i'm back after two days of seclusion with a PS2.
since the topic has been on games lately, let me confirm from first hand experience what everyone has been saying - METAL GEAR SOLID 2 IS GODLIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it is as close to console gaming perfection as you're likely to see in this lifetime - from the intro movie which everyone i think has seen(it's on the Zone of the Enders demo disc and is downloadable all over the web) - i can tell you that watching it on a 29" HDTV is the only way to do it justice... the soundtrack is composed and arranged by the same guy who did The Rock(Nicholas Cage/Sean Connery, not the "can 'o whoopass"-opener) - it starts with a pre-rendered CGI scene of a rain-swept bridge and segues SEAMLESSLY into an in-game rendered scene that is almost completely indistinguishable!
the gameplay is basically what you expect from MGS, but MORE MORE MORE MORE. new moves, new tactics, new pecadilloes - little realistic touches like shooting the radios of enemies, hiding in lockers, using your enemies as human shields - fantastic! the levels are done in the same neo-industrial manner as the previous, but with more graphical touches, much more environmental interaction(rain washing off bloodstains on a ship deck, icecubes melting, plants wilting, hair dripping wet as you step out of water) - and of course, the superlative storyline. We are talking a game you watch as much as you play. I have NEVER seen a game with this many 30-minute-long cutscenes/convos. It even starts with a 200-page in-game text document that "summarises" the events of the first Metal Gear Solid:).
Boss fights were just as immensely fun and generally harder - although i didn't find any that matched the zhainess of Vulcan Raven in the first game. The graphics are really where the game shines - textures of faces are seamlessly alpha-blended, the environmental and fogging effects are superb, and there are so many little touches, in-jokes, details, that a loving gamer who spends time doing anything and everything with the environment(hint - there are LOTS of thigns to do with the girlie pictures in the locker:) will be immensely rewarded.
and the story - once again - FANTASTIC. plot twists, densely layered, a little hackneyed in some hero points, but it's clear that Hideo Kojima has a thing for psycho-death-loving killer chicks(Viola in Zone Of the Enders, Sniper Wolf in MGS1 and now Fortune in MGS2). about the most surprising thing in the gameplasy is that you DON'T PLAY SNAKE all the way through the game. but to tell more would be to spoil the fantastic story - let's just say that there's a plot twist in almost every cutscene.... and you can pan the camera around in cutscenes just to prove to yourself that it ISN'T pre-rendered!
anyway, i can't think of enough good thigns to say about it - perfectly immersive environment, densely layered storyline, superb character animation and model design -
and above all, DETAILS. this is a game that positively glistens with details. the perfectionist gamer will get so much more out of this, even though the casual gamer is not short-changed by just romping through the game for the storyline.
bottom-line is this - GET THE GAME. GET A PS2 TO PLAY IT. KILL, LIE, CHEAT AND STEAL TO GET A PS2 TO PLAY IT ON. SELL YOUR IRRITATING SIBLINGS INTO SLAVERY TO OWN ONE. THIS IS A GAME THAT DEFIES MORAL CONSIDERATION. IF YOU WANT MORALITY, TRY TO COMPLETE THE GAME WITHOUT KILLING ANYONE TO ATONE FOR THE SINS COMMIITTED IN ORDER TO OBTAIN A PS2.
(ootnote: also played Devil May Cry, Grand Theft Auto 3, and Zone of the Enders. brief mini reviews follow
Devil May Cry - superb graphics, simple linear mission-based structure, and a tres-cool gun/sword-wielding half-demon mercenary. the camera angles are a bit jarring at times, but the storyline is good for a typical "get vengeance on the demonic forces who killed your family and save the world" kind of archetype. The attacks are good, and the level designs are finely textured and superbly laid out.
Grand Theft Auto 3 - proof that graphical excellence in any one area isn't as important as many factors contributing to overall FUN-NESS of a game. GTA3 runs on ambience, style, attitude, and environment - from the radio station you can tune in to that contains almost 2 hours of DAMN FUNNY chat show stuff, to the fact that your car door doesn't shut if you jack a vehicle and speed off too fast - the various cheesy accents of the Yakuza, Triads, and Mafia.. you'll be willing to forgive the fact that the graphics engine isn't the best out in the world, and in terms of driving realism it isn't Gran Turismo 3, but picking up whores and listening to them bitch about their work while running over helpless pedestrians in a very large and well-mapped city is worth it all.
Zone of Enders - what can i say? Irritating protagonist, but good fighting action(albeit a little repetitive). Think of Virtua On with more 3d movement. However, the horribly short gameplay and unsatisfying ending are major irritations(i was "what the !$@#!$" when it ended - ABRUPTLY) - although the robot designs in close up really showcase the power of the PS2's graphical engine, albeit lacking the finer texture work of top-end PC titles like Alice.
Okay, back to exams......
Goddamned reality.