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

Mind bogglingly good in every aspect, from its tight, focused stealth gameplay to its exceptional level design and of course the narrative, which is even more relevant and mind boggling now than it was when it released 22 years ago. This is the game which turned Kojima into a damned legend for me because the way he managed to predict the future and the issues plaguing it roughly 20 years before it happened is downright prophetic. Aside from having arguably the best narrative of all time, the gameplay systems are just as exceptional, everything introduced in the first game has been expanded on here, brilliant boss fights, absolutely stunning visuals that still hold up relatively well today and a satisfying core gameplay loop of sneaking around, neutralising hostiles and obtaining new gear. Moving through the same spaces multiple times in one game sounds like it could get boring pretty quickly but this intimate relationship with the environment is what make gameplay so satisfying, and it works really well with the fixed camera angle, even moreso than in the previous game. The characters are another standout, and the way your perception of some of them changes throught the story contribute to the incredible plot being woven. Seeing the legend of Solid Snake (or his not at all convincing Iroquois Pliskin disguise) and his interactions with Otacon through the eyes of new kid Raiden is great and watching his slow character growth is satisfying. Getting onto the new kid, Raiden is a good protagonist who acts like a vessel for the player while also having his own personality. This relationship between him and the player acts like a symbiosis, it is a core part of what makes this games narrative and message so incredible. This is a game which sort of defies belief in several ways, how could someone so accurately predict the problems of the future? How did you manage to pack this much talk onto a fucking ps2? Does Raiden have a singular clue as to what's going on or is he just as clueless as me? Jokes aside, if you are an enjoyer of narrative in not just video games but media as a whole then this is an absolute must play. Not since Orwell has someone painted such a vivid image of a potential future, and unlike Orwell, Kojima's future is real, and it is unfolding upon the Internet right now.