DF Retro: Metal Gear Solid 2 - A Kojima Masterpiece

[@AllieMoonSailor]

I remember downloading the 10 minute trailer on QuickTime. It took at least 24 hours to download on my dial up.

[@JimBob1937]

I have similar memories for the early MGS3 trailer, took forever to download and the thing was so pixelated... but was a wonderful glimpse into a great game.

[@antony9384]

Good old QuickTime

[@tfoen7678]

OMG-the past players of the era.

[@AnonYmous-si6nj]

I remember downloading the same trailer back in 2001. We actually had cable internet, but back in those days, even cable was only 3Mbit/s. We used Real Player. I haven't actually thought about Real Player in so many years. Or Napster... aaand the memories are pouring in!

[@liammcnulty1987]

QuickTime lol, I forgot about that!

[@zcxvasdfqwer1234]

Remember when the MGS2 trailer showed Ocelot's mouth move when he talked and people were saying Kojima showing a playable demo wasn't game footage but CG then the demo dropped and the gameplay really was that buttery smooth. Ohhhhh the memories.

[@maxcurzi]

The tanker demo was probably the most memorable playable demo of all time

[@Gazzoosethe1]

I remember that too. That incredible passage from ps1 graphics to ps2

[@nothajzl]

@@maxcurzi the only thing that tops it is probably “P.T.” from Kojima

[@nothajzl]

This game was so ahead of it's time. A true masterpiece.

[@johnmurdock5710]

And its prophetic too

[@PlasmaSnake369]

It holds up today!

[@axelstone3131]

I’m still amazed how good MGS2 looks. I always wondert why it “felt” like it did. And now I realise it’s because it was running at 60fps.

[@TylerMBuller12]

Ya it's crazy considering the hardware back then. I think higher frame rates really help the visual presentation even more so then high resolution. When a game feels smoother it just kind of looks better by default and is more responsive.

[@axelstone3131]

@@TylerMBuller12 totally agree 👍

[@jhkuno88]

Pong also ran at 60fps, dvmb beach

[@ottomaticallyawesome]

@@jhkuno88so? Goofy?

[@jhkuno88]

@@ottomaticallyawesome there were hundreds of games released before MGS2 that run at 60fps, only then you realized 60fps felt great? Dvmb beach

[@TechniqueSan]

This is absolutely my favorite game of all time. I could discuss it endlessly. Thanks for this one, John.

[@DayLateGamerWill]

MGS2's story? Fuck yeah. Best game in the series? Ehhhhh, dont get me wrong its up there, but for me? Snake Eater. True MGS2 has a LOT to say, and predicts some stuff with eerie accuracy, which is why MGS2 is prob within my top 3, easy

[@TheGamingEcstasy]

@@DayLateGamerWill MGS2 is way ahead of it's time. MGS3 is a more "hollywood" caliber story. More digestible and 80s cheesy action (which I LOVE). But MGS2 is so special...it's weird seeing all the things about AI, media control, fake news etc. If someone were to say to me that this game was written today I would believe him.

[@mrpetebojangles21]

Sameeeee. No game have I beaten more.

[@zubiecup]

@@G.Freeman92 even as a big HL fan, I really have to admit that MGS2 beats out HL2 in so many ways. I just recently beat HL2 again and now sadly have to admit that it does not hold up as well as MGS2. I’m only now able to see that MGS2 was just way ahead of its time in so many areas (especially in regard to its narrative and environmental interactivity) while HL2 largely feels like a product of a bygone era. I was so blown away by things like the gravity gun in HL2 back in the day, but man, MGS2 did things that are (frustratingly) still not standard in today’s games. This all just makes me wonder how I’ll look back at HL: Alyx a couple of decades from now. For now, I think it’s absolute BS that a game like TLoU2 with its subpar gameplay took home so many GOTY awards while Alyx was largely ignored.

[@Poki3]

The PlayStation 2 that I got as a kid was a bundle with MGS2. The game was really something. I remember that Memory Cards were sold out, so I played the game in it's entirety in one sitting. My first all-nighter. Mom was pretty mad :P

[@BudewIsOwnage]

Poki#3 Imagine being up early in the morning and having even your game telling you to turn off the console.

[@Texasmilitarydepartmentvid9654]

I remember paying $80 for the first Metal Gear Solid game. Now I can find it for $1 that's enough to irritate me .

[@bard0r606]

yea yea yea, yea yea yea yea yea, yea yea yea, yea yea yea yea yea, yea yea yeeeeeee yea yea yea yeeee yeeee, yea yea yeeeee yea yeeeee yea yea yeehe

[@IndiBrony]

"Honestly, though, you've played the game for a long time. Don't you have anything else to do with your time?"

[@Mental_Health_Matters]

@@IndiBrony I need scissors! 61!

[@JohnRyder-]

24:15 Also the ice cubes melt slower when they are close to each other. Incredible detail.

[@leandro4552]

I knew about the ice cubes melting but they melt slower when next to each other? MIND BLOWN.

[@LINKchris87]

That one I did not know! Absolute attention to detail.

[@DillonTaylorVA]

"Interactivity that stood above any other game in 2001". Forget 2001. The level of detail and interactivity in MGS2 is hardly replicated in games to this day. It gets more and more depressing the more I think about it. Most AAA games these days follow a small set of design choices. Dialogue wheels, a crafting system, collectibles, various forms of combat (shooting, "Arkham style", etc.)... they mostly adhere to the same systems with minor tweaks that don't amount to much. What sets most big games apart these days is the tone, story, and the visuals. It's like there are a few skeletons that games graft onto and that's it. Sometimes they try and take bones from other skeletons to mix and match but the results still feel mostly familiar. You'll find a lot more experimentation in the indie scene but even they tend to follow similar patterns. Rogue-like, souls-like, telltale-like, etc. You'll occasionally find something breaking new ground but frankly indie games don't have the budget to make something with the detail found in MGS2. Big publishers aren't willing to deviate from what "works" and indies don't have the time or the resources even if they have the desire.

[@madfinntech]

Indeed. Games today are stale as fuck compared to masterpieces from the early 2000s.

[@goodjoejoe]

You need to play more games. Most of the interactivity here has been surpassed by modern games.

[@felipeeduardobravosilva6980]

to be fair uncharted 4 does exactly that, but not that many games take care of details to those levels, and on PC there are not many examples, it's all about breakable structures and high fps/resolution/textures baked on an engine already

[@icantthinkofaname1009]

Should give Nier Automata a try, one of the most inspired triple A titles in a while.

[@sagaciousassessor6237]

goodjoejoe except they haven’t

[@lelxrv]

Can imagine what would've happened if the game was released today. All those clickbait videos with titles "It's a disaster. How Kojima ruined Metal Gear. Yes, it's worse than you think".

[@Gazzoosethe1]

And find little glitches as gamebreaking and show only those. And only the areas with slight frame drops as unplayabl

[@itsgeegra]

"METAL GEAR GETS WOKE! SJWS TAKE OVER0!"

[@apictureoffunction]

Not to mention all of the death threats Konami/Kojima would have gotten for "lying" and making people think they'd be playing as Snake. People would claim that the gameplay and graphics suck just because they're mad about the story. If there was some texture pop in, they'd claim that the game was "completely broken and unplayable due to glitches" etc

[@vvhalefccd]

Sounds like something them kids at What Culture would do

[@yachidan]

Metal gear solid 2 didn’t just die, it was MURDERED.

[@Pan_Z]

24:03 the impressive thing about the bottles is that was done without any physics. The team animated multiple breakpoints, just to make the breaking animation more believable. It's amazing the sense of reality Kojima and his team were able to accomplish back in 2001.

[@asmodeusml]

MGS2 proves that some games are pure art. And original hardware is like an instrument to which that piece is written thus when playing it on another hardware you technically hear same notes but it's not how it is supposed to be heard

[@TylerEdlin84]

Илья Шиманов you can call it art but it makes for a terrible game.

[@ElBandito]

It was a good game IMO.

[@OrehBelich92]

Tyler Edlin it was a great game with bad controls

[@oasisbeyond]

Game is not that good..,. Art... = SOTC that's art.

[@kummakummakummakummakummac8606]

oasisbeyond - I agree SOTC is art. I disagree that MGS isn't good. Respectfully of course.

[@JLuke2600]

I just wanted to voice again my appreciation for this series, particularly when it covers PlayStation 2 games. I just like seeing games for the PS2 analyzed on a technical level and seeing what tricks were used to achieve effects that the system wouldn't be able to handle otherwise. It was interesting to see which effects were "faked." The system was powerful enough to enable these tricks, but not enough to allow a more straightforward solution. It's an interesting discipline to work around hardware limitations to achieve results that really punch above a console's weight and I feel the PlayStation 2 was the best display of this for 3D home consoles.

[@TheBreezus]

Well said!

[@MrSammersELsoho]

Thats exactly why i think consoles dont get the appreciation they deserve consoles push optimization and design standards PC's are awesome but it wouldn't be the same without consoles keeping game designed locked between generations is what gives light to complex fine tuned graphical tricks created from limitations of the hardware that really make game design magical thats why we can go from the beginning of a consoles life cycle to its end and graphically games look way better even tho its the same hardware im blown away playing my xboxone x and ps4 pro when i realize its really only a rez boost it makes me appreciate the design of the game like AC Odyssey is mindblowingly polished.

[@aghayejalebian7364]

Good that you put "faked" in quote marks because they weren't really faked. Shaders later automated the process for many of these effects but at the time programming them manually was the only way to do it.

[@avatarion]

@@MrSammersELsoho Stop kidding yourself, PC technical tricks are too long to even begin to list here. Every year major titles on PC used to push boundaries.

[@BurritoKingdom]

@@avatarion sadly PCs haven't been pushed since Carmack left to join Facebook and crytek lost alot money. During the PS4/Xbox one era, PC games weren't pushed. All they were, were the console games with higher resolutions and framerates. It wasn't until Cyberpunk that we finally had a game that was made with PC hardware in mind. I'm hoping cryengine 5 or unreal engine 5 take PCs to the next level.

[@donnibrasko1]

Games now days take twice as long to make and use a quarter of the creativity! Bravo MGS, you are a masterpiece that transcends eras!

[@UmVtCg]

No they do not. You are high on memberberries

[@leandro4552]

Not to mention all the glitches and bugs that they fix with a day one patch.

[@MrBurtbackerack]

Never played a MGS game in my life. But damn that's imrpessive for a game of that time. Seeing real time lighting, reflections (even if tricks) and the particle effects were damn impressive. Then when I saw you had a birds eye view, then a more pulled in 3rd person and then a first person.. it seems the game was ahead of its time and is one of those once in a generation type games where talent shines.

[@r_bear]

2 years late, but the motion capture, character animation, and ESPECIALLY the camera work are still ahead of a ton of modern AAA games. Compare dialogue between two characters in MGS2, or transitions from cutscenes to gameplay, with (for example) Horizon: Zero Dawn. The latter looks comparatively janky.

[@ayushsinghchauhan9558]

@@r_bear 9 months late and total 4 yrs late, i m thinking of playing this via emulator, my friend tells me halo ce was ahead of it's time, I think he's wrong, this video convinced me mgs 2 was god tier

[@maskednil]

@@ayushsinghchauhan9558 Halo CE was just a great FPS game on console and made memories in multiplayer. MGS2 is really ahead of it's time, brings complex themes and ideas of societies, both physical and digital, that exists today. Even though it's from 2000s.

[@brauliochicken]

Character models, lighting and 60 fps framerate on ps2 hardware is still impressive!!

[@Mikeoneus]

MGS2 is my favourite game of all time. It's magical.

[@Nathaniel_Wu]

MGS2 is my favorite MGS game, the Arsenal sequence absolutely blew me away.

[@Dodgyboy43]

jeff peake each strut has it's own flavour and interesting guard layout, and the way the sun progresses from mid day to night time as the game progresses helps it feel fresh, i don't think it feels samey at all

[@MrAnders0n2]

Just love the quiet scene of Emma and Raiden scaling down toward the bottom of the Big Shell with that sunset backdrop. So many nuances, easter eggs, and small touches in MGS2. It's without compare.

[@p0rtalfanX]

50 Minutes DF Retro with MGS? You made my sunday, thx a lot!

[@Visuwyg]

You must be fun at parties.

[@eponymous7910]

This game was probably the final dagger in the dreamcast's heart

[@darosamath]

EVERY TIME I heard the sentence "Sons of Liberty", I heard in my head Solidus Snake yelling it.

[@paulc2138]

I played the demo over and over until I got the full game

[@teamhex]

Same here. The original Metal Gear Solid demo blew me away and I had dreams about the game. Which direction to go, how to do it, ext. That mixed with great story telling and voice acting...It immerses the player.

[@mrpetebojangles21]

sameeeee

[@ryusigmaCG]

Not gonna lie, I played the demo so much, that even after getting the full game, I prefered the demo, I had more fun and better moments on the demo.

[@stephensporman8206]

The reason I got Zone of the Enders was for the MGS2 demo

[@SWIFTzTrigger]

141.00 And to think now its all over. Kojima left Konami and MGS is completely done. Also I'm amazed at how incredible MGS2 still is. There are current gen AAA games that still don't do this stuff and this game was one of the very early PS2 games.

[@hpickettz34]

Metal Gear needed to die sometime, its 30 years old.

[@joethehitman4479]

toppdogg2k17 I feel old lol. I've played the franchise for that long.

[@joegrimes9232]

I agree and I'm a huge mgs fan. I'd like to see something new from Kojima who's no spring chicken himself. Hopefully Death Stranding will give players something fresh and a new generation thier own "MGS moment" I don't personally understand people hoping DS is a Metal Gear or Silent Hill game, we've had those. Now its time for something new to fascinate us.

[@a-dutch-z7351]

This game was so amazingly looking, could not believe it.

[@arbiter-]

Still the best Kojima game ever released. I love this game so much, easily my favorite PS2 game and that's saying a lot considering the amazing library of that system.

[@KingSizeCod]

Hands up who else bought Zone of the Enders just for the MGS2 demo disc Anyways knocking it out of the park as ever John

[@DeathBringer769]

I *rented* ZoE at Blockbuster just to play the MGS2 demo, lmao.

[@mrpetebojangles21]

meeeeee

[@03chrisv]

Same. While I did enjoy Z.O.E. the MGS2 demo was my main motivation for buying it.

[@norbertcsorba4639]

focusing on gameplay and AI ... man things has changed in the industry

[@nabieladrian]

Even in 2022, this game is still a masterpiece.

[@KatsuyaTheFuuk]

MGS2 still stands as my favorite Metal Gear Solid. Such an amazing game! The one thing I liked more about the OG Xbox version was the instant load time. But I'd say the performance is more important

[@BIGNOIDS]

MGS has always been at the pinnacle of gaming IMO, I never understood why so many people hated the cinematic sequences.

[@redhunter1535]

Meyabe because being the pinnacle of GAMING doesn't mean spending hours watch a fucking movie.

[@SimonsChannel]

children usually have low attention span

[@JimmyJames10-k7v]

シモンイスガブリエル it’s shit

[@Caparzoshow]

Because a game looking pretty doesnt mean is well wrote, one doesnt equate the other and the MGS games are definitely bloated with hours and hours of useless information and mediocre dialogue Thats why we hate them

[@klartextgebliebenerstaatsa7296]

Battlefield Your name alone sucks so does your opinion, kid.

[@Silvergun_Raven]

I remember playing MGS2 so much back in 2001. I even picked up Zone of the Enders (amazing and underrated game!) and put in probably 50 hours playing the demo (I was bouncing back between that and Shenmue at the time). I still prefer Metal Gear Solid, but MGS2 was amazing spectacle for its time. 140.98

[@SNhours]

141.00 ...waiting for the 2-hours mgs3 episode!

[@arbiter-]

Oh man I'd love to hear what John has to say about the 3DS version. I played through that sluggish 15fps slideshow all the way through twice during a time when I had no access to any other platforms. Thank god for the circle pad pro attachment, without it the game is straight up unplayable.

[@cfdeers]

@@arbiter- cmon give it some credit! It's 20 fps during gameplay, 12 fps during the Shagohod (name is probably butchered) battle, and strangely enough 60 fps during cutscenes? wot?

[@SK91NO]

@@arbiter- coming from someone who played it on a O3DS straight up, I still found the game very enjoyable. The low framerate isn't a big deal if the game speed was still correct and consistent

[@TheWizardjones]

The intro to Metal Gear Solid 2 still gives me chills. Also, I remember playing that demo that came with ZOE at least 50 times.

[@quadracept576]

Am I the only one who think this game is a perfect masterpiece with no flaws?? It's an easy 10/10 for me. The story is superb, complex, and really makes you think about life and the human race. the gameplay is perfect. the tanker and the big shell have impeccable level design. personally I think Raiden is a great character. Yeah he's girly and has that annoying voice but he's still a great character. This game is an absolute masterpiece. One of the best games of all time.

[@cognitivedissonance8406]

Benjamin Baker I can't say that it's perfect. I fully understand the complexity of the themes, but regardless of how thematically appropriate it is to wrest control away from the player constantly, the first hour or two of the Plant mission is infuriating if you've already beaten the game. Two minutes of gameplay, ten minute cutscene. Five minutes of gameplay, another ten minute cut scene and a five minute codec call. Sure you can skip them, but you are essentially skipping the game, because that is a game. A well-crafted masterpiece can still be flawed.

[@beansofhorrorshalashaska6987]

LOL no, the story became convoluted and Raiden ruined a lot of it.

[@nobilusmikami2889]

I agree with you, and you realise that when you play it for the second time, cause you can focus more on the depth of the story and codec sequences and if you catch the aim of the story, the approached themes and messages you just realise that it's just maybe the most philosophical game ever and that all these complexity make sense in the end... for Kojima he just tried to tell us the importance of heritage and legacy for human being, even if we all know that we are going to die one day, every one is struggling to guarantee a continuity to his existance, race thoughts and principles... and in addition to the perfect gameplay of MGSII, Story and philosophical part are missing to the analysis on this video, he should talk about that too ;)

[@gabrieleriva651]

The only one? No. Am I one of them? No, this game is too much up its ass. And visually it's more monotonous than Gears of War.

[@paullagmark]

For me this is the best game of all time. Even today, this holds true.

[@thuglifeVol2]

Snake escaping the tanker was actually in the game, it was in a flashback when Snake is talking to Raiden

[@LINKchris87]

Played in the codec mini screen, If I recall correctly

[@thuglifeVol2]

@@LINKchris87 yeah during the part where Campbell is all glitched if I remember correctly.

[@LINKchris87]

@@thuglifeVol2 I think some of it also plays when Otacon and Snake tell Raiden via codec their true identity.

[@_spacemanSpiff_]

Yeah I thought it was playable as a kid. Somehow got the memories mixed up with Snake Tales.

[@PurpleHaze06]

48 minutes of old school gaming bliss with super informative analysis throughout. This is some of the best content of its kind I've ever seen. Keep it up guys, you're setting a new standard.

[@zywypl]

@17:40 - "you must remember that at this point 60FPS for 3D games was still relatively new on consoles" - and yet here we are, one and a half decade later, and 60FPS is still "relatively new" for consoles xD

[@DeathBringer769]

MGS2 in 2001 made me falsely hope we'd get high graphics, high detail/interactivity 60FPS 3D titles more consistently from there on out... boy, was I wrong :D Sure we still get some, but many of course dip well below 60. Not saying they can't still be fun, but it did make me hope that was going to become the norm from then on back in the day :D

[@soopasoljah]

zywypl I don't see the majority of games on console ever being 60 fps. Ofc some will but not most. It hasn't happened since they made the rendering jump from 2d to 3d. Devs will always prioritize visuals over framerate to push the available hardware to its limit and to showcase progression and advancement in the industry. Only if games look and play exactly the same will frames actually go higher. But who wants that. Players don't. Devs don't. Who wanted their ps4 games to look exactly the same as their ps3 or ps2 games, except with higher frames. Some sure, but not many. It doesn't really demonstrate progress as noticeably as visuals do. Same will happen for future gens. They will keep pushing those graphics, particles, res, and interactivity/physics etc, until they become indistinguishable from reality. Only then will they focus on fps as there will be nothing else to improve.

[@thecritigamer4321]

Um, but we *do* get incredible graphics and interactivity today.

[@HugoStiglitz88]

It always will be. Get over it. When you're working with a set piece of hardware, you can choose between industry leading graphics, or 60 fps. Most gamers don't even notice framerate, so dev's would rather go with what everyone notices. Not to mention, great graphics benefit the game 100% of the time while 60 fps only benefits games some of the time. Some slower games just don't need 60 fps.

[@HugoStiglitz88]

@@DeathBringer769 Well your problem is you assumed other developers could compete with Kojima productions instead of realizing how talented and special they were. Same with iD software today, Sony Santa Monica, Guerrilla Games, and Naughty Dog. Some dev's are just a cut above the rest. It's always going to be that way.

[@rocketman4315]

48 minutes? Damn you guys, you've done it again!!! Great job!

[@robertwhite1960]

I remember I had an out of body experience when I first played MGS 2. I was 12. Colonel Campbell told me to turn off the PlayStation. I was only playing a game. I couldn't sleep for a week.

[@by2083]

pussy

[@g1ng3r3131]

So glad you did Metal Gear. Perfect :)

[@bobcharlotte8724]

60fps with those graphics... stunning even more so after this video.

[@VergilHiltsLT]

Yup, all running on a PS2. Even more impressive on emulation at 720p with all the effects intact and blur filter turned off.

[@usernameRika]

@@VergilHiltsLT correct me if i'm wrong, but pcsx2 still can't do all post processing correctly. Especially the transitional layer of depth of field (the static one is fine), which is tied to some yet unemulated features. Same with MGS3. Still, it's by far the closest to PS2.

[@VergilHiltsLT]

@@usernameRika You're wrong though, latest PCSX2 builds (1.7.3) have perfect post processing right now. They even fully fixed DMC3 and MGS3. 3x native res is more than enough with the right settings. Configuration isn't hard, most of it is automatically set up.

[@usernameRika]

@@VergilHiltsLTi don't have access to a decent laptop right now, and i cant seem to find any vids showing fully working post processing in MGS3 or 2. Even vids from a few months ago, have the same old issues where depth of field works partially, not fully. Aethersx2 on Arm, also has the exact same behaviour in both games.

[@nameless.greyceo]

Most underrated game ever, playing it for the first time on release date was the best gaming experience ever, it was like being part of the greatest movie ever. Wish things were still like this. Chills down my spine from the opening cutscene till the end. The graphics and style still looks smooth and fresh today, peeking around corners in the tanker etc. Wish there was a whole game on the tanker.

[@NDSno1]

You forgot the amazing cloth physic of Snake's bandanna :D

[@battfinkz]

I remember walking past mgs1 ps1 on the shelf many years ago when it originally came out on ps1 (in all its multi disk glory), and thinking 'yeah, that looks cool, i dont know anything about it but ill take a risk'. Took it home and loaded up my ps1, and to this day ive had a massive fudge on for snake, like, proper man crush, he's my hero, and to think the cruel gaming gods have taken even this away from me. Absolutely gutted

[@mrpetebojangles21]

Turn the CD jewel case over for Meryl's codec! Oh man, shit like that... Just incredible. I can't remember, but someone bought this for me for my 10th birthday or whatever and it was truly the greatest gift that keeps on giving to this day. Snake is amazing. The story is beyond incredible.

[@boxrick1]

The main reason this series is so good is for one reason, John linneman. I could watch his content all day, every video he does is pure gold. If any one else decided to even attempt it they wouldn't come close. It's a combination of passion, excellent video editing, an awesome voice and great content. Thanks again!

[@sushiboots]

Man I'm so glad this documentary exists. I'm a graphic designer myself and MGS2 was a HUGE inspiration for me growing up. The Document of MGS2 gave an incredible amount of insight as to how the graphics were achieved. The hype for this game was unparalleled and I don't think any game will ever come close again. Still my favorite game 15+ years later. Great work, John!

[@notthemilkybarkid]

140.98 Rogue Squadron. Factor 5 did some crazy stuff on that game, like rewriting the firmware of the graphics chip (without any docs from Nintendo!) to get better performance. And you have a PC port to look at too.

[@andrewguymer8599]

Digital Foundry never disappoints. Absolute quality.

[@jinkazama7587]

This work should be commended on it's own. A fitting retrospective for an incredible experience/game.

[@Janaquim]

DF Retro is obviously a labor of love. Thanks for putting these episodes together for us. I love this series :). Here's my vote for the next one: 141.00 . Take care John, and hope you have a great week.

[@shareofmoney]

This is one of my all time favorite games and I never grow tired of it. This is the first MGS game I beat and still have a place in my heart for it. Amazing story and gameplay gives this great replay value. Thanks for sharing this video.

[@JimmyZeng]

I remember back in the day, when I start the game, when the intro sequence is over, I wondered for quite a few seconds why snake stopped moving, then realized this is not pre-rendered and I have control... that was surreal, I never experienced that again until this day.

[@mcrazza]

141.00 MGS3

[@alvarmg17]

that would be awesome!

[@MrHakubi]

yup

[@camycamera]

You're pretty good!

[@dark1x]

That's a lot of votes for MGS3! Yes, I will definitely be tackling MGS3 but it might be a little while since these MGS episodes take quite a lot of time to produce! Probably sometime this summer.

[@alvarmg17]

John Linneman Great to hear that John. MGS3 will be interesting with its different versions (Snake Eater and Subsistence), the online mode and its ports to handheld consoles. Btw, thanks for this series. It's one of my favourite things in all of KZbin :D

[@SolidMGSnake]

The whole tanker mission felt like a giant tech demo

[@xMaggostx]

What a wonderful DF Retro episode, great job as always!

[@TheBTEAMwins]

MGS2 was my FIRST MGS game, and I was a freshman in highschool and was BLOWN AWAY. THAT game was WAYYYY ahead of its time. It still to this day is an AMAZING game truly a masterpiece 10/10

[@MsCpcheats]

Metal Gear? A Hind-D? Second floor basement? Psycho Mantis? You're that ninja.

[@Astfgl]

It can't be! You were killed in Zanzibar!

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

:P Damn straight. Even in Metal Gear, Otacon's like "You're like a movie action hero or something" and you be like...yeah.

[@XDLugia]

Card keys?

[@Egurius3]

Shape memory alloy?

[@unverifiedbiotic]

A surveilence camera?

[@DeathBringer769]

MGS2 is still my all time favorite, even with how amazing 3 is as well. MGS1 gets the nostalgia points for sure though. I know most people's favorite is 3, and for good reason, but that's just how I feel ;)

[@maskednil]

I replayed MGS3 recently and felt a stark contrast at how horrible the Cobra unit was. They did not have any personal stake in the story unlike Foxhound and Dead Cell did. And I don't thing Big Boss even talked to them once. They did all the talking! They just showed up, lectured Big Boss, then died. A same weakness that carried over to the B&B unit of MGS4

[@patrick22014]

@@maskednil I agree. The Cobra Unit was useless. They appear, you killed them and that's it. Way different to Vamp, Fortune and Solidus, they appear in several cut scenes and when you face them they feel familiar the only weak one is Fatman but even so Stillman talks about him and you have to freeze the bombs because of him, so somehow the first part of the plant level it was his plan.

[@PlasmaSnake369]

Honestly I would rate 3 as the weakest of the 5. It was awesome, I just liked the other ones more.

[@HILAL19564]

@@PlasmaSnake369 peace walker and snake eater the weakest. Still super good but imo 5, 2, 4 and 1 are the best. In that order with 2 and 4 sharing the spot for second best.

[@eraezr]

It's bitter and sad, what Konami threw away. These guys were the Godzilla of game devs.

[@Barney-ii1no]

money got to there heads

[@spybeef]

DR retro is absolutely amazing, a delight for any game who started playing the the 90s. Couldn’t thank you enough for this work.

[@corncorny5963]

DF Retro is probably the greatest series on KZbin. And I watch a lot of KZbin.

[@dr.loomis4221]

Still looks great 20 years later.

[@bryancadents3559]

Agreed, I just finished playing the HD collection of MGS2, which is my first time ever playing it. It was an extremely entertaining experience and I'm impressed the game was a 2001 release.

[@mrpetebojangles21]

Best in series. I'm glad you enjoyed it friend. I probably beat this game around 50 times between 2001-2002. You catch so many things with subsequent play throughs and MGS Easter eggs are unparalleled.

[@thenashbridges]

2:19 Actually, MGS4 contains an episode that demonstrates how MGS1 might look like on a more powerful machine.

[@mugsir]

Wow! So much work gone in to make this video. Thank you!

[@nodnarBDarth]

This video was great. I really loved MGS 2 when it came out, the character switch and everything. It was amazing. I am sort of surprised they didn't do a df retro on MGS1. That game was what finally put into my head the heights videogames could reach. Seemed like it shattered in my mind just what a game could actually accomplish, felt like an amazing action movie.

[@Wogle]

I have been waiting a long time for this! You could say that John... Kept me waiting.

[@Wogle]

Also, Document of MGS2 was an amazing disc. I spent hours and hours going through everything and learning so much. Hugely fascinating, and I wish more companies did stuff like that.

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

God bless you buddy. I'm right there with you, I adore this franchise but THIS game in particular is the one I've spent the most hours on ever. For the PS2 it was a milestone but for story telling and narrative it was so far ahead of it's time even now you can play this and it just ... is just as strong now as it ever was back then.

[@funnerisaword]

Actor Adam Anouer Au

[@digmousethetired2056]

141.00 Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

[@MysteryD]

8:40 Kojima hiding in crowd

[@frostynukacola]

An EXCEPTIONAL analysis on one of gaming's most seminal titles. I respect your work so much man. Thank you.

[@krelakuma]

Another brilliant episode John ! DF Retro is by far my favourite series of videos to watch on KZbin or anything else on regular TV ! Keep up the excellent work !

[@meleecraft]

Video starts at 0:00

[@cityengland7553]

Cat Down The Road wow haven't heard that before

[@Vintezo]

Thanks

[@Davequirky]

The True MVP

[@Grimzy16]

No sh... I mean, thanks for this valuable information, life saver!

[@trscsaeg]

Cat Down The Road video starts at rutabaga

[@Touya82TT]

28:33 hey! A Samurai Shodown 2 reference! Made my day!

[@justsomeone6166]

I need scissors! 61!

[@adamsilver4568]

It's the only game that I played for 2 years straight. Unlocked everything, hummed the music on the way back from school, wrote Snake instead of my name on school books. During my absence a friend called me laughing telling me a teacher was yelling, "who the bloody heck is Snake?"

[@cornbreadreturns296]

John! can't agree more. One of the best games I've ever played hands down. I was 13 and my brother was 16 playing this game together, at the end with Arsenal Gear we had 0 clue what was going on. The first game that made us go "what the hell is happening". The psychological warfare Kojima decided to put on the player was next level stuff. I still get chills thinking about it! Keep up the amazing work, glad to support you guys on Patreon.

[@Michformer]

141.00. The TimeSplitters and Splinter Cell games spring to mind, as well as Morrowind.

[@timking3587]

"They played us like a damn fiddle" Anyways when the AI freaks out was brilliant. I was playing the game late and the game or the AI was telling me to go to bed. I was freaked out lol 😂

[@GunsNGames1]

My favorite MGS game, I don't care what others talk about 3, I love 3 but MGS2 is my favorite.

[@CastleBomb44]

This game and FFX turned me into a video gamer for life. I would really enjoy a DF break down of MGS3 like this video

[@vulcan4d]

The rain effect was better than most games today!

[@Iroquois2688]

My favorite game ever made and in my opinion, Kojima at his best. It's too bad none of his work ever since has topped this.

[@ralphso5567]

Ryan Pliskin mgs3 for me is the best but thats also the point of mgs2

[@rickthaslickgamer]

I wanted this episode so bad. BEST GAME OF ALL TIME!!!!!

[@gorana.37]

Metal Gear Solid. The first modern video game.

[@greendogg83]

Nice profile pic, Flashback was/is my favorite Megadrive/Genesis game.

[@lagunadeseca]

This video is great, it's so indepth it simply amazes me to find out so much more info about one of my favorite games so many years after it's launch :-) thanks for the great work!

[@johnmecca9008]

I just came across this and I can’t thank DF enough. This is incredible and I loved getting details on older games. I need to check and see what else they have. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ video.

[@wongscp1701]

Dang! Impressive library of games you got there behind you!

[@EposVox]

Wow, fantastic. 141.00

[@OcarinaofKillingTime]

Hoping for a DF Retro of the original MGS someday.

[@mrpetebojangles21]

MGS2 will forever be one of my favorite games if not my favorite. I had been looking forward to this game for yearssssss since falling in love with MGS1. I would buy any new Playstation gaming magazine that had ANY news or pictures of it and it's one of the few extremely hyped games to of fully delivered on that hype. Like everyone else, I was blown away by the fact that Id be playing as Raiden, but it became very cool to view Snake/Plisken from afar. The incredible Easter eggs, the incredible music, the incredible attention to detail etc. I remember buying Zone of the Enders (very fun) just to play the tanker demo mission as Snake. I thought it was incredible how ice from the bar would melt and how you could shoot bags of flour and watch it all pour out. But yea, MGS2 became this crazy story that just had me so captivated. Some of the most ridiculous and awesome bosses of any MGS. Although I loved MGS3 as well, I vastly prefer MGS2>MGS3 (I'm one of the weird ones I guess).

[@superjag86]

My favourite DF Retro yet. I always look forward to these so keep up the great work John. 141.00

[@Martin-nw4sb]

the Word "retro" really makes me think how old i am now 😞

[@Nick_Kearney]

I really hope MGS HD Collection gets added to the Xbox One backwards compatibility list.

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

That would be nice :) That said isn't it available digital?

[@MantasKi]

I believe xbox one doesn't have pressure sense buttons on controller so it's impossible to port mgs to current gen.

[@maccelicco]

Mantis did x360 controller have pressure sensitive buttons?

[@MantasKi]

No.

[@unholydiver1095]

I miss my ps3 just cause of MGS collection. :( I have a PS4 now

[@uhra3591]

Hopefully the HD collection comes to backwards compatibility.

[@swiss_Otaku]

yeah but its Konami so chances are real low they are cunts .

[@JCOdrjones]

Swiss_brodi Plus Sony really want to push their shitty Streaming game service.

[@MKMadness]

Well backwards is not possible on PS4 because different CPU.

[@retractingblinds]

No, it is possible and having similar hardware only makes it easier. It's just a lot of work and they didn't want to put the effort in. Xbox One backwards compatibility is achieved through gradual results and as much of a disappointment as the Xbone's been, microsoft has done a lot of work to get 360 emulation on the xbone so far. The hardware architectures are completely different (PPC compared to x86)

[@OwtDaftUK]

The PS3 CPU is more powerful then the 360 CPU so just because the XO can do it, doesn't mean the PS4 can. The PS4 and XO are CPU bottle necked, slightly more so on the base PS4.

[@usernameRika]

"Five today, or rather...six?"

[@tHeWasTeDYouTh]

9:26 the music playing is not from the ZOE game but from the ZOE Idolo movie. Very nice, it is one of my favorite tracks in the entire series. ZOE 1 and 2 have amazing music.

[@fenbekus]

Also, 141.00 please! Gran Turismo maybe? Or Burnout? Or Wipeout?

[@QuestionBlockGaming]

TBH i just want you to treat MGS3 with the same amount of love that you just gave to MGS2. Please?

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

Hang on, Snake isn’t the only character in MGS2? Honestly never knew that.

[@MrGreatDane2]

31:12 The original Xbox DID support 8-bit palletized textures, which makes it even stranger that they opted for DXT texture compression instead. They could've chosen to use DXT textures because the compression rate is a lot stronger than that of palletized textures, but I wouldn't see a reason why this was necessary due to the fact that the Xbox had twice the amount of RAM that the Playstation 2 had The only valid reason that I can think of is that palletized textures on the OG Xbox introduced additional overhead compared to DXT textures, and this overhead might not have been a problem on the PS2. So they might have chosen to work with DXT textures for performance reasons

[@Zack0409]

this was the first real mature game I got into as a kid. I was 12 when it came out and it blew me away. Still one of my favs and got me into more adult themed games.