Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Japan Publisher: Konami Platform: PlayStation 2 Released in JP: November 29, 2001 Released in US: November 12, 2001 Released in EU: March 8, 2002 Released in KR: May 30, 2002 This game has unused cinematics. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article

This page sucks. If you could make it suck less, that would be awesome.

This article has just been started and needs the article basics added. Help us out and add them.

The highly-anticipated sequel to Metal Gear Solid played with everyone's expectations of wanting to play as Solid Snake again by making him playable only in the prologue and forcing on a new character named Raiden, who desperately wanted to be just like Snake. How meta.

To do: Resize the cutscene previews. Have non-Redcode rips of unused content.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Unused Cutscenes

NYSE B-Roll

A slightly extended version of the final game's codec dialogue between Raiden and Ames, discussing the effects of an EMP unleashed by the Sons of Liberty. Aside from the real-life footage, Raiden notes that "Black Monday would look like a picnic in comparison." It is unclear if this was cut due to 9/11. The cutscene is also present albeit still unused in Substance and HD Collection.

Lady Liberty's Green Card

This FMV was likely cut due to 9/11 and the fear of offending those shaken by the then-recent disaster. This clip would have been a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Statue of Liberty being a gift from the French.

Karen Hojo News Report

This FMV would have also been part of the original ending, revealing that the Statue of Liberty was displaced by Arsenal Gear and now rests on Ellis Island. The news reporter, Karen Hojo, is a reference to a character in Policenauts, much like Meryl Silverburgh was in MGS1.

Version Differences

US Version

The first version of the game, considerably gorier than all subsequent releases (including Substance) during scenes of intense violence, such as when Ocelot shoots a Gurlukovich soldier in the face or when Vamp slices and stabs members of SEAL Team 10. The corpses of the Marine crew during the Tanker Chapter in particular have an open wound on their throats that were omitted in later versions.

(Source: Movie Censorship)

Japanese Version

• Voices and text are in Japanese.
• When starting a New Game, a 1st Time option will be available which brings up a questionnaire (voiced by Rosemary) that asks the player about their experience with the first Metal Gear Solid and action games in general. This will affect which difficulty settings will be available and whether the game starts with the Tanker chapter or skips directly to the Plant chapter. Otherwise, if the game detects a cleared save file on the Memory Card, then the choice to play the Tanker or Plant chapters individually or on the same playthrough will be added as well.
• Difficulty settings are also labelled differently, going from Easy to Very Hard. In the American version (as well as all subsequent versions), the difficulty settings go from Very Easy to Hard.
• A short cutscene of Raiden crossing the Strut L oil fence was added after the second Vamp boss fight.
• Basic Actions mode was added, which is a gameplay tutorial accessible by choosing Special from the main menu. Boss Survival and Casting Theater modes are also added to the Special menu after completing the game once.
• During repeated playthroughs of the Tanker chapter on the same save file, a suppressor for the USP handgun can be found on the second floor of the crow's nest after defeating Olga Gurlukovich.
• After completing the second playthrough, Snake and Raiden will start wearing sunglasses on every odd-numbered playthrough (e.g. 3rd, 5th, 7th).

European Version

Three variants were produced: a multi-language version with text in English, French, and German (SLES-50383), an Italian version (SLES-50384), and a Spanish version (SLES-50385).

• In addition to the other added content and changes from the Japanese version, European Extreme was also added as a difficulty setting alongside the standard Extreme setting after clearing the game once. European Extreme ups the damage done by enemies and vastly increases enemy sights, letting them see you much further away.

Korean Version

• Voices are in English with text in Hangul.
• The 1st-Time option when starting a New Game was removed. Instead, the game makes you go through both the Tanker and Plant chapters on your first playthrough, just like the American version.
• The FHM-supplied posters that adorned various locations throughout the game were replaced by new public-domain ones. This change would also be in effect in The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2, as well as Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance

An expanded version of Metal Gear Solid 2 released in December 2002 in Japan (March 2003 in America and Europe).

• Voices are in English for all regions, including Japan.
• All the content from the European version is present.
• The 1st Time option after starting a New Game was removed. Instead, you are given a choice to play through the Tanker and Plant chapters in one playthrough or individually from the get-go.
• The visual effects of the Thermal Goggles when the item is equipped by the player was changed.
• Solidus Snake's line when he comes out from hiding in Arsenal Gear's Rectum (yes, that's the name of an actual location in the game) was changed from "No more games, Raiden" to "No more games, Jack", keeping it consistent with Solidus' characterization (as he never addresses Raiden by his codename in any other instances and always uses his real name).