Critical Close Up - Metal Gear Solid 2 (MUST WATCH)

[Aldro]

Saw this, had to share. If any real MGS fan enters this thread => You really ought to see this. If not: What a shame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-2YuPGYabw

Think about everything you know and then think about why you know it.

Are our thoughts hardwired from previous experiences or do we have actuall real control over them.

And if we do have that much control over our thoughts, how do we filter out objective reality from what we just want to be reality?

 

Games are perfect for liars and sadists, they are manipulative illusions deliberately designed to dupe players into believing they have the agency of choice.

But in reality, almost every possible interaction and outcome of a game have been carefully cultivated by rigorous play testing.


You are not a secret agent sent out on a mission to rescue the president, and you weren't last time either. You are tapping on a piece of plastic in front of a TV screen, playing a game.

 

The first hour is a carefully constructed tech demo designed to completely pander to fans.

This opening tanker sequence is the most convincing piece of misdirection of them all. It exceeds what was shown before, it carefully sets up for a sequel that was too good to be true...

...It isn't shy about showing off the game play changes. The game points out that guards are tougher than before and you can shoot out lights to play with shadows. There is multiple entry ways and a non-linear level design, but the layout of this place funnels you into the vast amounts of detail they put in here...

...Everything about the tanker is built to showcase an ideal sequel. Its what the players expected and wanted out of MGS2...

...but then Snake dies. You are an hour into the game and suddenly the game as you know it starts all over again. And this time, its a lot like the first game...

...The tone is now considerably darker, and the levels are now linear metal corridors. The dialogue is really stiff and dull, and we figure out that Raiden, who could not be anymore different than Snake, is going through an almost nightmarish ordeal...

...And these codec calls are relentless. Seriously, you play the game in 1 minute bursts here. The frequency of these calls got a lot of backlash in reviews of the first game, and were light in the tanker.

So you have to wonder why they so furiously return to reexplain tutorials and exposition that you already know.

These issues could not have passed play-testing, it had to have been included deliberately to make a point.

If the first few minutes of the tanker chapter are what a great Metal Gear Solid sequel would look like, then the first few minutes of this chapter show just how much worse it could have gone.

There is stuff here that lashes out against both fans and critics. Its a facade that the game maintains up until the very end.