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Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Konami/ PlayStation 2

Solid Snake makes his debut with PlayStation2

When you think of a hundred and fifty grown men sitting entranced in a theater, gobsmacked and eerily engrossed, you would think they were watching the uncensored version of Showgirls. If you change the scenario to 150 computer geeks, you would go from Showgirls to perhaps George Lucas' prescreening of Episode2. It is doubtful that you would expect a nine-minute video of a Japanese videogame, over a year away from completion, to engage the attention of this restless group, rouse their adrenaline, bring tears to their collective eyes, and lift them from their seats in waves of applause and cheering. But that's just what Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty did at this year's press screening of the highly anticipated sequel.

The press conference to follow the video read like a good Hollywood script:

Int. Shot- Stuffy grey press room, crammed with reporter types struggling for a spot in the fray. A polite and nervous Japanese man stands at the center of the huddle.

Skeptical Gaming Press: "Mr Kojima. How much of this video shows actual gameplay of Metal Gear Solid 2?"

Hideo Kojima: "Only the first five seconds."

A uniform sigh from the crowd as reporters' hopes are dashed and suspicions are confirmed. A whisper of "I told you so" hangs in the air.

Cut to close up on polite Japanese man:

Hideo Kojima: "Only the first five seconds was NOT gameplay".

Wideshot of mass hysteria, cheering, handshaking, drinking and merriment.

end scene.

So why the dramatic reaction?

For starters, any initial concerns that the PlayStation 2 can't compete in the nextgen console race were quickly torpedoed out of the water with the trailer's breathtaking visuals. From the John Woo style gunplay to the patented Matrix "bullet time" effect, the MGS2 trailer featured scenes of apparent gameplay that blow away even the big budget action flicks. The popularity of Metal Gear Solid only fuels the excitement for the sequel, building on the unique and innovative story, memorable antagonists, heroes, and gameplay elements that have been copied and imitated since its release in 1998.

The video for MGS2 begins on a rain drenched freight ship somewhere off the coast of New York, seemingly the setting for the new title, where we witness a hostile takeover of the ship by a force of unknown soldiers. The crew is mowed down mercilessly and there is only one man left to stop the vessel from falling into the wrong hands. Enter, Solid Snake.

Snake looks better than ever (yes, you can have crushes on videogame characters) with realistic animations, and a slew of new moves from precariously dangling over ledges to diving out of the line of the enemy's sight. It is difficult to tell if some scenes are truly game controlled, or whether they are in-game cutscenes, but regardless, the visual elements are truly mind-boggling. At one point, Snake is seen fighting off a team of baddies wielding protective glass shields hunting him through a narrow corridor. We see the shields marked by Snake's harmless gunfire, pocked and cracked as the team advances. In classic Metal Gear style, Snake eventually notices a weakness in the guards and blows out the knees of the ominously advancing operatives.

As if that sequence isn't enough to salivate over, a gun battle in the ship's bar shows individual bottles shattering and spraying across surfaces as they are pierced with bullets. Snake exhibits his range of acrobatic maneuvers as windows shatter, faces contort, lights flicker and shadows crawl across walls. The camera angles seem to smoothly follow the game's main action although it will be interesting to see how this fits into actual play. Additional special effects add to the realism, such as Snake's hair and clothes altered with the rain and wind. It would be a pity to see the film rights to this game sold when the game's director could easily take this property to the big screen on his own merits.

These are only a few examples of the new improved AI, graphics and game mechanisms, showcasing opponent smarts like flocking, hiding and searching. The weapons seem to follow in the footsteps of the first title, with the addition of some other stealth goodies like a stungun, thanks to consulting provided by actual military specialists. For the anti-violence types, Kojima revealed that the new game can be finished without actually killing anyone. How refreshing!

In terms of characters, we see glimpses of familiar faces sporting their new PlayStation 2 resolutions, including Hal Emmerich, Revolver Ocelot and the Ninja. While we don't see anything of Meryl, there's definitely a new girl in town who expertly wields weapons of her own. Snake's third brother is also alluded to (fans of the game will remember his introduction at the end of Metal Gear Solid), and Foxhound is back in full force.

Without revealing too much of the plot, Kojima commented on the theme of this game, referring to an increasingly technologically dependent world. Whereas in Metal Gear Solid, Kojima questions whether our fate is in our genes, Sons of Liberty seems to look more into how humans are altering their world digitally and how they control that destiny; a look at man versus technology. Just when you thought you couldn't be any more visually stunned, the final scenes of the video show a monstrous robotic Godzilla type creature (Metal Gear Rex?) rising up through the storm. It is this creation that embodies the game's struggle and statement. It also evokes our desire to scream, "I'm gonna kick your badass robot butt all over this ship!" (We are talking about videogames here after all.)

If Metal Gear Solid 2 lives up to the promises of its visual presentation and builds on the solid gameplay of its predecessor, it truly will be the game we've all been waiting for. For lack of a better metaphor, I'm sitting here with a massive exclamation point over my head.

-Zoe Flower

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