This review contains spoilers
This review will contain spoilers
Prefix the same thing I did on my MGS 1 review. I played this through the new master collection on PS5 however I want to talk about each game individually so ill review each one as I complete them and then ill talk about the master collection later.
I think Metal Gear Solid 2 is a very good continuation of the series and one ups the first game in a number of ways, It continues well of the story of the first game with a good balance of returning and new characters. However this game in my opinion has one major fault that unfortunatly drags the score down for me a bit which I will get into later.
To start off with the great stuff, I love the story of this game, It is a great spy thriller with so many twists and turns that you never really know what's coming next. I love the twist that the whole game is an engineered retelling of the events of the first game and when you look back you can really see it. I really like Raiden as a protagonist and how he is much less keen to just go along with everything and questions order from the get go unlike Snake in MGS. I still do prefer Snake as a protagonist because Raiden doesn't have the same charm but still a good character. Side character wise I think this game has it a lot better as it makes use of them a lot more, where as MGS 1 only had Meryl actually interact with snake outside of codec, where in this one Raiden interacts with all but 2 side characters. Villain wise I like Ocelot but I think that Solidus Snake is a bit of a dip from Liquid.
To move onto the gameplay I think they made a lot of good upgrades from the first game with the ability to climb, hang from railings and Raiden can use his dodge move to jump gaps. Combat is very similar but with the addition of first person aiming it makes shooting segments a lot less tedious.
Visually the HD version looks fantastic and is a massive step up from the old polygon style of the first game. While still having the polygon style, there is a lot more detail in facial features and costume design. Looking back at pictures from the ps2 version, that game looked incredible for its time anyway, amazing that it was released on the PS2. Score wise its just as good as the last game, the boss fight music in this game is a personal favourite.
Unfortunately I didn't find the bosses in this game as fun as the previous game. Fatman was fun and the Solidus fight was entertaining but the rest were kinda just mediocre especially compared to the bosses in the first game.
Now to get onto my biggest complaint about this game. The cutscenes. It took my around 9 hours to beat this game and I am convinced that at least 5 hours of it was cutscenes. It barely felt like I was playing the game. Baring in mind I had this problem with the first game as well but it comes back ten fold here. Now I understand that Kojima's style is to make his games like movies and he masterfully crafts these stories into long and thought out cutscenes and there are times in this game when that works, but a 12 minute long codec conversation where Raiden occasionally goes "what?" doesn't hit for me. This is where the bulk of my complaints lie. I dont mind sitting watching a long cutscene as it normally has something interesting happening. Like the cutscene before the Solidus fight is amazing and I dont mind that, but its the stupidly long exposition filled codec segments are a drag on this game more so than the first.
I understand that these long cutscenes are a staple of the Metal Gear franchise and I will try and not let it effect any ratings in the future instalments that I play. I really did enjoy the first game but this game has made me a fan of the Metal Gear series and I am excited to start MGS3 soon. Would definitely recommend.
Prefix the same thing I did on my MGS 1 review. I played this through the new master collection on PS5 however I want to talk about each game individually so ill review each one as I complete them and then ill talk about the master collection later.
I think Metal Gear Solid 2 is a very good continuation of the series and one ups the first game in a number of ways, It continues well of the story of the first game with a good balance of returning and new characters. However this game in my opinion has one major fault that unfortunatly drags the score down for me a bit which I will get into later.
To start off with the great stuff, I love the story of this game, It is a great spy thriller with so many twists and turns that you never really know what's coming next. I love the twist that the whole game is an engineered retelling of the events of the first game and when you look back you can really see it. I really like Raiden as a protagonist and how he is much less keen to just go along with everything and questions order from the get go unlike Snake in MGS. I still do prefer Snake as a protagonist because Raiden doesn't have the same charm but still a good character. Side character wise I think this game has it a lot better as it makes use of them a lot more, where as MGS 1 only had Meryl actually interact with snake outside of codec, where in this one Raiden interacts with all but 2 side characters. Villain wise I like Ocelot but I think that Solidus Snake is a bit of a dip from Liquid.
To move onto the gameplay I think they made a lot of good upgrades from the first game with the ability to climb, hang from railings and Raiden can use his dodge move to jump gaps. Combat is very similar but with the addition of first person aiming it makes shooting segments a lot less tedious.
Visually the HD version looks fantastic and is a massive step up from the old polygon style of the first game. While still having the polygon style, there is a lot more detail in facial features and costume design. Looking back at pictures from the ps2 version, that game looked incredible for its time anyway, amazing that it was released on the PS2. Score wise its just as good as the last game, the boss fight music in this game is a personal favourite.
Unfortunately I didn't find the bosses in this game as fun as the previous game. Fatman was fun and the Solidus fight was entertaining but the rest were kinda just mediocre especially compared to the bosses in the first game.
Now to get onto my biggest complaint about this game. The cutscenes. It took my around 9 hours to beat this game and I am convinced that at least 5 hours of it was cutscenes. It barely felt like I was playing the game. Baring in mind I had this problem with the first game as well but it comes back ten fold here. Now I understand that Kojima's style is to make his games like movies and he masterfully crafts these stories into long and thought out cutscenes and there are times in this game when that works, but a 12 minute long codec conversation where Raiden occasionally goes "what?" doesn't hit for me. This is where the bulk of my complaints lie. I dont mind sitting watching a long cutscene as it normally has something interesting happening. Like the cutscene before the Solidus fight is amazing and I dont mind that, but its the stupidly long exposition filled codec segments are a drag on this game more so than the first.
I understand that these long cutscenes are a staple of the Metal Gear franchise and I will try and not let it effect any ratings in the future instalments that I play. I really did enjoy the first game but this game has made me a fan of the Metal Gear series and I am excited to start MGS3 soon. Would definitely recommend.