Is It Time to Remake Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty?

With the Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta Remake releasing, is it time to consider a remake of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty?

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is an up-and-coming remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Snake Eater is regarded as one of the best games in the series and one of the best games on the PlayStation 2. With Metal Gear Solid being one of the latest franchises to jump on the remake train, it leads to the question, what is next? I have examined why the original Metal Gear Solid would be worth a remake, but now let’s examine the second Metal Gear Solid game -Sons of Liberty. Should a remake be considered? Let’s dive into it.

************Spoiler warning for the plot of Metal Gear Solid 2 below************

Should Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Be Remade?

Landmark Anniversary

The game was first released in November of 2001 on the PlayStation 2 before being released on Xbox and PC as the Substance version in 2002. With 2026 not being as far off as it may seem, there is no better time to release a remake than a landmark 25th anniversary.

This would give enough time for a solid marketing campaign and if Konami wants to stay true to a November release, the remake would be out for the holiday push at the end of the year. Or if more time is needed, 2027 would be the 25th anniversary of the cross-platform Substance release. Either way, a 25th-anniversary marketing campaign would add to the excitement of the release.

Themes and Content Are Relevant as Ever

When the game was released in 2001, it tackled themes such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, social engineering, digital information sharing, and more. In 2001, these concepts may have seemed far off, but as we approach 2025, these themes are more relevant than ever before (not to mention others in the game).

Artificial intelligence is currently an extremely hot topic. With programs such as ChatGPT, Microsoft AI, Apple Intelligence, Meta AI, and others on the rise we are becoming more and more accustomed to AI being part of our daily lives.

In the second part of the campaign, Raiden is in constant contact with the Colonel through codec. What we learn as the plot unfolds is that he is actually speaking to and being manipulated by an artificial intelligence that is imitating the Colonel. This ends up being a major point at the end of the campaign. As AI evolves we are seeing more cases come to light of artificial intelligence being used to trick and manipulate people through social engineering (more on that later). The technology is becoming strong enough that it is becoming difficult to tell what is AI generated and what is not.

A key point made throughout the second part of the campaign is that Raiden is a rookie who was sent on a mission to infiltrate the Big Shell without proper training. Raiden argues that he has been properly prepared through his extended virtual reality training. Raiden explains that the training has urgency and pain sensations in it. Snake responds that the training takes away the fear of combat situations that is created in live exercises. When the game was first released virtual reality seemed like a foreign concept. Now with systems such as Oculus, Meta Quest, Apple Vision, and others, we are able to put on a headset and enter a completely virtual world to enjoy video games in. We can enter survival horror settings such as Resident Evil and experience a battle scenario with zombies. The scenario may seem real but of course, it is not. This is exactly what Snake and Raiden argue about in the game.

Now more than ever we see social engineering in our daily lives as part of the digital age. Our passwords are constantly up for grabs as scam phone calls, text messages, and emails are sent attempting to get people to click on links that compromise social media, banking, and other accounts with sensitive information. Look no further than when the fictional President James Johnson was attempting to become part of the Patriots group by cooperating with the terrorists attempting to seize Metal Gear. This includes him willingly entering his biological information to give the terrorist group access to a nuclear weapon. Of course things don’t end well for Johnson as he is used as a pawn in a greater plan, much like those who lose sensitive information in online scams are.

Sons of Liberty has plenty of deep themes related to geopolitics, technology, world economy, conspiracy theories, and others that are more front of mind now than they were in 2001/2002. This would make a remake a great commentary on today’s world as well as a retrospective of how far things have come in 25 years.

What was Snake Up To?

Although the game was well received upon release there was some controversy regarding the change of protagonist for the second act of the game from Solid Snake to the debuting Raiden. This was done in a very meta way as we learn Raiden was sent on this operation as a way to mimic the Shadow Moses incident (plot of the original Metal Gear Solid) to see if he could become the next Snake.

We meet Snake who is posing as a member of Seal Team 10 under the name Iroquois Pliskin. Raiden interacts with him in person and over the codec as the game progresses.

Many fans were unhappy with the change as it was kept out of the demo and marketing materials for the game. We learn some of what Snake is doing throughout codec calls but the second act has never been flushed out from Snake’s perspective fully. As part of the Substance release, there are “Snake Tales” which has gamers play as Snake and interact with characters from the second act of the game in the Big Shell setting that gamers explore as Raiden. However, these don’t line up with Raiden and the second half of the game. What better way to get gamers excited about a remake than to let them step back into Snake’s shoes and play his part of the campaign for Sons of Liberty?

Do you want to see a remake of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty? Where does it stack up in your list of favorite Metal Gear Solid games? Sound off in the comments below!

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