--Due to a complete and utter fail on my part, I forgot to schedule this review to upload. Sorry. :(
I thank you for your patience, and hopefully this does not happen again. Regards. Kyle van Rensburg--
Metal Gear Solid 2 is a 2001 video game and the fourth instalment in the extremely complicated Metal Gear franchise. It was released for the Playstation 2, Xbox, PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and the Playstation Vita.
(No, it's not the second. That was Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Confusing? Yeah I know.)
As this is a game I have only watched, Hawke is along for the ride.
Red is for Hawke, Green is for me.
Areas of Concern:
Violence: NOTE: After the first mission, you have the option of turning the blood off. The playthrough I watched, however, had blood turned ON, (Except for one scene where it was turned off by accident.) so it will be reviewed as such.
Enemies can be shot; when this happens, a blood spray is seen, staining the environment in moderate amounts and the enemy yells in pain.
If you kill them with any type of weapon, blood is seen pooling beneath them.
They can also be injured by being shot in specific areas, like the arms, legs, and crotch. Blood sprays, they yell in pain, and they are seen limping around or gripping their wounds.
Enemies can also be stabbed; when this happens, they cringe in pain, yell, and a blood mist is seen.
Enemies can be grabbed in a choke hold; when this happens, you can asphyxiate them; they struggle against your grip and eventually pass out.
You can break their necks; a crack is heard, and the enemy grunts in pain.
You can also just knock them out; they grunt in pain when kicked or punched.
You can also shoot them with a tranquilizer gun; they grunt in pain, and fall over after a while, asleep.
You can kick them off of ledges; they fall, and hit the floor with a grunt. If they fall on enemies, they are also injured.
You can kill them with grenades, either thrown or shot at them; they scream and they are sent flying.
You can shoot seagulls; feathers burst, and they collapse dead. Your allies scold you if you do so, however.
If you blow up some cockroaches, they splatter on your screen, leaving blood stains on it.
When you are injured, the screen shakes, and your character grunts in pain. Blood also stains the environment in moderate amounts.
You can also punch hostages, but your allies scold you again.
Storyline Violence:
A man is punched, and his throat is sliced open. Blood is seen seeping onto his clothes, and some kool-aid juice is seen spraying from his neck.
Blood. I mean blood.
Another man is stabbed in the neck off-screen. You see the blood spraying upwards.
A man is stabbed in the chest multiple times in rapid succession. This is quick and bloodless, but you do hear slicing sounds. His body is then thrown into the ocean.
A bunch of dead people, with blood stains and pools on and around them, are seen.
At one point, you can open a locker, and dead guy with blood stains on his shirt fall out of it.
A man is shot in the neck; blood sprays all over the place, staining the camera, and he gurgles. This is brief, but detailed.
A man is grabbed, and the man holding him holds a gun to his head.
A man is shot several times in rapid succession, off-screen. Afterwards, he falls to the floor, and some blood is seen on his mouth and chest. He dies shortly afterwards.
A man shoots a few guys in rapid succession.
A ship is blown up, with explosions seen, water flows in, and a whole bunch of people are tossed around and drown in the subsequent capsizing. Their dead bodies are seen drifting in the water.
A couple of explosions that occur on the ship toss soldiers through the air, and they die off-screen.
A man grips his arm as he struggles to fend off a man's personality from invading his mind. Cracking is heard as his arm flails around. He bites it to help with this weird process. This happens several times during the course of the game. (See Spiritual Content below.)
A man who was shot earlier is seen coughing up blood in water. It is seen flowing in the water around him.
A man is knocked backwards, hits a wall, and falls unconscious.
A bunch of soldiers shoot grenades at a giant robot. Explosions are seen, but no damage is done to the robot.
The robot stomps the soldiers on a catwalk. An explosion is seen, and they are heard yelling, implying that the robot killed them.
A man is knocked back in the water, and falls unconscious.
A few guys are seen falling over after being knocked out off-screen.
A man pushes his hand up against a machine, and he is suddenly electrocuted. He screams for a brief while, and then he stops getting electrocuted, perfectly fine afterwards.
A hallway is covered with a large amount of blood stains, and some dead guys are seen too.
A man is hit in the head with a knife, with blood spraying. He falls over immediately.
A man is sliced through the knees. Blood sprays, the men yells in pain, and falls over. No dismemberment.
A few dead people are seen with a lot of blood on the surrounding environment.
A man spins around, cutting a guy with a knife as he does so. Blood is seen on the man, he yells in pain, and the attacker grabs him by the head, slits his throat, the man drops down, and blood sprays out from his neck for a prolonged period of time.
He collapses afterwards.
The attacker is seen drinking blood from the neck of a dead guy afterwards. This is not detailed, but you can hear sucking.
(Yes, he's a vampire. Disgusting. Oh, and see Spiritual Content below.)
He cuts a mark across his chest with a knife, which is a kill tally. A small slice is seen.
A man is disarmed, then shoved against a wall by the vampire guy.
You fire bullets at the vampire. He spins and twirls around and dodges them, then runs away. (See Spiritual Content below)
A dead guy with a slit throat, with blood stains on his neck, is seen sitting in a pool of blood.
A bunch of soldiers fire at a woman, but the bullets all miss.
A woman fires a heavy gun at soldiers on a bridge several times. There are explosions, and the screaming soldiers are sent flying.
One hangs onto the bridge, and falls off after a while with a piece of the bridge. He is heard yelling, and falls into the ocean off-screen.
A few dead seagulls are seen falling out of the sky, with smoke coming out of them.
An explosion is heard, and a man is also heard screaming. This is not seen.
A woman shoots a heavy weapon at you several times. Explosions are seen. If you are hit, you are sent flying.
A man is shot in the forehead. A bloody bullet hole is seen, as well as some blood stains.
The man's wound heals by itself afterwards. (See Spiritual Content below)
A man who was shot, has blood seeping through onto the front of his suit. He dies shortly afterwards.
A man suddenly has a heart attack, convulses, and falls over dead.
Soldiers open fire on a man, who deflects all the bullets.
A man fires a grenade at a man. He emerges from the explosion unharmed.
A man's suit suddenly bulges, making him grow muscles. He yells as this happens.
A man is flung back by an explosion, and hits a wall. His face contorts in pain.
You fire at a plane, it fires back at you. A lot of explosions are seen. At one point, the aircraft hovers over you as the pilot tries to burn you with the thrusters.
A plane crashes through a catwalk and into water, with sparks being seen.
A man is seen with a bloody eye wound.
You can step on an electrified floor; your character convulses and screams, and he then collapses.
A man grabs another man's gun and holds it to his face, telling the guy to shoot him. He struggles for a brief while, and is then shot in the chest, blood spurting out for a bit. Blood stains his shirt, leaks out onto the floor, forming a puddle, and he dies briefly afterwards.
A man's dead body is seen floating in water, with blood flowing in the water.
You fight a guy that throws knives at you. Your character yells in pain when hit. He also slices at you. When hit, your character yells in pain.
A man falls into water, and yells in pain for a while as he drowns. Blood is seen flowing as he goes under.
A man grabs a girl and starts choking her. She groans in pain.
A man is shot in the face, he flies backwards, and blood is seen spraying out of his mouth.
A civilian is injured, and blood is seen on both sides of the shirt of said civilian.
An injured person collapses, is carried around, and dies after a prolonged period.
Blood is seen staining the floor for a distance. This is because an injured person was there.
A man is hit with a shock-sword, and he is electrocuted, he struggles for a while, and falls over unconscious.
A bunch of buildings collapses, and water is seen flooding them.
A man's suit has mechanical tentacles, which he uses to smother you at one point. You struggle against it, and scream in pain.
In a flashback, there are some echoes of people screaming and gunshots being heard.
At one point, you get a sword. When you slice somebody, blood sprays in large amounts, and stains the environment. No dismemberment.
A man fires at a woman who has a heavy weapon. She fires back at him. The gunshots and the explosion take place off-screen, so you only hear it.
A bunch of big robots fight you; they shoot lasers, guns, and missiles at you, and you have to blow them up. A whole lot of explosions are seen. Your character grunts in pain when shot, and he is sent flying when hit with rockets.
A man uses his mechanical tentacles to slap a gun out of a woman's hand, and to grab her neck, and start choking her. She groans in pain.
A woman is shot in the head. A big blood burst is seen. A bullet hole is seen on her head afterwards. Her corpse is thrown across the room by a man.
A man jumps as big robots fire at him. They blow up with big explosions, and explosions are seen as they fire at the man.
A man uses his mechanical tentacles to grab a man by the neck, and hold him in the air. He electrocutes the man, knocking him unconscious.
The same man grabs you, and tries to choke you. You have to resist him.
A woman is shot by a man. Some blood is seen on her chest. She spits blood out. A short time afterwards, she falls over, and dies.
A woman fires her heavy weapon at a man. It misses.
A man fires rockets at a man, which all miss and explode around him.
A man in a large robot fires at another man. He deflects the bullets using his swords.
A man fires a whole bunch of rockets at a woman, which all miss and explode around her.
Two men fall down on top of the roof of a building. The surrounding environment is wrecked and smoking, implying it was attacked. A big ship is seen embedded in one of the buildings.
A man attacks you with his mechanical tentacles, strangling you and then throwing you with them, and by kicking and slicing you with a sword. Your character yells in pain when hit.
At one point, he darts around really fast, leaving flames behind him, and when you get hit, your character runs around with flames on him, yelling in pain.
A man is sliced through the back. A large amount of blood sprays out for a prolonged period of time.
A man falls off of a roof, and onto a block with a statue on it. He is heard hitting the block, and afterwards he reaches up, and then dies.
Sex/Nudity: There are some posters of scantily clad Asian women, which I guess are CGI, but still suggestive.
A picture of a topless guy with muscles, is seen. If you take a picture of it, and send it to another guy, he comments: "Uh, not like there's anything wrong with that, but you might want to keep it to yourself...."
An example some people might not catch; on one of the lockers is a picture of a woman, fully clothed, and next to her is a picture of a guy with his hand out of the frame TOWARDS her, making it look like he is grabbing her.
A woman is shown wearing a leotard, along with the rest of her outfit.
A few real pictures of women in swimsuits or in a state of undress (No nudity, or it's obscured at least.) are seen on the walls, computer screens, and doors of toilets. Sometimes, guards are seen staring at these pictures.
A character uses the alias of "Deepthroat" once in the game, but he quickly changes it to something else.
One example early on in the game, although you will only get this if YOU STARE at one of the posters; your character is seen panting whilst looking at it, and an ally tells you that the mission is what should keep you 'busy' instead.
If you go around taking pictures of these with a camera, you can send the pictures to an ally, who tells you to get the pictures he needs of something mission related. He briefly adds he'll just make a back-up of the current picture of whatever woman you took a photo of.
(Once again, this is your doing. Although, the developers should not have put such content in to start.)
If you go into the woman's bathroom for an extended time, your girlfriend chides you. A man also scolds you, but notes he can sympathise with you a bit.
If you stay in a certain bathroom for too long, (I don't know which one.) you are scolded by your allies for doing such things. This maybe a bit of a suggestive reference, not sure.
You can put down a few suggestive magazines to distract guards. You can't look in them, however.
If you look up the dress of a woman, you see her underwear. Your allies all scold you for doing so, but once again the man says he can sympathise with you, leading your girlfriend to get upset.
If you crouch on top of a girl, she calls you a perv, and tells you to keep your hands to yourself.
A man walks forward, and grabs the crotch of another man. The man recoils instantly.
One male character is bisexual. This is not shown, only mentioned.
A man compliments a girl on her being cute and smart. She remarks that she's much more than cute.
A man mentions he had a relationship with his step-mother.
At one point, the character you play as is fully naked. You only see his rear end from a distance as you are running around. His front part is always covered up, by his own hands when he is walking around.
A woman mentions she is pregnant with a certain man's child.
A man mentions that a woman slept with him.
A man mentions that he is genetically unable to reproduce.
Language: Infrequent Swearing. Uses of D**n, H**l, C**p, Butt, and B****rd.
One partial use of Jesus' name. One use of God's name.
Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking: You can smoke cigarettes in this game; some people are also seen smoking.
This game discourages smoking quite a few times, ironically.
A few bars are seen, with bottles of liquor.
In one scene, a man takes a sip of wine.
Spiritual Content: A man's arm makes another man's spirit take control of him, and speak through him....right?
No. In a later instalment, it's revealed that he simply drugged himself to believe the man was possessing him.
There is a vampire character in this game. Whilst vampirism is perverted, it is not spiritual.
Well, the person may be possessed, but the act of drinking blood is not spiritual, although the Bible calls drinking blood a sin nonetheless.
He has some seemingly supernatural abilities, such as the ability to dodge bullets, and to regenerate wounds.
Once again, in a later instalment, it is revealed that he has some nano-machines inside of him that give him these abilities. (The regenerative one, at least.)
A woman is unable to get hit by bullets. The bullets all curve around her. Is this spiritual? It's mentioned later on in this game itself that it's only advanced science.
It's not explained, but still stated to be science. Although it MAY be supernatural, as the game doesn't fully answer it.
At one point, a man sits in the meditating position.
The Evolution theory is discussed by people at one point in the story.
Gross Stuff: A woman is seen with armpit hair. IS THAT GROSS ENOUGH?!
There is bird poo staining some of the environments. You can slip and fall over when you walk on it.
Sometimes, when you look up in the air, and there are some seagulls around, they will poo on the screen, with a splat being heard and the white poo-poo being seen.
A man is heard sitting on the toilet, with his stomach groaning loudly and he moans in pain.
A man pees over the railing onto your character. A bit of the fluid is seen.
A girl is seen peeing on herself, making the floor dark with stains.
Creepy Stuff: A hologram of a man's skeleton briefly shows through his skin on a few occasions.
Themes: Oh boy, where to begin?
The game deals with the subject of video games or virtual reality simulations training people to fight in wars.
Chew on that for a second......Yep. A video game dealing with the effects of video games on our minds. Didn't see that one coming, now did you?
There is an organization that has the whole 'ruling-from-the-shadows' vibe coming from it, so that is noteworthy.
A man mentions he was shown Hollywood action films as a soldier, so that they could condition him to thinking that fighting is cool.
Genetic Engineering, Memes, and even reality is discussed in this game. It takes the Postmodernism stance.
If you don't know what that is, Postmodernism is hard to define, but it is the philosophical belief that the truth is relative to one's self.
This is obviously very dangerous and contrary to the word of God. The game takes the Postmodernist stance on reality, that reality is what you make of it, that whatever you see is only real if you choose to believe in it.
Really complicated stuff, but I'm pretty certain it's not true.
Morality: These characters are complex, and have many problems. They do lie, and take excessive measures, but nothing is too extreme in this game.
Review of Game:
Metal Gear Solid 2 is a really mixed bag. On one hand, the gameplay looks really good and is filled with fun stealth mechanics.
On the other hand, is the overly complex and mystifying storyline, which is featured in long cutscenes that seem to pop up every five minutes.
Is this game horrible? No! It does have pretty good scenes in it, along with some really emotional moments. The voice actors are good, and the graphics are amazing for a game this old.
I don't think this game is bad. It's story is the problem. With a game like this, where the story and gameplay are so tightly intertwined, messing up the plot makes the game much less enjoyable.
It's only really because of the ending, which reaches epic levels of confusion and frustration for the player, simply because it doesn't answer your questions.
Rather go for something else, like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a game with a complex storyline that does much better, even if the ending fell a bit flat, similar to this one.
But Deus Ex's storyline is good enough to not hinge on the ending, while Metal Gear Solid 2's plot is leading up to the conclusion from the beginning. Answering the mystery is what makes or breaks it in this game, and since a later instalment only answers your questions, this one falls short unfortunately.
All in all, a really mixed bag, that is really intriguing and contains some emotional scenes, but also ends on a really slap-in-the-face note, which is one of the factors, along with the spiritual content and suggestive images, that makes this hard to recommend.
Verdict: BANNED
- Intriguing, Emotional, but frustrating Storyline: Hear me out, there are some good aspects, but the game ends on a really weird conclusion, and I don't mean good weird. The emotional scenes are very memorable, but it unfortunately does not save the game from the ending.
- Good Audiovisual: The voice actors do their jobs well, and the graphics is actually pretty good for a game this old.
- Strong Brief Violence: A lot of blood is seen, but all the violence happens relatively quickly.
- Suggestive Themes: Really unnecessary and jarring; the developers put in images of scantily clad woman for no reason whatsoever. Some moments in the storyline, too. (The part where your character is fully nude from behind.) This is the biggest offender.
- Moderate Infrequent Language: Surprisingly little in this category, although Jesus' name is still used in vain.
- Moderate Drugs/Alcohol/Smoking: Smoking happens, but it is discouraged frequently. Some more assorted references.
- Spiritual Content: It's left ambigous if this game had supernatural elements, but a meditating character and some more happenings make this a big offender.
- So-So Morality: Not much to speak of here. Characters do questionable things, but it's nothing compared to the rest of the content.
So that's it! Thanks to everybody for their patience when I was off the internet. I hope to post a review of a new release soon, so stay tuned for that.
I am going to have a format update soon, so I hope you guys are looking forward to that. :P
Until next time!
Kyle. :P
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