Metal Gear Solid 2
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Windows (Steam Deck OK)
Current goal: Prepare for a European Extreme mode run
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy | Humble Bundle
Having revisited the first Metal Gear Solid and its spin-off, Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions, I got the impulse to move onto Metal Gear Solid 2, one of the many games I played to death in the 2000s.
Read More: Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions: The Kotaku Review
MGS2 is almost too perfect for me. It’s a combination of one of my favorite genres (stealth) and a mind-bending narrative that sometimes feels painfully predictive of where society would end up. Besides, the Master Collection, which I must reiterate is an extremely flawed and disappointing collection of some of the best games of all time, does contain European Extreme mode, a super-hard difficulty that came with MGS2: Substance. I had started a playthrough of that mode way back in the day, but my copy of Substance soon went perpetually missing (damn stealth camo) along with my singular PS2 memory card.
So I’m thinking it’s time to hit that difficulty mode with all I got, but I’ll need to prep first. MGS2 is a product of its time, so I’ll have to get used to the older mechanics and could use a run or two on normal, hard, and maybe extreme. Plus, those wonderful VR missions are in abundance.
Read More: 18 Cool Things Metal Gear Solid 2 Doesn’t Outright Tell You
The Steam Deck feels like a good platform for this, especially as I have a trip coming up this weekend. Why stare out the window at the lovely scenic view of the Metro North rail when I could just stare at a gaming machine?
— Claire Jackson
