Big Shell Infiltration ～ Contact Peter Stillman

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This man-made island, an above-ocean plant constructed to take care of the tanker oil spill incident, it being taken over and occupied by an artilleried organization, seemed slightly weak, so I added the president who's here for an inspection also being taken hostage. When I first thought of this, I had the president being killed right off the bat at the beginning of the story, to betray the user's expectations. But in fact the president is only a decoy, an impersonator. The whole thing is really carried out to disguise the president, whose term is near an end, Solidus' submergence underground.

For the previous game we built the stages using Lego and then viewed them using a small camera to get a feel of the character's first person view perspective. But this time, because the stage designs became so complicated, with so many multiple levels, that we had to switch to computer graphics stage layouts. This time, most of the scenario was acted out completely inside the computer.

The name "Big Shell" was used because the plant structure is a pretend facade covering the real structure of Arsenal Gear underneath. Like a shell. It is also an allusion to the shape of Arsenal Gear, it looks like a big turtle, with a big shell. At first it was going to be called the "Big Blue Apple".

When I was thinking about the game and the characters early on, I remembered the Sherlock Holmes novels. Those books are written in first person, but the narrator is not the main character Sherlock Holmes, but is Watson, the supporting character. This character relationship inspired the idea of having the narrator in MGS2 not being the main character, but a supporting character. And if I was to do that, I wouldn't make it a character that is similar to Snake, because that would diminish the purpose. So I came up with the idea of a character that is the complete opposite of the rough and rugged Solid Snake, a smooth and gentle character. The story will be told by this new character being the main character of the game, but the main character of the story will still be Snake. There is no doubt, that even though Solid Snake is not the game's narrator this time, he is still the main character of Metal Gear Solid 2.

When the first Metal Gear was released 14 years ago, Snake was a rookie, and he needs help and hints through the radio, or the codec in Metal Gear Solid. But now, Snake has become a hero, and a pro, so he doesn't need hints and advice anymore during missions. But for the users, help through the codec is still necessary. The creation of the new character Raiden solved this problem. Raiden is a rookie, and by educating him with the mechanics of the mission, the user learns how to play the game as well. This was one of the factors behind Raiden's creation.

I really enjoyed the movie "Terminator 2". That movie has a very good opening because at first the viewers didn't know he was the protagonist this time. When he appears in the story, we assume he is the bad guy because of the first movie. The viewers are tricked without the movie doing anything to actively trick them. I remember I was very surprised when the events in the movie revealed his identity. I wanted to create something to surprise the users of MGS2 in the same way. When users start the Plant Chapter, I want them to assume the main character is Snake, without the game itself doing anything to trick them into thinking that, and then surprise them, not by the game saying I tricked you, but with the users realizing they assumed wrong. In other words, the game does not trick the user, it is the user that tricks himself. This was one of the factors behind Raiden's creation.

Just when the user is wondering what is going on, the game introduces to him a new character named Pliskin. A mysterious and interesting character who looks and sounds just like Snake. But because the user just moments ago tricked himself because of assuming prematurely, he doubts his own assumption that this man might be Snake. And so the user isn't sure. Is he Snake?

Among the production team it was half and half, some thought Raiden was a good idea, and some were really worried that users might want to play as Solid Snake.

I was not really scared that people might not be happy about the main character being a new character. In a sequel you do have to satisfy people's expectations, but I think in a way you also have to go against their expectations. This is my Metal Gear, if it is to be destroyed, I will do it my way.

Pliskin : "伏せろ！！ Get down!!" A man's voice appears from the Northern entrance of the room! Users who have played the previous installment will think it's Liquid. His physical appearance resembles Liquid. The man enters the room holding the M4. Though his sleeves are rolled up all the way to the elbows, the outfit he's wearing is a SEALs uniform. Because he is wearing a skull cap, only his sparkling eyes are visible. The big headphones on his head, that's the equipment for captains.

Vamp swings his knife like an alive snake, and cuts the man's wrist in several places. Blood gushes out from the man's wrist, and he drops the M4 on the floor.

Here Raiden will try to aim his gun at Vamp. If Raiden doesn't have a pistol yet, he'll pick up the M4 dropped by the man.

Vamp : "この臭い… This odor..." With great surprise, Vamp pulls back from the man. Vamp smells the odor of Solidus. But it can't possibly be Solidus, so he quickly arrives at the conclusion. Vamp : "貴様っ！？まさかっ！！ You!? It can't be!!" He realizes it is the hated rival of Dead Cell, Solid Snake.

Pliskin : "何をしてる！！撃てっ！ What are you doing!! Fire!" Vamp once again does ballet steps and dances and rotates. This man's body just can't be wounded. Fortune radios him, and he stops dancing. Vamp's radio transmitter is inside his ear.

Vamp : "面白いものを見つけた… I found something interesting..." He is referring to finding Snake.

Pliskin : "俺は… I am..." He is about to declare his name, but pauses to think of an appropriate fake name to use instead. (In the finished game, an extra "ス S" sound is added.)

The man pulls off the skull cap from his head using one hand, revealing his face. For the first time Pliskin's face appears on the screen. He's a beard unshaven and hair uncut and unorganized (無精髭, 無精髪) old looking man, looking like in his 50's. Not wearing a bandana. He closely resembles the image of Liquid in the previous installment.

Look at Raiden try to be intimidating with the look in his eyes.

Raiden : "どこから？ How did you get here?" Pliskin : "ヘリからの高速ロープ降下… Fast rope descent from the helicopter..." Pliskin is not going to reveal his real intentions at this point. He is still observing and assessing the situation. Notice the sea louse crawl out from Pliskin's equipment, that's the same kind of bug from the pool of the beginning infiltration. Raiden is staring at the bug, he's clearly finding this man's reply to his question suspicious.

Raiden : "以前に会ったことが？ Have we met before?" Looking at Pliskin, Raiden is bewildered, because his face looks like Snake and Solidus.

Pliskin : "その兵装、ＦＯＸＨＯＵＮＤか？ That combat outfit, FOXHOUND?" Raiden : "…そうだ ...Yes." Pliskin recognizes it as the sneaking suit, and asks Raiden point blank about FOXHOUND. Raiden has no choice but to admit it.

Pliskin : "ＦＯＸＨＯＵＮＤは解体されたはずだ FOXHOUND should already be disbanded." Pliskin is as sure of FOXHOUND's non-existence as Raiden is of its existence.

Pliskin : "実戦経験は？ Any real life combat experience?" Raiden : "いや…ない… No... none..." This is a lie.

Pliskin : "ＶＲ訓練か？ VR training?" Pliskin is disappointed and discouraged at hearing Raiden's list of past combat experiences. Raiden still tries to defend himself, but Pliskin just can't be convinced of the virtues of virtual experience, having been through as much real life combat experience as he had.