First and foremost, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is not a new or original game for the Xbox. It’s a port of the PS2 title, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty along with a collection of extra VR missions, and the ability to play as another character, Raiden, during the VR missions. For those who have already played the PS2 version, Substance on the Xbox is almost identical, down to the same style of graphics and gameplay. It’s unfortunate that Konami didn’t beef up the graphics very much when they ported the game, but it’s still a pretty good-looking title.

Gameplay
The story behind Substance is your typical good vs. evil spy story. You play the part of Snake, a special agent who is sent on various missions which all lead up to a grand finale that includes defeating a seemingly undefeatable boss character. The trick to Substance is that it requires more stealthy action from players than any other title around, and an itchy trigger finger will lead you to a very short game.

The controls are designed to make use of every button on the Xbox controller, and you will use them all. Depending on the view mode you are in (first-person or third-person) the left stick can control movement or aiming, for example. There are too many combinations of control settings to cover here; suffice it to say that you will easily spend your first 30-60 minutes of gameplay with Substance just learning the controls. While the controls have a relatively steep learning curve, once you have them wired, they will feel like second nature.

Once you’ve gotten the hang of the game, it’s time to get down to business, which means sneaking around corners, ducking behind objects and lots of crawling around on your belly. Shooting your tranquilizer pistol too frequently will get you discovered quickly, and put a quick end to your game as swarms of attack troopers will track you down and end your exploits. Substance is not a shooting title by any stretch of the imagination, it’s all about sneaking past guards, or taking them down in hand-to-hand combat (which gives them less of a chance to raise an alarm). If you’re someone born and raised on shooters, the stealth requirements of the game can be difficult to get used to, but the game is so (pardon the pun) solid, that you’ll still enjoy playing it, and find yourself retrying levels to see if you can sneak past more guards that the last time.

Combat is easy to control, with your projectile weapon being usable in either view mode. However, you should not rely on your projectile weapon (a tranquilizer gun in early levels) as it can take several shots to bring down a target, and even when you score a direct hit, it takes several seconds for the tranquilizers to take effect. The gunplay can also be frustrating as the aiming system is overly sensitive, requiring you to have insanely stable hands when aiming.  A small bug in the aiming system causes perfectly aimed shots to completely miss the target, even at close range. After a few missed shots, it becomes obvious that the developers wanted you to sneak around more, and shoot less. Only the boss characters require you to blast them with handguns since they can take massive amounts of damage before going down, and getting close for hand-to-hand action is nearly impossible

Hand-to-hand combat allows you to remain stealthy while still being able to dish out the damage. Once you’re close enough to an enemy, you can perform combinations of Judo throws, punch attacks, and kicks to take him down. You can also sneak up on unwary opponents and perform neck-snapping combat maneuvers to take them out of the action. The hand-to-hand elements play far better than the shooting elements, as you don’t have to deal with a skittish targeting system; just close in and unload a melee combo on your intended victim.

The levels in Substance are well developed and offer plenty of challenge. The tanker levels, for example, have you prowling around a marine vessel in a rainstorm trying to get pictures of the new Metal Gear fighting machine. The ship itself is well detailed with plenty of rooms to explore, places to hide, and guards to sneak past. The VR missions, which are virtual reality missions aren’t as graphically impressive as the other missions, but still offer plenty of challenges for the player.

Substance plays out at times much like an interactive movie, with well-developed cut-scenes leading you through the storyline. During the game, you will have moments where you need to communicate with your home base, and these communiqués lead to a much more immersive feel to the game. While these combined text/speech communications may get tedious at times (especially if it’s your tenth time trying to finish the level) they are a necessary component to the game as they provide clues to aid in the completion of the level, while also making the game feel more realistic. You never know when you’ll come across a cutscene, which adds to the suspenseful feel of the game, and pulls you deeper into it.

Graphics
Metal Gear Solid 2:Substance is a direct port from the PlayStation 2 and as such, doesn’t have the polished graphics you would expect from the Xbox. While the graphics are still pretty sharp on the Xbox, they still show their PS2 roots with plenty of polygons and general chunkiness to some characters. Thanks to the immersive nature of the game, you’ll rarely notice the lack of high-end graphics, since you’ll be more concerned about taking out that guard in front of the cafeteria, and less about the fact that his head looks and moves like a wooden block.

Sound
MGS 2 does a good job when it comes to sound, with natural elements such as rain and wind sounding very realistic. Almost every sound in Substance is right on the money; from the clanking of boots on  metal decks  to the click of another round being loaded into the chamber of your pistol. There are also a few campy sounds thrown in to let you know you’re playing a game with roots back in the old NES days. The “exclamation” sound made whenever a guard spots you sounds so 8-bit and hilarious, you can’t help but let yourself be discovered on occasion just to hear it again.

Voice acting is good, but can get annoying since conversations are extraordinarily long. Some conversations drone on for so long that they make you feel like you’re reading a novella written by the developers. While these in-depth discussions lend to the movie-like flavor of the game, you will probably get tired of them after awhile and find yourself pounding the controller buttons to zip through the talking sequences. Also, the voice acting for boss characters is pretty simplistic, with only a limited range of phrases available to them.

Replayability
If you’re looking for a game with almost limitless replay value, Substance will fit the bill perfectly. While most mission-based games tend to be one-trick ponies, that’s not the case here. Once you’ve finished a level, you can go back literally dozens of times and try to find a new way through it. Maybe the next time you’ll try complete stealth, or maybe you’ll try running in with guns blazing, or you’ll try a combination of the two. Whichever path you take, you’ll have a completely different game experience.

The VR levels also add to the replayability of MGS 2 by adding dozens of extra missions. If you play the VR missions as the character Raiden, you’ll unlock more missions, which, when completed, will unlock even more missions!

With nearly limitless replayability, good graphics, and a unique gameplay experience, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance will find a place in the heart of almost every type of gamer, from the most pacifistic to hardcore guns-blazing commando type. For anyone looking for a flawless combination of the stealth and action genres, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance will fit the bill perfectly. Don’t let the fact that MGS 2 is mostly a port of a PlayStation 2 title keep you from buying it, as it deserves a place in every Xbox gamer’s collection.

See more screens on the Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance media page