Solid. It is followed by Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Following a strategy used to promote the original Metal Gear Solid in 1998, a movie-like trailer for the game was shown at the 2000 E³. Critics praised the game's level of graphical detail, in particular the use of in-game graphics to render plot-driving cut scenes. The gameplay is largely unchanged from Metal Gear Solid. New features, however, allow players to use first-person view to aim weapons, and to tranquilize enemies instead of kill them.
Plot synopsis
Tanker Chapter
The game opens in late 2007, on the George Washington Bridge in New York City. Solid Snake, aided by Otacon via codec, is investigating the development of a new Metal Gear, following Revolver Ocelot's general and indiscriminate sale of the REX blueprints to all interested parties. This new Metal Gear RAY is designed to guard against the proliferation of REXes. While it is transported offshore for testing by the Marines aboard the "oil tanker" U.S.S. Discovery, Snake manages to obtain photographic evidence of its existence. The mission rapidly turns sour, though: Shalashaska seizes RAY (claiming he is returning it to its proper owners, the La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo) and sinks the tanker, with loss of all hands, apparently including Snake.
Plant Chapter
This chapter begins on April 29, 2009, as players then find themselves in control of Raiden. Raiden is operating under FOX-HOUND to rescue the President and other hostages from the "Big Shell," a decontamination facility constructed two years ago to clean up the oil spilled during the sinking of the Discovery. He is aided by Colonel Campbell as mission command, Rose (Raiden's girlfriend) as data management, and a number of other on-site specialists, including SEAL Team 10 Lt. JG Iroquois Pliskin (instantly recognizable as Solid Snake in mufti). The party responsible for seizing the Big Shell is the Navy's Dead Cell terrorist-attack-simulation group (a clear spoof on the real-life Red Cell (http://www.specialoperations.com/Navy/Red_Cell/Default.htm) formation), aided by Shalashaska and led by a man who calls himself Solid Snake but is actually Solidus Snake, the third of the Snake clones and a "well-balanced masterpiece."
It is revealed that the Big Shell is merely a cover for "Arsenal Gear", a mobile underwater fortress defended by a fleet of amphibious mecha (production variants of Metal Gear RAY), which is being secretly built as part of a conspiracy by the Illuminati-like "Patriots". It is largely unarmed. Instead, it carries a supercomputer called "GW" which is designed to monitor, block, and tamper with Internet communications, in order to further the totalitarian agenda of the "Patriots."
Raiden confronts the various members of Dead Cell, discovers the truth behind Solidus, the Big Shell, the reason for his mission, and his own life. There are also some cryptic revelations about the Patriots themselves. He is aided in his efforts by Solid Snake and Otacon. They succeed in delivering a virus into GW, rendering it and Arsenal useless. Raiden also defeats Solidus. Snake and Otacon then set off to find and stop the Patriots themselves, while Raiden is left to make peace (or attempt to do so) with Rose. What happens to Arsenal Gear itself, which crashes into Manhattan island in broad daylight, is never explained. The most interesting fact about the story is explained after the credits roll. Otacon is able to decode the virus disc and uncover a list of names of the twelve members of the Wisemen's Commitee. The Patriots did reside in Manhattan, but they were already dead. For how long? About one hundred years.
Fan reaction
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty extended the series' plot line and introduced a major new main character. The established hero, Solid Snake, was for most of the game not a playable character. Instead players controlled Raiden, a new member of FOX-HOUND, fresh from VR training. Many fans and critics reacted negatively to this new twist in the gameplay. Areas of contention included Jack's androgynous appearance and whiny persona, Rose's long-winded speeches, and a perceived decrease in the overall quality and level of detail of Raiden's section of the game compared to Snake's. Furthermore, it was felt that the game was excessively self-indulgent, with excessively long sequences of plot-driving dialogue.
Supporters argued that the above criticisms stemmed from the inappropriate expectation that Metal Gear Solid 2 would be a simple, action-orientated sequel. The ideas and themes which Hideo Kojima tried to express, such as the nature of reality and how information defines humanity (meme theory), were components of highly intellectual and deeply philosophical work of software art. Some commentators Junker HQ.net (http://junkerhq.net/MGS2/) have tied the game in with other cyberpunk media such as William Gibson's Neuromancer, or the contemporary PC game Deus Ex; whilst others [1] (http://www.insertcredit.com/features/dreaming2/) have analysed the game as a postmodern artifact.
The game had a particular focus on conspiracy theories, with the main villains a group known only as "The Patriots"; twelve men who seek the establishment of a New World Order, with the President of the United States as their puppet. The origins of "The Patriots" are explored in greater detail in Metal Gear Solid 3.
Music
Hideo Kojima's choice of composer for Metal Gear Solid 2 was highly publicized in the follow-up to the game's release. Harry Gregson-Williams, a Hollywood film composer from Hans Zimmer's studio, was decided upon by Kojima after watching The Replacement Killers with sound director Kazuki Muraoka. A mix CD contaning 18 tracks of Gregson-Williams' work was sent to his office. Flattered by the research put into creating the CD (as some of the tracks were unreleased, and that what tracks he'd worked on for some films were undocumented), he joined the project soon after.
In order to bypass the language barrier and allow the score to be developed before the cut scenes were finalized, Gregson-Williams was sent short phrases or descriptions of the intended action. The resultant themes then shaped the action sequences in return. Gregson-Williams also remixed the original "Metal Gear Solid Main Theme" for use in the game's opening title sequence.
Norihiko Hibino, who had worked on previous Konami games such as Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, was responsible for all of the in-game music. He also worked on the majority of the game's cut scenes, re-orchestrating Gregson-Williams' "Main Theme" remix for use in several scenes.
As with Metal Gear Solid, the cut scene music includes an orchestral and choir, whilst the in-game music is scored for electronic instruments. However, the score as a whole includes more electronic and breakbeat themes than its predecessor, in order to reflect the plot's thematic thrust of a machine-dominated society. Rika Muranaka again provided a vocal ending theme, a jazz track entitled "Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday."
Release information
The game's original European release date of February 22, 2002, nearly three months after the other releases, was delayed another two weeks. As compensation, Konami included, free of charge, a bonus DVD called The Making of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, containing an hour-long documentary on all aspects of the game's production, a comprehensive archive of trailers, a lengthy text article from the website Gamespot, concept sketches, and other familiar DVD "added value". The actual game disk also included two new modes (Boss Survival and Demo Theatre; the latter allowed the player to view a cut scene and change the character models used).
In 2002, Metal Gear Solid 2 was re-released as Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. The European PlayStation 2 version included The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2, which superseded the original Making of disc.
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