Hiding Raiden
1998’s Metal Gear Solid for the original PlayStation was a smash hit, thanks in part to having one of the most likable and believable casts of characters to ever appear in a video game up to that point, including the poster boy of the series Solid Snake. When a sequel was announced, fans were eager to take control of the one-man army once again, and why would anyone think that wouldn’t be the case. Well, much to the dismay of many, you only play as Snake for around 20% of the game. For the majority of it, you play as the new recruit of the reformed FOXHOUND and sexy loverboy, Raiden.
Don’t get me wrong, Metal Gear Solid 2 is a fantastic game —one of the most highly rated of all time, in fact— and Raiden grew to be an awesome hero in his own right, but at the time, Metal Gear fans just wanted more Snake. Kojima must have known this, and that’s why he specifically chose not to show any glimpse of Raiden in the game’s lead up to release. I can imagine the meetings: “How are we going to get people on board with this new Raiden character?” Kojima responds, “We don’t. Just pretend that they’re going to play as Snake the whole time.” Even the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo that came free with a purchase of Zone of the Enders took place during the Tanker incident where you get to play as Snake. Little did fans know that that’s about the only time they’d actually get with Snake in the full game.
