What is Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance?
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (MGS2) is an updated version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the stealth action game developed by Konami in 2001. Substance came out in 2002 and was released for more platforms. The game was developed by the famed Hideo Kojima. The Metal Gear Solid franchise follows the story of Solid Snake as he works as a soldier/spy in a number of different conflicts. MGS2 is the second in that franchise and throws many twists in that I am going to do my best not to spoil here in this review. The game takes on average around 13 hours to complete the main story, and it took me about 10 hours.
Game Review:
MGS2 is the oldest game I am reviewing so far on this page but it is one of the best in my opinion. Playing this in 2022, 20 years after release, I think it still holds up as one of the best games ever made. There are some aspects of the game that show their age but they don’t hinder the experience really at all. This review is going to try to capture how great this game is without spoiling story aspects (since that is a huge part of all Kojima games), because if you haven’t played it, I want you to be able to give it a shot and make your own opinions. For full disclosure, I played this game on PC through GOG and not on the original hardware.
The story of the Metal Gear Solid franchise is one of the best aspects of these games. MGS2 in particular has so many twists and turns that keep your attention and keep you hooked even if you already know the ending or where later games in the franchise go. This is the third game in the franchise that I’ve played, having already played and beaten MGS5 and MGS1 in that order. The story of this game hits surprisingly close to home in our current political and digital climate that we live in. The story in MGS2 deals with themes of free will, control, digitization of information, censorship, and legacy all wrapped in an espionage action thriller package. This game gives you a lot to take in all the time, which is one critique I would give to the story of this game. There is too much exposition that it really can leave the player confused and overwhelmed by the amount of information. The story it’s providing can be incredible but if the player has an information overload it can be hard to follow.
My other gripe, which is more of a personal opinion than an objective critique, is that as a Christian the story line can put me off a bit with some of the choices for where it goes. But this is less of an art critique and more of a personal opinion because my goal when playing games, watching movies, or reading books is to learn from other people’s perspectives and ideas even if it may make me uncomfortable. Because even if something doesn’t align with your beliefs, it can still help you grow and learn from other people’s perspectives because we all have positive things to share with the world. And this brings me to one of the themes of MGS2 that really resonated with me: the story explores the danger of siloing ourselves into echo chambers and not truly seeking out objective truth.
As for the gameplay in MGS2, it is a stealth action game. You have to sneak through bases by using disguises, hiding spots, technology, and (when necessary) violence. There were a few instances where I got frustrated because I got forced to go through a specific point with sudden difficulty spikes but those were few and far between. The game is played in a fixed camera angle (although it changes throughout the game depending on the director’s choice) which is a characteristic of older games. This game however does introduce a first person mode for all of the weapons. This mode does show its age in that you cannot move while in first person, you can only aim your weapon or device. This makes it a bit jarring playing from 2022 where first person games have been fine tuned very effectively. But I don’t think this inhibits the game at all because the game was designed around this concept and enemies or traps often give you enough time to get a shot off and then pull out of first person to avoid their strikes.
As you progress through the bases in MGS2 you will encounter boss battles. These are some of the wackiest and craziest enemies and fights I’ve ever had to encounter in games (which is a staple of this series). I won’t spoil anything but let’s just say that some of the bosses definitely make you laugh out loud and some of the bosses are supernatural. This game and series has a tendency to get a little anime with its boss battles and storylines which can be a little ridiculous but also endearing because it adds variety. These battles require incredible creativity because each boss is like a puzzle on figuring out how to actually deal with this enemy. So while they are ridiculous, they are great fun and provide good breaks from the stealth action portions of the game.
Through the non boss areas of the game you have to stealth your way through the enemy bases which are full of traps, enemies, and puzzles you need to solve to get through. Enemies have an improved AI from MGS1 and will do things like clear rooms and check corners. Many of the traps or puzzles require specific items or the use of items in unique ways that you wouldn’t normally think of to get past. The variety of tasks you have to do always keeps the action feeling spicy and never bland. My problem with many modern AAA games is that you do the same thing over and over again, often not particularly fun things. But this is not an issue in MGS2 because you are always doing something new.
Family Friendliness:
MGS2 is not a particularly family friendly game. While this game has older graphics of a 2002 video game, it still shows some gore and violent scenes. There are a few scenes that are a bit terrifying such as walking down a hall that has blood smeared across the walls with bodies strewn everywhere. It conveys the fear you’re supposed to feel for the enemy but would not be safe for young eyes to see in my opinion. This game also gets pretty close to nudity a few times. For instance a female character is not very clothed and your character has a section where you are nude and can see his butt (he does cover his private area with his hands). The themes and the story I also wouldn’t say are appropriate for kids, both in terms of content but also complexity of the material. Overall I would say this is a game to save for after the kids go to bed until they’re a bit older.
Features for Parents:
I started this game before my son was born and he was born while I was in the middle of the playthrough. I did not find many features that make it easier for a parent to play. I played on my PC which is harder than something portable like the Switch. One parent friendly feature of this game is a good save feature where you can save essentially whenever you want, as long as you’re not in a cutscene. And this game does feature adjustable difficulty settings, making the game more approachable and easier to complete. A big issue of this game is the frequency of incredibly long, unskippable cutscenes. These can cause issues if you need to be available on demand. So overall I would not call this a particularly parent friendly game.
Final Verdict:
MGS2 in my opinion is a must play for parents (and non-parents) who haven’t, even though it’s 20 years old at this point. It has a complex and fascinating story that seems particularly relevant in today’s culture. It doesn’t offer a large variety of accessibility features for parents and I would argue that this game probably shouldn’t be played in front of the kids. But this game is short enough that I would recommend anyone wanting to play a fantastic game to give it a try.