"A Formal Analysis of Metal Gear Solid 2"

[Parsifal]

The following is a link to a written work I found rather interesting. With it the author seeks to defend the work which is MGS2 against its detractors by explaining the flow of the plot and its construction (and deconstruction of its ties to the previous game). By doing so he hopes to bring better understanding of the work as a whole and to allow more people to fully appreciate MGS2 as a game and as much more than that.

While upon having read this I can say that, how the work is presented, it does make a good argument for why it was actually very well done, it doesn't seem to amend for two of the greater perceived flaws. The first being the lack of gratification (which he does go into detail about, from not being Snake to not achieving the major goals set by the narrative, he does so to show that it was a well executed commentary, /not/ a fun game.), and the second being the seemingly nonsensical dialog which as pointed out by the interview with Konami's head of translation (elsewhere in this section of the forums) was more the result of a overly-literal "dictionary" translation enforced from the top.

If you have any interest in the subject at hand and/or deep harbored ill-will towards it, this article is worth a perusal at the very least. Be warned for any that care, there are major plot spoilers used as expository points. Proceed either if you've played the game and still don't know what the deal is, or if you haven't and don't really care if anything gets ruined.

http://www.deltaheadtranslation.com/MGS2/DOTM_TOC.htm
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