Returning to Big Shell
*This post contains Metal Gear Solid 2 spoilers*
I bought the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection because I
wanted to experience one of my favourite games, MGS 3: Snake Eater, at its
absolute best. I saw Peace Walker, a game that I had skipped on the PSP, as an
added bonus, with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the weakest of the numbered
Solids but still a good game, being somewhat of an after-thought. Snake Eater
turned out to be as good as I remembered, Peace
Walker was a disappointment and Sons of Liberty proved itself
wholly undeserving of my initial indifference.
Metal Gear Solid 2 has garnered more than its fair share
of criticism over the years, largely focussing on the new and unpopular
protagonist, Raiden. A clean-shaven lady-boy who moved like a ballerina and
carried more baggage than the most troubled of Final Fantasy heroes, he certainly
wasn’t the man we were expecting. We so desperately wanted to reprise our role
as Solid Snake, a desire that was fuelled by the awesome tease that was the Tanker
prelude, thus Raiden became the focus of fan backlash. Back in 2002, I remember
Big Shell feeling more limited and repetitive than Shadow Moses and the
dialogue denser and more heavy-handed, with the final hour being especially
bad, as every character came down with a bout of verbal diarrhoea, of the
techno-babble variety. These issues remain, yet revisiting it last week for the
first time in four years, they seemed less problematic, incapable of obscuring
the qualities of a game that just may have improved with age.
No matter how hard you squint, Raiden still isn't Snake, but
he was never meant to be. Tackling Big Shell as Raiden, we see Snake through
the eyes of someone who reveres him, adding substance to his legend and fortifying
his position as the (second) greatest soldier who ever lived. I enjoyed
appreciating Snake from afar, constantly wondering what super-human feat he
might attempt next, while Raiden and I tried our best not to fall in the
ocean.
The villains are typical Metal Gear, more memorable than
MGS4 but not a patch on the freaks from MGS1 or Snake Eater. Solidus, the third
product of the Les Enfant Terrible and the Tito Jackson of the brothers Snake,
is an underdeveloped but interesting antagonist. While his methods may be a bit
medieval, he is not an entirely unsympathetic figure. There is a nobility of
sorts in his vain attempts to stop the mysterious Patriots from gaining
absolute control over the masses via Arsenal Gear - basically a massive dial-up
modem with machine guns. It's easier to appreciate Revolver Ocelot, with his
talkative new arm, Vamp, Olga et al. when you are privy to their backstory as
well as their future thanks to the events of Snake Eater, MGS4, Portable Ops
and Peace Walker which would arrive in subsequent years. On a number of different
occasions, I tried to use this knowledge to warn Solidus about his future as a vacuum-sealed,
breathing corpse but he just wouldn’t listen.
Despite being a bare, industrial complex, to my
surprise I found that I am actually quite fond of Big Shell. With its
orange-brown colour scheme and at-sea sunsets, it is the warmest of the series'
locales, a perfect antidote to the dank holds of the tanker and far more
agreeable than the inside of Arsenal's colon. The between strut, open-air walkways
are my defining memory of MGS2, closely followed by the wholly inappropriate
and comically intricate hand shake and bear hug shared between Otacon and Snake,
moments after Otacon’s sister has been air-holed by Vamp. Ten years may have
passed since my maiden run-through, but I have yet to grow tired of pausing
Raiden midway through one of his naked, sideways-split jumps, so that I may giggle
at his Barbie doll genitalia.
Unfortunately, the passing of time has done nothing for the
finale. It remains a disaster, a badly written love letter to New York complete
with smooth jazz, but it didn’t prevent Sons of Liberty from lifting me right out
of my gaming rut and straight back into the
swing of things. Having accepted its faults, I found a game that is easy to play,
familiar and full of memories, yet one that still feels fresh and relevant.
Alongside a recent Snake Eater re-run, it was a welcome reminder of how much I
enjoy the series and the perfect appetizer before a newly trophied-up main course
of Metal Gear Solid 4.
Now Playing:
I will have to have a Metal Gear season at some point in the future, now that you can play through so many of them on a single system I adore. It's become one of those series that I respect tremendously, but at the same time feel overwhelmed by, because they're NOT just mindless action games (which I'd probably just ignore), but these epic action novels with arcane control schemes. This seems like an excellent opportunity to reconnect with the world of Snake.
ReplyDeleteMGS1-3 all now playable on the Vita, though you will have to turn on the PS3 for part 4. Well worth it.
DeleteThey are easy to play, but the story can overwhelm. Feels great when it all starts to fall into place though, and you can finally follow and appreciate the twists and turns. Most of them anyway!
Cheers