Feature By

James Wong

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[Please note that this review contains spoilers about Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2.]

Metal Gear Solid 2 was not the "average" sequel. Those who jumped into Solid Snake's next installment were not simply re-introduced: though the game inherited a lot of characteristics from its forerunner in terms of gameplay (stealth action and polished cinematics among other elements), it also introduced a narrative that took the player outside of standard videogame convention by replacing the protagonist soon into the game without any indication: those in Solid Snake's shoes were given the task to be Raiden, a character that seemed sudden in the Metal Gear Solid (MGS) universe.

This role-replacement caused quite a stir with gamers. People expected to be the one lead character they grew to like in MGS. There was no hint prior to the game's release, not even on the box, that Raiden was in the game.

With that said, MGS2 still had the gameplay of the original with the twist that no one expected. Perhaps through this, Hideo Kojima asked the gamer, "Who are you? What are your memories worth?" Whether taken literally (Do you mind not being Solid Snake? Are you going to play again?) or beyond the scope of the game, those questions alone made MGS2 more than just a stealth-tactical game. It became something to talk about and dissect. Something of art, science and even theory.

Whether taken as a simple behind the scenes disc or a deeper look into the game, Konami bridged the release of MGS2 and Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (stateside on Xbox) with The Document Of Metal Gear Solid 2 (aka Document).

One strength of MGS2 is its rich storyline—a first run through the game lasts about fifteen hours, but by skipping cinematics and select cutscenes, I can complete the game a second time in less than five. Perhaps, then, Document is "MGS2 without the gameplay"—you can step through the game's entire script and view every cutscene. Knowing this, there's a lot to review if you want to nitpick at every plot detail, action sequence or design paper that Kojima and his team conceived.

There's a good bulk of information available: character and level models are available for free-camera viewing; a timeline chronicles the game's production (we find out that MGS2 was proposed not too distant from the release of the first installment). Behind the scenes featurettes also are featured on the disc: various clips illustrate the production, motion capture and a quick look at sound mixing for the cutscenes. For added amusement, one of the clips features Kojima receiving a fax from Sony Computer Entertainment—a congratulatory message that the game has passed Sony technical checks and is ready to go gold.

It is engaging to see how deep the team went for research. Visits to actual locations (New York, a nuclear power facility) and a scenario challenge by the team's military advisor, among other chronicled events, is like watching a film crew doing research. Only here the crew is a group of game developers—the challenge is at least twofold because they are dealing with interactivity in addition to telling a story. Narrative is one thing. Coding is another.

The "Program" portion of Document will not reveal deep trade secrets about Konami or MGS2, but I suppose it is "education" enough for those pursuing game development (or even game developers looking at one approach to a game's construction). The Program section is divided into several sections, ranging from an explanation of the code itself to the graphics optimization and the game's "command language", the scripting language used to work the games cinematics and object behavior.