Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty | |
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![]() 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) |
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Composer(s) | |
Series | Metal Gear |
Platform(s) | |
Release | |
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, 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 many themes, such as memetics, social engineering, artificial intelligence, 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.
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