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Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance Review for Xbox
Posted on Thursday, March 20, 2003 @ 05:50:04 am E.S.TFinally Konami brings the Metal Gear series where it can do some damage, the Xbox. And rightfully so, this game is essentially the classic "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty" with over 350+ New VR Missions along with 150+ Extra Missions and first ever Snake's Tales, which showcase what happened to snake during the infiltration mission of Raiden on the plant.
Graphics: One big noticeable difference that you can see is that Konami made good use of the Xbox's graphical capabilities in order to implement bump mapping into this game. Trust me those added touches in the in-game cinematics make that much of a difference. Speaking of in-game cinematics, I got a more neutral feeling. Though it was a good move to not spend so much time on CGI movies and instead opting to go with in-game cinematics... the opening one, though breath taking as ever "chugged" a bit if you know what I mean. This is surprising because it did the exact same thing at the exact same moments on the PS2 version, which kind of translates to me that Konami did not put very much time and effort into polishing this game, and making it more than just a port.
The actual In-game graphics are remarkable though, all the touches are there, from Snake's headband, to dragging those knocked out enemies into a locker, which more than make up for those little blemishes.
Design: Damn those VR missions to hell. They are they hardest thing you’ll ever do for 4 hours straight. I've played them for a couple of weeks now and I'm only 25.3% done with both Snake and Raiden respectfully. Damn those guards know exactly how to react to everything (duh it's VR). Remember in these training missions you have to be perfect in your execution. When they see you, the training mission is over plain and simple. But it's those VR missions that help you sharpen your skills for the real thing. And for the real thing they come in handy.
The level design and puzzle-like solving methods that you have to go through are simply genius. They absolutely make sure that you do not go into mission’s guns blazing, because you are in fact outnumbered 1000:1 and stealth is your best weapon. In order to keep your stealth, the radar becomes your lifeboat while rummaging around enemy territory. One thing I found that was cumbersome was the menu system, and the controls. I truly hate them. I got used to them after a while, but I mean honestly could they make the controls any more tedious? When in third person perspective I found the controls to be quite awkward, even with the lock-on feature which also ate bullets on automatic weapons, because I found when I locked on it would immediately fire regardless if I was pressing the button or not. I really didn't like the way they handled the first person perspective and on how I have to hold like 3 different buttons to constantly switch from aiming to moving and back again. It all makes me want to sing Avril's hit song, Give Me a Break.
Sound: In a word, superb. With the In-game Dolby Digital 5.1 sound activated the guns sound like they're supposed to, the alarms sound off as soon as the enemies radio in for support. They yell in real time and things echo when in the right room or space. The fully orchestrated musical score is amazing. Also, even when using your micro communications (Read: Kind of like Ear piece and Microphone, but more advanced) all of the characters have their own voice actors. Cool? I think so.
Addiction: I'm hooked, and usually I’m not into these types of games. Lets remember, I didn't own any of the previous Metal Gear games. Even on Very Easy the game is challenging and a blast to play. After you beat the game you get European extreme difficulty, which is basically translates into impossible. There are so many extras that you get with this game that I won't even mention because it'll be like revealing the ending of a movie. Some of the extras you earn after beating the game, which makes this game that much more rewarding to play. Think about it… Metal Gear Solid 2 on Xbox, does it get any better? Nope, not until Metal Gear Solid 3 comes out. Review By: Nash - 1490 Reads
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance Review Scores for Xbox :
| Gameplay |
| 8 |
| Graphics |
| 8.5 |
| Sound |
| 9.5 |
| Replay |
| 8.5 |
| Overall |
| 8.6 |
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