Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Solid"

Good:
-Fantastic visuals that are virtually unparalleled in any medium.
-Outstanding soundtrack as always.
-The variety of gameplay is superb. Riding on motorcycles, piloting robots both big and small, swordplay, sniping, stealth, iPods, boxing matches etc.
-Some ultra creative commercials right from the beginning.
-Story can be thrilling at times and revisiting areas that were designed in 1995 is a lot of fun.
-Raiden is pretty badass in this one.
-David Hayter sounds just as gruff as he did 15 years ago.
-A lot less use of the Codec to propel the story forward.

Bad:
-Story is overly complicated and you really have to play the previous games in the series to even have a chance at understanding and appreciating it. It's also much more oriented towards the Japanese culture than the first one was, which makes things a little too unrealistic and goofy at times. (Liquid's hand/personality grafted on Ocelot, Johnny's bowel movements, flying robot angel things, it goes on and on)
-Johnny isn't very likeable, and Meryl just isn't as cool as she used to be.