Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Can't Say Good Bye to OMGZ WUT DAY EEZ IT
"Dreaming in an empty room (a defense of Metal Gear Solid 2)"
http://www.insertcredit.com/features/dreaming2/
"Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Ending Analysis - Gene and Meme"
http://junkerhq.net/MGS2/
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a brilliant game. Its story, themes and presentation are nothing short of astounding and, like so many other incredible things, by the end, it hurts to see something so mindbendingly cool come to an end.
After tearing apart the U.S. government and reality as we know it Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty finally turns into a sloppy, wet kiss to New York City at the end. While Solid Snake gruffly philosophizes how we have a responsibility to keep the memory of humanity alive through literature and movies, the credits roll and jazz music plays as footage of taxis, seagulls, people crossing streets and more New Yorky things come to live-action life on screen.
I live in Manhattan, I go to school there. I live about two blocks away from the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge and when I stroll there I can't help but be instantly reminded of MGS2's climax... er, many climaxes. "Can't Say Good Bye to Yesterday" rushes back to my mind and all the philosophical and existential questions brought up by the fake Colonel and Rose... it's a rush. The Verezzano Bridge, which Arsenal passes underneath, is in clear view from Pier 17. New York is a jazz city, it's a lonely city. Metal Gear Solid 2 captures its essence perfectly at the end.
Pal John Warren beat it it last night and his reaction is all I could have hoped for. He loved it, called it brilliant, deemed Kojima the first videogame auteur... all before the credits ended and the obligatory MGS "WTF?!" epilogue threw everything into doubt.
I dunno... I just feel like I had to type something about MGS2. I've had "Can't Say Good Bye to Yesterday" on loop for a while... Those two links up above are articles that illuminate everything there is to respect about the game.
