Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
System: PlayStation 2 (projected release 2001)

Many members of the gaming press declared they had seen the game of E3 2000 a day before the show actually began. That game was Metal Gear Solid 2. Konami unveiled the game's first preview movie to journalists at a Universal Studios theater, and the next day the same footage began running before the general attendees of the convention. The roughly ten-minute presentation was cut, edited, and scored more like a movie trailer than a video game preview. In those ten minutes we were introduced to the new look of Metal Gear, powered by the PlayStation 2, and it was unlike anything we'd ever seen before. Metal Gear Solid 2 features stunningly realistic environments, especially in its use of lighting and weather effects. Character animation is also incredibly natural. The cinematic presentation in MGS is taken to new heights in the trailer, and although the action won't be presented from such a dynamic perspective in the finished game, MGS2 still advances by a huge leap the convergence of movie and game. Much like MGS did in Atlanta in 1997, MGS2 at E3 2000 set the gaming industry on its ear with expectations.

What We Know

At this early date, details about MGS2's story are, of course, sparse. We've been able to glean a lot from the short amount of footage that was shown, though, especially in the way of returning characters. Despite the pacifistic catharsis he reached at the end of MGS, Snake will indeed return for this sequel (as if we expected otherwise). Several times during the trailer Snake speaks to Otacon via codec, so Otacon will definitely reprise his role as remote support for Snake. One scene shows a trench-coated figure in a standoff with a guard. The unknown man guns the guard down, and with a spin of his six-shooter, his face is revealed: It is, of course, Revolver Ocelot. His ambiguous loyalties will certainly be expounded upon (as will the nature of the mysterious Solidus, who is also mentioned briefly in the trailer). Finally, as the trailer closes, we hear a brief message from the archrival himself, Liquid Snake. Director Kojima has stressed that it is indeed Liquid's voice, so expect him to play a major role in MGS2. The only new character revealed in the trailer is a platinum-haired female commando, and what part she plays is so far unknown.

The Metal Gear Rex test data collected during the incident on Shadow Moses Island was later sold on the black market, and now every nuclear-capable country in the world has built its own Rex. To combat this problem, an unknown entity has constructed Metal Gear Ray (think stingray), a colossal mechanized beast whose sole purpose is to destroy the many variants of Rex. In the trailer, it appears that a terrorist group wants to hijack Ray for its own purposes, and Solid Snake is the only man who can stop them. According to the designers, the game takes place in New York City, although most of the trailer contains scenes on board a huge tanker (possibly containing Metal Gear Ray itself).

Hideo Kojima likes to infuse his games with meaning. MGS dealt with the perils of nuclear war (as all games in the series do), but it also addressed issues of natural selection and tampering with the natural order through the gene soldiers and Solid Snake's rather interesting heritage. According to Kojima, Sons of Liberty will examine information and privacy in the digital age. Konami's MGS2 press material says about the game, "In a world where... everyday life is digitized, and truth and falsehood intertwine, how are we to see through all and how must we live our lives?"