Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty – 2001
Hailed by some as the first truly post-modern video game, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty still stands as an excellent example of stealth gameplay delivered in a truly cinematic way. The famous bait-and-switch at the end of the game’s excellent tanker chapter caused outrage among some fans, who didn’t warm to the game’s actual protagonist Raiden. The game took place four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid, and tasked Raiden with the infiltration of Big Shell, an ocean decontamination facility, in order to put a spanner in the works of the game’s villains – a terrorist organization known as the Sons of Liberty.
Kojima tweaked the gameplay to allow shooting in first-person, a tactic which helped showcase the graphics of the PS2. It was an incredible game to look at, and it was an incredible game to play. Despite criticisms of its convoluted plot, fans of the series keep coming back for that very reason, and the game did well to develop characters old and new. Revolver Ocelot cemented his reputation as one of gaming’s best villains.
