Massive spoilers by the wa-
I'm sure the lot of you know what Metal Gear is. The infamous Tactical Espionage Action game that originally released on the MSX and NES in the 80's, and got really popular when Hideo Kojima stepped in for Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 in the 90's. It's quite my cup of TEA I must say. And to my surprise, MGS2: Substance was actually on Original Xbox. Which took me by surprise cause up to now I always thought Metal Gear Solid was a PlayStation Exclusive (up to MGS3 at least). So I picked it up from a GameStop today, popped it into my somehow still functioning OG Xbox, and I gotta say it's well worth it. Substance is a build off of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (which I will her in after refer to as "The Original Game" just like the manual does), and pretty much contains the same story as far as I can tell, as well as bonus story content. You play as both Snake (who is allegedly supposed to be dead after the Shadow Mosses Incident from MGS1) and Jack (Raiden)(who is apperently also Snake, but became Raiden due to the other Snake existing). And accourding to the now aged Revolver Ocelot (who also has Liquid Snake taking over his mind due to Ocelot's Right arm being Liquid's), Big Boss was in his 50s when he made his clones. (Which I suppose implies that Solid Snake is NOT Solid Snake and is a clone.)
_________ _____ ___ _____ _________ ________ ___ _____ ___ ___
/ _____/ /_____\ /____\ /_____| |________/ /___ / /__/ /_____\ \__\ /__/
/ / ___ _______ ______ ________ _________ ___/ / ___ _______ ___ ___
/ / /_ / / ____ \ / |\ \/ /| | | _____/ / ____/ / / / ____ \ \ \/ /
\ \ _/ / / / \ \ / / \ / | | | /____ / / / /____ / / \ \ \ /
\____ / /__/ \__\/____/ \___/ |___| |_____/ /__/ /_______/ /__/ \__\ \ \
/ / / ASCII ART BY METALJACK98 \ \ \
/ __/ /_____________________________________________________________________________________\ \___\
Ok so the controls are a LITTLE janky, but tbh it's not that bad. The Jank in particular is in the wall hugging, pretty hard to move around the walls while hugging them. Moving around while crawling is a bit janky too, but once you get the hange of it, it's not so bad. Due to the Xbox not having shoulder buttons like a PS2 controller (keep in mind the OG Xbox controllers only had 2 triggers on the back), you kinda have to aim a bit weirdly. Basically it will auto aim just by pressing X, but there's no gaurenteed shot at the head or anything (which you WILL need for the tranqualizer darts), so if you want a more perfect aim you have to go into first person mode, hold X to pull out your gun, and aim with the left stick, and then you let go of X to fire. It's kinda like Ocarina of Time's Slingshot aiming. You also can't move around while in first person mode, but you can rotate the camera in all directions with the left stick (cause Otacon forbid that someone uses the right stick I guess). These controls are customizeable too, so maybe you might be able to switch them around to your liking. Now as for the gameplay itself, it basically plays just like the first Metal Gear Solid game, with a few new mechanics such as making use of the enviornment to your advantage. (In the first mission in the submarine you're able to shoot pipes to let out hot air as a trap for enemies, and shoot fire extinguishers to reveal infrared lazers if you don't have the infrared goggles, or to also use as a trap for enemies.) There's also new items like the one that rumbles whenever an enemy is nearby. The game also features tons and tons of Various VR missions, and also Snake Tales (a new side story content added to the game). You can also pick up Dog Tags which have the names of the staff, and the winners of Konami's contest from around 2001 (can't recall the name of it right now, will update later.) The neat part about this game too is that you get a Digital Camera that actually stores the images you take to your Xbox's HDD which is really neat and also makes it handy for cheesing the mission where you have to take pictures of Metal Gear RAY in the begining. You can just take all the photos you need, get caught, and then upload them to the terminal when you restart. And the music to this game is REALLY good. A lot of games from this era of consoles were based around breakbeats and techno (particularly trance and acid, my favorite), and Metal Gear sure does follow, but also in a way that remixes many of themes from MGS1.
Overall, the game is a lot of fun, even despite it's jank mechanics.
Controls: 7/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Music: 10/10
I just realized the ASCII art I spent a good 30 minutes on breaks :(
Darn it came out so good too.
METAL GEAR SOLID 2
SUBSTANCE
SUBSTANCE
I'm sure the lot of you know what Metal Gear is. The infamous Tactical Espionage Action game that originally released on the MSX and NES in the 80's, and got really popular when Hideo Kojima stepped in for Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 in the 90's. It's quite my cup of TEA I must say. And to my surprise, MGS2: Substance was actually on Original Xbox. Which took me by surprise cause up to now I always thought Metal Gear Solid was a PlayStation Exclusive (up to MGS3 at least). So I picked it up from a GameStop today, popped it into my somehow still functioning OG Xbox, and I gotta say it's well worth it. Substance is a build off of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (which I will her in after refer to as "The Original Game" just like the manual does), and pretty much contains the same story as far as I can tell, as well as bonus story content. You play as both Snake (who is allegedly supposed to be dead after the Shadow Mosses Incident from MGS1) and Jack (Raiden)(who is apperently also Snake, but became Raiden due to the other Snake existing). And accourding to the now aged Revolver Ocelot (who also has Liquid Snake taking over his mind due to Ocelot's Right arm being Liquid's), Big Boss was in his 50s when he made his clones. (Which I suppose implies that Solid Snake is NOT Solid Snake and is a clone.)
_________ _____ ___ _____ _________ ________ ___ _____ ___ ___
/ _____/ /_____\ /____\ /_____| |________/ /___ / /__/ /_____\ \__\ /__/
/ / ___ _______ ______ ________ _________ ___/ / ___ _______ ___ ___
/ / /_ / / ____ \ / |\ \/ /| | | _____/ / ____/ / / / ____ \ \ \/ /
\ \ _/ / / / \ \ / / \ / | | | /____ / / / /____ / / \ \ \ /
\____ / /__/ \__\/____/ \___/ |___| |_____/ /__/ /_______/ /__/ \__\ \ \
/ / / ASCII ART BY METALJACK98 \ \ \
/ __/ /_____________________________________________________________________________________\ \___\
Ok so the controls are a LITTLE janky, but tbh it's not that bad. The Jank in particular is in the wall hugging, pretty hard to move around the walls while hugging them. Moving around while crawling is a bit janky too, but once you get the hange of it, it's not so bad. Due to the Xbox not having shoulder buttons like a PS2 controller (keep in mind the OG Xbox controllers only had 2 triggers on the back), you kinda have to aim a bit weirdly. Basically it will auto aim just by pressing X, but there's no gaurenteed shot at the head or anything (which you WILL need for the tranqualizer darts), so if you want a more perfect aim you have to go into first person mode, hold X to pull out your gun, and aim with the left stick, and then you let go of X to fire. It's kinda like Ocarina of Time's Slingshot aiming. You also can't move around while in first person mode, but you can rotate the camera in all directions with the left stick (cause Otacon forbid that someone uses the right stick I guess). These controls are customizeable too, so maybe you might be able to switch them around to your liking. Now as for the gameplay itself, it basically plays just like the first Metal Gear Solid game, with a few new mechanics such as making use of the enviornment to your advantage. (In the first mission in the submarine you're able to shoot pipes to let out hot air as a trap for enemies, and shoot fire extinguishers to reveal infrared lazers if you don't have the infrared goggles, or to also use as a trap for enemies.) There's also new items like the one that rumbles whenever an enemy is nearby. The game also features tons and tons of Various VR missions, and also Snake Tales (a new side story content added to the game). You can also pick up Dog Tags which have the names of the staff, and the winners of Konami's contest from around 2001 (can't recall the name of it right now, will update later.) The neat part about this game too is that you get a Digital Camera that actually stores the images you take to your Xbox's HDD which is really neat and also makes it handy for cheesing the mission where you have to take pictures of Metal Gear RAY in the begining. You can just take all the photos you need, get caught, and then upload them to the terminal when you restart. And the music to this game is REALLY good. A lot of games from this era of consoles were based around breakbeats and techno (particularly trance and acid, my favorite), and Metal Gear sure does follow, but also in a way that remixes many of themes from MGS1.
Overall, the game is a lot of fun, even despite it's jank mechanics.
Controls: 7/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Music: 10/10
Post automatically merged:
I just realized the ASCII art I spent a good 30 minutes on breaks :(
Darn it came out so good too.
I've long been spoiled on this series yet I haven't played a single one.
