Metal Gear Solid 2 HD Edition Review

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is the first MGS game for the Playstation 2 and features 2 characters Snake the hardened legendary soldier and Raiden a young rookie of the newly reformed FOXHOUND unit. This game has given an HD treatment and it looks good, but it shows its age. But it's gameplay and story makes this game worth playing again on your HD gaming console.

This review is spoiler free!

STORY

The game has 2 characters, Solid Snake the hardened legendary soldier and Raiden a young rookie from the newly reformed FOXHOUND unit. You control Snake first during the Tanker Incident. After some mishap from the mission, Snake went underground. 2 years later, the rookie Raiden has given his first mission to infiltrate Big Shell and rescue the US President from the terrorist group known as Dead Cell.

GRAPHICS

With the HD upgrade, the environment looks crisp and sharp and everything is not semi-muddy like in the PS2 version. The character models just have an upgraded texture, they're not remade from scratch. For example: looking at the HD version of Solid Snake, every part of his suit is flat except for some attachments to the charcter model. The game already runs at 60 frames per second on the PS2, but occasionally drops down on some cutscenes. In the HD version the game runs at 60FPS all the way to the cutscenes.

GAMEPLAY

Like MGS1, this is a stealth game from a over-headed viewing perspective. The game introduces new character movements and skills. The character can now walk, lunge, hang on ledges/railings, lean left or right while behind cover, tip toe to check up what's behind higher walls. Other new features include first person aiming, holding up enemies, knocking them out or putting them to sleep using a tranquilizer gun. This is the Substance version of MGS2. there are VR Missions where you can play as Snake or Raiden and other extras like Snake Tales, a non-canon story where you play as Solid Snake on the Big Shell. And Theater mode where you watch the cutscenes using other characters.

REPLAY VALUE

The game got lots of unlockables items which you can try on your next playthrough. Not to mention that you have lots of dog tags to collect by holding up enemies which unlocks more goodies, VR Missions to conquer and Snake Tales to complete. The Trophy/Achievement support increased the already replayable game's replay value.

If you're a newbie Metal Gear player and have a PS3/Xbox360 then play MGS2 first. It got similar gameplay and viewing perspective like MGS1 but with more features and character movements. It also have a great story, you will say "WTF" later in this game. And even if you're a veteran MGS player and know the ropes of the game, MGS2 will make you feel like a newbie again. So yeah, get it now! The MGS HD collection it's really cheap this days.