Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance

"One of the best games made!"

Introduction

The Metal Gear Solid series has always been good, and this game proves that reputation, and makes it even better. An excellent game all around, it has very little or no weaknesses at all. A review doesn't only have an intro, let's get on to the real stuff!

Game Play 10/10

It's an excellent game, and the game play shows. For some reason, it's fun sneaking around and shooting things, and the game is more or less that. There are plenty of actions you can do in this game to make it even more fun. As for difficulty, it varies quite a bit. With several difficulties to choose from, you can make it as simple or insanely hard as you want it, so difficulty isn't an issue in this game, as there are so many. The controls for this game are great as well. Occasionally some actions are hard to do (such as Lock-On and Shoot at the same time, it takes 2 fingers to do that), but overall, the controls aren't bad at all, only that one thing. The aiming responsiveness is great, not too fast, not too slow. There are a lot of actions in this game, but the controls are so well done, it's easy to memorize what each one does.

Story 10/10

You'd be surprised how much story this game really has compared to other action games. In most FPS (First Person Shooter) and Action games, story isn't really much of an issue, but in this game, it's a HUGE part. There are a lot of cut scenes in this game, so I hope you like watching as much as playing (you get to play more though...). The story is VERY well done, with twists and things like that, it's great!

Graphics 10/10

The graphics in this game are stunning. The people look like people, the guns look like guns. The character's hair blows when outside, and they actually look hurt when they get shot. The weapons look great, especially in First Person View, and the flashes of the guns look great too. The environmental effects look great too, the rain, sunsets, etc. Of course, the explosions look very nice, you see them a lot in this type of game...they have to! The graphics are one of the best (or are) I've seen on ANY system, they look really nice.

Sound 10/10

This game looks and sounds good. When you play it with Surround sound, it sounds (if not, pretty close to) as if you are actually there. Everything from the footsteps to the explosions sounds like it could in real life. When you shoot the enemies, it sounds like it should too.... The voice actors in this game did a really good job, they actually sound mad when the character is mad, happy when the character is happy, etc. The sound is excellent!

Play Time/Replay Value 10/10

This game takes a while to beat (even in just the main game), at least 6+ hours of game play the first few times, even after that it takes a while, and the single player game doesn't get old with all the difficulty setting and the many, many things to do in it, which totals the single player game ALONE with over 40 hours of game play. After the main game, you then have all the extra modes (2 more) to complete, and that takes another 50 or so hours to do, and those missions never get old (you can always do some of the ''500 VR Missions''). So in total, that's over 90 hours! This game has tons of play time, and even more Replay Value.

Recommendation: Buy

If you've played the first Metal Gear, or are just looking for a great game to play (and have an X-box), you HAVE to buy this game. Most sequels are worse than this first ones, but this game proves to be an exception to the rule, this game is MUCH better than the first one. Buy it, don't even bother renting it.

Conclusion

As I've said, this is a great game, and you HAVE to play this at least once, you won't be disappointed!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/03, Updated 01/10/03