Without a doubt, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty is probably the most anticipated title to be released this year. Ever since it debuted at the 2000 E3 show, press and gamers around the world have kept their eye out for the latest news and screenshots of the sequel to one of the best PlayStation games released. Being a huge fan of Metal Gear Solid, I was amazed at the first trailer (even my knees were shaking), and it was clearly my most wanted game of the year. However, now that I have completed it, I'm left simply stunned. And by stunned, I don't entirely mean that in a good way.

Before writing this review, I debated long and hard if I should bother because of my mixed and confused feelings on the subject. The pure debate between gameplay and story/design and how they reflect on the quality of game was the focal point of this conflict. When it comes to gameplay, Metal Gear Solid 2 is everything the original was but much more, and is simply exceptional. But when it comes to design and story, I'm completely torn. Parts of it have me loving it, and then other parts have me annoyed at how lame it is. Which all comes down to my original internal debate: how important is the story and design on a game when the gameplay has almost nothing wrong with it. On top of that, how do you write a review to inform someone about the game and not spoil it when the spoilers are key to what is wrong about the game? So please bear with me as I try to describe my mixed feelings without ruining the game for people who haven't played it yet.

Let's start off with the gameplay. Everything from Metal Gear Solid is back but now expanded upon. Now you can fire any weapon within the first person view. Add to this the ability to roll out from behind a wall and you have an easy way to pop out, tag someone and hide again without getting noticed. This alone is extremely fun while sneaking around. Also new is the ability to hang from railings and to shimmy across them to try and avoid guards. While doing this, you can also drop down to a lower level and even fall on top of a guard to take him out. Also new is the ability to make a forward roll that you can use to help dodge fire, take out a guy in your way, or even simply to make a last minute quick move to get out of the way from being spotted. My personal favorite is the ability to lean around corners or in first person view to either side or up above an object. All of these new techniques add up to a lot of variation on how you can either sneak by a guard or take them out. In fact, it's quite tempting to just mess around to see how you can utilize these new moves and see how the AI reacts.

Speaking of AI, this too has taken a big step up in execution. The guards simply feel much smarter now. Their vision range has improved and once again they notice small things that look out of place. Now they can see shadows around corners, but unfortunately this isn't used too often. Another new AI feature that the guards now possess, is periodic radio check ins. So if you take out a guard and they are not heard from in awhile, a team will come to investigate what is going on. Of course the AI isn't full proof. There are some things, like being able to enter and leave a room before a guard can call in that he's spotted you, that will clear the alert. This was present in the original as well. But while there are some holes in the AI, the overall quality is pleasing and will likely surprise you sometimes. It adds a whole new dimension, as well as paranoia in the beginning, as you are not exactly sure what they will let you get away with and what they won't. While I would like to see improvements here, I most certainly don't have any real complaints.

Even after you have played through the game, there is enough left to do that you'll end up playing it again. The two aspects that keep you coming back are the Internet Ranking mode, in which a password is given to you at the end of your performance, and the dog tags you can collect. After you have beaten the game, you are given a choice on which part of the game you would like to play through again, or if you want to play through the entire game. The game keeps a record on which difficulty you collected your dog tags from, and as the difficulty goes up, so do the number of dog tags. By collecting these, you can unlock new items that will be at your disposal. Since you likely won't see everything the first time through, and that it's so much fun to see what you can and can't do in the game, it makes replaying the game just as enjoyable as playing through it the first time. If that isn't enough for you, there are a number of small easter eggs (secrets, not literally) to be found throughout the game. Looking around the net will find you various tips or even a list of what you can find in the game. Some of it is just amazing in how much small detail was put into the game.

There are two complaints I have about the gameplay though. Don't worry; while one is minor and the other is not so minor, both end up having little affect on the game. First the minor complaint. After seeing the original trailer and playing through the demo so much, I was excited with the potential of the background interactivity. Unfortunately, it seems like they started to work on it and then kind of let it slide and concentrated on the rest of the game. I feel that while the potential is there, it is sorely underused. Once you progress to the second act of the game, it really doesn't play a factor at all and there don't seem to be many places that you can use the background to interact with. It doesn't hurt the gameplay, but it is a bit disappointing to see the wasted potential. The second complaint, which I don't consider to be minor, and possibly a bit of a spoiler, deals with the controls while swimming. It's a minor part of the game, but the controls simply suck. It's really hard to maneuver and I wish I could change the controls so that at least up is up and down is down. The worst thing is, in the very beginning of the game, this is how it is but for some reason when you need to use it, it's reversed. Again, fortunately it's only a small part of the game, but it should have been much better. As you can see, these complaints are so small that you shouldn't have anything to worry about with the game mechanics.

When it comes to graphics, Metal Gear Solid 2 is top notch. However, it's not just the amazing graphics that make the visuals so good. It's the amount of small detail on top of the graphics that adds to the whole picture. It's amazing what you will find while looking all around your environment. It's a given that your first time and most likely second time through you won't see everything that is to be seen. It wasn't until playing through for some dog tags that I discovered a wire that you can use to cross an open area that I had not seen before. Wait until you see some of the cinema sequences as well; Drop dead stunning. Again, no real complaints here and I think the graphics live up to the hype. Not once did I ever feel let down or that it was different from what was being shown to us before.

Finally the audio. For those of you lucky enough to have a Dolby Digital setup, you will be treated to some sequences presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. These, however, are only in cinema sequences and not during the game itself. While the music has been hyped up to be by the movie composer Harry Gregson-Williams, the music doesn't come off as very remarkable. The intro and ending theme are great, and the music never sounds out of place, but I can't remember anything specific that sounded really good. That's not to say that it's bad, just that it is subtle. Voice acting however is once again top notch. Some may think it's a bit over-acted, but really it is no different than in the first game. There are a couple spots where it didn't seem right, but overall there is nothing wrong with the voices. If you enjoyed the voice acting in the first game, the second one should be just fine for you.

So now to the real complaints about the game. I will try and keep spoilers to a minimum, though some are needed to further explain the point. The first thing that really annoyed me(Eds note: this is a spoiler, but something you may want to know about before getting the game) is that you don't play as Solid Snake for most of the game. You play as a new character named Jack, whose code name is Raiden. You only play as Solid Snake for the beginning of the game and then in act 2, until the end of the game, you will play as Raiden. It's really a let down especially since up until the game's release, every picture had Solid Snake in it. Even scenes in the trailers, which showed Solid Snake in it, ended up being scenes played by the other character. I feel mislead by all of this. Imagine playing the new Mario or Sonic game, and then after the first ten minutes you never get to play them again and you play some new character that you've never seen before. Sure the game mechanics might not be affected, but it just isn't what you thought you were getting into. Although in this case, playing Raiden has an affect on the game when it comes to the story.

The story takes a unique approach that will have you wondering as you try and piece together the small clues you are given throughout the progression of the story. But then towards the end, it all comes crashing together and results in something that will likely either be confusing or just so lame that you will be either annoyed or just want to scream. I was the latter. I certainly understood the story, and actually don't mind the underlying message that is the theme to the story. However, I do feel the same message could have been conveyed in a better story. Drop in some elements that take place during the story that most certainly either go completely underdeveloped, or just come off as completely stupid concepts, and you have yourself a story that is just not very well done. There are also some tangent side stories that come off as forced, and just completely inane to be happening at the time. Also, I think the setting of the second part of the game wasn't something I wanted to be placed in for most of the game. You will later realize that there was a whole new area that could have been utilized but you end up only being there for a short period of time. While playing, I kept hoping that I would move on to some place else, but alas, it never happened. Even the ending is rather unsatisfying when you realize that's all there was left to play.

Personally, I've seen the story done before and by the last hour of the game, I started feeling it was a complete rip off of something else. I also feel that the story and style just strays far from what you would expect out of a Metal Gear game. Maybe with another type of game, the storyline could have worked better, but it just doesn't mesh here. Some of you may like it, and if you do, you will be lucky as it is the biggest drawback in my opinion. If you can get past the story, you are in for a treat. Even as I was writing this review, the commercial popped up on TV, and I got hyped about the game again, and I also realize that the game I wanted is how it was portrayed in the commercial and in the trailers. I will give two pluses to Kojima though. He somehow kept Raiden a secret all this time, and the very first trailer of the game is amazingly all only from the very beginning of the game.

I'm sorry but that's about as detailed as I can get without actually listing specific aspects. It's hard to complain about a story without actually using examples. If you can push aside the story or simply even enjoy it, then Metal Gear Solid 2 will most certainly be enjoyable. Just jump in the game expecting to be let down by the story and maybe you will be pleasantly surprised. And as much as I have complained about the story, I have to admit the ending made me want Metal Gear Solid 3. Now this ties back into my original problem, how do I review and rate a game that's fault really only is the story? You would think that a story shouldn't be so important as to the gameplay, but they are so tied together when it comes to this game and the enjoyment of this game. But thanks to the replay value of the dog tags and ranking, the story just seems less important. This is why I've rated the game so high because the important aspect, the gameplay, is not just great but so much fun to play. If I had judged it based on one play through, it could have gotten a B- or C+ because of how I felt. But of course going into this review, you knew what I had already given it. Metal Gear Solid 2 is a great game from a gameplay standpoint but fails pretty badly when it comes to the story. As a result, even though I've given it an A-, it turns out to be one of my biggest disappointments of the year. It wasn't the Metal Gear Solid 2 that I was hoping for and not the Metal Gear Solid 2 that Kojima lead us to believe.