Graphics: The graphics for this game, are phenomenal, considering how bad the PS2 is hardware-wise. The graphics were good for the PC at the time. The graphics were amazing for the PS2, and still are, the only game for that system that can contend with it is, of course, MGS3, which isn't out yet. The water effects are great, the splashing is overdone but the water in the Tanker episode looks exactly like what a stormy ocean would look like, if you dropped in some sequins, but oh well. The only problem with the graphics are the character models. Solid Snake's "defined" muscles take on a distinctly jagged edge in cutscenes when he constantly cocks the gun.

 

Gameplay/Controls: The gameplay is amazing. The enemy is relatively smart, CPU wise. Yet they still leave room for you to sneak up on them soundlessly and calmly break their necks. The hard-core battles are great as well, whether it's dodging Russian soldiers shots while ducking behind a crate as Snake, or taking on a psycho boss as Raiden the action plays out perfectly. The controls are the best of any game I have found to date (except Tetris). You hold down square to aim, and release it to fire. R2 allows you to equip weapons in a handy inventory screen. Tapping it equips or unequips your weapon, which allows you to hold a guard up and then break his neck by unequipping it and pressing square over and over again. The L2 button is to go into a similar inventory screen but with equipment, boxes, cameras and rations. Triangle is the action button and circle is to punch and kick. R1 is first person for aiming. The main problem is that CIRCLE IS TO ACCEPT AND X IS TO GO BACK!!! What is that? I was constantly calling Otacon to save without knowing that circle was to accept and X was to go back. I had no idea what was going on.

 

Plot: Here come the bad part. The plot is, with no doubt, deep, with interesting references to the first game it is fascinating. However, it is set out horribly. The cinematics would be wonderful if they made sense. The characters just come to random conclusions. i.e. Snake just yells out "You've been using McDonald's to control minds!?!?!" (fake example). It is an interesting plot but skipping just one of the cutscenes is like missing half of a movie. I skipped one only to find that one character didn't exist, or something strange like that.

 

Characters: The characters are like their supposed to be, but they are hugely overdone. Snake is great, however, Raiden goes to the extreme with this being his first field mission and Otacon goes insane when he's supposed to be sad. The enemy is evil to the extreme but he sucks so much in the last fight. Also, things are supposed to be impossible and then Raiden starts slaughtering them. He kills most of them, then falls down fatigued and says "They just keep coming" while one second ago he was a fighting machine looking as fresh as a daisy after 10 hours of fighting. Snake and Ocelot are really the only realistic characters and Ocelot kind of gets ruined at the end.

 

Sound: The music is amazing. This is what makes this game so hard to make fun of. I think "Wow, this game is awful, and then I watch the opening movie and say, this game is just so... good." It makes the game seem so epic, especially near the end (before the last bit). It's main redeeming quality is the music.

 

Conclusion: In conclusion, this game is disappointing, but the controls, the music and the constant action make it so hard to dislike this game (and you can hide in boxes). I have it on my top ten and I can't bear to take it off, however, hopefully MGS3 will have all these aspects and get rid of the plot and character problems.