Review by JetHyena

"Look at the Giant Hyenas!!!"

Yet again, the title is a mere attention grabber...

By the way, the MSX's capabilities appear to be slightly higher (especially graphically) that the NES. This should clear some things up... It's awfully hard to make a judgement when you don't know anything about the system.

Graphics (nine out of ten)

The graphics are excellent, far better than the original Metal Gear. The sprites are still simplistic, but they have more detail and generally look better. The radio shows portraits of both Snake and the individual he is contacting. The trucks look very nice, the lighting changes and soldiers shake their heads when punched.

Sound (eight out of ten)

Metal Gear 2's sound effects are still awful. I've heard better effects out of the NES (which is one of my favourite systems). More irratating bleeps and other electronic noises. On the positive side, the music is quite nice. Plus, they've cut out that annoying wailing radio noise.

CPU Performance (six out of ten)

Sorry, but I really have to say this. The game is TOO SLOW!!!!!!! At least it's consistantly slow, instead of constantly changing speeds (like Metal Gear 1).

Gameplay (nine out of ten)

Metal Gear 2 plays a lot like the PSX Metal Gear Solid. There's the same stealth factor, with an update. You have to hide for a certain amount of time before the alarm dies down, like the PSX version. There's also the radar system, which is useful. Snake can now crawl!! He can travel through tight spaces, like holes in a fence!! Also, they fixed a bug that caused items to reappear if you left the room and returned. You can't grab tons of rations from one truck anymore (which is either good or bad, depending on your perspective).
My one major complaint about the game is that it's too hard to hide long enough for the alarm to end. It was easier is Metal Gear Solid.

Buy or Rent (or maybe emulate)?

This is a needless question. There is no way to rent this game. The only way to get it is to buy it off an auction or emulate it (which isn't as simple as it seems).

PROS: Radar, crawling, new stealth system, improved graphics, no more radio wailing.
CONS: They should have had a hyena as a playable character, high difficulty, slow speed.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10 | Originally Posted: 09/03/02, Updated 09/03/02

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