Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake - Gameplay

Gameplay

Metal Gear 2 builds upon the stealth-based game system of its predecessor. As in the original Metal Gear, the player's objective is to infiltrate the enemy's stronghold, while avoiding detection from soldiers, cameras, infrared sensors and other surveillance devices. The biggest change in the game was done to the enemy's abilities. Whereas the guards in the previous game could only see in straight lines, the guards in Metal Gear 2 all have a field of vision of 45 degrees. The guards can also turn their heads left or right to see diagonally and move from one screen to another (instead of remaining stationed in one area). The enemy can also hear any noise made by the player, which usually occurs when the player punches the wall, fires a non-silenced firearm, uses an explosive, or walks over certain types of terrain. If the player is discovered by the enemy, then a counter will be displayed on the upper right side of the screen that will go down after the enemy has lost track of the player. When the counter reaches zero, the alert phase will go off and the game will return to normal.

The player has been given a variety of new maneuvers and tools to help them remain undetected and complete the game. For example, the player can now kneel and crawl in addition to walking, allowing the player to avoid making noise, pick up land mines, and hide under tight spaces such as under desks or inside air ducts. A radar with a 3x3 grid on the upper right of the screen shows Snake's current position in the center screen (as a red dot), with enemy soldiers as white dots, allowing the player to determine what's ahead. However, the radar is disabled when the player is in alert phase. The radar can also be used with the mine detector equipped to determine the locations of any placed mines or launch stinger missiles onto an airborne target. Many of the weapons and equipment from the first game are brought over as well as new items such as robotic mice used to distract enemies, a camouflaged mat and three different types of rations with special attributes each. The player no longer needs to rescue hostages to increase in rank; instead health and carrying capacity is increased each time a boss is defeated.

The transceiver has been greatly revamped from the first game as well. The messages the player receives are now based on their current situation and mission objective, rather than the room they're currently in, making them less fixed and more dynamic. The transceiver now displays Snake's face, as well as the face of the character he's currently communicating with. The player can also talk to children living in the fortress to gain new information; the player is penalized with loss of health if he kills a child. The areas are more varied than in the previous MSX2 game and a number of puzzles must be fulfilled to complete the game, such as luring a carrier pigeon with a specific kind of ration, chasing after a female spy to the ladies' lavatory, and deciphering secret tap codes to gain new frequency numbers. The overall game system of Metal Gear 2 served as the foundation for its 3D sequel, Metal Gear Solid.