Unless you've been dead for a few years and have just risen from your grave as a zombie to feast on mankind, you've probably heard of the Metal Gear Solid series. The first one was undoubtedly a pure masterpiece. (I don't feel like reviewing it but I would give it a 10/10) The question is, does the sequel live up to it's reputation? You'll have to read on to see.

Story-9/10
MGS2's story is very deep and compelling. It starts off a few years after the original MGS left off. The whole game takes place in two places, a tanker where you get to play as the mullet-man himself, Solid Snake, and a plant where you get to play as a new character to the MGS universe, Raiden (Ry-Den). I think I've already said too much so I'll go to the next section but I just have to say, this game has an amazing story with dramatic plot twists and things that will make you think "Did I accidently put in a DVD again?!" There is one bad part though. Codec messages(imagine an extremely portable video phone) where the main characters get support appear way to frequently. The game is about five or ten minutes, then you get another message.

Graphics-10/10
The graphics in this game are phenomenal. The voice acting is top-notch, all of their lips move realistically instead of just up and down like some games like to do. Raiden's long, feminine hair sways as he creeps around corners and takes out dem' naughty, naughty guards. Next to Resident Evil Zero (see my review) this is one of the best looking games I've ever seen.

Control-8/10
Nothing really bad or good to say about the control. Although when you hug against a wall and the camera shifts, the controls will stay the same, you may need to hold left in order to go right. This can lead to some unnessicary alerts.

Sound-9/10
As I mentioned earlier, the voice acting is amazing. The music and audio is also really good. It all comes through really clearly, plus the game supports Dolby Prologic 5.1.

Replay Value-9/10
MGS2 has ton's of extras and secret items to unlock. Plus, once you beat the game, not only does it give you a codename depending on how well you played the game and a code you can submit to the konami website (www.konamijpn.com), you can also play the game over using your save with all of the secret items you've unlocked. Plus a dogtag mini game all equal up to a game you'll be playing for a while to come.

Overall-9.5/10
I'm not going to lie, this is one of my favorite games of all time (along with the original and Final Fantasy VII) but I just can't find it in my heart to give it a perfect 10! Of course I've given it great ratings in all catagories but still this game is not without flaws. I still highly reccommend this game to anyone who likes games. Even if you've never heard of a playstation 2 or even a tv (You'll still enjoy looking through the book, I guess) you should get this game, this instant! Go! They're 95% off! Hehe, I knew that would get em'... Huh? You're still there? Uhhhh, gotta go, see ya!

Written on 6/12/03