Wikipedia said:General Infos
The story revolves around a massive offshore clean-up facility that has been seized by a group of terrorists that call themselves "Sons of Liberty", backed by a rogue special forces anti-terrorist unit "Dead Cell". They demand a massive ransom in exchange for the life of the President of the United States, and threaten to destroy the facility and create a cataclysmic environmental disaster if their demands are not met. The motives and identities of many of the antagonists and allies change rapidly, as the protagonists discover a world-shaking conspiracy constructed by a powerful organization known as the Patriots.
The game was well-received, shipping over 7 million copies worldwide and scoring an average of 96% in Metacritic's aggregate, making it the third highest-rated game on the PlayStation 2 and the 14th highest-rated game of all time. While the gameplay was almost universally acclaimed, critics were divided on the philosophical nature and execution of the game's storyline, which explores themes such as memes, social engineering, political conspiracies, and artificial intelligence. It has been considered the first example of a postmodern video game, and has been cited as a primary example of artistic expression in video games. The game was controversial due to its complex postmodern narrative and unconventional protagonist.
Wikipedia said:Production Notes
According to Hideo Kojima in the documentary Metal Gear Saga Vol. 1, the original plot of the game revolved around nuclear weapon inspections in Iraq and Iran and had Solid Snake trying to stop the Metal Gear while it was located on an aircraft carrier, in a certain time limit, while trying to stop Liquid Snake and his group. However, about six months into the project the political situation in the Middle East became a concern and they decided that they couldn't make a game with such a plot. The tanker in the released game is based on this original plot.
Significant changes to the game's ending were made late in development following the September 11 attacks in New York, where the finale occurs. A sequence depicting Arsenal Gear's displacement of the Statue of Liberty and crashing through half of Manhattan was removed, as was a short coda to appear after the credits, a breaking newscast showing the Statue of Liberty's new resting place, Ellis Island. At the point where Solidus dies, Raiden was supposed to have cut the rope on Federal Hall's flagpole, causing an American flag to fall over Solidus' body, and American flags which were supposed to be on all the flagpoles in New York were removed from the title.
MGS2 was also intended to reference the novel City of Glass, notably in the naming of its characters. Raiden's support team originally featured a different field commander named Colonel Daniel Quinn; Maxine "Max" Work, an Asian woman who saves game data and quotes Shakespeare, and William "Doc" Wilson, the creator of GW. All take their names from key characters in the book, and all three would have turned out to be artificial intelligences. None of these characters survived to the final edition, their roles being absorbed by other characters, namely the "Colonel Campbell" simulation, Rose, and Emma Emmerich. Peter Stillman, however, takes his name from another City of Glass character. Kojima has also cited another novel, Kōbō Abe's Kangaroo Notebook, as an influence on the game.
And who doesn't remember the E3 Trailer from 2000? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7aBSUAozE
I still remember the first time playing MGS2. Got it on a friday and finished it on the next day at 10 pm. God, what an awesome experience. of course, the ending was like "what the fuck are you trying to say?" but i liked it. too bad they had to cut so many ideas....
Feel free to post you personal impressions. this thread is for everyone who loves Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty.