History VideoGame / MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty

* AdjustableCensorship: In the OPTIONS menu, there is a toggle for BLOOD. When BLOOD is set to OFF, blood spurts and splatters are disabled, but this does not affect pre-existing corpses or stains.

* AdjustableCensorship: In the OPTIONS menu, there is a toggle for BLOOD. When BLOOD is set to OFF, blood spurts and splatters are disabled, but this does not affect pre-existing corpses or stains.

* AnAesop:
** Snake can only console Raiden by saying that nobody can be "told" who they are; you have to figure it out for yourself. Raiden's error was refusing to acknowledge his horrible past, instead submerging himself in an idyllic life which was -- subtly, imperceptibly -- too good to be true. The Patriots admit that they picked Raiden in large part because he refused to confront the truth, unlike the other Liberian Civil War vets.
** The Colonel and Rosemary go on at length about how the new era of media has a serious capacity to dilute and alter the truth for the benefit of those higher up on the social ladder. They also mention that this can be turned against its users quite easily by allowing them to form echo chambers that censor all opposing thought. This means that real discussion is difficult if not outright impossible online, and that some communities can become so insular that what they perceive to be the truth ''can'' become their "truth". Raiden doesn't dispute any of this.
** Appears to be the case with Solidus, where the message of the game is that doing the right thing with your own benefit in mind is entirely the wrong thing. After all, [[spoiler:Solidus aspires to destroy the Patriots, just like Snake eventually does, but his self-centered approach rather than the selfless altruism of Snake makes him just as much a bad guy in the game as the Patriots.]]

* DeconstructorFleet: [[invoked]] Tackles into [[{{Sequelitis}} sequels that rehash the first product’s plot]], [[BlankSlate blank slate protagonists]] (overlapping with DeconstructedCharacterArchetype) and [[IJustWantToBeBadass playing video games as power fantasies]], [[RailRoading the concept of linearity in video games]], [[ScrewDestiny free will]], [[{{Postmodernism}} reality vs. fantasy]], [[NoFourthWall video games in general]], and most of all, ''[[ThisLoserIsYou the player]]''. [[PlayerPunch One may feel a bit uneasy when playing this game]]. It even tackles the series itself, twisting the NurtureOverNature Aesop of the original ''Metal Gear Solid'' into a sinister AncientConspiracy that reshapes people's whole personalities through social engineering.

* BootstrappedTheme: The ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' rendition by Harry Gregson-Williams became the official theme of the series. It was originally composed, under the name "Winter Road" and as part of an extended lyrical romance on the poems of Pushkin, by Georgy Sviridov; from there, it was lifted without attribution by Tappi "TAPPY" Iwase, and heard in the opening of ''Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions''. Silicon Knights also inserted it into their [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] remake of ''[=MGS1=]''.

* SomeDexterityRequired: In order to make up for the lack of [[PressureSensitiveInterface pressure-sensitive buttons]] on its gamepad, the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}} version of the ''HD Edition'' has you aim your weapon without shooting by clicking in the left stick while pressing a button, but leaving you unable to ''put away'' your weapon without firing it unless you unequip and then requip your weapon, which on higher difficulties can easily result in a held-up enemy deciding to [[ISurrenderSuckers change his mind on the whole "surrendering" thing]]. It's incredibly awkward to say the least.