Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
North American box art
Developer(s)Konami Computer Entertainment Japan[a]
Publisher(s)Konami
Director(s)Hideo Kojima
Producer(s)Hideo Kojima
Designer(s)Hideo Kojima
Programmer(s)Kazunobu Uehara
Artist(s)Yoji Shinkawa
Writer(s)
  • Hideo Kojima
  • Tomokazu Fukushima
Composer(s)
SeriesMetal Gear
Platform(s)
Release
November 13, 2001
  • PlayStation 2
    • NA: November 13, 2001
    • JP: November 29, 2001
    • EU: March 8, 2002
    Substance
    Xbox
    • NA: November 5, 2002
    • EU: March 7, 2003
    PlayStation 2
    • JP: December 19, 2002
    • NA: March 4, 2003[1]
    • EU: March 28, 2003
    Windows
    • NA: March 27, 2003
    • EU: March 28, 2003
Genre(s)Action-adventure, stealth
Mode(s)Single-player

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty[b] is a 2001 action-adventure stealth video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2. Originally released on November 13, 2001, it is the fourth Metal Gear game produced by Hideo Kojima, the seventh overall game in the series and is a sequel to Metal Gear Solid (1998). An expanded edition, titled Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance,[c] was released the following year for Xbox and Windows in addition to the PlayStation 2. A remastered version of the game, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - HD Edition, was later included in the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Vita. The HD Edition of the game was included in the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 compilation for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, which was released on October 24, 2023.[2]

The story revolves around the Big Shell, a massive offshore clean-up facility seized by a group of terrorists who call themselves the Sons of Liberty. They demand an enormous ransom in exchange for the life of the President of the United States and threaten to destroy the facility and create a cataclysmic environmental disaster if their demands are not met. The motives and identities of many of the antagonists and allies change throughout the game, as the protagonists discover a world-shaking conspiracy constructed by a powerful organization known as the Patriots.

Metal Gear Solid 2 received acclaim for its gameplay, graphics, and attention to detail. However, critics were initially divided on the protagonist and the philosophical nature and execution of the game's storyline, which explores themes such as the Information Age, memetics, social engineering, political conspiracies, censorship, artificial intelligence, existentialism, postmodernism, virtual reality, and the internal struggle of freedom of thought. The game was a commercial success, selling seven million copies by 2004. It has since been considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, as well as a leading example of artistic expression in video games. The game is often considered ahead of its time for dealing with themes and concepts, such as post-truth politics, fake news, alternative facts, synthetic media, and echo chambers, that became culturally relevant in the mid-to-late 2010s.

  1. ^ "Press release - MGS2 Substance". February 3, 2004. Archived from the original on February 3, 2004. Retrieved March 4, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (June 21, 2023). "Metal Gear Solid Collection Vol. 1 Confirmed for Nintendo Switch". IGN. Retrieved June 21, 2023.


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