Metal Gear Solid 2 is a great game in its own right, and it inherets some of the best qualities of its predecesor as well as its faults. Technically, the game is superior for its time, as it presents some of the best quality graphics displayed on the Playstation 2 for its time, as well as high quality sound. However, on a more artistic side, the game leaves much to be desired, both in its presentation of its story, and in terms of repeatability and gameplay. Technically, the game presents some of the best graphics and animation that has been displayed on the Playstation 2 for its time. Everything in the game is moves realistically and the animation is very smooth. The most telling part are the little things that go on, from the way Raiden's hair keeps moving when he stops, to the raindrops on the first part of the stage. The colors used in the game, I think, could have been used better, but they do serve their purposes well. The music seemed to work well, fit the mood, and was not overused in the game at all. The sound effects were adequete, and I really see how they could have been used better. One of the major complaints I had about Metal Gear Solid was that the game felt too cinematic in nature, and Metal Gear Solid 2 suffers from the same complaint. It seemed that for every minute of gameplay, there was two minutes of story telling, and while this might not be the true case, it certainly felt that way. While thankfully the sequences can be skipped, or at least bypassed, doing so ruins the game, because much is explained in these non interactive sequences. I couldn't help but wonder if Konami could have included these sequences as part of the gameplay instead of pulling the player out of the game to watch and listen to these sequences. Another complaint I had about the storyline of the game is that it stretched my suspension of belief a little too much. At first it was understandable, but as the game progressed near the end, it lost me near the end, and presented ideas that just didn't make a lot of sense to the general world of the game. How the game played is another issue I have. While much has been improved on, there is much, that I think, could be improved on more. At times, it was a little hard to control the player on the screen, and in those stages were precise control was needed, it was too common to end up dying because Snake or Raiden did something that I didn't want him to do. Another problem with the game is that the game is too short in length. Perhaps I am too used to playing role playing games that can take up to 70 hours, but the fact that I managed to go through the game in a period of 8 hours sort of bothered me. Add to the fact that there really isn't a reason to go through the game again (unless the player is a complete collection freak), and it seems to be a waste of fifty dollars that could have been used for a longer game. In the future, I could hope that the next Metal Gear Solid game will present the player with a more divergent paths that he could take. All in all, this game is very beautiful indeed, but it shares too many weaknesses of the last game to make it a great game.
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