The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2

""For true fans of MGS2" - Hideo Kojima"

The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2

Hardcore Metal Gear fans will love the Document of MGS2. Currently (2007) you will very rarely find this PS2 title in game stores, new or used. The Document of MGS2 was released in 2002 in North America selling for 20$ and not many copies were made. This PS2 title is not really a game, but it does have a few demo levels of VR Missions that appears in MGS2: Substance, which is also quite rare to find in stores. The Document of MGS2 is basically everything documented before, during, and after MGS2 production. It's like watching "extras" on DVD movies, but you get almost everything with the Document of MGS2.

The Content
Everything from character and mechanic models to a list of products made for MGS2 are in the Document of MGS2. There are at least over a hundred artworks viewable, and all the 3D models used in the game. You can also see unused characters and mechs in both artwork and 3D model forms. You are able to manipulate the lighting, view the models from all sorts of angles, zoom in and out, and see the characters with their own items and weapons equipped. The background features the same content. You can view every stage areas in the game with the ability to zoom in and out, etc.

The polygon demos has all the cut scenes from the game. You can pause, fast forward, slo-mo, and move the camera all over the place. You can even see Vamp standing by the car at the end of the game more clearly. The only problem with the polygon demos is the sounds...There are no sounds in the polygon demo mode. The program explains how Kojima Productions created MGS2, such as the techniques they used. The sound features all the background music from the game. You can listen to them like a CD player in that mode. The game plan, this is the original rough draft of MGS2 before it finalized into what you see in MGS2. Very interesting information in this mode, but it's in Japanese...So unless you can read Japanese, you'll rarely go into this mode to look over. You don't really need to read over the original game plan because you got...

...the script in English, the true treasure in the Document of MGS2. You can read the final script of MGS2, and it has all the goodies. Not only will you be reading lines spoken by the characters, but you'll also understand what they mean when they said a certain line from the game. Basically, it's Kojima's director script, it has all of his notes. If the story of MGS2 confused you, you should read over the script. Everything should be clear, and even if you understood the story before reading the script, you'll be surprised by the information that you didn't know that wasn't presented in MGS2. It's like reading a book and watching a movie based on a book. You'll get more information out from reading a book than you would by watching a movie based on it.

The staff, here you get to view the staff members of MGS2 and what they did for the game, such as programming, translating, etc. The chronicle, is a timeline detailing the process of making MGS2 from the beginning to the end. You'll see that MGS2 began production very shortly after MGS1/VR Missions was released, and it goes on to reveal when voice actors were brought in. Special footage, this mode has all the trailers seen by the public, and 2 special trailers never meant to be seen by the public that reveals Raiden at the end, those 2 trailers are only for promoting the game to Sony. You also get some look behind the scenes of making MGS2 and the celebration they had after it was released. Finally the last mode is the, items. The items shows what products were made for MGS, and how different each game cover in each countries the game was released in. Not much here, but it's still interesting to look at when you're done with everything else.

Again, hardcore MGS fans will love this PS2 title. It was pretty cheap when it was first released, but now if you were to search this title on the internet, you'll see people jacking up the price, because it's so rare. I congratulate to those who bought this when it first came out. Besides this, Substance and MGSaga DVD are other MGS products hardcore MGS fans must have in their collections. This is for "For true fans of MGS2" - Hideo Kojima

Pros:
Final script
Artworks
BGM player

Cons:
Some artworks have Japanese texts
No sounds in polygon demos
Game plan is in Japanese, if you look around, you can find it translated into English by fans.
North America version did not have MGS2: Substance include this title and the "Making of MGS2" DVD.

I give the Document of MGS2 an 8 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/07