Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance

Cafe Society
1

Big news from E3–the new MGS game. There’s a story about it on Gamespot.com but I’m not linking to it since it will be locked soon due to their asinine new pay structure. Anyway, here’s the goods:

  1. Novemeber 2002 release date (will very likely change, IMO)
  2. For PS2, X-box, and PC
  3. Snake is now playable in the Plant, as are Raiden in the Tanker, the Ninja, Tuxedo Snake, etc.
  4. Includes 300 VR missions and 5 “Snake Tales” missions.
  5. Probably more stuff that will be eventually revealed.

Hideo Kojima says this is “What Metal Gear Solid 2 was meant to be” and also this is “Metal Gear Solid X” rumored to be coming to the X-Box.

I have two schools of thought on this. One, COOL! There’s a TON of stuff here, and if it’s done well, it’s going to be a must-buy.

But OTOH, I feel ripped off. Kojima spent 2 years making MGS2 out to be the be-all and end-all of the series, and he springs that wuss Raiden on us (by having every single gaming publication and web site lie to us about that), and now we have to buy the game AGAIN?

That’s not cool. And are we really getting a new game? For one to truly play as Snake in Big Shell, A LOT of the game will have to be reworked and created. I’m afraid it might just be inserting Snake’s body into the Plant Chapter with the dialogue and cutscenes removed.

Either way, I’m excited to at least see how the game turns out.

2

I already played and beat MGS 2 so I don’t need a new version of MGS 2 to come out. Unlike a lot of people out there I didn’t care whether or not I played Raiden or Snake. What matters most is game play and I don’t see how that would have been improved with more Snake.

In some ways I’m surprised at the popularity of Metal Gear. On one hand when it comes to actually playing the game it is one of the best ever. However because of such a poorly written plot, dialogue, and frequency of cutscenes I enjoy the game a lot less then I should.

Marc