'' (commonly abbreviated '''''MGS2''''') is a ''.
Following a strategy used to promote the original ''Metal Gear Solid'' in 1998 , a Movie -like Trailer for the game was shown at E3 , in 2000 . Critics praised the game's level of graphical detail, in particular the use of in-game graphics to render plot-driving Cut Scenes . The Gameplay is similar to that of ''Metal Gear Solid''. New features, however, allow players to use First-person View to aim weapons, and to Tranquilize enemies instead of killing them.
As a result of the promising trailer, and because the original MGS was so highly regarded, there was a high level of anticipation surrounding MGS2's release.
The story opens in late 2007 (presumably sometime during or after August 8 ), two years after the events of ''Metal Gear Solid'', on the George Washington Bridge in New York City . Solid Snake and Otacon now belong to ''Philanthropy'', a UN -recognized fringe organization formed in order to eliminate the various Metal Gears constructed due to Revolver Ocelot 's distribution of the Metal Gear REX blueprints on the Black Market . Snake, aided by Otacon via codec, is investigating the new Metal Gear RAY being developed by the Marines to guard against the proliferation of REXes. While the Marines transport RAY offshore aboard the oil tanker ''U.S.S. Discovery'' for testing, soldiers invade the ship by helicopter and dispose of all the Marines on duty above decks.
The mission turns bad rapidly as these troops, formerly of the Russian military and led by the disgraced Colonel Sergei Gurlukovich, seize the tanker and plant explosives aboard it. Snake personally runs into Gurlukovich's daughter Olga, and disables her with a tranquilizer gun, before proceeding into the ship's hold. A large unit of Marines is receiving a briefing from Scott Dolph, their commander, on the new RAY and its role, at the conclusion of which Ocelot strides on stage, applauding. Gurlukovich and his troops descend, taking Dolph hostage, leading to a Mexican Standoff between the forces. The tension is broken as Ocelot betrays Gurlukovich, kills Dolph, and detonates the explosives, advising the remaining U.S. and Russian soldiers to swim for shore if they value their lives.
During the ensuing carnage, Liquid Snake's personality usurps Ocelot through his transplanted arm. After mocking the rapidly aging Solid Snake, he boards RAY, carves the ship in two, and escapes. Once Ocelot recovers, he notifies former President Solidus Snake that their mission had been successful.
Following these events, Solid Snake was declared dead and framed as the man responsible for the tanker spill, and the Big Shell decontamination plant was created to contain the purported toxins in the wake of the spill.
This chapter begins on April 29 , 2009 , two years after the Tanker incident, as video game players assume the role of Raiden/Jack/Snake . Raiden is a FOXHOUND operative whose mission is to rescue the President and other hostages being held captive by a terrorist group aided by former Soviet soldiers in the Big Shell , a decontamination facility erected at sea to clean up the oil spill which resulted from the sinking of the ''Discovery''. He is aided by his girlfriend Rosemary as data manager, and Colonel Roy Campbell as the mission commander.
Raiden discovers that the Big Shell is nothing but elaborate camouflage for the development of an advanced mobile fortress dubbed Arsenal Gear . Solidus Snake, with the assistance of the remnants of Gurlukovich's private army (now led by Olga) and Ocelot (who has claimed that Snake was responsible for the sinking of the Discovery) has seized the facility and is attempting to use it to fight the enigmatic Patriots responsible for the theft of RAY. Following an elaborate sequence of double-crosses it is revealed that Raiden and Olga have each been coerced - directly or indirectly - into assisting the Patriots in eliminating Solidus. Meanwhile, Snake is aboard, battling both sides in an attempt to destroy Arsenal. To this goal, he is assisted by Otacon, and his sister Emma, who designs a computer virus which should disable Arsenal.
Once again, Ocelot reveals himself to be a double-agent, trying to kill his allies on behalf of the Patriots. Liquid then resurfaces through the grafted arm and declares his intention to use RAY to take on the Patriots, and goads Snake into following him while setting Arsenal Gear on a collision course with New York City. After Arsenal comes to rest, the Patriots, and their goal - control of the dissemination of information, in order to ensure an Orwellian peace - are revealed. Raiden eliminates Solidus, who hoped to use Raiden's implants to identify the Patriots, atop Federal Hall .
After the final credits roll, it is shown that Otacon is able to decode the viral disc provided by Emma and uncover its information. The information on the disc does reveal the identities of all twelve members of the Wisemen's Committee, the inner circle of The Patriots, with one of the names shockingly enough belonging to one of Snake and Otacon's biggest financial contributors. The disc also reveals that the Patriots did reside in Manhattan, but that they have all been dead for more than a century.
It is now known that the unanswered questions from MGS2 will be answered in "" which chronologically is a direct sequel to ''MGS2''.
The game plan and script reveal some aspects of the plot which are left unclear or confusing during the game itself, or are just interesting to know. Both are available on '' The Document Of Metal Gear Solid 2 '' disc, though the game plan is only in Japanese :
- Raiden 's field commander was named Daniel Quinn ("Colonel"). His support team consisted of Maxine "Max" Wark, an Asian woman who saves game data and quotes Shakespeare , and William "Doc" Wilson, the creator of GW. All three would turn out to be AI s. None of these characters survived to the final edition.
- There were two additional members of Dead Cell: Old Boy and Chinaman. Old Boy was Dead Cell's strategist and a former Nazi general, and was over 100 years old. Chinaman was Vietnamese and a native of Chinatown, and was an expert in Martial Arts (His movements intended to be like Jet Li), and has used most of Vamp 's bullet parrying moves. Both were cut from game appearances -- Old Boy being first (who later was used as The End ), and Chinaman next. The only place to see them is the animated footage of "The Liquidation Of Dead Cell."
- --- Chinaman originally used most of the moves that would later become Vamp's, such as running up walls and over water as well as being a strong swimmer. Another ability of his was the dragon tattoo on his body coming alive in water. This would happen when the player battles with him in the Shell 2 Core filtration chamber, where Vamp is fought in the final game. However the player would also actually have to battle Chinaman underwater, and he would send sharks after Raiden if he started bleeding.
- Liquid Snake , controlling Revolver Ocelot , activates Arsenal Gear 's navigation system and sets the target as Federal Hall . This detail is never explained in the game, possibly for the same reason that the following scenes were removed.
- A scene depicting Arsenal Gear's displacement of the Statue Of Liberty and half of Manhattan was removed following the events of the September 11, 2001 Attacks .
- A short coda was to appear after the credits, a breaking newscast showing the Statue of Liberty's new resting place, Ellis Island (see above). The anchorwoman in this piece would've been Karen Hôjô, the heroine from Hideo Kojima's '' Policenauts ''.
- Solidus Snake was the 43rd President , and James Johnson is the 44th.
- Early concept art shows that Vamp was initially conceived as a woman, while Peter Stillman was originally planned to be a younger version of Ed Brown, also from ''Policenauts''.
- The AI speaking to Raiden during the final codec conversation is not GW, but another AI named JFK.
- Both Ames and President Johnson initially thought Raiden was an Assassin sent in by the Patriots to dispose of the President.
- All three Snakes are (or were) undergoing advanced aging as a result of the cloning process.
- Iroquois Pliskin and Rose were supposed to have blond hair -- Pliskin's dyed to cover his identity, and Rose's as her natural color.
- In the passage where Raiden has to swim in order to reach Emma , the player was originally supposed to face sharks. The trick to overcoming them was for Raiden to strategically leave blood in certain places to lead them away and then swim past them before they could attack him.
- As a child, Raiden took part in the Liberian Civil War .
- Three additional game modes were planned that didn't make it to the final game: a Bomb Disposal mode (side-missions set in the Tanker and Plant stages where the player must locate and defuse Fatman 's bombs), a Mantis Mask mode (where the player can read other characters' thoughts and detect their lies) and a two-player versus mode.
- ---The Bomb Disposal missions were later integrated into ''''.
- ---The idea of reading characters' thoughts was kept, but in a watered-down form. Instead, the player can only sense their own character's during CODEC conversations by pressing the R1 or R2 buttons.
- The Arsenal Gear stage was designed to be much longer than it was in the finished game. One of the proposed areas was a temple wherein the player fought against Vamp (in the original plan, Chinaman appears in the Shell 2 Core filtration chamber instead of Vamp).
- At the point where Solidus dies, Raiden was supposed to have cut the rope on Federal Hall's flagpole where an American flag was supposed to fall onto Solidus' body (albeit the reason for the patriotic music).
- At the ending scene, American flags were supposed to be on all the flagpoles in New York.
- Jack and Rose were modeled after the protagonists of the film '' appeared in the first ''MGS'' title.
Many of the game's weapons are taken directly from existing military hardware, though some completely fictional weapons (such as Fortune's Railgun ) appear as well.
Pistols:
- Heckler & Koch USP (German 9 mm auto-loader, used by Olga and then Snake)
- Heckler & Koch Mark 23 Mod 0 "SOCOM" (German .45 cal pistol, given to Raiden by Plisken)
- Makarov PM (Russian 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, used by some Russian Spetsnaz members and tossed overboard by Olga)
- Colt Single Action Army (.45 Long Colt revolver, used by Ocelot)
- Beretta M92F (Italian 9 mm semi-automatic pistol adopted by the United States Armed Forces as standard-issue sidearm; used by Marines)
- --- Beretta M9 tranquilizer pistol (an M9 modified to fire tranquilizer darts; fictional, does not exist in the real world)
- Glock 18 (Austria 9 mm automatic pistol, used by Fatman, Spetsnaz reinforcement and Big Shell attack teams)
Sub-Machine Guns:
Assault Rifles:
- Kalashnikov AKS-74U (Russian 5.45 mm Compact Assault Rifle, based on the AK-74 which itself is based on the AK-47 , used by most Russian soldiers and Raiden)
- M4 Carbine (US 5.56 mm Assault Rifle, used by Marines, Navy SEALs, Plisken, Snake, Raiden and Presidential Security teams)
- Nikonov AN-94 (Russian 5.45 mm Assault Rifle, used by Big Shell Russian guards)
Sniper Rifles:
- Heckler & Koch PSG1 (German 7.62 mm semi-automatic Sniper Rifle used by Plisken and Raiden)
- --- PSG-1T (A PSG-1 modified to fire tranquilizer rounds; fictional, does not exist in the real world)
Shotguns:
- Franchi SPAS-12 (Italian 12-gauge dual action shotgun, used by Big Shell attack teams)
Explosives:
Heavy Artillery:
- M203 Grenade Launcher (U.S. 40 mm Grenade Launcher, used by Marines, Navy SEALs, and Plisken/Snake and Presidential Security teams)
- RGB6 Multi-Grenade Launcher (Croatian copy of the South African Milkor Mark 6 Grenade Launcher, used by Raiden)
- Nikita Remote Control Rocket Launcher ( Fly-by-wire TV-guided missile used by Raiden; does not exist in the real world)
- FIM-92 Stinger (man portable Surface-to-Air Missile , used by Raiden)
- Rail Gun (used by Fortune, does not exist in the real world)
Melee Weapons:
- High-Frequency Blade (a " Ninjatō " or straightened Katana . Capable of both lethal and non-lethal attacks by switching between the sharp and dull sides of the blade. It can also be used to deflect gunfire. Used by the Ninja and then handed to Raiden; also used by Tengu Commandos. Fictional, does not exist in the real world)
- Minshutō & Kyōwatō (literally means " Democracy blade" and " Republic blade" respectively; Katana and Wakizashi wielded by Solidus Snake)
- Vamp's Hunting Knife(s)
- U.S.S. Discovery (Disguised Oil Tanker, transporting Metal Gear Ray, setting of the "Tanker Episode")
- Ka-60 'Kasatka' ("Killer Whale", Modern Russian transport helicopter, used by Russian Soldiers, and Otacon)
- SH-60 Sea Hawk (navy version of the Black Hawk helicopter, used by U.S. Navy)
- AV-8B Harrier II (V/STOL attack jet used by the U.S. Marines, comandeered by Solidus and Vamp)
- Cypher UAV (U.S. unmanned aircraft, used by Big Shell security)
- Arsenal Gear (experimental Metal Gear/Weapons platform, owned by the U.S. Navy/Patriots operated by Solidus)
See Also: List of Metal Gear Solid 2 characters
- - The player's character during the Tanker Chapter and a non-playable supporting character in the Plant Chapter . After the events of the Shadow Moses island incident, Snake formed an anti-Metal Gear organization known as Philanthropy along with Otacon and becomes involved in various unauthorized sabotage missions against the numerous Metal Gear variations around the world. He infiltrates a disguised Oil Tanker where Metal Gear RAY is being transported to collect photographic evidence of it. The infiltration goes well until, the tanker is hijacked by the Gurlukovich mercenaries. Ultimately the tanker is sunk by Ocelot and Snake is blamed for the attack due to forged evidence. Snake fakes his death and goes into hiding from the public. Two years later, he resurfaces when the Big Shell is taken over by Solidus and his men. He adopts the Pseudonym '''Iroquois Pliskin''' and poses as a member of (then-fictional) SEAL Team 10 while helping Raiden .
- - The player's character during the Plant Chapter . His real name is '''Jack'''. Trained in various VR simulations under Force XXI , he joins what appears to be a re-established FOXHOUND team, led by the "Colonel". His mission objective is to recover the Big Shell from the terrorist and save the U.S. President . In reality, he's an unwilling agent for The Patriots who takes part in the S3 Plan .
- - Solid Snake's partner while working as a Philanthropy and in charge of saving the player's save data during the Tanker chapter (having a habit of misquoting Chinese Proverb s). He was the lead designer of Metal Gear REX, but after the events of Shadow Moses, he founded Philanthropy in order to eradicate Metal Gear in all its forms. He's the one who sends Snake to infiltrate the Tanker after receiving an e-mail from his step-sister Emma, although the operation turns out to be a trap. He helps Snake to fake his death. He then infiltrates the Big Shell, while working as a computer specialist for SEAL Team 10.
- - The commanding officer of the re-established FOXHOUND unit. He bears the likeness of Roy Campbell , Snake's commanding officer and has his name on a name tag, but otherwise he is never referred by name. In the end, it is revealed that he is not a real person, but an A.I. constructed by GW, Arsenal Gear's central computer.
- - Raiden's girlfriend and in charge of saving the player's data during the Plant chapter. She is a data analyst for the Army , but is recruited by "FOXHOUND" at the last minute. She spends most of the mission discussing her relationship with Raiden, but also provides information about the Big Shell itself and the people Raiden confronts. She is actually an agent for The Patriots and plays a part in the S3 Plan .
- - Otacon's younger step-sister. She is the one who leaks the information about Metal Gear RAY and the Tanker to Snake and Otacon. Later on, she becomes the lead engineer of GW, Arsenal Gear's A.I.
- - Ocelot's former C.O. during his service at the GRU Spetsnaz and was conspiring to join Liquid during his revolt in Shadow Moses. After the downfall of the Soviet Union , he became leader of his own mercenary group in hopes of reviving the Soviet Union. He leads the assault to hijack the Metal Gear RAY prototype, but is double-crossed by Ocelot.
- - The Commandant Of The Marine Corps . He oversees the development of Metal Gear RAY in order to combat the widespread of Metal Gear-like weapons around the world. He is delivering a speech to his Marine crew inside the Tanker's holds while the tanker is being hijacked by Ocelot and Gurlukovich.
- - A bomb disposal expert who infiltrates the Big Shell with SEAL Team 10. He survives the initial annihilation of the SEALs and helps Raiden and Pliskin locate the bombs planted by Fatman. He was Fatman's mentor at Indian Head and taught all his tricks.
- - A Secret Service agent who is among the hostages in the Shell 1 Core. He is an operative for The Patriots who's been sent to spy on Solidus.
- - The 44th President Of The United States . Taken hostage by the Sons of Liberty. He is secretly cooperating with the terrrorists in activating Arsenal Gear.
- - The main villain. The leader of the Sons of Liberty, the terrorist that has taken over the Big Shell and poses as Solid Snake during said incident. In reality, he is the third surviving offspring of the Les Enfants Terribles project and considered to be the "perfect Snake". He was also '''George Sears''', the 43rd U.S. President, but was removed from office by The Patriots after the Shadow Moses incident.
- - A surviving member of FOXHOUND from the Shadow Moses island incident. After the events of Shadow Moses, he leaked the Metal Gear REX data to the black market, causing widespread development of Metal Gear-like weapons around the world. He assists the Gurlukovich mercenaries during the hijack of Metal Gear RAY during the Tanker chapter and serves as Solidus Snake's right-hand man during the Plant chapter, but in reality he's working as agent for The Patriots and ends up deceiving both. He had his right arm replaced with that of ''' Liquid Snake ''''s. Due to this, Liquid Snake can somehow control Ocelot through the arm.
- - Not a villain per se, although the player confronts her as a boss during the Tanker chapter. The daughter of Colonel Sergei Gurlukovich and a member of his mercenary group, she takes part in the invasion of the Tanker. Later on, she takes over her father's mercenary group and forms part of Solidus Snake's terrorist group, but is secretly employed by The Patriots and assists Raiden while disguised as the '''Ninja''' (adopting the call sign '''Mr. X''').
- - Her real name is '''Helena Dolph Jackson'''. A surviving member of Dead Cell , the Navy's counterterrorist training unit. She longs for death after losing practically her entire family, but is impervious to bullets and grenades. She wields a rail gun during combat.
- - A surviving member of Dead Cell, originally from Romania . His superhuman strength is displayed when he annhilates the Alpha squad of Navy SEAL Team 10 by himself. He has a close relationship with Fortune and was once the bisexual lover of Commander Dolph.
- - A surviving member of Dead Cell and a disgraced Navy SEAL bomb disposal expert. He is a stereotypical "mad bomber", who plants C4 explosives with a special scent. During battle, he wears a bomb blast suit and rollerblades that facilitates his mobility.
- - She assists Snake and Otacon from behind-the-scenes, attempting to steal equipment from the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center . If the player saves their game 13 times during the Tanker Chapter, Mei Ling will make a (voice-over only) cameo in which she corrects Otacon on one of his proverbs.
- - A surviving soldier from the Shadow Moses island. After surviving Shadow Moses, he joined the Gurlukovich mercenaries under Olga's command, but still suffers from Diarrhea . He makes two voice-over cameos in the game. First, when the player points the directional microphone towards a bathroom stall during the hostage event in the Shell 1 Core Conference Room. The second occurs behind the second pillar of the Struct L Oil Fence, while Emma is crossing the fence.
''Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' extended the series' plot line and introduced a major new main character. The established hero, Solid Snake, was for most of the game not a playable character. Instead, players controlled Raiden, a new member of FOX-HOUND, fresh from VR training. Many fans and critics reacted negatively to this new (and arguably also old) twist in the gameplay. Areas of contention included Raiden's extremely Androgynous appearance, obvious naïveté and inexperience, a sentimental and somewhat whiny personality, and a vulnerable position throughout the game; many perceived the character to be an empty-headed prettyboy. Adding surprise was the fact that Raiden's character was a secret until the game's release; people just assumed that they would be playing their favorite hero.
However, Hideo Kojima has stated that Raiden's character and its perception by the audience were important for the overall feel of the story (i.e, they contribute to a sense of lack of control, being subjected to major manipulation by unknown, deceptive and/or mysterious persons, and a general lack of knowledge about the conditions and motives of several characters as well as the turns and twists of the plot). Furthermore, it was felt that the game was overly self-indulgent, with excessively long sequences of plot-driving dialogue, arguably heightened by a somewhat out-of-their-league English translation. The translation and additional English writing for ''MGS2'' was handled by A. S. Kaku of INTACT, rather than Jeremy Blaustein, who had provided the English localization of the original ''Metal Gear Solid''. Kaku was the translator/localizer on '''', a Game Boy title.
Supporters argued that the above criticisms stemmed from the inappropriate expectation that ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' would be a simple, action-oriented sequel. The ideas and themes which Hideo Kojima tried to express, such as the nature of reality and how information defines humanity ( artifact (to the tune of SNES RPG '' EarthBound ''). It has also been linked to the Meme theory proposed by Richard Dawkins in '' The Selfish Gene ''. On the note of Raiden, it should be acknowledged that both he and the general scenario given to him during the game is nearly identical to that of Snake's in the original '' Metal Gear '', an issue which is pointed out (in game) by Revolver Ocelot in explaining the "Solid Snake Simulation" scenario.
Some fans have protested against the inclusion of many unexplained and blatantly supernatural and Pseudoscientific aspects in the plot, such as Vamp's apparent immortality and Liquid Snake taking control of Revolver Ocelot through the transplanted hand. There may be a valid ingame explanation for this, since Ocelot remarks in the game how there is no such thing as the supernatural, only cutting edge technology. However, no further explanation is provided beyond this vague reference.
The game had a particular focus on ''.
European fans, who received the game 3 months after America & Asia, essentially had the game's big twist (that the player controlled Raiden & not Snake) ruined for them, as many magazines had cover stories regarding this issue. In fact, '' Computer & Video Games Magazine '' actually had "Solid Snake is dead" on the front cover, along with an accompanying picture of Raiden.
Hideo Kojima's choice of composer for ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' was highly publicized in the follow-up to the game's release. Kojima decided upon Harry Gregson-Williams , a Hollywood Film Composer from Hans Zimmer 's studio, after watching '' The Replacement Killers '' with sound director Kazuki Muraoka . A Mix CD containing 18 tracks of Gregson-Williams' work was sent to his office. Flattered by the research put into creating the CD (as some of the tracks were unreleased, and that what tracks he'd worked on for some films were undocumented), he joined the project soon after.
In order to bypass the language barrier and allow the score to be developed before the cut-scenes were finalized, Gregson-Williams was sent short phrases or descriptions of the intended action. The resultant themes then shaped the action sequences in return. Gregson-Williams also remixed the original "''Metal Gear Solid'' Main Theme" for use in the game's opening title sequence.
'', was responsible for all of the in-game music. He also worked on the majority of the game's cut scenes, re-orchestrating Gregson-Williams' "Main Theme" remix for use in several sequences.
As with ''Metal Gear Solid'', the cut scene music includes Orchestra l and Choir pieces, while the in-game soundtrack is scored with Ambient Electronic Music . However, the score as a whole incorporates more electronic elements (particularly Breakbeat ) than its predecessor, in order to reflect the plot's thematic thrust of a machine-dominated society. Rika Muranaka again provided a vocal ending theme, a Jazz track entitled "Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday," sung by Carla White.
The '', a Premium Package of the game was issued in addition to the stand-alone version. The box came with the reversible cover art on the DVD case, a DVD video, an A4 -sized pamphlet and a metallic-colored Solid Snake figurine.
The game's original European release date of on all aspects of the game's production, a comprehensive archive of trailers, a lengthy text article from GameSpot , concept sketches, and other familiar DVD "added value". The added features from the Japanese release were carried over to the game itself along with a new difficulty setting (European Extreme).
- MGS2 was almost not released Stateside after 9/11, due to its inclusion of terrorists and its New York setting. Scenes showing the World Trade Center were removed from the Tanker Chapter's opening cinematic. Although ironically, the game was inspired by Escape From New York, which takes place 20 years before the real-life attacks.
- When Raiden meets up with Snake inside Arsenal Gear (before the battle with the Tengu Commandos), Snake tells Raiden he will provide him with ammo if he should run out. Raiden asks Snake how he will do this, and Snake points to his bandana and says "Infinite ammo". This is a reference to ''Metal Gear Solid'', where if the game is completed once by saving Meryl, the player will be provided with a bandanna that gives Snake infinite ammo when equipped as an item during the next playthrough.
- When Raiden and Rose are talking about which buildings King Kong and Godzilla climbed up, this is in a way a reference to both Snake and Raiden's heritage; Snake is Godzilla, something created by man which many consider a monster (due to him being created from the genes of Big Boss , an evil man), while Raiden is King Kong, who was captured and taken back to the city (In this case by Solidus) and is also attracted by a woman (in this case Rose). Solidus makes reference to Snake, Liquid and himself being perceived as monsters, and how Raiden is different from them but is still a monster.
- Snake adopts the alias Iroquois Pliskin in order to conceal his true identity (As Solidus is posing as Solid Snake at this time). The name "Pliskin" is a reference to Snake Plissken, the main character of '' Escape From New York '' and '' Escape From L.A. '', who Snake himself is based on and bears a resemblance to in the game (as does Big Boss, mainly due to the eyepatch).
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