Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection

If you’ve been keeping up with video games in any way, then chances are you’ve heard of the Metal Gear series, one which I have not stopped talking about for a while now. Just around the corner is the release of the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, which makes the series all the more relevant now. For the 25^th anniversary of the franchise in 2012, Konami released, in 2013, a collection of games from the series, appropriately titled Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection. For the Metal Gear veteran this may not seem that exciting, but for the newcomer it is the perfect jumping-on point.

Unlike most other modern game collections, The Legacy Collection has a huge offering of Metal Gear games and videos across two discs, all of which had direct involvement from Hideo Kojima. For those curious, they are:

Metal Gear (via Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD)

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (via Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD)

Metal Gear Solid (via download voucher)

Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (via download voucher)

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (HD port of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (HD port of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence)

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Trophy Edition)

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (HD port of a PSP title)

Metal Gear Solid: Bande Dessinée (non-interactive video)

Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinée (non-interactive video)

That’s a lot of content, especially considering how relatively cheap the whole package is. It’s worth noting again that the content was chosen specifically because Hideo Kojima worked on them, which explains the absence of Portable Ops (a now ambiguously canon PSP Metal Gear game I have yet to find or play). I’ll admit that the only game I haven’t played on this collection is VR Missions, but that’s because it has no canon relevance and is mainly a ton of training missions of different types. Having reviewed everything else though, I would say that the entire package is worth it, but I do have a couple of minor issues with the collection.

Maybe someday I'll get around to this.

The first, and perhaps most trivial, problem is the way the discs are numbered. Both discs are arranged such that one is on a hinge, which isn’t that big a deal. However, this disc, which contains everything but MGS4 and is seen first, is labeled Disc 2 while the disc behind it, which only contains MGS4, is labeled Disc 1. To me, it would actually be more appropriate for MGS4 to be labeled Disc 2 and the other labeled Disc 1, considering their positions in the case. The other thing would be that first it was pretty difficult for me to figure out how to access the Bande Dessinée content (also displayed as Digital Graphic Novel), since there’s no instruction anywhere on how to do so. I soon figured out that you have to go to the Video section of the PS3’s XMB, so I would recommend doing so if you’d like to see the videos.

It’s also worth mentioning a couple of things, mainly that, due to the content of the collection, the discs are basically rebranded and altered versions of two existing Metal Gear products, those being Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The extra content makes up for this, but I feel that whoever wants to buy this should know anyway. The other thing I wanted to bring up is that, apart from the games and videos, the collection also comes with an art book titled Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Book. It’s a very fascinating read, as it contains various pieces of art and advertisements you wouldn’t normally see outside of Japan; there’s even a couple of teaser posters for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, both of which seem to set up what’s happening next for the franchise.

Before I end this review, I’d like to offer a couple pieces of advice. If this will be your first experience with Metal Gear, some information will not be readily available to you, so I’d like to share those things with you. When playing Metal Gear Solid, there will be a point where you need a certain Codec number, which is important to the plot, but you won’t have the physical game box, so I’d like to share the number for reference: 140.15. Also, if you decide to play the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, be sure to thoroughly read the digital manuals for both of them while Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is loaded. One piece of information that you’ll need for a couple sections in one of them is a Tap Code chart, which you should try to memorize as soon as you find it in the manual. I hope this helps.

The Codec number for MGS1 can also be found here for your convenience.

No matter what kind of fan you are, I would consider Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection a very worthwhile investment and, for newcomers, the perfect starting point. The amount of content for the price is simply astounding and impressive for a collection in general. For veterans who already own every game, the extras are worth an additional investment here and I honestly can’t find a single thing wrong with the overall package (save for the two aforementioned things that bug me a little). With this collection, there is now no excuse at all to not start playing one of gaming’s greatest franchises (and one of my personal favorites). While you’re at it, it might also be good to invest in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to complete the experience.

Now, with all of that said, it’ll be interesting to see what both Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain have to add to the franchise. I think at this point I’m ready for whatever they can throw at me.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - Tactical Espionage Operations

Note: The following review is based on both the PSP and PS3 versions of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the latter of which was played via Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection.

In about a year’s time, I’ve gone from knowing nothing about the Metal Gear franchise to knowing nearly everything about its story and characters. Since I first played Metal Gear Solid for PS1, I’ve become completely drawn in by the world the games have set up and have now been eagerly anticipating new installments, one of them being the recent Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. My attention has now been drawn to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a game which I have been following coverage of since I became more aware of it. However, I realized that in order to understand its events, I’d have to play the previous chronological entry, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. To that end, I got the PSP version and began playing it, but then switched to the PS3 version partway and completed it there. I’ll explain how and why later, but the important thing is that I ended up liking Peace Walker, although I felt some of the gameplay tweaks and revamped mechanics needed a bit of getting used to.

In 1974, ten years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (MSG3), Naked Snake, now known as Big Boss, has created his own army, the Militaires San Frontières (MSF; translates to Soldiers Without Borders), composed of those who have abandoned all ties to their home country. On November 4, at Columbia’s Barranquilla Coast, MSF deputy commander Kazuhira Miller introduces Snake to two potential clients from Costa Rica, Paz Ortega Andrade and Ramón Gálvez Mena. Gálvez explains that since Costa Rica has no army, he was given authority by the Costa Rican government to hire MSF to protect them from an invading armed group. Kaz encourages Snake to send MSF as protection, but Snake is reluctant to do so. As persuasion, Gálvez takes out a SONY Walkman, which he gives to Snake, and plays a cassette tape containing a recent recording of The Boss’ voice. Surprised, Snake agrees to help out and is provided an offshore platform in the Caribbean as a base, which is dubbed Mother Base. Six days later, MSF leaps into action. During his mission, however, Snake learns information revealing that there’s a lot more going on than he initially thought.

Ramón Gálvez Mena as he appears before Snake.

Written by Hideo Kojima, the story of Peace Walker is pretty much a direct continuation of MGS3, since The Boss is an important element of the overall plot. She serves as the motivation for Big Boss’ actions and her past and ideals are frequently brought up and discussed. That said, the story is very well-written. Big Boss’ journey leads him to meeting new characters, all of whom are well-rounded, though we don’t always get a glimpse of their entire personality. Every single character is important to the plot and a couple, Huey Emmerich and Kazuhira Miller, are also important to the events of other games chronologically. The game’s theme of nuclear deterrence is also heavily discussed, with characters Huey Emmerich and Dr. Strangelove at the center of the issue via their creation of the eponymous Peace Walker AI weapon. I like how the search for Peace Walker is played with gradually increasing urgency across four lengthy chapters until it reaches a very emotional climax and ends in a way that caps off the major events of the story perfectly.

Peace Walker as it is first seen.

Of course, I feel I should mention at this point in time that while you do go through four chapters to get to the end, there is a fifth chapter that is only accessible after the credits have rolled. This chapter requires the player to go through certain motions or fulfill requirements to keep it going and it doesn’t take very much time to finish. That said, this chapter is also home to some very major plot twists, which I won’t spoil so that you find out for yourself. If chapter four is the emotional climax, then chapter five is more like an epilogue, which isn’t that bad considering the length. At the same time it hints at future adventures for Big Boss, which makes me all the more curious about the events of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

The gameplay in Peace Walker is different from the approach the other games have taken. Rather than simply play through one continuous story, the game is divided into chapters, further subdivided into individual Main Ops missions that take varying lengths of time to complete. As you play through each chapter, you are also encouraged by Kaz to knock out your enemies and use the Fulton Recovery System on them so they’ll end up in Mother Base and expand the MSF’s ranks. By replaying missions, you can not only capture more soldiers for Mother Base, but you can also repeat fights against vehicles to expand your arsenal or have a rematch against one of the AI weapons to obtain parts and AI boards for weapons of your own. Apart from the Main Ops, there are also Extra Ops where you complete different challenges, such as recovering POWs or obtaining classified documents, to gain rewards and further Mother Base’s potential. It gets easy to adapt to this mission setup, but there are a couple elements that will take longer to do so.

Mother Base after a good deal of expansion.

One of these elements is that not only do you have to make sure MSF has a good number of people in it, but you also have to manage Mother Base itself. You are responsible for putting different soldiers into different divisions, like R&D and Combat, with more divisions of Mother Base becoming available as you advance through the story. You can Auto Assign people to these different divisions, but eventually you’ll probably be forced to make some decisions manually and even end up firing those who contribute the least. Your R&D division also relies on GMP from Combat to determine what weapons and items they can develop, with some naturally taking longer than others (completing missions will move time forward). At first I found myself greatly understaffed, which caused me to have low division ranks (which also determine what R&D can do), but when I finished playing I was nearly at capacity, so I would suggest taking some time to figure out who you think really deserves to be at Mother Base to advance development and keep things running as smoothly as possible.

There's also a surprise special guest.

The other element that takes getting used to is the general control scheme. You can choose between three different layouts, with one being based on the earlier Portable Ops, one based on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (MGS4) and another based on the Monster Hunter game series (which, if my research is accurate, inspired the Mother Base management element). I chose Shooter Type so it would feel more natural, down to adjusting the control scheme to mimic classic Metal Gear gameplay as closely as possible. This helped me get through the game better, but having played both the PSP and PS3 versions (I’ll explain how in a bit), I would suggest playing on PS3 due to the better camera and weapon/item selection controls. On that note, items and weapons can, on PS3, be accessed with L2 and R2, but requires you to still scroll left and right in real time on a menu that takes up a majority of the screen. I’m more used to the action pausing to let me switch, so I needed more time to adjust to this method. I also liked certain changes from MGS3, like not requiring the player to go through menu after menu to heal or change camouflage patterns, since you select one camo to use for the mission and “Ration = Health” is reintroduced, along with more cardboard box options and other healing items. The Psyche gauge makes an appearance from MGS4 in place of Stamina, which results overall in a pretty solid hybrid of MGS3 and MGS4 gameplay. I now wonder where future games will go with this idea.

Since I’ve mentioned Monster Hunter, I’d like to spend a little time on that. By completing certain requirements (listen to all of Chico’s briefing files about mythical creatures, then almost complete Extra Ops 029 but go to the ocean instead of the Fulton Recovery Point, then go to the end of the bridge and watch a cutscene), you can unlock missions where Snake fights different creatures from the Monster Hunter franchise. Having never played Monster Hunter, I still found this crossover idea interesting and actually felt my adrenaline going during combat. However, these missions can also be very difficult depending on your strategy, so I only got to beat the first one, Rathalos. These fights can also get majorly annoying, particularly when you mix persistent Velociprey creatures with relentless attacks from the boss creatures, especially Tigrex (who I died against every single time I challenged it). Still, this offers the game quite a bit of replay value and is a good treat for Monster Hunter fans.

Believe it or not, this is even more challenging than it looks.

Before I go into the technical aspects of the game, I’d like to point out one major continuity error. This has nothing to do with the number of minor retcons, like making it so it wasn’t Huey (Otacons’ dad) but rather his dad (Otacon’s grandfather) that was involved in the Manhattan project, as Metal Gear does it enough that you just have to roll with them for the story to still make sense. This is actually about something that one might overlook that goes through the entire game and some might say that I care too much to point out: Snake’s eye patch. In MGS3, the player gets to see the moment Naked Snake (not yet Big Boss) loses his right eye before gaining his iconic eye patch. This moment is so poignant and important to Naked Snake’s development that the game even alters the First-Person aiming so the player is only seeing out of his left eye, forcing one to try and adjust how they fire to make up for this. In Peace Walker however, no matter who Big Boss is fighting, regardless of it being a cutscene or manual aiming, he is always aiming out of his right eye, which means that he is somehow looking through the eye patch to fire off a weapon. After a while I stopped worrying about it, but I could never really let this little detail go because it goes against everything that should logically happen in a universe that is already very realistic (except for the giant robots and technological marvels of course). Hopefully this is just a one-time thing.

Seriously, how is he doing that? Is it nanomachines or something?

Since I mentioned it before, I’d like to explain how I was able to play both versions of the game for this review. When Metal Gear Solid HD Collection was in production, Kojima Productions developed a new technology that Hideo Kojima called “Transfarring” (a portmanteau of “transferring” and “sharing”). This technology allows someone to begin playing Peace Walker on the PS3 and then transfer their save to the PSP version so they can keep playing it on the go; this mindset also applies to the HD Collection in general since you can move your files to and from the Vita version. For veteran PlayStation users, you may recognize this as the Cross-Play technology introduced to PS3, PS4 and Vita, which is essentially a widespread adoption and integration of the Transfarring technology. In my case, I began on PSP before Transfarring to PS3 for the better control scheme. I may not have any Trophies for doing so, but at the very least I was able to more comfortably play and finish the game.

The Transfarring screen for Peace Walker.

Graphically, Peace Walker is actually pretty good. Of course, the character models on PSP look more akin to an average PS2 game, and the PS3 version, though in HD, is simultaneously better and kind of the same, but the backgrounds are amazing. I never got tired of looking at Costa Rica, with the amazing attention to detail on the flora and fauna of the area. I was reminded quite a bit of MGS3, especially in the background noises, but I can’t fault the game for trying to be as detailed as its brethren and, in some ways, succeeding. As usual, Yoji Shinkawa’s art style is really good in Peace Walker, as the new characters go in with the recurring cast perfectly; Paz in particular is actually pretty cute.

The high art quality actually carries over to the cutscenes, which were actually better than anticipated. Ashley Wood, from what I read, was heavily involved with the art for Portable Ops, but in Peace Walker he is actually credited as a guest artist; the art style used throughout is more akin to Yoji Shinkawa, who led a team of artists for the game. To me, this style suits the game better than Ashley Wood going solo, who I still say is best for horror comics, and I think the game is better off for it.

The general style of the cutscenes (Pictured: Paz).

Peace Walker also features very good voice acting. David Hayter returns as Naked Snake, although his voice sounds raspier than usual. Christopher Randolph also returns to voice Huey Emmerich, which makes sense given that Huey is Hal Emmerich’s father. While his performance is not completely unlike Otacon, there’s something a little different about it to set the two characters apart from each other. Tara Strong and Steve Blum, two of my favorite voice actors in general, also return to the series (having previously appeared in Portable Ops) to voice Paz and Ramón respectively. Both of them give strong performances that lend a lot of depth to their characters, which helps the vocal quality in general. Overall, everyone involved does such a good job and I hope this level of quality carries over to future games.

Lastly, the music is very good as well. There is a lot of range in the compositions with plenty of style changes throughout the course of the game. When there is a sense of urgency or triumph, the music perfectly reflects that, but the lack of music in certain situations is also good as it keeps you on your feet.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is an excellent addition to the Metal Gear franchise. The story directly continues from MGS3 in a brilliant way and nuclear deterrence is discussed in fascinating detail. The gameplay changes things up quite a bit and, while it takes some time to get used to it, it’s a very natural evolution and hybridization of MGS3 and MGS4’s gameplay styles. I would highly recommend existing fans to check it out, but I would also strongly suggest playing it on PS3 for the sake of a better control scheme. Newcomers to Metal Gear shouldn’t even try to start with this one, as they’ll likely become lost by the references to previously existing events. In that case, I’d suggest actually playing the rest of the games first, beginning with Metal Gear Solid and going forward by release order. Considering what’s on the horizon, this is an essential game in the franchise that there is really no excuse for fans to miss.

[Revised 3/27/16]

Metal Gear Solid: Bande Dessinée (Motion Comic)

Note: The following review is based on the English Dub of the non-interactive DVD version of the Metal Gear Solid comic featured in Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection.

Since December of last year, the Metal Gear franchise quickly became one of my favorite video game franchises, if not my favorite franchise, thanks to not only its complex story, but also the many issues and themes that the games have dealt with over the course of their existence. The games have also been able to elicit a range of emotions from within me that I normally would not display toward other franchises; I've laughed, gotten riled up over a villain, been bamboozled by legitimately shocking revelations and even cried at points of emotional turmoil since pretty much every game has been able to push those buttons at just the right time and used what it has to its advantage to keep me playing. For this reason, I'm going to continue supporting the franchise for the foreseeable future and play each new game as it comes out regardless of main character or voice talent, such as the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (let's see how well Keifer Sutherland does in that one when he fills in as the role of Big Boss) and any sequel they might make for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

It is my love of this franchise that led me to stumble upon information which revealed that IDW Publishing had at one point released a comic adapting the events of the original Metal Gear Solid. While I have yet to get my hands on the physical comic in some form, I did find out that it would be included with Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection, a collection released specifically to honor the 25th anniversary of the franchise (I intend to eventually review the package as a whole, but that will take some time). Since I had gotten my hands on the collection the day of its release, I only recently decided to begin work toward reviewing it, which I felt this would be a good step toward doing. While what I ended up doing was watching a two-hour motion comic, I feel that this way of experiencing the story is rather interesting, but not without its problems.

After his location is discovered, a man named Solid Snake is convinced by Colonel Campbell to come out of retirement for one last mission. Shadow Moses Island, located in Alaska on the Fox Archipelago, has been taken over by terrorists, who are former members of the FOXHOUND unit led by a man codenamed Liquid Snake, threatening a nuclear strike unless they receive the remains of the soldier known as Big Boss within 24 hours. While he is sent to neutralize the threat, Snake is also instructed to rescue two hostages -DARPA chief Donald Anderson and ArmsTech President Kenneth Baker- both of whom were captured to help further the objectives of the terrorists, as well as locate Campbell's niece, Meryl Silverburgh, who is believed to be on the island. Snake accepts the mission, since not only is he the only one who is capable of pulling this off, but he has a personal stake in it after learning that Liquid Snake is his genetic twin brother.

While I already knew the story and how it would play out based on my experience with the game it's based on, I did find myself surprised at how well it was translated to the comic book medium. Events that are explained in extra material or hinted at in dialogue are integrated into the main plot, which helps give newcomers a better sense of what exactly happened without requiring too much exposition. I also liked the scenes they added to help make the story flow better in this realm; Psycho Mantis' card-reading powers would definitely have been too hard to do and what we get instead still works. Also commendable is how they decided to fuse both possible endings of the game together, a move that makes the most sense considering that though one ending is really canon, both characters involved survive the events of the game. For the most part, Kris Oprisko retained the soul of the game and his additions to what was already heavily preserved shows a sign of effort on his part to stay true to the source material with understandable alterations.

The FOXHOUND cover of issue one of the comic.

However, there are some things with Oprisko's writing that I'm not sure worked quite that well in the grand scheme of things. For one, there's a scene in the game where the Cyborg Ninja (Gray Fox) has slaughtered a group of soldiers in a hallway. While the game shows only the aftermath of his assault, the comic decides to show it in full. Admittedly this does make him look like a badass, but personally I think it was a little more effective when we weren't shown exactly what happened. The only other major thing I thought was off, I'll forgive the increased use of the word "bitch", was Snake's characterization. When he meets Meryl for the first time, he's a little more focused on how great her ass is, rather than learning more about her; It's a little funny that they acknowledged how important her body is to the events, but we lose a little characterization on Meryl in the long run. Also, Snake seems a little more harsh toward Otacon in this version, as he is now more prone to insulting him as opposed to trying to get him out of his shell or help him understand that the reality of war has more consequences than he believes. It's because of this harsher treatment toward Otacon that Sniper Wolf's death was a little less effective to me, despite the delivery.

Ashley Wood's art is very good. I was able to pretty easily read the situations, even when knowing them out of the game, and his approach to the Yoji Shinkawa character designs is very interesting. I like how the style was put into animation, which made the big things seems appropriately big and the small appropriately small. The technology is integrated well and he knew the right camera angles to show the action at. The animators also put it really well in motion and I enjoyed seeing the artwork come to life. While I was watching however, there was one thing I couldn't help but think of, and that's the feeling that his style is more suited for a horror comic. That's not to say that I don't like the art, but the combination of brush strokes, pencils and inks and the uncomfortable combination of the two screams horror artist, even if it was used pretty well for the tonality of Metal Gear Solid. This feeling came partly because I knew that at one point IDW was known for doing horror comics, most famously 30 Days of Night, so I just thought that Wood is most appropriate for that material (though I will stress again that I liked it regardless).

Since this is pretty much a motion comic, there was also full voice acting. The awesome thing to me is that they managed to have most of the original voice actors back to read the lines, which shows that they put more effort into this than something like, say, the Watchmen motion comic, in which one guy was paid to do the whole thing and it was horrible. The delivery of the iconic Metal Gear voices, including David Hayter as Solid Snake and Cam Clarke as Liquid Snake, is very much like in the game, though Mei Ling and Naomi's voices don't really sound the same, which could be due a multitude of factors. I am aware that three characters had their voices changed, those being Anderson, Baker and the Cyborg Ninja. Of these three, the one most noticeable was the Cyborg Ninja, since his voice sounds younger and didn't really suit him as well as the deeper voice from the game, even during his newly written, and awesome, heroic sacrifice. Overall I'm not complaining about the voice acting, since they stayed pretty true to how the characters sound in the game and the effort to get these actors to reprise their roles is very impressive.

While Metal Gear Solid: Bande Dessinée may have its issues, this is still a very good way to experience the story in one go. Veterans such as myself may notice more issues with it, but those who are new to the series, and/or see the original game as archaic, will greatly enjoy it nonetheless and the enjoyment would be entirely justified. If you don't wish to hunt down a copy of the 12-issue comic or play either the original game or interactive PSP version of the comic (subtitled Digital Graphic Novel), try and view the motion comic. It's about two hours long, but it's also entertaining and will give you an idea, for the most part, of why the game is highly praised.

Also, just in case you're wondering, I do indeed plan on trying to obtain the comic and interactive PSP release to see how different the experiences are from this version (and possibly review them as well).

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - This is Good, Isn't it?

Since the faraway days of 1987, the Metal Gear franchise, created by Hideo Kojima, has been able to stand the test of time as it continues to become more and more relevant to the modern gamer. The first real exposure a lot of people had came in 1998, with Metal Gear Solid, a PlayStation title that has since been regarded as a true classic of video gaming and, thanks to its text recaps of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, a true testament for the ability to tell a really gripping story with memorable scenes and characters that reverberate to the present day. The saga would not end there of course, with the arrival of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in 2001. It introduced a new character of questionable quality as well as a host of new questions for the series that mostly revolve around either the Patriots or just what the hell was going on in that ending, while also taking the series to new heights by creating the first postmodern game. To help ease the confusion, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was given life in 2003 and took place before every other game in the series, making it chronologically the first game in the series. The story for this entry took place in the final years of the Cold War and centered around Naked Snake and his eventual rise to the rank of Big Boss. It also attempted to answer some lingering questions, bringing some incomplete closure and sense to revelations from Sons of Liberty. Each entry in the Metal Gear Solid portion of the story line has managed to keep up with the standard set by the original game, occasionally even surpassing it in terms of both gameplay and story.

This brings us to the year 2008, the release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Hideo Kojima was once again roped into doing another Metal Gear game, despite his subtle, sometimes more blatant, hints in previous games that would indicate exactly how he felt about the idea (hint: he really doesn't want to). While another director was to handle the game, very vocally negative fan reaction, to the point of death threats, would get Konami to force Kojima into the role of co-director and influence how it would play out. The end result is a game that manages to not only bring a sense of finality to the events of the series, but also stand on its own as a masterpiece of storytelling and an example of how video games can be a form of art.

It is the year 2014, nine years after the Shadow Moses incident and five since the Big Shell incident. The world has since plunged into an economy fueled purely by war, its war zones controlled by private military groups (PMCs) fighting proxy wars for the highest bidder. Soldiers are connected to the Sons of the Patriots (SOP) network, which can grant them superior skills and abilities through the use of nanomachines, making the PMCs the pinnacle of military training and efficiency. To top it off, Liquid Ocelot, Revolver Ocelot possessed by the spirit of Liquid Snake, wishes to hijack the system for his own purposes and take over the world through military might. For this reason, Solid Snake, who is now rapidly aging and living with Otacon and Sunny Gurlukovich, is brought out of retirement by Roy Campbell to terminate Liquid once and for all. With assistance from Otacon and Sunny, Snake is dropped into the Middle East to begin his mission, where he eventually runs into a group known as the Beauty and the Beast (B&B) Unit. Witnessing their abilities firsthand, Snake quickly figures out that the mission won't be as easy as they had first assumed.

Solid Snake (aka "Old Snake") as he appears in Guns of the Patriots

If there's one thing I absolutely love about Guns of the Patriots, it would be its ability to tell a story. I know I already brought it up a couple of times in the introduction, but it bears repeating. While Snake Eater was able to answer at least a couple of questions about the series, mainly regarding the Patriots, Guns of the Patriots goes out of its way to be ambitious and answer every single lingering question that the player may have about the series overall. This includes the identity of the Patriots, why the ending of Sons of Liberty happened and what the Patriots' goals were among others that you may or may not have thought about until you heard an explanation about it. It may be mildly apparent that Hideo Kojima really wants the series to end as events unfold and the story is noticeably darker and more depressing in tonality this time around, but that doesn't prevent it from having some of the funniest and most awesome moments in the entire series, perhaps arguably  in all of gaming. There are also plenty of tear jerking moments, which are pulled off with such poignancy and grace that you not only care for the characters involved, but are genuinely sad to see any of them go.

That said, it should be noted that due to how much is put into a single story, as well as explaining away the ending of Sons of Liberty, this game has around nine hours of cut scenes. Even for a Metal Gear game, this seems like a gratuitous amount of cut scenes. Sometimes I would actually get tired from seeing particularly long strings of them, especially in the second or third act (of five), so I would actually press the PS button to pause it (thank god you can do that) and then grab a Diet Coke to keep me awake or take a quick nap and then press the PS button again to resume. It is because of the sheer length of these scenes that the game has earned the nickname "Movie Gear Solid," but after a while I actually didn't care how long they got thanks to how brilliantly executed they can be pulled off and for the fact that as it gets closer to the end game, the cut scenes actually get more and more interesting. The political commentary is still very much present, but they also go out of their way to have certain characters discuss the state of the world as well as the main theme of Sense, which is the unique sense a person has about the world around them and how it's lost when they die, such as their primary goals becoming distorted or misinterpreted over time. I enjoyed these discussions, as they fleshed out the Metal Gear universe in a more in-depth fashion and actually made them intriguing to listen to.

The Beauty and the Beast Unit (from left to right): Laughing Octopus,
Screaming Mantis, Raging Raven, Crying Wolf

Another thing that Guns of The Patriots manages to do really well is make every single (named) character memorable. This is quite a feat, considering that it manages to bring back every single character that it possibly can from each of the previous games and have them all interact in some significant way with the core cast while at the same time introducing new, equally memorable characters like Sunny Gurlucovich and Drebin. The biggest praise I can give the new batch however would go to the villains, namely the previously mentioned B&B Unit (seen above), a group of four women who have all suffered from serious trauma in their lives and eventually decided they were more useful on the battlefield, adopting metallic beast shells to become machines of war.

While I have discussed boss battles in the Metal Gear series before, I'm going to try to take a more condensed approach this time compared to my separated discussions of the Cobra Unit from Snake Eater. The reason I'd like to talk about these bosses in the first place however is because they all manage to have something about them that makes them stand out from most other game bosses.

To begin, what's remarkable about this group is that they all require a unique strategy to take down and the fights are designed in a way that actually introduces a sense of tension to the fight. They will definitely get your blood running and the gears in your mind to spin quickly as you try to figure out the next best thing to do. The first of these fights, against Laughing Octopus, is genuinely creepy, with a certain atmosphere that can actually make you jump a little as you try to locate exactly where she is within an enclosed space, all the while listening to her laughter create a haunting chill in the air. The next, Raging Raven, is more in the open, but it requires a lot of shooting and hiding as she flies around a building, protected by unmanned drones. Crying Wolf is different, in that she fills the role of the team's sniper, but with the twist that she is constantly roaming around the battlefield, making one careful of their surroundings (unless you hide under a nearby truck and turn it into a waiting game). Then there's Screaming Mantis, who has one of the most unique boss fights ever thanks to it being similar to the legendary Psycho Mantis fight. That's all I'm going to say about this, since discussing it further would take away all of the fun of this particular encounter.

Then there's the big bad, Liquid Ocelot. He is by far one of the greatest villains in all of gaming, pulling off a grand and complex scheme smoothly and constantly holding the upper hand over his enemies in a way that is well-written with a rather unexpected payoff. Both of the fights the player has against him are incredibly satisfying, the first being forged of a blend of awesome and badass and the second also containing a hint of nostalgia. With someone as unique as Ocelot, his character arc is wrapped up in a way that feels like they did the character justice.

Liquid Ocelot

At this point, I think it would be a good idea to discuss the new gameplay mechanics. The first noticeable difference is a brand new camera system, one that is closer to Snake and fully controllable by the player. While I was able to get by pretty well in Snake Eater with the older camera system, I'll admit that the new system would have made it more convenient, so I'm glad that they were able to implement it here. It's very useful for seeing around the environment, which is given much more emphasis across the incredibly detailed levels. As a result, aiming now feels a bit more fluid and precise with more guarantee of a hit. This is helped by the new shooting controls, which make firing a gun more convenient, especially in First-Person view.

The Camouflage system has also been greatly improved thanks to the new OctoCamo suit that Snake wears, which blends in with his surroundings automatically to reduce the time it takes to switch between different camo patterns. There are also a few more tweaks that make the Camo Index more interesting, including environmental factors and the addition of FaceCamo to blend in even better than mere face paint. Other additions like a "threat ring" that appears around Snake when crouching, as well as the ability to move while crouching, make it all the more satisfying to sneak past groups of enemies undetected.

OctoCamo in action

The item and weapons systems are also handled a little differently. You can only hold a certain number of each at a time, which, while annoying at first, begins to make a lot more sense when considering the sheer number of types of each of them, as well as how weight can affect Snake's running speed and how quickly he gets tired. Usually, I was able to set a certain loadout of weapons and go through the game just fine, with an occasional need to swap around. While ammo can be found in the environment, it is possible to buy more at will from the character Drebin using Drebin Points gained from finding duplicate weapons or accomplishing certain tasks. While this does make finding ammo less of an issue, I don't think this cheapens the game at all, since stealth is still a large necessity and getting caught could easily be a death sentence no matter what difficulty you're playing on. The number of guns one can use is interesting, depending on whether or not they are attempting a pacifist run like I did, but I can almost guarantee that you won't be using all of them; it's just a matter of preference. You can also couple your actions with some CQC, though I didn't end up using it that often if only due to how much I generally suck at it.

While there are many different items as well, one of the most useful is the Solid Eye that Snake is given to wear, which can read the environment for noise and enemies as well as scan them to reveal all kinds of information that may or may not be useful to you. If that wasn't enough, it also has two extra modes where it acts as Night Vision or Thermal goggles, which makes it most handy indeed. Its only disadvantage would be that it runs on batteries, which would require deactivating it for a while to recharge it. The other useful item is the, somehow very adorable, Metal Gear Mk. II, which can store some of your items (somehow) and provide access to the Codec screen. On that note, I think the Codec in Guns of the Patriots is my favorite of the series, since conversations are conducted using full video rather than static images, creating a more engaging atmosphere.

Metal Gear Mk. II

One other change to gameplay is replacing the Stamina gauge with a Psyche gauge. The Psyche gauge will decrease under stress, which is displayed underneath, and from certain attacks. The gauge also determines how quickly Snake gains his health back, but this time both gauges will automatically restore themselves as Snake's stress level goes down, which is accomplished by going away from combat into an area where he feels safe (thank you cardboard box). These are changes that I appreciated, as it made regaining health outside of Rations and Noodles less tedious to perform.

A major change to the game would definitely be the graphics. Thanks to the technology of the PS3, and the fact that Guns of the Patriots is the first game to use a 50 GB Dual Layer Blu-ray, everything looks much more improved with an incredible amount of detail. This is used to the game's advantage to help each of the unique environments stand out even more and create an experience that is much more immersive. Characters also look much more realistic, which fits the setting quite nicely, and the lighting actually contributes to such elements as how the OctoCamo operates and a true difference between day and night.

The voice acting is another aspect that I would highly praise. Everyone delivers an excellent performance, particularly David Hayter as Solid Snake and Patrick Zimmerman as Liquid Ocelot. These two in particular display incredible talent, though I don't mean to detract from the other voice actors; they help make this game one of the best casted in the entire medium. One surprise however was Fred Tatasciore, who voices the Beast forms of the B&B Unit marvelously. Also praise-worthy is the music, which is scored not unlike a really good movie and not only matches the events perfectly, but also puts a unique spin on some pieces from the previous installments. Overall it is one of the highest quality scores ever and I'd like to try and get it on CD if possible.

Before I end this review, I'd like to touch upon one final thing: continuity lockout. Simply put, whatever you do, try not to make this your first Metal Gear game, for it would be a grave error on part of the player. If you try to jump in here, you will not understand what's going on at all, for it makes so many references to previous games that only a fan that's been following the series would really get them. If this isn't going to stop you from trying to jump in, because you don't have a PS1 or PS2 in your possession, I'd like to present a couple of options (all of them will require owning a Sony handheld to play Portable Ops, though it isn't required to understand the events of Guns of the Patriots). 1) Own a PS1 and PS2 and play original copies of Metal Gear Solid 1-3 on their respective systems. 2) Play the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater and download Metal Gear Solid off PSN. 3) Skip trying to play the aforementioned games and, if you care not for spoilers, download the free Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, which contains all the information you could possibly need about the series (though it may not be totally perfect). Try and read it as in-depth as you possibly can, then play Guns of the Patriots. It's much better to have prior knowledge going in (you really can't just say "Solid Snake," "Giant robots" and "Cardboard box" and call it a day).

I'm serious. Read it.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is, in my opinion, one of the best video games ever created. It manages to wrap up every loose end of the series, have compelling characters and scenes and even make you think about human nature. While the gameplay may not be perfect, I feel it to be the best in the series, maybe in its entire genre. Some may be turned off by the nine hours of cut scenes, but they feel very necessary for the story to work (besides, it's not like the series is a stranger to long chains of cut scenes). Fans of the series will definitely love Guns of the Patriots and the way the game is now is the perfect opportunity for those fans to begin playing if they haven't already. Newcomers may try to make this their first game, but I would strongly encourage them to follow one of my suggestions from the previous paragraph before trying to dive right in. On its own the game is a masterpiece and, so far, time has been very kind to it. It feels like a really good finale to a great series.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and get my hands on Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - It's Not Over Yet!

If the Metal Gear series proves anything, it's that success will generate a new installment with near certainty. Such is the case with Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, released for the PlayStation 2 in 2004, three years after the previous installment, Sons of Liberty. While Metal Gear Solid 2 moved the story further into a rather unexpected territory, to say nothing of its infamous ending, the idea behind Metal Gear Solid 3, if my research is correct, was to respond to criticism of the previous game and bring the series into a more comfortable state. To accomplish this, it takes the rather bold move of being a prequel to the entire Metal Gear franchise, utilizing a new protagonist and setting while exploring a new core theme and setting. The idea is certainly intriguing and one in which the end result displays a wonderfully brilliant execution.

In 1964, during the Cold War, a FOX agent with the code name Naked Snake is sent on a mission, dubbed the Virtuous Mission, to the Soviet Union to rescue a Soviet scientist named Sokolov who had been working on a nuclear-equipped tank known as the Shagohod, which would have enough power to turn the tide of the Cold War. With assistance from other FOX members, Snake manages to get Sokolov out of a secret base without incident, until he hits a serious snag. Just as he and Sokolov are about to make their escape, The Boss, Snake's lifelong mentor and mother figure, takes Sokolov and defects to the Soviet Union along with the fellow members of her Cobra Unit. The Boss then beats the snot out of Snake and has him plunge to his supposed death off a rope bridge. As if that wasn't enough, she had also given two Davy Crockett nuclear missile shells to Colonel Volgin, who then uses one to blow the base they were stolen from as a cover up. Two years later, Snake is sent back to the Soviet Union by the FOX unit to clear its name and prevent World War III. This new mission, dubbed Operation Snake Eater, is to take out Volgin, the Shagohod, all of Cobra Unit and The Boss. Left with little choice, as well as an opportunity to redeem himself from his previous failure, Snake sets out to complete his mission.

The Shagohod

The plot this time around is much less convoluted than Sons of Liberty, which takes an incredible burden off the player's shoulders. Placing the time frame in the final years of the Cold War provides an interesting perspective on the franchise as the player witnesses how Naked Snake eventually becomes the ever important Big Boss that influences the events of the series. Although the string of events hits familiar territory, it's in this simplicity that I found it easy to take in what was going on, which thankfully didn't sacrifice any depth or storytelling capability. The main theme is how one's identity can be affected by the time and place someone lives in as well as how politics change with the times, though it is spread out pretty well across the very twist-laden game and interwoven with a look at the motivations, backgrounds and relationships of every important character (it even explains a little bit about the Patriots, who were introduced in the previous installment). This I liked, particularly for how memorable the events become as a result.

What helps the memorability are the bosses of the game, though most of them don't necessarily contribute anything to the plot or exploration of the core theme. However, they all still manage to have an identity that is unique to themselves. While it's a little difficult to speak of them individually from the whole, this becomes easier when you consider that they are each part of a group, since they are known for being from either the Cobra Unit or one of the major players around Volgin: Colonel Volgin himself, Ocelot and The Boss.

Cobra Unit (from left to right): The Pain, The Fear, The End,
The Boss/The Joy, The Sorrow and The Fury

Thus begins my discussion of the bosses, if you'll allow it, starting with the Cobra Unit. Originally assembled to combat the Axis Powers in World War II, each member has a code name that is symbolic of the emotion that they each carry into battle. The first that you fight is The Pain (Gregg Berger), aka the "Hornet Soldier", who attacks Snake in a cave by controlling a large swarm of hornets that he can assemble in any shape and use for any purpose, including, among other things, a Tommy Gun made of hornets that fires hornets as bullets while he uses assault armor made of hornets. As he is situated on a small island of rock, it is up to Snake to swim between two points and break the armor before he can inflict any damage to The Pain. The nature of this fight clues the player in on the fact that Snake must use his surroundings to his advantage in order to avoid taking a serious hit, in this case water, which will become an increasing necessity for each Cobra Unit member.

Due to DmC Devil May Cry interrupting my play session however, I'll admit that, while they are still very good boss fights, I used a couple of shortcuts to get past two of the Cobra Unit members (specifically the next two), if only due to my impatience at the point I continued playing. I regret doing so now, but what's done is done; I'll still try to discuss why they are great bosses anyway, with the shortcut in white text.

Following The Pain is The Fear (Michael Bell), aka the "Spider Solider", who is all about instilling fear into his enemies, which he does by shooting Snake with a poison crossbow immediately before the battle begins. When the fight becomes controllable, Snake has to cure himself and then try to somehow track The Fear's movements between the trees as he fires off salvo after salvo of crossbow bolts. From my research on the bosses, it appears that he has the most ways that people have come up with for easily beating him non-lethally, although trying to take him out lethally can still be a challenge that requires great tracking and aiming skills (the way I did the fight was, in order: Cure, Fake Death Pill, Revival Pill when he looks away, Stun Grenade without alerting him, AK-47 now that lethal weapons in this small window can drain stamina instead).

The next Cobra Unit member to face however is The End (Grant Albrecht), aka the "Ancient Sniper", who is easily one of the best bosses from the entire game since now it is heavily strategy-oriented as Snake now has to track him down across three areas of a particularly large area of the jungle. Being able to find him and deal damage is rewarding in itself, its length dependent on the player's patience and nerves as he tries to kill you with tranquilizer rounds (in my impatience however, I instead decided to use the trick of putting the system clock forward enough to make him die of old age. Like Snake, I really regret not giving the old man a good fight).

As I got more engrossed in the story again, I fought The Fury (Richard Doyle), aka the "Flame Solider", a former cosmonaut who attacks Snake with pure fire. His battle takes place in a darkened set of hallways in which you must attack by sneaking around to shoot him, the mere sight of you being enough to provoke him into a full on fire fight (pun intended). This becomes a test of sneaking ability as well as the power to react quickly to run away and recover before trying to attack again. Later on is the next fight, which is against The Sorrow (David Thomas), aka the "Spirit Medium Soldier". His fight is easily the most unique in that inflicting physical damage to him isn't exactly the entire point. Explaining this however, would be a potential spoiler, but I will say that your play style may come back to bite you.

Colonel "Thunderbolt" Volgin

Two of the other bosses, Ocelot (Joshua Keaton) and Volgin (Neil Ross), are also very interesting, mainly in terms of character. Every time Snake comes face to face with Ocelot, there's always something the former has to say about the latter's gunplay, which ends up influencing the latter eventually becoming known as Revolver Ocelot of the future FOXHOUND unit. Ocelot's main boss fight emphasizes his growing love of the revolver and is interesting in that the two fight from across a small gorge. Volgin, on the other hand, is very content with fighting Snake in closed off areas, using his ability to channel electricity as a way to burn or even shoot Snake until he falls dead. Each of these fights, which emphasis reflexive ability, in the end game can get pretty intense and his character is especially fleshed out in these encounters.

All of this comes to a close however when Snake reaches the final encounter against The Boss (Lori Alan), aka The Joy aka "The Legendary Soldier". The fight against her requires Snake to take advantage of every skill he has spent the game honing in order to win. What makes this boss particularly memorable however is just how emotional it really is. As The Boss discusses the core theme of the game and her relationship with Naked Snake, the fight gains more meaning, particularly from its location, and it becomes more of a sign of just how Snake has grown throughout the entire mission. When it's all over though and the ending starts to play, the impact of her words as well as one specific moment are enough to make anyone cry from sadness, as I did.

While the gameplay remains largely the same from Sons of Liberty, it does improve upon what was introduced in that game by introducing the new Camouflage system. By changing the fatigues that Snake is wearing, the player is able to increase his Camo Index, the percentage of invisibility that he currently has depending on how he blends in with the background. Moving will momentarily drop the Camo Index and certain actions will determine how high the percentage goes, with crawling and wall hugging usually yielding the highest ones. This is a very interesting system that adds a whole new level to the stealth gameplay and I'm impressed that the game was able to pull it off well. However, I do have a couple of complaints about it. For one thing, it gets pretty annoying after a while to have to constantly go to the Survival Viewer and go through a couple of menus to switch what Snake is wearing, especially once the environments have a few different types blended into each other; in one instance I had to switch from a leaf camo to a brick camo and then an indoor camo. It is in these situations that players find a good camo shortcut that will work with most surfaces to save time (apparently people are most complacent with the Splitter face paint and Tiger Stripe uniform combination). The other thing is that, despite the immersion created by the system, the number didn't really prevent me from saving time by enacting yet another strategy: run through the environments and hope that not too many bullets hit me.

Camo Index (upper right)

Another system that's introduced is the Cure system, in which the player must heal all of Snake's wounds manually with supplies. As an extension, Snake can regenerate health, but the rate at which he does is entirely dependent on his Stamina, which can only be raised back up by eating food or saving and turning the game off for a little while. These are justified by the fact that the game takes place at the end of the Cold War and thus nanomachines haven't been invented yet in the timeline. However, like the camouflage system, you must flick through multiple screens in the Survival Viewer to heal Snake's wounds and eat the necessary food. After a while it too gets on my nerves a little, especially when I'm against someone like Volgin who hurts me practically every time he moves. Hopefully they improve upon these systems in a sequel.

One improvement is made to the ability to Stamina Kill bosses, which to say that you can defeat then non-lethally. While in Sons of Liberty this was merely an option so that the player can retain a pacifist run if they wish, Snake Eater actually rewards the player for doing so, usually in the form of a unique uniform for Snake, each with its own special ability. For example, defeating The Fear non-lethally awards the Spider Camo, which gives Snake an 80% Camo Index in most environments, but drains Stamina quickly. This actually gave me more of an incentive to do this, especially since finding Tranquilizer rounds is surprisingly easy, so I took advantage of it and stamina killed every boss (except The End) to reap the rewards.

Lastly, there's a new system known as CQC, aka Close Quarters Combat. CQC can be achieved while holding a weapon that will allow it, as indicated by the acronym being present on the scroll menu. Aside from full combat maneuvers, CQC has an advantage when sneaking up on an enemy, which can put them in a hold. While Snake has their defenses down, he can throw them to the ground, drag them as a human shield or even interrogate them for special information. CQC can even be used on some bosses, creating an opening for Snake to use whatever he wants against them. This addition was very helpful, since it expanded my tactical abilities well and generated new ideas on how to proceed through an area.

Instead of taking place in large complexes like the previous Metal Gear Solid titles, Snake Eater takes place in a very lush jungle with more varied environments. Admittedly the jungle is a very nice change of pace and puts Snake into new situations to alter the perspective of things, specifically that he is heading toward the enemy base rather than starting out in one. This helps maintain the intended feel of an early James Bond movie, in which Bond would encounter such scenery on his mission. What helps is that the environments are all impressively detailed, with the jungle in particular being rendered very realistically. It's not something you find all the time on a PS2 game and certainly not one as good looking. For this, Snake Eater does a really good job at pushing the limits of the system.

Lastly, the voice acting is top notch, with David Hayter voicing Naked Snake this time around in a performance that seems to top his Solid Snake from Sons of Liberty. The other voice actors, most of which I have listed, also do a fantastic job with really great performances that bring out the biggest traits of their characters. As for the music, Harry Gregson-Williams does it again in providing a score that matches the right tones at the right times. The oft-used Snake Eater theme song helps the Bond thing the game has going for itself, but I'll admit it was used maybe one too many times. It was interesting how it was used though, including its utilization in the part where Snake has to climb a really long ladder for about two (real time) minutes as a way to break the monotony.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is a great improvement in the series. With a simpler but gripping and emotional story, good tweaks to certain features, memorable bosses and the introduction of a new interesting mechanic, it's a game that any fan of the Metal Gear franchise, or stealth games for that matter, will really enjoy. While a couple of things become a little annoying and the camouflage system is a little subjective in its execution, this game has certainly set its mark despite this as a true PS2 classic. Now I can't wait to play the next game to see if it will finally explain exactly who the Patriots are.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - What the F---?

After the success of the original Metal Gear Solid, a sequel was created for release in 2001 titled Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. This release came with so much hype that many players infamously purchased the game Zone of the Enders for the sole purpose of playing the demo for Metal Gear Solid 2. Over time, the game has become known primarily for its introduction of a new protagonist as well as its infamous mind screw of an ending. This, and the fact that I played the first Metal Gear Solid, got me curious enough to actually see what everyone's talking about. One's thing's for certain: you'll witness the complete evisceration of the fourth wall, and your sanity, by the time it ends.

In the two years since the Shadow Moses incident in Metal Gear Solid, Revolver Ocelot sold the blueprints for Metal Gear on the black market, thus allowing corporations and entities that are rich enough to collectively create quite a few Metal Gear derivatives. Solid Snake infiltrates an oil tanker, U.S.S. Discovery, with assistance from Otacon to obtain information about the latest version, Metal Gear RAY. RAY is designed as an amphibious walking battle tank, thereby allowing it dominance over more territory than thought possible. When Snake finally obtains the information he needs, by sneaking past Russian soldiers and confronting Olga Gurlukovich, Revolver Ocelot shows up to "reclaim" Metal Gear RAY for himself, putting himself in the pilot seat and destroying the tanker to eliminate all traces of his presence as well as kill Solid Snake. This section of the game does a really good job at introducing new elements to the Metal Gear universe as well as continuing the story beyond the first game, the biggest surprise being the mention of a powerful group known as the Patriots. It is a suspenseful section that highlights just the kind of man Snake is and how he's gotten better over time.

Then Raiden shows up. Two years after the Tanker incident, Raiden is sent by a reformed FOXHOUND to an offshore cleanup facility, the Big Shell, to rescue hostages, including the United States President, from a terrorist group known as the Sons of Liberty. The terrorists, headed by a man claiming to be Solid Snake, are backed by members of a rogue SEAL anti-terrorist unit known as Dead Cell, whose core members are Vamp, a knife wielding man who drinks the blood of those he kills; Fatman, an expert with bombs; and Fortune, a woman who's luck prevents any bullet from touching her. With assistance from Colonel Campbell and his girlfriend Rosemary, Raiden must do what he can to eliminate the terrorist threat and prevent a nuclear strike on Manhattan.

What follows is a series of events that are, for the most part, a rehash of the events in the first Metal Gear Solid. The bosses, despite being clever and memorable, feel more like stand-ins for the former FOXHOUND members from the previous game and the plan the terrorists have in mind is also not unlike that of Liquid Snake. A lot of what happens to Raiden in the Plant chapter is very remniscent of what happens to Solid Snake, including the appearance of a mysterious caller named Deepthroat/Mr. X, the need to backtrack to advance the plot (hope you love that Strut F Warehouse!), using an electronic item to try and thwart the terrorists and a section where grabbing the PSG-1 Sniper Rifle is an absolute necessity among other things. My experience with Raiden was filled with memories of the first game that I was simply reliving through another character.

And then about 80% of the way through the game, the player is confronted with insanity in its purest form and is given a mere glimpse into the eye of madness. After Emma Emmerich's death and the supposed death of Vamp, the player is introduced to revelations about Raiden and the video game itself in such a concentration that they might as well be clocked with a freight train. The sudden wave of information includes piling so many gambits on top of each other that it is unclear who the actual bad guy is (if there is one to begin with); a series of convoluted double and even triple crosses; the downright confusing and possibly contradictory motives of the Patriots; deconstructions of several elements of the gaming medium; and forcing the player to question the exact reality of everything they've been doing while controlling Raiden. This is as far as I can go without just rendering an entire paragraph or so with spoiler tags and is in fact just the tip of the insanity iceberg. On top of this, just when you feel safe(-ish), the stinger at the end of the credits twists the knife deeper by revealing that the Patriots have all been dead for at least 100 years! This ending is one of the most confusing and brilliantly frightening things I've ever witnessed in any medium; I thought I would be prepared, but I never expected to witness what I did in the super long chain of cutscenes. What really didn't help however was that some cutscenes that were important to the plot were excised in the wake of 9/11, but even then I'm not sure how much better it would have turned out. I really hope there's a good explanation for what I saw because it's bothering me and I feel I really need to cool off from Metal Gear Solid for a while before approaching the next game in the franchise (don't worry, I'll still cover the other games eventually).

So out of all of this, I suppose you're wondering how I feel about both Raiden and the sheer amount of cutscenes in the game. Well, for the cutscenes, I believe that they are important for fleshing out certain details of the story and introducing the characters properly. The problems with them in this game is that unlike the first Metal Gear Solid, the amount of them gets to the point where you are no longer sure how much gameplay there really is, since there is a disproportionate ratio between them here in favor of the videos. If you were to remove every single video and codec conversation from this game, I'm pretty sure that the actual game, where you're actually in control, wouldn't even last you nine hours unless you're particularly prone to dying.

As for Raiden himself, I was a little thrown off by his sudden appearance in the narrative (yes, it is possible to be surprised about something even if you read about it before the actual experience; there's a big difference between reading about something in a game and actually playing it to get to the event) and just how long I actually had to control him. He felt like a weaker version of Solid Snake, which was in fact a deliberate facet of his design, and his bishonen nature was a little unsettling, if only because he has pretty wide hips for a man. For the most part, I really just feel indifferent about him, although I must say that his tragic backstory comes right out of nowhere and seemed like they were making it up as they went along. The revelations about him at the end also made playing as him borderline insulting, though I have a feeling that Hideo Kojima in this case made his point really clear (well played, Kojima). I hope that if they do bring him back in a sequel, they'll make him a better character.

Moving on from the heavily convoluted story, I'd like to say that the overall gameplay has gotten better. The player is now allowed to shoot from behind cover, which can be helpful in some situations when you really need to get rid of an enemy in the way. I also found the first-person aiming helpful for the handguns, since it gives more precise control over where your shots go. This is especially helpful with the biggest addition to the arsenal: tranquilizers. Both the M9 handgun and PSG-1T sniper rifle can fire tranquilizer rounds that will render someone unconscious rather than outright kill them, providing an alternative method for clearing the different rooms. These rounds also introduce a new mechanic where the location someone is shot at will determine the speed at which they fall unconscious (ex. the head or the heart will have an instant effect, but hand and foot shots take longer).

There's also a new swimming mechanic, bringing some new variety and challenge to the levels with an O2 gauge that determines your available air. However, the player will now need to worry about leaving a trail of blood or water to their location, the former of which can be stopped with bandages. Thankfully there are now also more places to hide thanks to the ability to hide out in a locker until the coast is clear. Being able to roll between cover and hide out in the shadows are also welcome additions, creating new ways to sneak around undetected and even pass certain obstacles.

Being on the PS2 allows the Metal Gear Solid series a graphical upgrade, and this one is a real marvel. Characters look more realistic and are now much more expressive, adding depth to each performance from the voice actors. With the improved environments and effects, the game is also more immersive and pleasing to the eye. This is not to say that the graphics of the previous game were bad, but the improvements help show how well the franchise can look on a newer platform.

Finally, I'd like to mention the score, touted as being done by Henry Gregson-Williams. I am not particularly familiar with his film scores, but I think he did a fine job here creating music that adds to each scene in a way similar to the previous installment. It's perhaps not as memorable at the moment, but I still think he pretty much nailed it.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is an...interesting video game. Thanks to how it handles and deconstructs many themes in video games, including the concept of free will and the difference between fantasy and reality, it can be considered the first postmodern video game ever created. Its gameplay and graphics have improved well from the previous game, but the story is very confusing and complicated with an ending that will question your beliefs about what you just saw. Despite this, I'd still recommend Metal Gear Solid 2 to PS2 owners, as it is a real highlight of the system's library. Even if you've heard the twists by now, this is still an experience that you really have to see to believe.

Metal Gear Solid (Disc 2) - ...iversary!

In my experience with Metal Gear Solid, I've had a hard time with Disc 2. I discovered that I had a faulty copy right at the switching point (after killing Sniper Wolf), which not even a resurfacing would fix. So I ended up purchasing another copy off the secondary market and made sure that it was in a good enough condition. I felt confident enough in the description provided by the seller, stating that the discs were professionally cleaned and tested. Well, after finally receiving my copy in the mail I was finally able to complete the game and express how I feel about the whole experience. As such, this post is actually a continuation of my anniversary post rather than a separate review altogether.

The story continues in Disc 2 with Snake infiltrating a boiler room to get to Metal Gear REX and attempting to shut it down. While this section is shorter in some ways than the previous disc, this is definitely where the most twists come to light, revealing a conspiracy that goes higher up than thought before. The final stretch also introduces new information that can change the perspective of a lot of earlier events in the game. I also found the full characterization of Vulcan Raven to be interesting, taking more advantage of his description of being a shaman. For its depth and complexity, I now fully praise the storytelling capability of Metal Gear Solid.

In terms of gameplay, there are definitely a couple new surprises in this portion. Level design remains interesting and creative, including a hallway absolutely packed with Gun Cameras mounted on each wall. The final boss fights are also the most intense, starting with Snake having to outmaneuver Vulcan Raven in a freezing room where a frontal assault simply will not work. This is when explosives come in very handy, with an element of trickery also becoming a factor in fights from this point forward. My solution involved figuring out that Claymores picked up earlier are now in their natural element, plus letting Raven give chase while only I could see where they were. This didn't take the tension away however, since even being spotted once at the wrong time can let the shaman turn Snake into Swiss cheese with the aircraft grade machine gun he holds in his hands.

The most climactic boss however would be the one against Metal Gear REX, piloted by none other than Liquid Snake. The battle tank is designed to withstand any outside damage thanks to an impenetrable outer shell. To access its vulnerable insides however, Snake needs to trigger the opening of the cockpit by attacking the only weak point on its body, and only the Stinger has a chance of reaching it. After this however is a face to face throwdown with Liquid, who uses all of his strength to try and take out Solid Snake. I'd say that, after losing a few times before taking down the behemoth for good, it is easily one of the most memorable bosses of its time.

Then there's the puzzles. The ones that are in the environment are very minor, but one that really stands out is one that takes advantage of the entire area contained on the second disc. In this puzzle, Snake has to backtrack to two particular rooms to change the temperature of a key card, thus altering its shape and allowing it to function as three key cards. These temperature changes must be done in a certain order and there is the danger of changing the temperature unintentionally, requiring further backtracking. This was only annoying due to my absolute lack of rations, but it is still a very unique concept.

Voice acting continued to stay at a high point until the end, with everyone showing the full range of their talents and matching the appropriate mood of each scene. There are a couple of tearjerkers, which they manage to execute really well, though saying what they are would involve spoilers. The music continued to impress, so I give high praise to the composers involved.

Overall, Metal Gear Solid is a PlayStation game that absolutely should not be missed. Although the actual game is pretty short when you remove the cutscenes, the story itself is complicated enough to stay interesting and the deeper character interactions are all fascinating. With excellent gameplay, storytelling, voice acting and music, I fully recommend this game to anyone looking for either a great stealth game or a good blast from the past.

Be sure not to skip the stinger at the end of the credits though, since it opens exciting opportunities for a sequel. Hopefully it will not disappoint.