A sequel to perhaps the best Playstation game ever made, Metal Gear Solid 2 is packed with fun and shows what the PS2 is really made of.  It is nearly impossible to live up to the amount of hype and anticipation that MGS2 developed, but somehow MGS2 did.

The Marines are developing and harvesting new forms of Metal Gear, called Metal Gear Rex.  Your job is to get visual confirmation of this and have prove to stop them.  You are on a Tanker of shore of Manhattan, and about to move in.  But, everything goes wrong, and now you need to put it all back together and save the lives of many.

The environments are beautiful and interactive.  For example, if you shoot a pipe, it will spray hot water vapor into the air.  The AI of the terrorists has greatly improved also.  If they think they hear something across the room, they will take out binoculars to try to see you.  Also, if you are spotted and run into a room, they move in on you like a SWAT team.  They will throw in a Stun Grenade, then rush into the room and inspect each part.  They will carefully open the lockers, look behind objects, and inspect the air ducts.  Once they decide the room is clear, they will communicate to each other and move on to the next room leaving a guard by the door.

You can also hold-up enemies you catch off guard.  You can sneak up behind them, point your gun at them, and yell "Freeze!"  The man will immediately freeze and put his hands in the air.  However, if you take your gun of them, they will duck and roll, fire at you, and call for back up.  However, in order to stop this, you can shoot their radio, to disable contact.  Then, if you shoot their right hand and leg, they won't be able to fire at you or run. 

One of the new additions to the game are dog tags.  If you go through the game and hold-up men, they will give your their dog tags in hope of keeping their lives.  Collecting these tags is both fun and unlocks bonus items.  Another new addition is a first-person view.  Your can now aim your weapon with out fear of missing.  This can help you get a head shot and kill a man on your first try.

Unfortunately, there are a few places where MGS2 falls short.  I would have loved to see some new weapons, but only a few are to count for.  Also, the FMV sequences and storylines seem never ending, and there are a ton of double and triple crosses.  I also would have loved it if when you held someone up, you could also move them around to your liking. 

Don't get me wrong, MGS2 is a phenomenal game that will not leave my PS2 for a while, but there are just some things I would have liked to have seen.  Even so, MGS2 is one of, if not the best game out there.

-Mike