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Content review for this game:
Pertaining to content listed in the upper left corner of this site.
Note: The ESRB rated this game inaccurately the first time around, rating it "M" for Animated blood and Violence. Later on they corrected it for the re-release of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, where they rated it "M" for Blood and gore, Partial nudity and Violence. I will be using the latter rating in this review.
Blood and gore: There is a moderate amount of blood in this game, mostly in the form of splattering/puffs when your character or enemies are shot. Also, blood lingers in puddles and stains the characters' clothes. However, it can be turned off at the title screen, under options, which will disable it for gameplay and cutscenes, but some static blood on floors and walls will remain.
Specific scenes of blood & gore:
- An early scene shows enemy soldiers stealthily kill several marines by stabbing them in the throat, with the appropriate blood effects. In this early part of the game, you see several dead and bloodied marines scattered throughout. Also, if you open a certain locker, a marine's dead and bloodied body will fall out.
- Revolver Ocelot (a main villain) shoots a soldier in the head, with blood spurting from the wound. Later on the same villain kills more than 15 soldiers by shooting them with his revolver, all with appropriate blood effects.
- One scene shows a team of soldiers being slaughtered by what appears to be a vampire ( whose name is Vamp). You see blood splattered all over the walls and floors, with several dead soldiers lying in pools of their own blood. You then see the vampire slash one soldier's throat, resulting in blood squirting and splattering from the wound onto clothes and walls. The vampire then pins another half dead soldier to the wall and sucks his blood. Later you see another one of the vampires victims lying dead on the floor with his throat slashed open, and his blood stained on his clothing and pooled on the floor. This is by far the worst scene in the game.
- Raiden shoots Vamp in the head and stomach, with you seeing the impact as it tears through, resulting in blood splattering and showing on both wounds. Vamp apparently drops dead, and the scene ends there.
- After you defeat one of the early bosses, his wound starts to stain his clothes with blood. Also, his overall appearance is somewhat grotesque; he is deathly pale, obese, has prominent veins bulging from his body and has very feminine hands. He even has pink nail polish, the reason being that he considers himself an artist with bombs, so he keeps his hands in perfect condition.
- After you've defeated another boss by shooting down his jet fighter, you see as he crashes in the water and starts to sink in the cockpit. You then see that one of his eyes has been completely destroyed, showing blood stains in and around his eye socket.
- In a later area, as Raiden and Emma (a main female character) are swimming underwater in a drowned part of an abandoned facility, they come upon a sealed pressure door. When Raiden finally manages to open it, a dead and bloodied body pops up from behind the door into the room Raiden and Emma are currently in. As the body floats up to the ceiling, its blood stains the water.
- A later boss is again, Vamp. The main character's bullet grazes the Vamp's face. Vamp then slowly takes out his tongue and licks the site of the wound in a satisfied manner (seeing that the main character will be a good challenge). After you defeat him, he drowns and his blood stains the water.
- Later Vamp makes an annoying return and holds one of the main female characters at knife point. You shoot him in the head with a sniper rifle, but see that he has already stabbed her through the back. You then see her blood start soaking her clothes. Later on she dies from her injuries.
- After Raiden defeats the last boss by giving him a final blow with his sword, the boss loses balance off the skyscraper they are currently on. You see him fall, and the wounds on his back spurt blood heavily.
Partial Nudity:
- The first boss is a female named Olga. Your fight takes place in the rain, and she has a thin shirt, so it is a bit transparent, showing the overall shape of her chest, but is offset by the fact that she is wearing suspenders over her chest (covering certain details) and has some pretty hairy underarms.
- Later in the game, the main character wakes up in an interrogation room tied to a electrocution table. The shot shows that he is completely naked, but his private parts are covered by smart camera angles. After you escape, the main character is still without clothes, but he covers his private parts with his cupped hands. Also, while running around looking for your gear, there is a full view of the character's naked behind.
- One of the main female villains wears a somewhat revealing jumpsuit. It looks like a wetsuit, and reaches only to her upper thighs like a bikini bottom, and though it's a one piece, it is pretty tight fitting, which shows the overall form of her body.
- In a brief scene, one of the side characters grabs Raiden's (the main character) crotch to see what gender he is (I don't get it either). Though, just for reference, the main character is pretty feminine looking, with white blonde hair that reaches to his shoulders, a lithe figure, pale skin, and small features.
- In a couple radio conversations between Raiden and his girlfriend, some of the dialog obviously suggests that he and his girlfriend back home sleep together regularly.
- One of the side stories is about how one of the main characters slept with his stepmother in his early years, resulting in his father killing himself and tearing what was left of his family apart. However, this situation is seen as an extreme negative, and the offending character regrets it to no end.
- In one part of the game your character starts to walk under a balcony. An enemy appears on the balcony and starts to urinate. If you're not careful it could end up on your head, as you are sneaking underneath.
- As Raiden is looking for Emma in a half-drowned facility, he comes upon a room lined with lockers. He soon hears her panting in one of these lockers and opens it. When she sees him, she thinks he is one of the villains (they've never met), and as a result, you see as she wets herself in front of him.
- There are two side characters in two specific scenes who both have pacemakers in their chests. Each of these men have violent (but brief) heart attacks that eventually lead to their deaths. You do hear the sound effect of the heart malfunctioning (gushing/beating spastically) as their faces contort in pain.
- After a side character gives Raiden valuable information, he tells Raiden to kill him. Raiden, confused, hesitates--and then flat out refuses. Revolver Ocelot shows up out of nowhere and shoots the side character in the chest, killing him (with light blood effects).
- As Raiden is fighting the main villain (who is in a large walking tank) with his sword, the main villain starts to visibly wear Raiden down. As things start to look dire, and the boss goes in for a final blow by using his machine's foot to crush Raiden, a main female character jumps in and braces the foot with her body. The boss then grabs her with one of the machine's arms, lifts her in the air, and breaks her neck, with appropriate sound effects.
- Near the end of the game, Revolver Ocelot turns against one of the main female villains and shoots her in the chest. He then gets in a large bi-pedal tank, and tries to finish her off by firing missiles at her position. She blocks them with her powers, while protecting Snake and Raiden (who were captured by Ocelot). After the barage, she dies from her injuries and exhaustion.
Suggestive themes: The ESRB didn't mention this in their rating. There are several posters of bikini/lingerie clad women scattered throughout the game; some are obvious and others are somewhat hidden. You can also use girly magazines to distract guards, by setting them on the floor.
Crude humor: The ESRB also didn't mention this in their rating.
Use of alcohol & tobacco: The ESRB didn't mention this either. At the beginning of the game, one of the main characters is seen smoking a cigar. Cigarettes are also selectable from the inventory, but they are seen as a negative, and if selected, they start to slowly suck your health away. Also, one of the early bosses is seen drinking alcohol, and holding the bottle with a glass, containing the alcohol, in his hands.
Violence: This game has some bizarre almost mythological story elements exampled below. It's hard to explain, but one of the main villains (Revolver Ocelot) lost his arm in the previous game's story, and had it replaced with one of the main characters (Solid Snake's) dead twin brother's (Liquid Snake's) arms. Somehow, Liquid can talk and sometimes control Revolver Ocelot. Like I said, it's pretty bizarre and hard to explain. Also, the game has a vampire (Vamp) that does not seem to die, no matter what the main character does to him. Add all this and a load of complicated politics, theology, and a little conspiracy theory and you have Metal Gear Solid.
The main characters (Raiden & Solid Snake) can kill with an assortment of weapons, ranging from pistols to rocket launchers. They can also snap the necks of enemies. However, other than bosses, you don't have to kill in the game. You can use a non-lethal dart gun or sneak up on enemies and choke or knock them out until they go unconscious, in fact, this method will give you a higher ranking at the end of the game. Also, later in the game, Raiden gains the ability to use a sword, and obviously it kills in a not so pleasant manner.
Specific scenes of violence:
Language: The ESRB also didn't mention this in the rating for some reason. There are over 25 uses of d**n, 10 uses of h**l, and 2 uses of b****rd. Also, one of the bosses says d**n almost everytime you damage him.
Closing Comment: This is a fantastic followup to Metal Gear Solid, with heavily improved graphics, gameplay, and one of the best overall stories in gaming. The only negative is that some people could find the story to be a bit long-winded and/or bizzare (hey it's a taste), and you still get the classic MGS static camera, which means you have almost no control over it. Content-wise, this is a bit more mild overall compared to its successor Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, with far less sexual content, and not as frequent intense/gory scenes. But it's still full of mature themes and is in no way appropriate for kids. So, I recommend this game for ages 17+.
