I'm with you on MGS Sons of Liberty being the best the series has to offer.
A lot of people were upset that Snake is "replaced" in the game. I am not one of those people. Contrary to that, I thought it was genius. Snake is a legend. Snake is so badass, that to play as him anymore would be pointless. We already completed an entire game as Snake- the game that makes him into a legend. And since then, he's gotten into a few other shennanigans, and the opening hours of the game give us one last walk in the shoes of this unstoppable force.
To play as Snake any furthar would make the game too easy. What can't Snake do? What can't Snake handle? The storyline progressed to a point where he was more than a man, he was a myth and a legend, and nothing could measure up to that.
Dropping us in the controls of this rookie Raiden, several years later, not knowing exactly what happened, is a master stroke. It provides an amazing structure that constantly builds, is filled with mystery, and never lets up even at the end- You're left wanting more, instantly, wondering what the hell is going on and where things go next.
Throughout the game, piece by piece the puzzle is revealed to us. Several figures stay in the shadows and leave the player wondering just who's who, and who's on what side. The glimpses of Snake propel us forward, driving the game wonderfully. When we meet Plisken it's edgy, exciting, and dangerous. Who's side are we- the player- on? We know we don't want to go against Snake. But just what the hell has Snake done in the first place? Has he gone full Big Boss, and are we going to put him down by the end? It's a great dynamic.
And when Solid Snake shows up, fully revealed on the bridge against Solidus, it's an iconic moment that is instantly burned in your brain. "THAT IS NOT SOLID SNAKE!" That's when I knew for sure, I loved this game.
The characters are great, the pacing of the gameplay is fantastic- both of these become problems in 3 and 4. Snake Eater has my favorite basic controls of the series, but the menus and healing system are too much- and make the gameplay choppy and too easy. It completely removes yourself from the emersion of the game, when every few feet you can go into a menu and change your entire outfit, or heal each injury exactly as they happen. If they had simplified this process, and made them part of the onscreen items menu, and maybe you just sat for a second and ate a snake *during* normal gameplay, then I'd find it nearly perfect.
But even then the structure of Snake Eater is all off. I sat there playing through the first time, literally CONVINCED that I was at the end of the game for a good 3 hours. It builds to it's conclusion, then puts you through a few boss battles, THEN puts you on a motorcycle chase, more boss battles, a crash, a huge long grind to a halt trek through a forrest while dragging a half dead character, and then a few more boss battles. And then it finally freaking ends. From a design standpoint it's extremely silly, which is too bad, considering the bulk of the gameplay is fantastic, and it contains without a doubt the best boss battle of the franchise, as well as a few other innovative ones.
The characters also take a nose dive after 2. I don't give a crap about anybody in MGS3. Sure, "Snake" and Ocelot. But that's it. Boss and Eva are the only two other characters with any depth at all, and they are both stiff enigmas throughout the game. For a game built around the relationship Snake has with these 2 women, it does a terrible job with it. And literally every other character in the game is an afterthought, a nothing. Guns of the Patriots doesn't fair much better, although thankfully were back with characters we've spent time with before so they carry over, and at least further flesh those out. The new ones though, with the exception of Drebin, are all extremely thin and pointless.
In Sons of Liberty however, they are brilliant. Everyone is built up, layered, colorful and memorable. I'd say the weakest character of the entire bunch is Fatman by far, and he's about the level of template that characters were created by for future games. He shows up once and feels pretty tacked on to pad the game, and his bomb disposal levels are the only parts of the game that feel a little bit like stretching the time. Even then, the inclusion of Stillman and his relationship is more meat than any members of the units of BnB or the guys in 3 get.
Which brings me to the only other flaw of MGS2- and it's one easily fixed. There's a few too many cutscenes of nonessential crap. You can trim the game by about 20 minutes and it would be absolutely perfect. Just ditch the 4 or 5 cutscenes at the end constantly bashing us over the head with the "message" for a single one, and get rid of that rediculous 20 second cut scene where Otacon breaks out crying because his mother seduced him and had sex with him.
There's plenty of brilliance going on in the game to make these few nitpicks moot. Besides, knowing the game, it's easy to skip the few wacky cut scenes, and the bomb disposal part is a minor qualm at best. It's not that it's bad, just that it might go on for a LITTLE too long.
There's also something to be said for the stealth of the game, the design of it all. MGS3 and 4 go further and further away from stealth- I played through 4 on normal the first time with none at all, and there's nothing to make you want to. Other than a ranking at the end which I quite frankly don't really care about. In the first 2 games stealth isn't a choice, IT'S THE GAME! You literally can't beat it without being sneaky. And because it's designed this way, when they force you into conflict- like the climax of the Tanker chapter, with Snake stuck in that tiny hallway and no way out but through a bunch of guys- it's tense, it's exciting, and all around just a damn good time. It becomes boring if you run around, able to buy 50 rockets from a pause menu whenever you feel the need.
It's a real event when you pull a gun, and it makes you feel that way. And how cool is it that we never fight Ocelot? Or the decision to strip us literally naked and have us run through the game totally empty handed near the end? Or getting a sword?! I can go on and on, but this is already way too long so I won't.
I heart MGS2.
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You win because I'm just too lazy.
