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Metal Gear Solid 2 - considered by many to be the best PS2 game made. Background Information Metal Gear Solid 2 is the true sequel to the best-selling PlayStation game Metal Gear Solid. Fans of the game wanted to know what happened next and Hideo Kojima had no real choice but to please the fans and release a sequel. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was its full title and was the conjoining game for Metal Gear Solid. Kojima-san stated that the two games go hand in hand becuase they cover both sides of the story: how we are and pass things down because of genetics, and how we pass things down through writing and the media. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was eagerly anticipated by the gaming world since the Official PlayStation Magazine officially announced its development and many people (including myself) set out to buy a PlayStation 2 simply for this game! How was MGS2 different to MGS1 and to the other PS2 games on the market? Metal Gear Solid 2 impressed everyone. Japanese people are famous for loving good graphics (according to Kojima-san) so MGS2 impressed them with its state-of-the-art high quality PS2 graphics which were able to convince many gamers that this was not just a game but that they were actually living and breathing the plot and atmosphere. Gameplay was addictive and the lifespan was long. Humour, action, romance and horror all manage to find their way into Metal Gear games making it an all-round favourite. The controls were pretty much the same as MGS1 so it was easy to get to grips with but extra features were built in making it even more exciting to play! Bonus Features MGS2 gave the character more freedom and this had to be a good thing becuase the enemy AI improved  drastically. Soldiers no longer simply said "huh, what was that noise?". They now began to have more intelligence and could hear you if you ran, spot you if your shadow was in the way and noticed things that you'd dropped and left in their path. Players marvelled at how even the smallest touches had been added including interactive backgrounds where you could shoot at your surroundings and they'd respond accordingly, you could hang off railings, roll down stairs and even drag your enemies off into lockers so that they could continue a peaceful nap you've just put them in with your new tranquiliser gun. The use of this type of weapon helped the game to appeal to gamers even more. People loved the way you could actually complete the game without killing a single person, even the bosses! Gamers of the previous installments of the Metal Gear series were also keen to see the return of characters from the previous games. Improving the Best Sons of Liberty was a best-seller. Everyone wanted to get their hands on a copy and play it, or if they didn't, they were in the minority. But it was not perfect. Despite having a complicated yet engrosing plot, the game was regarded by some to be too short and not enough to do once you'd finished the game. Others demanded to see Meryl again, having gone to the bother of saving her in the first place in MGS1! So it was back to the drawing board for Kojima-san. He wanted to please everyone and there were some extra finishing touches he wanted too add which he didn't have time to include the first time round. Thus Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance was born! Long live the Metal Gear saga! CHECK OUT THESE OTHER MGS2 PAGES |
