Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

Metal Gear 2 has improved and expanded the capabilities of the first part. For example, in this game there was an opportunity to squat and crawl and even attract the attention of enemies by knocking on walls. As in the previous Metal Gear , the main task of the player is to quietly penetrate the enemy base. The enemies began to see not in a straight line as in the first part, but in a certain radius, which greatly complicated the game. They can also turn their heads left and right and move from one screen to another. In addition, enemy soldiers are able to hear the sound of knocking on the wall, moving around certain sections of the floor, firing weapons without a silencer and explosions. If the main character catches the eye of the enemy, an alarm counter is launched in the upper right corner of the screen, and enemy soldiers come to their place. As soon as the player manages to hide from opponents, the alarm ceases, and the game continues in the usual mode ^{[3] [4]} .

The player has access to a wide range of items and modes of action that help to go unnoticed. For example, when moving crawling, the player does not make noise, can pick up mines, and can also hide under the stairs. In the upper right corner of the screen is a 3x3 radar displaying the current position of Snake (red dot) and enemy soldiers (white dots). At times of alarm, the radar is turned off. When using a mine detector, mines are displayed on the radar. Weapons and objects are mainly borrowed from the previous game, but new ones were added, for example, a robot mouse used to disorient enemies and camouflage cover. The player now does not have the task of freeing the hostages to increase the level of health - Snake's abilities increase after each victory over the boss ^[3] .

The radio transmitter has been significantly updated compared to the previous game. The content of the messages the player receives now depends on the current situation and mission goal, and not on what room Snake is in. The transmitter screen now shows not only the face of Snake, but also the face of the character with whom he is currently talking. The player can also talk with children living in the fortress and get new information; for killing children, the player is punished by loss of health. Locations have become more diverse, and in addition, the number of puzzles has been increased in the game, for example, there is the luring of a carrier pigeon with a special diet, the search for a disguised spy in a women's restroom, and recognition of the frequency of a radio transmitter by a knock ^[3] . The Metal Gear 2 game system served as the basis for the 3D sequel, Metal Gear Solid ^[5] .

Characters

Solid Snake, a former FOXHOUND agent and protagonist of the original Metal Gear , is a game character. His new task is to save the Czechoslovak scientist Dr. Kio Marva. On the radio, he is supported by his commander Roy Campbell, survival instructor MacDonnald Miller, military strategist George Kasler (Kessler in the MSX2 version), wildlife expert Joseph Norden. On the spot, the main character is helped by Holly White, a CIA agent posing as a journalist, Natasha Markov (Gustav Heffner in later versions), StB agent and bodyguard Marva and Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madner, creator of Metal Gear, who was captured with Marv. Big Boss , the former FOXHOUND commander who betrayed Snake, and Gray Fox, who disappeared after the events of the first game, also reappear in the game.

In the course of the assignment, Snake will have to fight with the bosses:

• Black color ( Engl. Black Color ), the ninja whose abilities are strengthened by drugs. After defeating him, it turns out that this is Schneider from the original Metal Gear .
• Running man ( Eng. Running Man ), a fast-running mercenary.
• Red Blaster , grenade throwing expert.
• Ultra-Boxes ( Eng. Ultra Box ), a squad of killers specializing in combat in confined spaces.
• Predator ( Eng. Predator ), specialist in the fight in the jungle.
• Night Sight , a terrorist using a special costume making him invisible.

The last two bosses are Gray Fox and Big Boss.

History

The game takes place in 1999. The Cold War was long over, and by the beginning of the 21st century, the leading world powers promised to begin nuclear disarmament. However, not everything in the world was successful - a series of high-profile shocks in the oil market became an incentive for the creation of high-tech energy sources, including thermonuclear . However, many machines still worked precisely on oil.

Oil reserves fell to a critical level, and the world community prepared for radical measures, up to drilling sand and oil shale for oil production there. It was also proposed to create renewable fuels.

The Czech scientist Kio Marv has successfully developed a special bacterium that can enrich oil without special expenses. Marv presented his invention, called OILIX, at the World Energy Conference in Prague . And soon after this, the doctor was abducted by soldiers from Zanzibarland (a fictional country not related to the real Zanzibar ). NATO leaders find out that Zanzibarland leaders plan to take control of global oil supplies and threaten the world with nuclear war.

Solid Snake, on the orders of the new FOXHOUND commander Roy Campbell, returns to the squad and receives a new task - to penetrate the militaristic country of Zanzibarland and release Dr. Marv.

In the course of the mission, Holly White, a CIA employee who posed as a journalist, and Natasha Markova, an agent of StB and an accompanying person, Marve, join Snake. Snake also meets again with Metal Gear inventor Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madner, who, according to him, was kidnapped and taken to Zanzibar to work on a new model of the Metal Gear D nuclear tank. From Madner, Snake learns that the former FOXHOUND commander Big Boss still alive and now it is he who is the leader of Zanzibar.

As soon as Snake gets to the bridge, Natasha dies from the explosion of a rocket fired from Metal Gear D, and Dr. Madner is again captured by the enemies. The pilot of the new Metal Gear is none other than the former associate of Snake Gray Fox. Determined to complete the mission, Snake fights against the elite forces of Zanzibar and eventually reaches the cell where Marv is held.

Snake arrives too late and discovers the dead body of Marv, who has not endured regular torture. Madner, who is here, explains that he could not save him. The moment Snake was about to pick up the OILIX formula, Holly contacted him on the radio and said that Dr. Madner was not really captured - he voluntarily continued his work on Metal Gear, being rejected by the scientists after the incident in Outer Heaven. Madner attacks Snake, but dies at his hands.

With the OILIX formula in hand, Snake moves on and collides with Metal Gear D driven by Gray Fox. After the successful destruction of the tank, Snake finds himself in a minefield. A hand-to-hand fight ensues between the former comrades, from which Snake emerges as the winner.

After defeating Fox, the main character tries to escape and sees Big Boss. Having lost all his weapons and equipment, Snake is forced to use what he manages to find on the spot - a lighter and an aerosol can. Having constructed a makeshift flamethrower , Snake defeats Big Boss for the second time. Together with Holly, they run from the base and deliver Campbell the OILIX formula.

With the release of Metal Gear on NES , Konami started developing the sequel to Snake's Revenge without the participation of the creator of the original Metal Gear, Hideo Kojima.

According to Kojima himself, he did not plan to create a sequel to Metal Gear and learned about creating one only after meeting a member of the Snake's Revenge development team during a trip to Tokyo . The developer asked Kojima to start creating a real sequel. With the consent of Konami management, Kojima set about developing the game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake . Events Metal Gear 2 continue the game Metal Gear , ignoring the events of the game Snake's Revenge , recognized as non-canonical.

Unlike the first game, which in English translation was released on the European market, the MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2 never officially went outside of Japan (although amateur translations were made). In the game Metal Gear Solid there is a mention of both games, located in the section "Previous Operations" ( Russian. Previous operations ).

The version of Metal Gear 2 on the PlayStation was first released in Japan on October 1, 2004, and subsequently released Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater . In 2005, Konami released an expanded version of Metal Gear Solid 3 , called Subsistence , which, among other additions, included updated versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 . Released as a member of Subsistence in North America, Metal Gear 2 has been officially translated into English and other languages.

The new version was very different from the original. The main difference was the new portraits of the characters, reminiscent of the design of Yoji Shinkawa for Metal Gear Solid . Some characters have been renamed; Natasha Markova became Gustava Heffner, Josef Norden - Johan Jacobsen, and Petrovich Madner - Drago Pettrovich Madner. The names of almost all the bosses have also been changed. In the new version there are two difficulty levels (“Original” and “Easy”), the bonus mode “Boss Survival”, and a bandana has been added to the equipment, giving endless ammunition.

The version of the game for the PlayStation 2, like the original MSX2 version, requires the player to refer to the instructions for passing to solve several puzzles (in particular, to decrypt the radio frequency by knock). Since the North American edition of the game was supplied with a directory containing only brief information about the game, Konami posted options for solving puzzles on its official website ^[6] .

On March 30, 2010, Metal Gear 2 was released for the Virtual Console service . This version is much like the original ^[7] .

Metal Gear 2 is part of the Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection .

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake has been praised by many reviewers. According to Paul Sof of GameSpy , the game surpassed its predecessor Metal Gear in everything. The reviewer praised the gameplay and the “compact and well-thought out” plot that was continued at MGS . He concluded that players would not be disappointed with the game, and that it was worthy to be considered “one of the best 8-bit games of all time” ^[3] .

Game Informer magazine reviewers were more critical of the game, which, however, was rated 7 out of 10 points. They wrote that in order to see all the key moments of the game, “you have to get into the most stupid situations in which Solid Snake could only be”; It was also noted that "the game focuses on constantly returning back and collecting key cards, which makes it boring." In conclusion, it was noted that “only the most devoted fans recognize the game as worthy,” and the best way to play it is to purchase Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence with a bonus disc ^[8] .

The similarity of the Metal Gear 2 game system with the subsequent Metal Gear Solid game was noted, although the latter was created later using 3D graphics ^[5] . Retro Gamer magazine considered Metal Gear 2 “actually a Metal Gear Solid 2D game,” noting it higher than the 2000 remake of Metal Gear Solid on Game Boy Color ^[4] . 1UP.com's Jeremy Perrish spoke of Metal Gear Solid as a “ remake of Metal Gear 2 ” ^[9] . Nikolai Adkins also noted that many elements of Metal Gear 2 were reflected in Metal Gear Solid , emphasizing the transition from the fact that “Snake is returning to save the scientist” to the fact that “he is trying to leave enemy territory in the company of his partner” ^[10] .

Music from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake was included on the VR Training disc of Metal Gear Solid: Integral . In addition, Integral has two hidden melodies available on the secret frequency of the codec: “Theme of Solid Snake” and “Zanzibar Breeze”.

• The official website of the game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (Japanese)