The NEC PC-8801 release of Snatcher may mark the genesis of Hideo Kojima's unique style of storytelling and game design, which infuses so heavily his passion for Cinema that inspiration at times feels like wholesale robbery, but Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is a refinement of Kojima's voice. It's hard not to look at this game as a whole and consider how much it informed his directorial style, or his ethos as a game maker, and yet, compared to the places his stories would eventually go, there is something very grounded and approachable about Metal Gear 2.
After the fall of Outer Heaven and the death of his mentor, Big Boss, Solid Snake is again called into action to infiltrate the military nation of Zanzibarland and rescue kidnapped biologist Dr.Kio Marv. It's a pretty simple setup, but much like the later Metal Gear Solid what begins as a simple infiltration mission to disarm a nuclear equipped terrorist cell explodes into a deeper conspiracy, casting both hero and villain alike in a morally grey light. Friends become foes, tragic backstories are shared through dramatic monologs, characters opine on very real problems of deterrence and the role of soldiers in an ever changing world, and Snake must cope with the fact that he can't save everyone. There's some good stuff in here, a lot of which echoes into Metal Gear Solid, but it's also remarkable just how much Kojima committed to fleshing out this world given the first Metal Gear lacks a story almost entirely.
Of course Kojima also greatly expanded upon the gameplay as well. The tools Snake collects on his journey have an actual weight to them, each one pushing your adventure forward in some meaningful way, not unlike suit upgrades in Metroid. The layout of Zanzibarland and way you sneak your way through it feels much more thoughtful than Outer Heaven, as well. The screen-to-screen object layouts are married with patrol patterns that make you stop, think, and come up with a solution before moving forward. It's like moving from one small puzzle to the next, and though progression can be a bit obtuse at times, it's genuinely engaging and does a remarkably good job of building on what the first Metal Gear established.
Bosses are also fleshed out, no longer just being guys with guns who have more HP than the other guys with guns you've been shooting. While some are still battles of attrition, most act as proper end-of-area tests of skill. The solution to each of them can be a bit goofy, like placing mines for Running Man to continually run over because the only thing Running Man knows how to do is run, I mean, it's in his name, he is the Running Man, but it's still fun to figure that stuff out for yourself. I wouldn't want to spoil any other boss encounter, but suffice it to say most require you to think quick on your toes and have a good understanding of what's in your arsenal. This sort of boss design is something that the Solid games are more well known for, but it got its start here.
I played through the version of this game included on Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistance, which means updates were made to character portraits so they wouldn't be explicitly redrawn images of celebrities, and to bring them more in line with how the characters were depicted at the time. The new sprite art here is excellent and doesn't feel out of place in the slightest. Metal Gear 2 looks great in general, but it sounds even better. I picked up the Mondo release of the soundtrack last year, one of the few game soundtracks I own on vinyl, and I often pop it on while drawing or working out. Easily my favorite score in the entire series.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is well worth checking out just to see all the little mechanical and thematic elements that continue to reverberate through the Metal Gear Solid series even today. It's also one of the better entries in the series, and definite among the more accessible titles both due to its relatively early placement in the overarching story of Metal Gear, and its fine balance between gameplay and story. Definitely give this one a shot if you have even a passing interest in Metal Gear.
After the fall of Outer Heaven and the death of his mentor, Big Boss, Solid Snake is again called into action to infiltrate the military nation of Zanzibarland and rescue kidnapped biologist Dr.Kio Marv. It's a pretty simple setup, but much like the later Metal Gear Solid what begins as a simple infiltration mission to disarm a nuclear equipped terrorist cell explodes into a deeper conspiracy, casting both hero and villain alike in a morally grey light. Friends become foes, tragic backstories are shared through dramatic monologs, characters opine on very real problems of deterrence and the role of soldiers in an ever changing world, and Snake must cope with the fact that he can't save everyone. There's some good stuff in here, a lot of which echoes into Metal Gear Solid, but it's also remarkable just how much Kojima committed to fleshing out this world given the first Metal Gear lacks a story almost entirely.
Of course Kojima also greatly expanded upon the gameplay as well. The tools Snake collects on his journey have an actual weight to them, each one pushing your adventure forward in some meaningful way, not unlike suit upgrades in Metroid. The layout of Zanzibarland and way you sneak your way through it feels much more thoughtful than Outer Heaven, as well. The screen-to-screen object layouts are married with patrol patterns that make you stop, think, and come up with a solution before moving forward. It's like moving from one small puzzle to the next, and though progression can be a bit obtuse at times, it's genuinely engaging and does a remarkably good job of building on what the first Metal Gear established.
Bosses are also fleshed out, no longer just being guys with guns who have more HP than the other guys with guns you've been shooting. While some are still battles of attrition, most act as proper end-of-area tests of skill. The solution to each of them can be a bit goofy, like placing mines for Running Man to continually run over because the only thing Running Man knows how to do is run, I mean, it's in his name, he is the Running Man, but it's still fun to figure that stuff out for yourself. I wouldn't want to spoil any other boss encounter, but suffice it to say most require you to think quick on your toes and have a good understanding of what's in your arsenal. This sort of boss design is something that the Solid games are more well known for, but it got its start here.
I played through the version of this game included on Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistance, which means updates were made to character portraits so they wouldn't be explicitly redrawn images of celebrities, and to bring them more in line with how the characters were depicted at the time. The new sprite art here is excellent and doesn't feel out of place in the slightest. Metal Gear 2 looks great in general, but it sounds even better. I picked up the Mondo release of the soundtrack last year, one of the few game soundtracks I own on vinyl, and I often pop it on while drawing or working out. Easily my favorite score in the entire series.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is well worth checking out just to see all the little mechanical and thematic elements that continue to reverberate through the Metal Gear Solid series even today. It's also one of the better entries in the series, and definite among the more accessible titles both due to its relatively early placement in the overarching story of Metal Gear, and its fine balance between gameplay and story. Definitely give this one a shot if you have even a passing interest in Metal Gear.