Game #2 of my "seasonal game binge"
Yes this is a Christmas game, shut up. Anyhow, this was the only Metal Gear game I hadn't beaten before today and wow, I'm blown away by how much MGS1 took from it, most notably the staircase chase and elevator duel.
Graphically it looks pretty similar to Metal Gear 1 but with the addition of portraits for everybody in the codec as opposed to just Snake. Generally, the pixel art is more detailed and this is apparent by comparing the sprite size and colour count for the Metal Gears in each game. However, some things have stayed pretty much the same such as the bullets.
The music is probably my biggest disappointment however. Zanzibar Breeze is the only track that really stood out to me. Everything from the infiltration theme to the game over jingle feel like they're just there in the background. The sound design otherwise is alright I guess, though I mostly remember the sand making funny noises.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVS_IhkOj50
When talking about gameplay from the perspective of somebody who started with the Solid series, I think it's important to highlight the key differences between 2D and 3D. Generally, 2D will take the advantage in precision and tightness but 3D games have their own advantage in the form of added dimensional space. For genres like fighting games, platformers, and shoot em ups I will always prefer 2D. For genres like survival horror or stealth however, I don't think these truly became a hit with the masses until the 3D era since they fundamentally benefit more while sacrificing less due to the lack of strict requirements for precision controls.
What I'm saying is the functionality of stealth in MG2 is quite limited due to the lack of verticality; you won't find yourself hanging from ledges, jumping on crates, or purposefully rolling on stairs to break Snake's neck any time soon. In fact, the guards could have been programmed better. I do appreciate how they sway their heads but they always stop short of where they'll hear noises and their line of sight is nothing more than a straight line spanning the entire map tile. Using a box to move past the cameras was funny and I appreciated rations being hidden in crawl spaces, but overall I was underwhelmed by the stealth. Escaping from evasion state is also pathetically easy.
Ironically where the gameplay shines is boss fights, puzzles and more scripted segments. Having to chase the Green Beret was fun due to how he would become increasingly suspicious of Snake and increase his running speed accordingly. The Running Man boss fight was brilliant due to how it expected the player to master dangerous mine setups while figuring out how to avoid their own traps. I would even go as far as to say the elevator and staircase sequences are more tense than in MGS1 due to the sheer fortitude of the enemies as well as the tension which arises from how dangerous and less telegraphed the trap doors are. There are some really funny bits like needing a cigarette to calm Snake's nerves for a hang glider.
Where MG2SS especially shines is the story. It's incredible a story so political and still relevant was released in 1990. Heavy themes are tackled with a surprising amount of nuance such as the effect wars have on children, the brutality of war crimes and the unfair nature of how innocents were caught up in them, and Snake's PTSD stemming from events in the previous game. It really plays on the expectations of those who completed the first game as Gray Fox goes from a random NPC to a fleshed out character, not to mention the countless twists. Yet despite all this, there is endless black comedy to be found. The abrupt explosion effects on each boss, a key item being an MSX cartridge with the Konami logo, and of course Snake suddenly becoming such a pussy he gets owned by hamsters and fails to overpower 90 year old men. Thanks Kojima, very cool.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/826960021274492948/917842909892599829/unknown.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/826960021274492948/917842910144237608/unknown.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/826960021274492948/917842910463033354/unknown.png
The only problem with the story of course is the codecs. They are very dry and lacking in much wit or banter. This is where I talk about my problems with the game and why I'm in the minority who prefers Metal Gear 1. The music is infinitely less memorable than 1's which just straight up had catchier sneaking, encounter, and game over themes to the point it's clear why VR Missions used Theme of Tara as its main representative theme over any MG2 music. MG1 had far cooler uses of the codec imo, such as the scene where Jennifer freaks out regarding her brother while providing the player agency to affect the story in a meaningful way. The UI is a bit less soulful than 1's and I would dare say it was kinda lacking in badass effects like MG1's wavy bridge. The start in MG2 is also slow in general due to the lack of items to play around with for a while. Most of all, it's much easier than MG1. MG1 had more varied enemies thanks to creatures like the quick canines, not to mention MG2 fills the player's stomach with rations for Christmas dinner while also making the enemy chases too lenient to escape.
Still, it's a great game and the PS2 version fixes some issues I had with the MSX version. The controls are smoother to start; they now resemble the MGS games. Also, the Running Man fight really lives up to its potential now thanks to the player being able to plant more mines at a time. As a big fan of Ghost Babel, I even adored the replacement portraits. Throw in the boss rush mode, less waiting times for items, rebalanced boss stats, and markers for punchable walls and it's obvious which version is definitive.
The only downside is the official translation is worse than the fan translation (in a rare example of this) due to added typos (a assassination team lol) and odd choices in naming conventions, but it's not significantly worse than the MSX translation so I would actually rec playing it on PCSX2 with software rendering enabled since the sheer QOL improvements make up for a few odd lines.
tldr Kojima delivered and Christmas is saved. Fission (not) mailed.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/826960021274492948/917842936601931806/unknown.png
Yes this is a Christmas game, shut up. Anyhow, this was the only Metal Gear game I hadn't beaten before today and wow, I'm blown away by how much MGS1 took from it, most notably the staircase chase and elevator duel.
Graphically it looks pretty similar to Metal Gear 1 but with the addition of portraits for everybody in the codec as opposed to just Snake. Generally, the pixel art is more detailed and this is apparent by comparing the sprite size and colour count for the Metal Gears in each game. However, some things have stayed pretty much the same such as the bullets.
The music is probably my biggest disappointment however. Zanzibar Breeze is the only track that really stood out to me. Everything from the infiltration theme to the game over jingle feel like they're just there in the background. The sound design otherwise is alright I guess, though I mostly remember the sand making funny noises.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVS_IhkOj50
When talking about gameplay from the perspective of somebody who started with the Solid series, I think it's important to highlight the key differences between 2D and 3D. Generally, 2D will take the advantage in precision and tightness but 3D games have their own advantage in the form of added dimensional space. For genres like fighting games, platformers, and shoot em ups I will always prefer 2D. For genres like survival horror or stealth however, I don't think these truly became a hit with the masses until the 3D era since they fundamentally benefit more while sacrificing less due to the lack of strict requirements for precision controls.
What I'm saying is the functionality of stealth in MG2 is quite limited due to the lack of verticality; you won't find yourself hanging from ledges, jumping on crates, or purposefully rolling on stairs to break Snake's neck any time soon. In fact, the guards could have been programmed better. I do appreciate how they sway their heads but they always stop short of where they'll hear noises and their line of sight is nothing more than a straight line spanning the entire map tile. Using a box to move past the cameras was funny and I appreciated rations being hidden in crawl spaces, but overall I was underwhelmed by the stealth. Escaping from evasion state is also pathetically easy.
Ironically where the gameplay shines is boss fights, puzzles and more scripted segments. Having to chase the Green Beret was fun due to how he would become increasingly suspicious of Snake and increase his running speed accordingly. The Running Man boss fight was brilliant due to how it expected the player to master dangerous mine setups while figuring out how to avoid their own traps. I would even go as far as to say the elevator and staircase sequences are more tense than in MGS1 due to the sheer fortitude of the enemies as well as the tension which arises from how dangerous and less telegraphed the trap doors are. There are some really funny bits like needing a cigarette to calm Snake's nerves for a hang glider.
Where MG2SS especially shines is the story. It's incredible a story so political and still relevant was released in 1990. Heavy themes are tackled with a surprising amount of nuance such as the effect wars have on children, the brutality of war crimes and the unfair nature of how innocents were caught up in them, and Snake's PTSD stemming from events in the previous game. It really plays on the expectations of those who completed the first game as Gray Fox goes from a random NPC to a fleshed out character, not to mention the countless twists. Yet despite all this, there is endless black comedy to be found. The abrupt explosion effects on each boss, a key item being an MSX cartridge with the Konami logo, and of course Snake suddenly becoming such a pussy he gets owned by hamsters and fails to overpower 90 year old men. Thanks Kojima, very cool.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/826960021274492948/917842909892599829/unknown.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/826960021274492948/917842910144237608/unknown.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/826960021274492948/917842910463033354/unknown.png
The only problem with the story of course is the codecs. They are very dry and lacking in much wit or banter. This is where I talk about my problems with the game and why I'm in the minority who prefers Metal Gear 1. The music is infinitely less memorable than 1's which just straight up had catchier sneaking, encounter, and game over themes to the point it's clear why VR Missions used Theme of Tara as its main representative theme over any MG2 music. MG1 had far cooler uses of the codec imo, such as the scene where Jennifer freaks out regarding her brother while providing the player agency to affect the story in a meaningful way. The UI is a bit less soulful than 1's and I would dare say it was kinda lacking in badass effects like MG1's wavy bridge. The start in MG2 is also slow in general due to the lack of items to play around with for a while. Most of all, it's much easier than MG1. MG1 had more varied enemies thanks to creatures like the quick canines, not to mention MG2 fills the player's stomach with rations for Christmas dinner while also making the enemy chases too lenient to escape.
Still, it's a great game and the PS2 version fixes some issues I had with the MSX version. The controls are smoother to start; they now resemble the MGS games. Also, the Running Man fight really lives up to its potential now thanks to the player being able to plant more mines at a time. As a big fan of Ghost Babel, I even adored the replacement portraits. Throw in the boss rush mode, less waiting times for items, rebalanced boss stats, and markers for punchable walls and it's obvious which version is definitive.
The only downside is the official translation is worse than the fan translation (in a rare example of this) due to added typos (a assassination team lol) and odd choices in naming conventions, but it's not significantly worse than the MSX translation so I would actually rec playing it on PCSX2 with software rendering enabled since the sheer QOL improvements make up for a few odd lines.
tldr Kojima delivered and Christmas is saved. Fission (not) mailed.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/826960021274492948/917842936601931806/unknown.png
3 Comments
Yeah I could have phrased that better, I was referring to Theme of Tara being the main theme in VR Missions and the first the player will hear.
edited
snak
2 years ago
VR Missions has a lot of MG2 arranges though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB4cgfYqTXg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vmXSV8Ucdg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC9a_WVuLx0