Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (PS2)

In essence, Substance is kind of like one of those special edition, director's cut DVDs you get for films, in that it's the same old movie but with so much cool stuff layered on top it seems totally new. There's also a similarly scattershot approach to the new features, but the most obviously appealing are the chance to play through both missions as Solid Snake (or a bunch of others including Pliskin and the cyborg ninja) instead of the anaemic Raiden. Then there's a mountain of over 100 VR missions and five brand new mini-episodes for Snake to try his luck at.

Any additional extras, and the answer to whether Snake really does get to do a Tony Hawk, remain secret until the final version is complete (if you're really desperate to see Solid Snake on a skateboard you might want to check out his cameo appearance in Evolution Skateboarding in the meantime) but it's impossible to imagine that if you're a Metal Gear fan you won't enjoy this. --David Jenkins

The game includes Sons Of Liberty, Snake Tales which obviously has Snake as the main character, VR missions and a small scateboarding game. Also the Document Of Metal Gear Solid is included on a separate disc. Here you can see how the game was made.

As for the gameplay it is Tactical Espionage Action. Basically it means that you should try to stay hidden from your enemies. It is an extremely detailed game. After I had played it for a year or something I noticed a big crane in the ceiling of a room. It was a storage room so of course they had a crane to load the boxes, how would they otherwise get them there?

In the start it can be frustrating if you are not used to the "from the top and down view" but as soon as you can master the controls, and the corner view, you can see everywhere you want.

The music is made of Harry Gregson Williams. The same composer that made the soundtrack of The Rock and many other good movies. The sound is incredible too.

Sons of Liberty was a rather small game, but with theese additions you will be busy for a long time.

Everything is great about this game, but it is hard to get. Good luck trying to find it!


A game with a lot of substance... (geddit?)   August 25, 2004
 6 out of 9 found this review helpful

I was in the shop the other way, trying to figure out what I'd pick- This game, which is an add-on to one I've got already, where the bulk of it is the original, or Socom: US Navy Seals 2. I'm an avid Metal Gear Solid fan, but I still surprised myself when I choose this game over Socom. But now I've played it, I realise why I bought it.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was one of the best games of all time, as was its prequel on the ps1. Now this is out, and I've finally bought it. The basic idea is that there are three new things to access. One of them is missions mode, where you have various objectives, like sneaking, or bomb disposal. Another is Snake Tales, where you have five mini-missions in the real game environments so you can actually play as Snake in the Big Shell, whereas in Sons of Liberty, you can only play as Raiden in the Big Shell. The last new feature is Skateboarding- the funniest part by a mile! Skating around the real game environments and accomplishing goals is funny, though it would be better if you could just skate around and do certain tasks when you want to, rather than having to do them all in a time limit.

I give this game Five Stars because I am reviewing the whole game-which includes the original Sons of Liberty, which was an amazing game. The add-ons make the game better, if that's possible, although my only dislike is that during the Snake Tales, you have no actual FMV sequences, just text to read, which shows the dialogue and thoughts. In the Snake Tales, you get all the in game bosses, which is a good thing.

My advice to people who have Sons of Liberty would be to get this game anyway- it doesn't cost to much now, and it definitely would be money well-spent. If you don't have the original Sons of Liberty, then get this instead! But don't get the original afterwards though, that just wouldn't be worth it!!

Lifespan- 10 out of 10- the original isn't too short, there are five snake tales to play through, the SNAKEboarding will have going for hours, and there are over 100 VR and alternative missions to complete!
Graphics- 10 out of 10- just as good as the original- smooth and detailed. Also the graphics on the VR missions are good.
Gameplay- 10 ot of 10- It plays amazingly well. The Vr missions have been designed to hone your skills and it succeeds triumphantly. The controls on the SNAKEboarding can be frustrating, but that is not enough to take away the 10 out of 10 in this area!
Sound- 10 out of 10- this nearly got a 9, but I realised that the sound has more good points than I originally thought. The soldiers speak to each other, there is a weird parrot in their somewhere, the voice acting is top notch, and the radio voices sound like they are coming over the radio.
Overall-10 out of 10- what else? The original Sons of Liberty was amazing, and it still is on this game. The best thing about this though is that you can play missions without having to worry about a mind-boggling yet excellent plotline. The add-ons don't go very deep; you can just take it at face value. It gets a little deep in the final Snake Tale, but that's the only time when it does, which makes me very proud of Mr.Kojima. An absolutely fantastic game, this is as essential to your PS2 as wires and a power point. I just canâ"t wait for Snake Eater- if it's anything like this it'll be amazing!


The best ps2 game out at the moment!   July 31, 2004
 0 out of 4 found this review helpful

This game does for the ps2 exactly what metal gear solid did for the psone. OK so substance is just an add on to sons of liberty but is there anything wrong with that? You could spend just as much time playing all of the VR missions as playing sons of liberty, sons of liberty is simply a bonus. This game is great, with new features on mgs2 including first person, hanging, rolling etc this game has absolutely nothing missing.

With everything you could ever ask for from an action game you cannot go wrong buying this, but if you dont own a copy of metal gear solid i suggest you buy that first as it is better.