4/5 ★ – Visionary_Gamer's review of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Let me start by saying that this game, in its time, must have been absolutely groundbreaking. But, I won’t be giving it 5 stars for the simple reason that I didn’t feel the same as I did when the credits rolled compared to MGS1. It improves the gameplay in every way. Tight controls shine as you fight your way through the game. Guns feel and sound awesome and keep you engaged until the end. Boss fights were simple, but very memorable. And, MY GOD, the attention to details is staggering. You MUST like cutscenes if you are going to play this game, as it has some of the longest and spectacular ones on offer even to this day. Seriously, Hollywood budget cutscenes with the sound design to back it up. The cutscene at the end of the tanker and the reveal of Metal Gear Ray and its amphibious feature was staggering. They can get a little too much, especially when the gameplay is so great and you just want to get back to PLAYING. This game at points feels like a human behavioural, psychological study and I can really see where Kojima got his reputation. There are some challenging themes on display that are now fears of the present. The game was really ahead of it’s time. Playing as Raiden really didn’t bother me too much, he is a great character in my opinion. And the aforementioned themes and morals the game is trying to convey wouldn’t have worked if it had been Snake. Snake is still at the forefront of most of the game and shines in every scene he is in. He is already one of my favourite video game characters and I have only played MGS1 and 2. I just feel like MGS2 is a great game peppered with great moments, whereas MGS1 is just one great constant moment. There were moments of downtime in MGS2 whilst the next moment prepared itself. I really hope this makes sense. MGS1 would be the better game to play from start to finish in one sitting, but MGS2 is a fully fleshed out story which takes a lot of effort to fully take in.