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Nice concept, terrible execution.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: September 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I really like Splinter Cell.

MGS2 is no Splinter Cell... not even close!

The one main problem is the horrible camera angles. Just let me play in 1st person mode!

Next, why in the world doesn't Snake have a knife? If I had just put a terrorist to sleep, knowing he'd wake up again in a few minutes, I'd just slit his throat! At the very least, toss him overboard, toss his weapons overboard, or something!!! And why can't I pick up their weapons?

Also, what's with the stupid shaking the body to find stuff? Why can't Snake just go through the pockets, instead of having to shake the body repeatedly, to try and find something? And wouldn't this wake them up if they're asleep???

Dumb doesn't even begin to describe the contrived story line and limitations.

Wasted 3 hours on it, trying to see if it would "grow on me". Yeah, it grew... like fungus.

I'm not sure why I'm even giving it 2 stars, but I'm in a generous mood.

MGS 2 isn't quite as memoriable as the first, but its good.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: August 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

We find our hero Snake secretly boarding an oil tanker ship that belongs to the United States Marines. The reason: there is a new Metal Gear, codenamed Ray, as it's cargo. Just as our boy Snake gets on board, the entire ship is brutally taken over by terrorists of Russian decent. Just as Snake makes his way to the bowels of the ship where it's cargo is being held, and after a moment of intensity between the Marines and terrorists, Revolver Ocelot jumps into Ray and sinks the ship killing everyone and spilling oil everywhere.... skip a few years ahead and we find ourselves controller a new comer named Raiden as he sneaks into a huge facility in the middle of the ocean called "The Big Shell" which was built to contain the oil spill Ocelot caused..and which has also been taken over by Russian terrorists. Raiden's original mission objectives are to rescue the hostages of Big Shell, but as the game moves on Raiden must stop the demented FOXHOUND unit and put an end to the Metal Gear Ray project.

For once you can go into first person view to manually aim in MGS2: Substance, which is really helpful. You can jump over railings and hang over ledges to hide from hostiles, you can roll to knock them down, and you can do the infamous melee combo to knock 'em out. Both as Raiden & Snake you collect a lot of weapons including a tranq gun, a SOCOM handgun, an "adult entertainment" magazine, an assault rifle, chaff & frag grenades, a sword and many more. You can actually swim in this game which is a real plus. Now you can "hold up" terrorists for their dog tags... not really important but pretty fun. At one point you'll find yourself running around disarming bombs all throughout Big Shell which was kinda fun.. thought I'd mention that.

Oh yes, this is the first game where if you take down an enemy or are spotted, back up actually comes. They use radioes to contact each other, and if you are really good at aiming, can destroy their radio. It was a neat little idea.

What really seperates Substance from the original Sons of Liberty is it's huge VR mission system, and the mini games "Snake Tales". We'll start with the VR missions - there are probably over 100 of them since you have to play a bunch with Raiden, Snake, Pliskin, Snake in different suits, etc. These missions can range anywhere from "use stealth to get to the end" all the way to "snipe all the enemies who come near the curry". If properly completed you unlock a mini game where you can skateboard as Snake.. meh. "Snake Tales" stars Snake in various missions on Big Shell.. thats really it.

I'm gonna be straight with you guys - MGS2: Substance has amazing graphics and even better music. Everything in this game looks so real and textured.. it's really beautiful for the PS2. I mean seagulls actually do their business on Big Shells roof and you can slip on it, how much more realistic can you get?? The music is superb.. words can't even explain it. Sometimes you'll feel depressed (when he time calls for it) orfeel pumped up for a big battle through the music..truley helps the overall feel & atmosphere of the Substance.

Characters... FOX-HOUND (and MGS2 in general) have some real entertaining characters to say the least, all with a fictatious background that is pretty miserable to say the least. The best is Fat Man because hes fat, roller blades, is funny, and plants bombs all over the place. You'll meet up with a familiar ninja ;), the daughter of someone who died on the Marine tanker, Otacon's sister who is just as lame and annoying as Otacon himself, and many more.

The only downfall is the length of the game and the story near the end of the game. The ending was so confusing I don't even get it... as your running around your getting codec calls from Colonel Campbell saying, "Go ahead and take a rest, I'll save your game. Turn it off." or "Hari Kari Siscors 69!!"... then it turns out everything is a VR mission? Lame. Also there is A LOT, and I stress A LOT, of talking in this game. It's rumored that about 2/3 of the actual game is talking.

This review is too long for it's own good, so I'm gonna sum it up now - if your a fan of the Metal Gear Solid games or if you really enjoy sneaking around...or talking....you have to play this game. It's fun, has awesome graphics & music, and it's a pretty cheap game nowadays. Go for it.

Understanding the MGS fans

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: May 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I see a lot of reviews comparing MGS to Ghost Recon. The problem is the most the the people who play MGS know MGS from the day when most gamers today where still in there diapers. Metal Gear is an almost 20 year old game. I saw some diaper wearer here posted that the game had no story line. Its what happens when you pick up a book and read the last chapter. Then again, kids today don't have to know how to read to graduate, so I guess I can't expect them to know what a good story line was if it smacked them in the face. Go ask you Dad, ya mama's boy, to break out the old NES so he can whoop you assssssss! There are 8 Metal Gear games all of which are Great games and without them there would be no Ghost recon.

Disappointing!!!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 8
Date: August 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I took the plunge and bought this recently for $6.99 from my local video store, and I'm taking it back.

My sense from reading previous reviews is that many gamers are inclined to like this game on the Xbox because they have enjoyed previous versions on another console (PS2 I think). And I'm ok with that.

I need to admit here that my only frame of reference for this game is the Splinter Cell series on XBOX and for that reason the gameplay is just so disappointing to me.

If you're a Splinter Cell fan and are expecting something even remotely akin to that gameplay experience you will be terribly disappointed. (In my humble opinion.)

There were two major problems with the gameplay for me:

1) The camera angle is not well positioned which makes it difficult to get a good orientation of one's surrounding and makes movement difficult, I found. I can't emphasize strongly enough how much the camera angle bothered me.

2) Given how bad the camera angle for the game is, one wants so very desperately to play in first person mode. But, while the game does allow one to look around in the first person mode, it doesn't allow one to *move around* in first person.

Bottom line: the game lacks the fluid gameplay experience that I've come to enjoy from Splinter Cell and just doesn't even come close to measuring up to that standard.

On a more positive note, the graphics were very impressive and the story-line and cut-aways were equally impressive.

mgs2

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: March 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

this is one of the most fun and addictive games i have ever played. sme bits are annoying like when you have to do something or go somewhere and you dont know how or where. the cutscenes are interesting but also quite tedious. also the person who saves for you is raidens girlfriend so after when you save you normally get a long speech about how empty raidens room is and why he wont sleep next to her and when they met they argued over what building king kong climbed up or something like that. there are lots of plot twists and after a little while i was completely confused on whats going on. it is very interactive. its possible to kill almost anyone or anything. like it is possible to shoot seagulls that fly around in the raiden levels. also when you have to save the girl thats scared of water i accidenly used melee attack on her a couple of times which brings me onto something else. the controls are awful when im crouching down or something and i guard walks over i want to get up but i normaly end up lying on the ground which means i get a kick in the head from the guards. most of the bosses are werid like theres one called fatman who is a fat guy on rollerblades who plants explosives all over the place and before he dies he says something like laugh lots and grow fat. the characters are weird like theres a bisexual vampire who is in love a marine commander. theres otacon the weird person with glasses who had a realtionship with his mum the main character looks like a girl. on one of the levels you are walking around inside a metal gear naked and whatever you do one hand is always on his you know what. also when your naked the guards arnt afraid to kick you and shoot you. then you find out that raidens girlfriend is pregnant and your commander is ai and loads of other stuff. it has lots of annoying bits like the very long cutscenes but overall it is a very fun and addictive game well worth the money

"METAL GEAR SOLID 2"

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: March 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am going to review the game Metal Gear Solid 2. It has a lot of animated blood. And a lot of animated violence. It's a good game for gamers that like to play action games.
This game has a lot of positive things .Its really a good game but it can be better. The good things are that you can have fun shooting people in there heads. You also have to think of some strategies so you won't get caught. Also you get to steal the enemy's weapons once you kill him. That way you won't run out on ammo. You get to hide in lockers so they won't spot you. And in this game there's new tricks including guns and tricks so you won't get caught by your enemies.
Some bad things are that when you die you have to start over from the last place you saved from. Also you need more weapons because there's only a few. It would be better if there were more combos to fight with, or different tricks to use so you won't get caught.
I say the game is good but I've played better.

Extremely fun, but has the one flaw all XBOX games have

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: January 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Many loved MGS2 for its incredible graphics and gameplay, yet loathed its convoluted story and slightly whiney lead character Raiden(he wasn't THAT bad...). I guess this title was made as an apology for everyone, which now has tons of extra features and gameplay modes. The VR and Alternative missions are extremely addictive, and they start out easy but get way harder as the game goes on. I have often stayed up late just attempting to finally acomplish one of these flawlessly. Plus, there's also the addition of Snake Tales, which allows the player to go on numerous storylines as Solid Snake himself, ranging from normal to laughable to just plain crazy(one has Snake pitted against an evil dimensional overlord. Yes, you just read that last line right). Overall, while they don't add up to MGS2's storyline, they are fun to play around with. My only complaint with the game is the same I have with every XBOX title: The controls STINK! It doesn't matter which game I play, the controls are often unresponsive and do not react even if I press multiple buttons, and as a result I often die in this game. No doubt the PS2's controls are a lot better. Still, even considering this is just a nice special edition of MGS2 with bonus features, it's incredibly fun to play. However, I suggest that if you already own the regular MGS2, that you should rent it first.

MGS: Substance rocks

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Will you guys quit with comparing MGS to Splinter Cell?! The only resembance if the fact that they are both stealth based games with male main characters. That is pretty much where it ends. One is Japanese, the other North American... That in itself should indicate the differences. It's like trying to compare Final Fantasy to Baldurs Gate. There are too many differences and not enough resemblances to make an accurate comparison. Nevertheless...

-> Graphics (8 out of 10)
The graphics do have some strong weaknesses, and strengths. Overall, they look fine. Nothing spectacular however. Being a PS2 port, many of the textures look fine from a distance, but look horrid from up close. Had the game been developped for the Xbox, the game would not suffer from this issue. However, this is easily overlooked once you get into the game. However, the custscenes (prerendered ones that is), look amazingly juicy, which is the reason I had given graphics a 8 out of 10, and not 7.

-> Sound (9 out of 10)
I find that the only time you really notice sound is it if sucks. In this case, I cannot say that it does. The voice overs are great, and there is plenty of dialog to listen to. The background music fits the scenes fine, and the sound effects do sound accurate.

-> Controls (6 out of 10)
This is one of the problematic parts of the game, altho easy to get used to. I have never played the PS2 version, but I do imagine the controls would fit a PS2 controller better than an xbox one. The game would suffer less if you could customize the controls, rather than choosing from 1 of 4 configurations. An other problem if have with the controls is the static camera. Altho 95% of the time, there are absolutely no problem with them, there are times where the camera does pose some type of challenge trying to maneuver, or see enemies/obstacles. But again, this is easily overlooked once you are used to it, and know how to rectify/avoid the situations. I do wish that you would be able to move around in first person view, and would not have been much more work to impliment this. however, I do beleive the feature was left out purposely so that the game would not become a first person shooter rather than a stealth/action game.

-> Story (8 out of 10)
As with the previous MGS, the game is a storytelling masterpeice, altho again it does suffer some weaknesses as well. The story is great, and drives the whole game smoothly.
---SPOILER---|---SPOILER---|---SPOILER---|---SPOILER---|---SPOILER---
Many people did not care for the fact that you play as Raiden for most of the game. As a matter of fact, I did enjoy it. He can be a little whiney at times, but that is how he was created, and is an important part of the story. What I did not care about is the ending, where everyone goes "I fooled you", then someone else goes "Hah hah! No, I fooled you", and then yet an other person says the same, over and over a couple times, and Raiden STILL goes along with the Pariots plot. I would have rather see him site with Solidus Snake and gone with the Sons of Liberty plan.
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If you were to total all of the cutscenes, it would far outlast an average movie, and that is not counting the last 2 hours of play, which are mostly cutscene. And this is an other small issue I have with the same. Altho I love long cutscenes greatly (lets me catch up on my nicotine), the ones at the end of the game are just too long. Other than that, the story is superb!

All in all, this if one of the best games I have ever played. And altho I do beleive it has a few shortcomings, there strenghts of the game far, far, far outweight the negatives, and makes it a truly enjoyable, and unique game.

ONE OF THE BEST GAMES EVER!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: November 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you have xbox or ps2 you must own this game. The acting and characters are not not as corny as the 1st game but much more confusing to follow. It feals like your playing in a high budget full climax action film.
The gameplay is addictive and fun as hell and the cutscenes are well worth watching! F*** Splinter Cell! My only complaint with this game is that you don't play as snake the whole game. But if you get Substance you can! BUY THIS GAME NOW!

One of the biggest disapointments of all time!!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 10
Date: November 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

To make this review short and simple.
This game SUCKS!!!
Its a huge disapointment!
It can`t be compared to the great MGS1.
The only good part of the game is the begining. Where you control solid snake.
And then the rest of the game you control a guy. Who basicly looks like a girl.. And that hair. 80s is not cool anymore!
And it have to be the worst story in any game ever!!!
Its a script from HELL!!!
A 5 year old could write a better story!
It takes every turn there is.
And now I am being soft on the game..
I regret buying this game.
And I have never played it since I finished it.
Id rather play the great MGS1 one more time.
The sequel to this one(when it comes out), is a sure rental. Before buying it.
To finish this review of: once again, this game SUCKS!!!
Dont buy it!!!

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