Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 2 looks impressive, but will it deliver in gameplay? Read our Hands-On for the scoop.

Gamers in the US will be treated to their first taste of Metal Gear Solid 2 later this month courtesy of the demo disc packaged with Zone of the Enders. A smart move on Konami?s part as this will only ignite more excitement about MGS2 and expose more folks to a darn good mech game in the form of Z.O.E. Gamers in Japan however have just received their version of this pack in product and so we bring you impressions from said disc.

First off, the game is just as gorgeous as the previous trailers and screens you?ve seen promised. The only difference is you have full control of the action, putting to rest speculation that all the neat graphic effects are from CG movies or whatnot. The detail in everything you see is just amazing considering everything is generated in real time by the PlayStation 2. Onimusha edges out MGS in terms of pure environment detail, but that game used pre-rendered backgrounds.

The game?s controls follow the basics of MGS for the PlayStation although it?s much easier to control your character now. Snake has learned a whole new slew of fancy tricks like hanging off railings and picking up stunned enemies from the ground to move them to a less public location. The item inventory screen works in the exact same way as the previous title and most of the items available in the demo should be very familiar to Metal Gear fans. The music is also everything you expect in that it?s very dramatic and movie-like.

The demo opens with Snake walking on the George Washington Bridge clad in a raincoat. As he tosses his cigarette aside, he breaks into a dead sprint, casting off his coat and disappearing into a cloaked thermoptic suit that renders him nearly invisible (think Predator or Ghost in the Shell). He hurls himself over the bridge and, with the aid of a bungie cord, lands safely on the hull of a mysterious ship. I won?t ruin anything else and let you experience the story from there.

The demo is not very long, but the amount of variety and detail included will keep you playing for days. The enemies are pretty darn smart and it?s incredibly fun trying to outsmart them in different ways. There?s also many way to interact with the environment as well. In Japan, finishing the demo gave you a code to input on Konami?s web page so you can get ranked depending on how fast you finished the demo. The US version will also have that feature, but be warned that the scores already on the board are pretty daunting. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is on track for release late this year.

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