Episode 415: Metal Gear Solid 2 (Patreon)

Want to feel old? This is Metal Gear Solid 2's surreal treatise on digital information's devastating impact on society and democracy today:

But I kid! Well, not entirely. I only regret that we recorded this Metal Gear Solid 2 retrospective about a month ago and therefore missed out on any number of "more like META Gear Solid 2!!" jokes. Seriously, though, this game has been long overdue for a proper deep dive; it's one of the very few story-based video games that seems to get better and more meaningful with each passing year.

Well, the digital info part. Not so much the awkward confessions about faking injuries or banging step-parents. Those will always be kinda bad. But that's Metal Gear Solid 2 for you: Partly genius, partly disaster, and absolutely a game that demands to be experienced at least once... ideally in a single sitting so you're just the right shade of bleary-eyed and exhausted by the time you reach Arsenal Gear's gauntlet of Codec transmissions.

Thanks again to the G&G team: Greg Leahy for the edits, Greg Melo for the cover art.

Music this episode:

• 10:29 - "Metal Gear Solid" Main Theme (Opening Titles)
• 17:48 - Infiltration (Plant Sneaking Theme)
• 26:09 - Tanker Incident
• 38:08 - RAY Escapes
• 48:47 - VR Missions: MGS1 Snake (Weapons)
• 56:14 - Fortune
• 1:06:54 - Yell "Dead Cell"
• 1:12:37 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Theme Song | Twilight Sniping
• 1:26:17 - Arsenal's Guts
• 1:35:01 - Comradeship
• Closing - Freedom to Decide