Metal Gear Topics

What The Hell Happened in MGS2?
So, you've played MGS2, what did you think? "The complicated storyline confused me." I've heard this reply more than a few times. Perhaps, so have you. Because of the confusing-ness of the story, a lot of people felt the story of MGS1 was better than the story of MGS2, even though MGS2 has the superior gameplay and graphics. Many people have also expressed their feeling that the storyline of MGS1 is more original than that of MGS2, considering that due to the S3 Plan, most of what happened in MGS2 are recreations of what happened in MGS1. I would have agreed with that assessment, had the flow of events in MGS1 not been so similar to the flow of events in MG2. But since the events in MGS1 were in fact very similar to those in MG2, I hold back commending on its innovativeness and originality. MGS1 is, however, an improved and better rounded version of MG2, in all respects, and that must be acknowledged. To put it simply: Story = MGS1 better than MGS2. Graphics = MGS2 better than MGS1. Gameply = MGS2 better than MGS1. Frankly, that's kind of what I think too. But not entirely for the above stated reason. I simply felt the story of MGS1 was more complete as a stand-alone game by itself. There was nothing missing from it, and there weren't too much unreasonable stretches of reality, as there are in MGS2. There are also less untied loose ends in MGS1, but that is probably due to MGS1 being designed from the start as a solitary game, unlike MGS2, which was always planned as a part of a series, to be continued. That is not to say I didn't find the story of MGS2 interesting and fun. I liked it just as much as MGS1, even though it is indeed more complicated and confusing, arguably more or less unnecessarily so, but it is still fun. But before we can fully appreciate the fun-ness of the story, we must first fully understand the story. Let's see if we can manage to do that here. In regard to the feeling that the story is too complicated and difficult to understand. All the longwinded speeches of Snake, Ocelot, Solidus, The Colonel, The President, and the others, just what the hell are they all trying to say? Let us try to simplify things a bit. 1. The entire Big Shell Plant incident is a test drill, a recreation of the Shadow Moses Island incident. 2. Ocelot and Olga are agents of The Patriots. Raiden and Solidus are pawns of the test drill. 3. The Patriots are not people, but a cultural logistical consciousness. 4. MGS2 is full of lies. 5. The theme of MGS2 is "what to pass on to future generations". There are more, but let's not delve in too deep, for fear that the results we will not be able to contain. Let's take a closer look at the above five points one by one. First, the entire Big Shell Plant incident is a test drill, a recreation of the Shadow Moses Island incident. For those of you who had played MGS1, you should know this well. During the course of the game, there must be multiple instances when you went "Hum? This part is just like MGS1!" This was due to the entire operation being a recreation of the Shadow Moses Incident. Instances such as the appearance of the Ninja, the deaths of Ames and the President, the special military unit Dead Cell, the torture, etc. Next, Ocelot and Olga are agents of The Patriots. Raiden and Solidus are pawns of the test drill. Ocelot was in league with the military group "Sons of Liberty", but this was really a lie. The truth is, he was an agent of The Patriots. He was present in the Plant Takeover Incident for the sole purpose of recreating the Shadow Moses Incident, as a test drill for The Patriots. And Olga, she was there for her son, who had been taken hostage by The Patriots. She was there not out of her own will, but was forced. Nevertheless, her identity was still an agent of The Patriots. Her role in the test drill was the recreation of the Cyborg Ninja of Shadow Moses. On the other hand, Solidus and Raiden were both pawns in the test drill recreation. They were lied to, fooled without themselves knowing it. Their roles were unknowing participants. To make it easier for us all, below is a character role and affiliation list, in outline form. Revolver Ocelot = agent of The Patriots. His alliance with the armed organization "Sons Of Liberty" is a lie. Olga Gurlukovich = agent of The Patriots. Her alliance with the armed organization "Sons Of Liberty" is a lie. Her allegiance to The Patriots was due to her child being kidnapped and taken hostage by them. Fatman = agent of The Patriots. He is a member of the special force unit "Dead Cell", but his presence on Big Shell is as a test drill conductor, on the behalf of The Patriots. Vamp = member of special force unit "Dead Cell" and ally of armed organization "Sons Of Liberty". He is a used pawn in the test drill. Fortune = member of special force unit "Dead Cell" and ally of armed organization "Sons Of Liberty". She is a used pawn in the test drill. Solidus Snake = leader of armed organization "Sons Of Liberty" and ally of special force unit "Dead Cell". He is a used pawn in the test drill. Solidus was used by The Patriots through Ocelot. He was a pawn in the S3 Plan test drill exercise. Being the leader of the terrorist incident was only his assigned role. Colonel = AI program of The Patriots. His identity as the mission commander of FOX HOUND is a lie. He was really an artificial intelligence personification created by the GW Program (later JFK Program) within Arsenal Gear. His image was transmitted directly into Raiden's brain through the nanomachines inside his body. Rosemary = agent of The Patriots. Disguised as Raiden's girlfriend, Rose is actually an agent sent by The Patriots to spy on and monitor Raiden. During the course of her mission, she really fell in love with Raiden, and no longer wished to act on behalf of her mission. Raiden = agent of FOX HOUND. Raiden himself believes he is an agent of the Special Force Group FOX HOUND, but that is a lie. FOX HOUND was disbanded in 2005, after the Shadow Moses Uprising, and did not exist in 2009 when the Big Shell Takeover happened, so Raiden couldn't have been an agent of a non-existent agency. The truth is Raiden was only a pawn in the S3 Plan test drill. Solid Snake & Otacon = NP-NG-O Philanthropy. Free agents who arrived at the Big Shell plant of their own will, and not as a part of The Patriots' S3 Plan. The two of them were provided the tip of something going down by an anonymous source, who was in the end revealed to be Liquid. Their appearance was an unexpected surprise to The Patriots, courtesy of Liquid. With this, hopefully, who each character really is should be a little bit clearer. Onto the next point, The Patriots are not people, but a cultural logistical consciousness. What the hell does that mean? Let's take a look at what President Johnson said to Raiden just before being killed by Ocelot, regarding the 12 old men of The Patriots. In a meeting referred to as the "賢人会議 philosopher's conference", the 12 old men of The Patriots decide everything that goes on in the world, everything involving politics, military, and economy. The one example being who to be chosen as America's president. On the surface, the president is elected, but in reality, he is selected by The Patriots. These 12 old men who secretly control world politics, military, and economy make up The Patriots. If they are gone, there will be no one to maintain the delicate balance of the world. The world order will topple, and nations will fall into a state of chaos and turmoil. Wars will ensue between countries and within countries, world and civil wars will spread terror and destroy humanity as we know it. That is why The Patriots can not be defeated. At least that's what the President said. However, in reality all the members of The Patriots have already died 100 years ago, they don't exist in the world. "The Patriots" had already become a name representing regulation, morality, and tradition, or in other words, "culture". The Patriots is culture personified. The Patriots are not people, but is culture itself. Therefore, "The Patriots" can not be defeated, it can not be destroyed. Because "The Patriots" is not people, it can not be defeated. The reason MGS2 ended midway without an ending is because of exactly this, because The Patriots are not people and can not be fought and defeated. While on the subject, what the Marines Commander Scott Dolph said on the tanker, "la-li-lu-le-lo", that's the code name for The Patriots. Fourthly, MGS2 is full of lies. MGS2 is so full of lies, that it is almost unidentifiable which truths are truths and which truths are lies. By the end of the game, we the players have all become as clueless as Raiden. It is exactly for this reason, that the storyline of MGS2 became so widely regarded as a story that makes no sense. To start off, the stages of the game, the tanker and the plant, are both lies. The US Ship Discovery oil tanker is really a US Navy ship in disguise, and the Big Shell Oil Decontamination Plant is really Arsenal Gear in disguise. Both locations are complete lies. The characters in the game are all full of lies as well. Raiden being a rookie who's never participated in real life battle is a lie, he was actually an extremely experienced child soldier. Snake letting the whole world believe he died in the tanker sinking incident is a lie, and him telling Raiden he is a US marine by the name of "Iroquois Pliskin" is also a lie. The Colonel, and the entire existence of the FOX HOUND Unit, are both lies. They are complete fabrications by the Arsenal AI. Rose, having met Raiden by accident, and being her girlfriend, are all lies. Even her black hair color is a lie. Stillman having lost one of his legs in an explosion is a lie. Otacon and Emma lied to each other for years. Olga's participation in the Sons Of Liberty uprising is a lie. Fortune being lady luck is a lie. Fatman's C4 bombs are lies. The President and Ames' identities are both lies. Not to mention Ocelot, he is just full of lies. Etc. The biggest lie of course would have to be the entire mission itself. The plant infiltration mission, which is this game, is a complete lie. That is why both Raiden and the player must think to himself, "what the hell am I doing here then?" Lastly, the theme of MGS2 is "what to pass on to future generations". That's what they keep saying. What exactly it is MGS2 wants to pass on to the future generations, that is up to us the players to interpret individually, I suppose. What do you think? Or maybe it's only what Snake said during the ending sequences. I had wanted to discuss the story of the game in simple terms, but it ended up so wordy, maybe it all became even more unnecessarily incomprehensible. Well, maybe that's exactly what makes the story of MGS2 so complicated. Or maybe it's just me making an excuse for the incomprehensibility of this topic. A lot of people think the game ended without an ending, but just ended abruptly without closure. I suppose it would have to do with The Patriots being not an existing physical entity. They are not actual existing people, and thus you can neither fight them nor defeat them. They (or it) can not be defeated. This is a game where the ultimate boss behind the whole thing can not be fought. At least not in a physical manner. Not in the traditional way. This can be viewed as a dissatisfying let down, or it can be interpreted as a brilliant game innovation. It's not surprising that a lot of people are not so keen on the idea of a last boss that can't be defeated, but I for one am not completely opposed to the idea. An action game with a last boss that can't be defeated is quite a rarity indeed. It can even be argued that the presence of this last boss that can't be defeated is what makes this game this interesting. The player of course is inclined to fight and defeat The Patriots, but that is something that simply can not be done. And that is why it is not a part of the game. It can not be a part of the game. An ending of that kind can not exist even if you wanted to put it in the game. Very untraditional indeed. Well, the Metal Gears had never been traditional games. Whew, that was long. Hopefully not long and pointless. ^_^ 2.22.2003

What The Hell Happened in MGS2?

So, you've played MGS2, what did you think?
"The complicated storyline confused me."
I've heard this reply more than a few times.
Perhaps, so have you.

Because of the confusing-ness of the story, a lot of people felt the story of MGS1 was better than the story of MGS2, even though MGS2 has the superior gameplay and graphics.
Many people have also expressed their feeling that the storyline of MGS1 is more original than that of MGS2, considering that due to the S3 Plan, most of what happened in MGS2 are recreations of what happened in MGS1.
I would have agreed with that assessment, had the flow of events in MGS1 not been so similar to the flow of events in MG2. But since the events in MGS1 were in fact very similar to those in MG2, I hold back commending on its innovativeness and originality. MGS1 is, however, an improved and better rounded version of MG2, in all respects, and that must be acknowledged.

To put it simply:
Story = MGS1 better than MGS2.
Graphics = MGS2 better than MGS1.
Gameply = MGS2 better than MGS1.

Frankly, that's kind of what I think too. But not entirely for the above stated reason. I simply felt the story of MGS1 was more complete as a stand-alone game by itself. There was nothing missing from it, and there weren't too much unreasonable stretches of reality, as there are in MGS2. There are also less untied loose ends in MGS1, but that is probably due to MGS1 being designed from the start as a solitary game, unlike MGS2, which was always planned as a part of a series, to be continued.
That is not to say I didn't find the story of MGS2 interesting and fun. I liked it just as much as MGS1, even though it is indeed more complicated and confusing, arguably more or less unnecessarily so, but it is still fun.

But before we can fully appreciate the fun-ness of the story, we must first fully understand the story.
Let's see if we can manage to do that here.

In regard to the feeling that the story is too complicated and difficult to understand.
All the longwinded speeches of Snake, Ocelot, Solidus, The Colonel, The President, and the others, just what the hell are they all trying to say?
Let us try to simplify things a bit.

1. The entire Big Shell Plant incident is a test drill, a recreation of the Shadow Moses Island incident.
2. Ocelot and Olga are agents of The Patriots. Raiden and Solidus are pawns of the test drill.
3. The Patriots are not people, but a cultural logistical consciousness.
4. MGS2 is full of lies.
5. The theme of MGS2 is "what to pass on to future generations".
There are more, but let's not delve in too deep, for fear that the results we will not be able to contain.

Let's take a closer look at the above five points one by one.
First, the entire Big Shell Plant incident is a test drill, a recreation of the Shadow Moses Island incident.
For those of you who had played MGS1, you should know this well. During the course of the game, there must be multiple instances when you went "Hum? This part is just like MGS1!" This was due to the entire operation being a recreation of the Shadow Moses Incident. Instances such as the appearance of the Ninja, the deaths of Ames and the President, the special military unit Dead Cell, the torture, etc.

Next, Ocelot and Olga are agents of The Patriots. Raiden and Solidus are pawns of the test drill.
Ocelot was in league with the military group "Sons of Liberty", but this was really a lie. The truth is, he was an agent of The Patriots. He was present in the Plant Takeover Incident for the sole purpose of recreating the Shadow Moses Incident, as a test drill for The Patriots.
And Olga, she was there for her son, who had been taken hostage by The Patriots. She was there not out of her own will, but was forced. Nevertheless, her identity was still an agent of The Patriots. Her role in the test drill was the recreation of the Cyborg Ninja of Shadow Moses.
On the other hand, Solidus and Raiden were both pawns in the test drill recreation. They were lied to, fooled without themselves knowing it. Their roles were unknowing participants.
To make it easier for us all, below is a character role and affiliation list, in outline form.

Revolver Ocelot = agent of The Patriots.
His alliance with the armed organization "Sons Of Liberty" is a lie.

Olga Gurlukovich = agent of The Patriots.
Her alliance with the armed organization "Sons Of Liberty" is a lie. Her allegiance to The Patriots was due to her child being kidnapped and taken hostage by them.

Fatman = agent of The Patriots.
He is a member of the special force unit "Dead Cell", but his presence on Big Shell is as a test drill conductor, on the behalf of The Patriots.

Vamp = member of special force unit "Dead Cell" and ally of armed organization "Sons Of Liberty".
He is a used pawn in the test drill.

Fortune = member of special force unit "Dead Cell" and ally of armed organization "Sons Of Liberty".
She is a used pawn in the test drill.

Solidus Snake = leader of armed organization "Sons Of Liberty" and ally of special force unit "Dead Cell".
He is a used pawn in the test drill.
Solidus was used by The Patriots through Ocelot. He was a pawn in the S3 Plan test drill exercise. Being the leader of the terrorist incident was only his assigned role.

Colonel = AI program of The Patriots.
His identity as the mission commander of FOX HOUND is a lie. He was really an artificial intelligence personification created by the GW Program (later JFK Program) within Arsenal Gear.
His image was transmitted directly into Raiden's brain through the nanomachines inside his body.

Rosemary = agent of The Patriots.
Disguised as Raiden's girlfriend, Rose is actually an agent sent by The Patriots to spy on and monitor Raiden.
During the course of her mission, she really fell in love with Raiden, and no longer wished to act on behalf of her mission.

Raiden = agent of FOX HOUND.
Raiden himself believes he is an agent of the Special Force Group FOX HOUND, but that is a lie. FOX HOUND was disbanded in 2005, after the Shadow Moses Uprising, and did not exist in 2009 when the Big Shell Takeover happened, so Raiden couldn't have been an agent of a non-existent agency.
The truth is Raiden was only a pawn in the S3 Plan test drill.

Solid Snake & Otacon = NP-NG-O Philanthropy.
Free agents who arrived at the Big Shell plant of their own will, and not as a part of The Patriots' S3 Plan. The two of them were provided the tip of something going down by an anonymous source, who was in the end revealed to be Liquid.
Their appearance was an unexpected surprise to The Patriots, courtesy of Liquid.

With this, hopefully, who each character really is should be a little bit clearer.

Onto the next point, The Patriots are not people, but a cultural logistical consciousness.
What the hell does that mean?
Let's take a look at what President Johnson said to Raiden just before being killed by Ocelot, regarding the 12 old men of The Patriots.
In a meeting referred to as the "賢人会議 philosopher's conference", the 12 old men of The Patriots decide everything that goes on in the world, everything involving politics, military, and economy.
The one example being who to be chosen as America's president. On the surface, the president is elected, but in reality, he is selected by The Patriots.
These 12 old men who secretly control world politics, military, and economy make up The Patriots. If they are gone, there will be no one to maintain the delicate balance of the world. The world order will topple, and nations will fall into a state of chaos and turmoil. Wars will ensue between countries and within countries, world and civil wars will spread terror and destroy humanity as we know it.
That is why The Patriots can not be defeated.
At least that's what the President said. However, in reality all the members of The Patriots have already died 100 years ago, they don't exist in the world.
"The Patriots" had already become a name representing regulation, morality, and tradition, or in other words, "culture". The Patriots is culture personified.
The Patriots are not people, but is culture itself. Therefore, "The Patriots" can not be defeated, it can not be destroyed.
Because "The Patriots" is not people, it can not be defeated.
The reason MGS2 ended midway without an ending is because of exactly this, because The Patriots are not people and can not be fought and defeated.
While on the subject, what the Marines Commander Scott Dolph said on the tanker, "la-li-lu-le-lo", that's the code name for The Patriots.

Fourthly, MGS2 is full of lies.
MGS2 is so full of lies, that it is almost unidentifiable which truths are truths and which truths are lies. By the end of the game, we the players have all become as clueless as Raiden. It is exactly for this reason, that the storyline of MGS2 became so widely regarded as a story that makes no sense.

To start off, the stages of the game, the tanker and the plant, are both lies. The US Ship Discovery oil tanker is really a US Navy ship in disguise, and the Big Shell Oil Decontamination Plant is really Arsenal Gear in disguise. Both locations are complete lies.

The characters in the game are all full of lies as well.
Raiden being a rookie who's never participated in real life battle is a lie, he was actually an extremely experienced child soldier.
Snake letting the whole world believe he died in the tanker sinking incident is a lie, and him telling Raiden he is a US marine by the name of "Iroquois Pliskin" is also a lie.
The Colonel, and the entire existence of the FOX HOUND Unit, are both lies. They are complete fabrications by the Arsenal AI.
Rose, having met Raiden by accident, and being her girlfriend, are all lies. Even her black hair color is a lie.
Stillman having lost one of his legs in an explosion is a lie.
Otacon and Emma lied to each other for years.
Olga's participation in the Sons Of Liberty uprising is a lie.
Fortune being lady luck is a lie.
Fatman's C4 bombs are lies.
The President and Ames' identities are both lies.
Not to mention Ocelot, he is just full of lies.
Etc.

The biggest lie of course would have to be the entire mission itself. The plant infiltration mission, which is this game, is a complete lie.
That is why both Raiden and the player must think to himself, "what the hell am I doing here then?"

Lastly, the theme of MGS2 is "what to pass on to future generations".
That's what they keep saying.
What exactly it is MGS2 wants to pass on to the future generations, that is up to us the players to interpret individually, I suppose.
What do you think?
Or maybe it's only what Snake said during the ending sequences.

I had wanted to discuss the story of the game in simple terms, but it ended up so wordy, maybe it all became even more unnecessarily incomprehensible.
Well, maybe that's exactly what makes the story of MGS2 so complicated. Or maybe it's just me making an excuse for the incomprehensibility of this topic.

A lot of people think the game ended without an ending, but just ended abruptly without closure.
I suppose it would have to do with The Patriots being not an existing physical entity. They are not actual existing people, and thus you can neither fight them nor defeat them. They (or it) can not be defeated. This is a game where the ultimate boss behind the whole thing can not be fought. At least not in a physical manner. Not in the traditional way.
This can be viewed as a dissatisfying let down, or it can be interpreted as a brilliant game innovation.
It's not surprising that a lot of people are not so keen on the idea of a last boss that can't be defeated, but I for one am not completely opposed to the idea.
An action game with a last boss that can't be defeated is quite a rarity indeed. It can even be argued that the presence of this last boss that can't be defeated is what makes this game this interesting.
The player of course is inclined to fight and defeat The Patriots, but that is something that simply can not be done. And that is why it is not a part of the game. It can not be a part of the game. An ending of that kind can not exist even if you wanted to put it in the game.

Very untraditional indeed.
Well, the Metal Gears had never been traditional games.

Whew, that was long.
Hopefully not long and pointless.
^_^

2.22.2003

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