Metal Gear Solid 2 was the game that changed everything for PS2

DF Retro looks back a technological masterpiece, starting with its stunning E3 2000 reveal.

[chrisx]

At the time mgs2 was the best looking game on any console and never used pre rendered cutscenes. Mgs3 dialed it up a notch

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

Naw, I think it was GTA3 that changed everything, not just for PS2 but for gaming at the time.

[mikeslemonade]

I agree MGS2 moved the graphics department. GTA3 was not.. that was too ambitious for its time. They needed vice city and San Andreas to polish it up.

[Godmars290]

It was a major sign of Western devs taking the lead of the console market from Japan.

[mikeslemonade]

^ Nope. MGS2 came out in 2001. Eastern devs still kicking butt. Was it a sign.. nope?

And if you think GTA3 was a shift, no it wasn't.

The shift happened much later when the Xbox 360 started receiving PC type games like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Mass Effect, and Bioshock. Then the eastern devs couldn't compete in the money side of the business and talent side.

And then eastern did it wrong doing by chasing money. Making mobile and handheld games. And then making multiplats for IPs that were suppose to be exclusive. All that crap degraded eastern video game quality.

[kevnb]

@mikeslemonade
the Japanese devs largely moved away from home consoles and started focusing on handheld and mobile.

[roadkillers]

Lol this guys right. If GTA didn't exist or it came to other consoles at the same time, PS2 would have sold million less. Metal Gear Solid was just a cog in the wheel of fantastic games that pushed someone over the limit to purchase a PS2.

People who didn't game had GTA3. Then that just grew a year later with GTA:VC.

[Why o why]

Broke the gaming 4th wall with the pad switching and rumble manipulation. . Hooked me clean

[-Foxtrot]

Was great...just a shame about Raiden

[slate91]

I remember being amazed how you could throw bodies off the ship and how awesome the graphics and animations were lol

[_-EDMIX-_]

Nevermind just changed everything for the PlayStation 2 , it changed everything for modern gaming in general.

[billw]

i would say GTA3 was the game that changed everything for PS2, at least thats what made everyone i was in the military with at the time get one.

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

That's exactly what I think, it was GTA3, not MGS2.

[THamm]

Should say mgs2 demo changed everything. At the time anyone that knew about games bought Zoe for the demo and that was when you realized what was about to come. GTA3 was a surprise that took gaming by storm and yes cemented the ps2 more than mgs2., mgs2 was too much and too deep for casual fans to handle and thus although being best selling it did not live up to mgs1 and gave mgs a bad rap to the casuals.

[Bronxs15]

Not just the ps2 but for the industry.

[InTheZoneAC]

played several games for ps2, mgs was not one of them. In fact I didn't get into it again until MGS4 and that was fun, I also enjoyed MGO.

btw my best looking ps2 game was probably twisted metal black, that game just looked like it could carry through for generations.

[OOMagnum]

I remember reading up on everything about this game when it first came out. Then when I finally played it took me about 7 hours just to get the informant in the jungle opening sequence. I was so enthralled and scared of the wild life 🐊🐊.Fuck crocodiles btw lol.

[BlackTar187]

That was #3

[demonddel]

Gta 3 did it for me

[BillytheBarbarian]

Mgs2 was the end of crappy fixed camera controls. Splinter cell smashed it. As for game changer I'd say GTA3 was what cemented the Ps2.

[Athos]

GTA3 changed everything for the PS2. Once that came out everyone had to have one to play the game. On the PS1 it was FF7.

[Einhander1971]

Always remember playing the demo with zone of Enders. was stunning lost count how many times I played it. It was definitely the defining moment for PS2 and the emotion engine, which Sony liked to use as a selling point.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

I was always very disappointed with MGS2. To me, it failed to capture a lot of what I loved about the original and I think it was too unhinged and goofy at times for it's own good. MGS is obviously a bit silly, but it's usually about placing you in a realistic setting and then gradually throwing weird shit at you and unsettling you over time. MGS2 just went too far for me once you become Raiden. I found characters like Vamp, Fatman and Fortune to be poor villains, although Vamp had some cool cutscenes against Snake. The only boss fight from them that I enjoyed was Fatman's. Solidus was also a forgettable main villain compared to The Boss and Liquid.

The setting, atmosphere, boss fights, pacing, soundtrack, etc felt like a HUGE step down. I respect it for what it did, and for its commentary, amazing attention to detail (so many little easter eggs) and advancements to the formula, but MGS2 really disappointed me. MGS3, on the other hand, was another story and nailed what I loved about MGS1 while also being a fairly different game.

[error13]

This is the first game that made me want to look around and discover things in games. Oh and the pull ups :P

[TheColbertinator]

That and FFX

[kevnb]

GTA 3 was when the ps2 became must own for the masses

[JMyers]

Kojima always uses the games engine... which means Death Stranding could look exactly like the trailer!

[mearl74]

#facts. MGS2 made the PS2.

[Tetsujin]

I remember buying Zone of the Enders to play MGS 2 demo. Outside Raiden I like 2 for what it is.