5/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

System: PlayStation 2 Started: July 2014 Ended: July 22, 2014 Flashback Review After finishing with Metal Gear Solid, I quickly booted up Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The characters and story from Metal Gear Solid was enough for me to check out the sequel and see what other adventures and terrorist threats I have to quell next. The second installment is known to be completely different than the first with a new main character and setting. Fans may be divided over the introduction of Raiden and the continuation of Hideo Kojima's signature over-the-top action movie dialogue. But personally, this is my favorite in the franchise. I find it amusing that Metal Gear Solid 2 is similar to the first game but with slight changes, and it's reasonable to the story to make it fresh and not like the previous games. What was really interesting was that the setting this time took place at an oil rig off the coast of New York. And you play as Raiden to stop the terrorist threat from blowing up the oil rig, causing a massive oil spill in the Atlantic Ocean. It's literally similar to Metal Gear Solid with Shadow Moses Island except it's now in New York. Intriguingly, the game's release came just two months after the 9/11 attacks. The graphical upgrade from the original PlayStation was completely different. Using 3D to its fullest to demonstrate the power of the PlayStation 2. Compared to the first Metal Gear Solid which had low-poly pixels of the PlayStation 1. The graphics were so revolutionary at the time that they were reused for the GameCube remake of the first Metal Gear Solid, The Twin Snakes. Gameplay-wise, it now has an analog stick feature, so it's easier to play in this game without using the D-Pad. And you have a tranquilizer dart that you can easily put enemies to sleep. However, if you try to take all enemies in a room, the enemies will send reinforcements in suspicion of unanswered calls from the radio. I’m sure everyone noticed that when the demo disc came out, fans would expect Solid Snake to be the main character in this game as you play as him during the Prologue Mission. But when the final version of the game was released, you play as an unknown character named Raiden. It's a bit of false advertising even when you see Solid Snake on the front cover of the video game. At least he's still in the game after the Prologue, but he changed his name to Iroquois Pliskin (Ha. Escape from New York reference). Another nitpick since I mentioned that this game literally plays the same story synopsis as the first Metal Gear Solid but with different characters and location. By the end of the game, once you encounter the surprise twist in relation to the Shadow Moses Incident, it can be underwhelming. At least the Artificial Intelligence twist was pretty cool. Metal Gear Solid 2 is my personal favorite of the franchise and I still recommend this game after finishing with the first Metal Gear Solid. I know some folks may disagree with it since you mainly play as Raiden and not Snake, which I understand, but everything in this game fits my interest. The story, the jazzy style music, the 4th wall breaking when you get to Arsenal Gear, The Boss fights especially with Solidus Snake at the end. And it really gets deeper with the haunting premise of the dangers of artificial intelligence, memes, and the control of human behavior via digital information. Of course, Those premises are Japan's take on the Deus Ex video game but it's something for players to want more of.