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Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty (PS2)
by dirtyripper
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a stealth action game for the Playstation 2 released in 2001 by Konami. It is the sequel to the widely-acclaimed Playstation1 game Metal Gear Solid and features many of the same characters. In Sons of Liberty, a terrorist cell who call themselves the Sons of Liberty have seized an enormous offshore ... cleanup facility wherre they are also holding the President of the United States hostage. They threaten to kill the Presidnet and also create a cataclysmic environmental disaster if their ransom demands are not met. You play as Raiden, a member of special forces unit FOXHOUND who is sent into the facility to rescue the hostages. On his mission he discovers an enormous conspiracy where nothing is as it seems.
Sons of Liberty is an outstanding game. The storyline is one of the best I have ever experienced in a game, and in my opinion is better than that of any of the other Metal Gear Solid games. One thing which many people don't like about the Metal Gear Solid games is that you do have to be somewhat acquainted with the plot of the previous games in order to really understand what is going on, as the plot is very complex and contains n8unerous references to previous games. However, for someone like me who is a massive fan of the series, this was not a problem and I found the storyline to be hugeley entertaining. The graphics in Sons of Liberty are outstanding with a tremendous level of intricate detail rendered. Although the majority of the game takes place on the offshore facility, there are quite a wide variety of settings, including an oil tanker and the streets of New York. The sound quality is also excellent with atmospheric music throughout.
The stealth aspect of the game is one of the best things about it. Rather than most games where you would just go in all guns blazing and killing the enemies left, right and centre, in Metal Gear Solid you have to rely on stealth to get your mission done. Hiding behind obstacles and taking your enemies out silently is much more exciting, although it does require some level of patience. The game is not all stealth, as there are some great fight scenes with some outstanding bosses including Fatman - a rollerblading bomb expert, Fortune - a woman is able to cheat death by her supernatural levels of luck, and Vamp - a seemingly immortal man with vampire-like attributes. The game is very long so you certainly get your moneys worth, and it is consistently entertaining with some very humorous moments.
Overall, Sons of Liberty is an amazing game that I personally could not find faults with, although players who are not accustomed to the series might be a little confused by some aspects of the plot. The graphics are amazing as is the gameplay and story and I would certainly recommend this game to anyone who has not yet played it.
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Virtua Fighter 4 (PS2)
by Siibillam-Law
I'm a big fan of beat em up and fighting games. From Street Fighter to Tekken to King of Fighters and Mortal Kombat, I can't get enough. And so when I was browsing through some cheap PS2 games to pick and play over the summer when I'd be going home and wouldn't have my Playstation 3 on me, I found this one.
I had never heard ... of Virtua Fighter before. The fact there had been three before it (and one after) had gone right over my head but apparently it was quite a big hit. I picked it up and started playing.
I'm a bit in two minds about this game. While, in its heart it works just fine as a fighting beat em up game, with some pretty cool moves and characters, I never got into it a lot. Maybe it was because this was the fourth game in a season or something, but to me there wasn't really that much of a story.
So you start out with an Arcade Mode that has some sort of story, and you play as different characters entering the tournament. It's all pretty straightforward stuff and if you've ever played a fighting game you'll know what it's all about. There's also the typical choice between characters and vs modes and so on, as well as multiplayer and it's all very standard.
The thing about this game though that kind of got to me was that there was really nothing all that special about it. Mortal Kombat has its very violent end moves and its rather twisted stories, Tekken has a very nice continual plot through all its games and some very cool characters, but Virtua Fighter 4 kind of has nothing. The characters are pretty ordinary and the plot's a bit "meh". I think it's the same thing that stopped me from buying any Street Fighter game after number 2.
All in all, though, there's nothing particularly wrong with the game. I you're looking for a some good fighting action, this is perfect. It's easy to learn and there is a good range of fighting moves and characters, with individual styles to choose from. Not a bad game at all
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Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty (PS2)
by MoneyMaker1
Sons of Liberty was released in late 2001 and was part of the metal gear solid franchise. I believe as a game this is just behind Grand Theft Auto as the all time best series to be released on a gaming system. The first metal gear solid I got was the 2 disk game and I absoloutly loved it so I had to purchase this one. ...
Price
The price for this when it was first released was around the £40 mark as were all big games. I think for a game with a good reputation you would expect to pay this and I think the majority of people really didn't mind doing that.
Plot
You start off as the character Raiden who is in place of Snake for the majority of the game. Even though he is firstly introduced as Snake you later find out that his codename is Raiden. ( A little confusing i know ). From what I remember is that you find out during the early stages of the game that you are in charge of rescuing people from the grasp of the Sons of Liberty which are the enemy in the game. During this time you will have to do a lot of missions which will really keep you on the edge of your seat.
Music Theme
I think that the music theme for the game is excellent and has really become linked to the game series. You will hear this theme when you first put the game on and also when you die. This music seems to be really intense and keeps the user really focused on the screen.
Gameplay
I think the gameplay is excellent as the user you get a really good perspective of everything that is happening around you. At the top right of th screen is the radar which you can use to look where the enemies are. If you are seen by them it will flash repeatedly till they give up the hunt for you. Another thing is on the bottom right of the screen you are also able to flick through your weapons which I thought at the start was a bit difficult to get the one you want but it gets relatively easy after a while.
Difficulty
I think if you managed with the first game you should be able to cope with this. I had found that the boss mission's weren't as vigorous as the first game but without doubt still entertaining. I did find if i was caught by a guard and the top right radar alerted me I would normally stand and shoot which is a mistake. You will later find out you can hide places which will give you enough time to be safe from a death.
Overall
Overall I think the game is really good and you do get really fixed into the game itself. I found that you find yourself on the game longer than you ever expect because you are really addicted to it. I think that shows how well it was made and unlike a lot of games this story really does last and is not over within a day like some days. You should be able to get this game now for a few quid with it being old.
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