outlet

MGS2 Substance is a nice release with plenty of bonuses for the game. While the original was good enough for me, I'll review this one too since I got the chance to play this and check out the VR missions. However, the story-mode is about the same as the PS2 version, which could turn people away.

Graphics: 5/5

As with the PS2 version the graphics are superb. They're actually a tad bit better on the XBOX (as if there was any need for improvement). So again, this scores a five.

Sound: 4.5/5

Again, it's about the same. The music is awesome! You'll love the track. But as with the PS2 version, there are moments where there is no BGM, which doesn't always help the atmosphere of some parts. The sound effects are great, and the VR mission training levels have nice music as well.

Gameplay: 4/5

Well, to be truthful this depends soley on whether or not you played the original. You'll note that MGS2 is mostly drowned out in cutscenes. The good news is that you can skip these scenes and continue to play. Still, there are WAY too many cutscenes and they go on about unimportant events at times. Not only that but we're forced to sit through a lot of scenes where we're viewing the codec screen. But the good news, again, you can skip them.

However, as with the PS2 version, the whole "Raiden" issue will get to some gamers. Several people disliked the PS2 version based on this fact alone and I find it rather sad that so many gamers let a single character ruin the entire game for them. Raiden may not be that likeable at first but I could still do everything with Raiden that I could do with Snake. Just because I'm a different character doesn't mean the game itself is bad, or that it's less fun. He may not have had Snake's attitude or anything, but the point is, I still had fun playing the game.

Now for the VR Missions. It's advertised that there are over 400 missions. This is true to an extent, but there are actually only 150. The only reason there are more is because a lot of missions you play again and again but with different characters. The VR missions are fun, but don't let this be your only reason for buying Substance.

Now the Snake Tails. The Snake Tails seem to only be there to give people the joy of playing the game as Snake. They're actually just a lot of VR Missions connected together. The Snake Tails aren't bad by any means, but they make no sense if you were to compare it to the story mode. It truly seems like they were stuffed in there to satisfy the gamers that didn't like Raiden. Again, it's good but it is not the only reason to buy Substance.

Story: 3/5

Being nice to the main storyline. The Snake Tails story makes almost no sense, and the main game story throws too much for you to absorb. The game has masterful plot twists, but they stack up on each other at the end of the game to overall give the game a poor story. Much too many plot twists give the story too much hype really. The overall story seems like a joke. The only reason I gave the story a three was because of the masterful plot twists. The plot twists really are great but it will take some time to absorb the story.

Replay: 4/5

While it's nice to have VR missions and Snake Tails, the only reason to replay MGS2: Substance is to play the difficulty levels in the main storyline or beat out your old score on the VR Missions. European Extreme Mode is nice if you're really looking for a challenge. It's also really cool just to replay the game and do stupid things that involve messing around with the guards. It's okay to mess around in a game, it's supposed to be fun. When you're done caring about the story go for the gameplay!

OVERALL: 4/5

If you own the original on the PS2 there isn't much of a reason to pick this up. Aside from the extras there is nothing that we haven't really seen before. The story is still the same, the secrets are still the same as well. VR Missions are a nice plus but unless you care about VR Training the original SOL on the PS2 should be enough.

The Good:
+New Extras
+Still awesome graphics and sound
+Masterful plot twists
+Great Gameplay
+Good replay

The Bad
-The story overall is weak
-Many will still be picky about the character you play as (I bet we'll still see a number of one star reviewers whose only con is Raiden)
-Unless you really care about the VR Missions it isn't worth picking up if you have the original

Metal Gear Solid 2 is a great game that ought to be in everyone's collection. The story of this game is one of the best parts of this game. There are some many cool characters, like Revolver Ocelot, the expert gunman, Vamp, a Romanian Prince who drinks blood and Fortune, a woman who can deflect bullets with luck. The story of this game is told through FMV and Codec conversations, both of which are well directed. One annoying thing about these story sequences is that many of them are very long and do not let the player get to the action. The graphics, physics and the sound effects in this game are very realistic in this game even though this game is originally from a year old PS2 game. The game play of this game is great. The game includes the original Sons of Liberty, more than 350 VR training missions, more than 150 alternative missions and five Snake Tails missions. There are two major locations of Sons of Liberty, the first level, Tanker, which is much shorter and is about Snake's reconnaissance mission to find out about the Marines new Metal Gear RAY. The second mission, Plant, which is much longer, is about Raiden trying to thwart a terrorist attack on the Big Shell. In both of the missions you will be encouraged to sneak your way through the levels, trying to avoid the enemy. If you are caught the person who found you will call for re-enforcements and you will either stand your ground and likely get killed by the enemies or you can hide and wait for the enemy to forget about you. This makes for a lot of fun and a lot of cool situations. You can also hold up enemies with your gun and take their dog tags to unlock cheats. Along with Sons of Liberty, there is also all the extra stuff that I personally only barely scratched the surface of. Besides some story sequences that sometimes get tedious, this game really is a nearly perfect stealth action game. A definite must buy for the Xbox.

That's all, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO AGREE AND VOTE TO MY ALL CAPS REVIEW OF DUMB @SS CHARLIE "NO SPELLIN" V1.