Much like Snake Eater, I like MGS2 a bit more each time I play it. There are plenty of flaws to root through, but none that haven't become a staple of later games. Like it or not, Sons of Liberty was the template for modern Metal Gear. The moralizing, the ADD approach to storytelling, the melodramatic speeches; it's all there.
Raiden is designed as a fanservice character to distract from his real role: a cypher, a mirror pointing at the gamer. That Kojima has since retconned Raiden into a Wolverine anti-hero is emblematic for how superficial and silly gamers see themselves. That said, I think the Raiden concept would come across better if he were just some grunt: a cocky Tom Cruise ace who thinks he's hot shit because he got high marks, but is actually in the dark about everything happening around him. The psychological deconstruction of Raiden is the game's strongest point. Less fun is Otacon's frustrated libido and mommy issues. In a game which is primarily a character study, it's a mistake to add bisexual vampires and inbred families. If Kojima was going for diversity, then kudos, but you don't hear too many LGBT advocates holding up Vamp as some fictional pioneer.
Same goes for Emma, a fanservice character with a personality grossly out of proportion to that role: she's the dark mirror to Otacon, but we don't take her seriously because she reflexively disagrees with everything Otacon says or does, and is basically a token teenage brat.
Seeing Snake take an advisory role is fun, and fleshes him out as a character: He seems to have fallen into Grey Fox's old role as the seasoned mentor. The Tanker and Plant missions are marvels of game design. There are so many tricks to pull on enemies. (Unfortunately, like MGS1 and Snake Eater, there's no way to take advantage of them all without going to Alert mode.) The game mixes it up with interesting bosses and challenges, none of which are too different or challenging and will frustrate players.... though Fatman is a nasty piece of work.
I happen to be very fond of the game. It was my first Metal Gear title, and while not as flawless as the first MGS, it keeps to the spirit of classic Metal Gear while attempting to try something new.
Quintessential MGS - for better or worse
Much like Snake Eater, I like MGS2 a bit more each time I play it. There are plenty of flaws to root through, but none that haven't become a staple of later games. Like it or not, Sons of Liberty was the template for modern Metal Gear. The moralizing, the ADD approach to storytelling, the melodramatic speeches; it's all there.
Raiden is designed as a fanservice character to distract from his real role: a cypher, a mirror pointing at the gamer. That Kojima has since retconned Raiden into a Wolverine anti-hero is emblematic for how superficial and silly gamers see themselves. That said, I think the Raiden concept would come across better if he were just some grunt: a cocky Tom Cruise ace who thinks he's hot shit because he got high marks, but is actually in the dark about everything happening around him. The psychological deconstruction of Raiden is the game's strongest point. Less fun is Otacon's frustrated libido and mommy issues. In a game which is primarily a character study, it's a mistake to add bisexual vampires and inbred families. If Kojima was going for diversity, then kudos, but you don't hear too many LGBT advocates holding up Vamp as some fictional pioneer.
Same goes for Emma, a fanservice character with a personality grossly out of proportion to that role: she's the dark mirror to Otacon, but we don't take her seriously because she reflexively disagrees with everything Otacon says or does, and is basically a token teenage brat.
Seeing Snake take an advisory role is fun, and fleshes him out as a character: He seems to have fallen into Grey Fox's old role as the seasoned mentor. The Tanker and Plant missions are marvels of game design. There are so many tricks to pull on enemies. (Unfortunately, like MGS1 and Snake Eater, there's no way to take advantage of them all without going to Alert mode.) The game mixes it up with interesting bosses and challenges, none of which are too different or challenging and will frustrate players.... though Fatman is a nasty piece of work.
I happen to be very fond of the game. It was my first Metal Gear title, and while not as flawless as the first MGS, it keeps to the spirit of classic Metal Gear while attempting to try something new.