Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a 2001 action-adventure stealth game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2. Directed, produced, designed, and written by Hideo Kojima, it is the fourth overall game in the Metal Gear series, the eighth chronologically, and a sequel to Metal Gear Solid (1998). The game was originally released in November 2001 for North America and Japan and March 2002 for Europe, while an expanded edition, titled Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance was released the following year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows.
The story revolves around the Big Shell, a massive offshore clean-up facility seized by a group of terrorists who call themselves the Sons of Liberty. They demand an enormous ransom in exchange for the life of the President of the United States and threaten to destroy the facility and create a cataclysmic environmental disaster if their demands are not met. The motives and identities of many of the antagonists and allies change throughout the game, as the protagonists discover a world-shaking conspiracy constructed by a powerful organization known as the Patriots.
Metal Gear Solid 2 received acclaim for its gameplay, graphics, and attention to detail. However, critics were initially divided on the protagonist and the philosophical nature and execution of the game's storyline, which explores many themes, such as memetics, social engineering, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the internal struggle of freedom of thought. The game was a commercial success, selling seven million copies by 2004. It has since been considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, as well as a leading example of artistic expression in video games. The game is often considered ahead of its time for dealing with themes and concepts such as post-truth politics, fake news, alternative facts, synthetic media, and echo chambers, that became culturally relevant in the mid-to-late 2010s. A prequel to the series, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, was released in 2004, while a direct sequel, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, was released in 2008.
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