One Topic in MGS2 You Probably Missed

"Memetics sees ideas as a kind of virus, sometimes propagating in spite of truth and logic."
- Merriam Webster
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For more information on Richard Dawkins' "The Selfish Gene", where the biological theory of memetics was born: www.nature.com...
20 years ago, Hideo Kojima's MGS2 was made famous by its alternate moniker, 'The Hollywood Game'. But was there a lot more about its treatment of the former Soviet Union than people have caught on before? In this brief video essay, I delve into how MGS2 addressed the fall of the former Eastern bloc in ways that only now have become apparent.
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"The long awaited sequel to the PlayStation game Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was released on November 13th, 2001. MGS2 does not star the former FOXHOUND agent Solid Snake. Instead, Hideo Kojima took players into the mind of super soldier Raiden, a stealth operative on his first live combat scenario. His objective is to stop a group of terrorists, calling themselves the Sons of Liberty. This includes blowing up a large oil cleanup facility and killing the President of the United States.
MGS2's innovations included its introduction of the laser sight mechanic for more accurate aiming, and a refined cover system that allowed both players and enemies to shoot from cover. It also introduced collective enemy AI routines that relied on squad tactics rather than working individually, while individual enemies expressed fear and even birds had their own AI routines. MGS2 was considered to have the best enemy AI in gaming for many years. The physics was also a major step forward for gaming, particularly the sophisticated particle effects for its time (including for individual drops of rain) and the way objects moved.
The game earned both critical and commercial acclaim upon release, with the highest sales and review scores in the series. However, the game's convoluted story, excessive use of Codec conversations and new protagonist Raiden was criticized by a number of fans, temporarily relegating him to a joke character (even with Kojima himself) until his popular transformation in Metal Gear Solid 4.
Despite the controversy surrounding the unexpected bait-and-switch and convoluted storyline at the time, Sons of Liberty is today seen as a landmark title in the history of video games. It is considered the first truly postmodern video game, is frequently cited as a primary example of artistic expression in video games, and is generally considered one of the most influential games of the past decade, both for its artistic influence on later video game storylines (most notably Eternal Darkness, Killer7, Portal, and especially BioShock, which even featured a very similar plot twist) as well as its influence on the gameplay mechanics of many action games since."
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[@technologic21]

"We are nomads, wanderers." Solidus' collusion with former Soviet mercenaries, under the command of Col. Gurlukovich, symbolized the tactics of an autocrat, a disgraced former president responsible for orchestrating the events of Shadow Moses, George Sears. You're pretty good.

[@rayfuentes1557]

It’s funny that I’m from Brooklyn and live in an Eastern European community in general near the Verrazano bridge. Kojima did his research!

[@vitalikshu]

Fun fact. Sergei is wearing a winter uniform on the tanker. I understand that this is the stereotype of the Soviet commander-in-chief, but just look at Olga !!! she is in a T-shirt. I start to sweat when I look at Sergei dressed for Antarctica)

[@ArtofLunatik]

Lol

[@jakethehyena9327]

As people grow older they start to get colder. That’s why they can be seen wearing more layers.

[@slowloris2894]

@@jakethehyena9327 OR they wanted Olga to be wearing less, lol.

[@stinkystealthysloth]

@@slowloris2894 this.

[@demonking86420]

​@@slowloris2894 and the curve ball is her pit hair... Shudder

[@maximvazhov6904]

10:53 'Only stars are above us', interesting, that's a phrase that's pretty much ubiquitous to the Russian military. There's a recruitment center here where I live, and one of the posters there has this exact phrase written on it.

[@knightshousegames]

It's also interesting to see the contrast between the weapon Sergei uses and the one Olga uses Sergei has a PM, a very old Eastern Bloc pistol, while Olga has a USP, a state of the art Western pistol. It's like Sergei was almost grooming Olga to integrate into Western culture, not wanting her to have a life of crime like him, who is too far gone, grasping onto the old ways like he grasps his old, dated pistol, so symbolic of that old Soviet order. It's also interesting to see how when she takes over, she modernizes the unit, arming them with AN-94s, which were supposed to be the replacement for the AK-74M in the Russian Military (but that never really ended up happening), with only the guards in the central strut using AKs-74us, which is likely to show that they were trusted original members of the unit who we can assume survived the Tanker Incident and just held onto their old rifles, as the AKs-74u was no longer manufactured by the time of MGS2. I think they even wear the old Russian uniforms, while Olga and the others seem to wear the American Woodland Camo patterns on their uniforms.

[@metalerox3]

There’s some mistakes, they’re not using ak74 or ak12 but instead an94 and the camos are not American, the new camos are Russian

[@knightshousegames]

@@metalerox3 Right right, AN94, you are right about that Are you sure about the camo though? I guess at this point most camo looks the same these days, it's hard to tell the difference.

[@metalerox3]

@@knightshousegames in camo is not the woodland camo as you said, it’s more like ucp camo by us army

[@knightshousegames]

@@metalerox3 I don't think it's supposed to be that, since it hadn't been invented yet in 2001, I just think the textures are a little pixelated from being a bit low res

[@metalerox3]

@@knightshousegames maybe they knew about the camo was in development, they had motosara mori as military advisor

[@A-B101]

Kojima and his team indeed were accurate in their depiction of the russian elites in the 90's with MGS1 and 2, and as it turns out, the Russian nation got this revival Gurlokovich was talking about, most notably through a certain man : Vladimir Putin. Excellent job, Snake.

[@ArtofLunatik]

And he did it without a metal gear Ray.

[@Menaceblue3]

@@ArtofLunatik Imagine what he could've achieved with metal gear RAY....

[@transformersrevenge9]

@@Menaceblue3 World peace?

[@chibiromano5631]

Tom Clancy also predicted this in Ghost Recon(2001). Ultimately it leads up to an End War(2008) scenario , where the EU is actually also in on it too. The reason why John Cena isn't a major player in End War is because in Bear and Dragon it gets another tianmen square and transitions. But at the end of End War , its revealed that the JSF orchestrated this to control an EU that bennefited Germany the most, then it pointed the blame at Russia, when it was JSF who funded the terrorists ( the first mission)themselves.

[@waxitron9181]

A comment that rapidly aged like warm milk

[@MomovskyChannel]

There might be another layer, with 'russian mafia' being meme itself. Furthermore, it's a government-backed meme, since russian government tends to put a blame on some mafia, mercenaries etc when something goes wrong in their black ops. Take 'Wagner' PMC for example. They operate in different parts of the world with former russian soldiers. And they do exactly what russian government needs most of the time. When any other country or UN asks 'What the hell are you doing?', russian gov just says that it's not them - it's the PMC they can't control. Even though there're solid facts that they can do something but just choose not to. Another example is recent Novichok poisonings in UK (Skripal case) and in Russia (Navalny case). Russia says that in 90s every person in the world could buy Novichok poison. So there must be some UK mafia that bought the poison and didn't use it until late 2010s. They can say it because the meme of unstable russian government and corrupt russian army exists for 30 years now. That's an easy explanation. Gorlukovich probably was in the same boat. His PMC with all that talk about 'capitalist pigs' might have been just a cover-up for russian gov plans to take over metal gear. That being said, Kojima in his games tends to humiliate traditional governments, they always are just a tool in hands of secret organizations such as Patriots, or secret services etc. So that would be an anti-pattern for him.

[@gt4666master]

3:20 I have been wondering what the Gurlukovich soldiers were wearing for YEARS. I'm talking nearly 20 years since I first saw it. I'm 35 now, and own dozens of different BDU patterns, and have never been able to find out what that specific pattern is called. You really are the channel that keeps on giving. MGS has been one of the most influential series in my life; as a kid I soaked up the games and their plots/settings/worlds like a sponge, and as embarrassing as it is to say, MGS as a whole helped shaped me into the man I am today.

[@bloodgulchpatrick]

I have trouble finding info about such designation, and the way it sounds makes more sense for a specific uniform set. As for pattern, I think it's more proper to call it VSR-84 "Butan" (also unofficially known as "Dubok"). Not sure about the "Ministry of Internal Affairs" thing either - even the picture shows is a soldier serving in VDV, which is a part Ministry of Defence.

[@nathancook8426]

​@@bloodgulchpatrick(B.D.U.), Soviet TTsKO Brown/Mountain in game it's has a tint of orange real version it's dark brown and big shell guards wear grey Urban Kamysh uniform which was not widely used it was only reserved and worn by very few Russian Ministry of Interior intervention troops & Spetsnaz basically a prototype pattern which Russian troops opted for the blue version being more popular

[@chrisbutler1668]

Integrating the Geographics video, which I previously watched when it premiered, adds A LOT to the prologue I had no idea existed...thank you Jorin. Your work is admirable...Boss.

[@Jba8179]

well considering the recent events, this video really takes on a whole new life

[@donpeppone4738]

Actually, a lot of videos about videos about MGS and war are now more relevant

[@scottyspliffen7421]

The greatest game series of all time, a masterpiece with so much depth. Still playing in 2022 and still finding new ways to play/beat this series!! 🐍🐍🐍🐍

[@ArtofLunatik]

Man the opening of MGS2 is soo fucking classic. I remember showinv it off to my freind and his family to show them how cinematic videogames could be.

[@demonking86420]

The Hudson river, two years ago

[@andregordon2599]

I'm going to have to jump on your Patreon as my means of thanking you for your hours of high quality, thoughtful docs. Your locations series deserves special praise, I learn something new every time

[@ameripenguin]

If this channel was DLC, it would be the best DLC any game has ever had...

[@KBXband]

Weird how Sergei told Olga to stay in New York and referred to it as a "country of liberty" so would that mean Sergei is not an enemy of the states? Or is he sure Olga will integrate? I just caught it and im not sure what my question even is.

[@RodasAPCTV]

I'd assume he's the type of man focused on keeping the ideology and way of life he grew up in alive rather than tearing down what the world adapted to. When you start to think about the unit he ran as what Big Boss was doing in the start of Peace Walker, it would make sense that he wouldn't want his daughter to raise a child in that environment, considering that money wouldn't be a problem. NY would be a great solution.

[@YoungMachette]

Just goes to show you that Sergei did have a Big Boss mind set. Didn't dedicate to his mother land, just to the times.

[@Americansikkunt]

He simply means exactly what he says. America is “The Country of Liberty”, being the embodiment of Liberal values . Free Speech, Gun Rights, and Property Rights, etc…. Why did Gurlukuvich want his daughter to live there, instead of the Soviet Union? Because he wasn’t just a military leader. After the dissolution of USSR, he had made mob ties (later to be exposed as a branch of The Patriots). The mob is no life for any man’s daughter to follow… I’m actually surprised quite surprised, because he announces, “Mother Russia will rise again!”, while holding Dolph hostage….So why does he want his daughter to leave, if he believes Russs will rise again? That is my only question….

[@demonking86420]

I guess he didn't want his daughter (and to an extent his grandchild) to grow up with the same mindset he had

[@sirdanielfortesque5812]

''An anagram for... this Russian phrase here'' is all we need Jorin, perfect. I'd only ever speak in anagrams if I had to suffer that language, I do not blame you for not even trying to say that. I tried a couple times, just sounded like i'd had a bad stroke.

[@artcrime2999]

Damn it this Simon Whistler guy has creeped into my mgs videos now too

[@youreprettygood2603]

Man the future of 2007 (Tanker) and 2009 (Plant) looks scary.

[@technologic21]

It parallels our own.

[@OlinCaprison]

So much of this video makes me wonder what you think of Fukuyamas old book. Wish I could hear your thoughts on it!

[@bloodgulchpatrick]

0:53 Here's an interesting fact about Ka-60's designation: it's official spelling is kAsatka, which is Russian for barn swallow, whereas killer whale is spelled with an O - kOsatka. However, both words are pronounced the same, and a lot more of the people know about the whale, rather then some species of swallow, which is why even Russians often confused by the two. Even the Kamov's PR person who was writing the English texts for their webside, further solidifying the "incorrect" name.

[@JIX9ISLER1986]

2:32 Freemasonry symbol called "hidden hand"

[@TheSqualLionheart]

Videos ahead of its time by a few months

[@tomhoward4905]

Simon Whistler gets everywhere 😂😂

[@janx7104]

When you do "what happens in mgs2 part two the plant" I'm going to lose my mind

[@dennisbrannigan9523]

Great video as always boss. Was surprised to get a cameo from one of my other favorite channels biographics, well their geological channel lol. Keep up the good work man. And in all honesty, I can’t wait for, if you are going to do it, a video on foxhound

[@Sean-sn9ld]

Love your channel man , top quality content every time

[@charles5968]

I just beat the game yesterday

[@surrealistidealist]

Отлично! Молодец! ❤

[@mimojimi]

I don't understand, but am grooving at the end track, knowing something epic was just being said

[@miki1207]

these videos are so good thanks for making em

[@user-pg1uw1oq2q]

I love your videos, but you can return one format not on a permanent basis, namely secrets in the cutscenes of MGSV

[@InfinityOf6]

The Lockerbie air disaster was 1988, not 1992...

[@MikeTooleK9S]

you bring life to the arts itself. i feel CRITICAL MASS

[@heehomgee4671]

Great video as always, Boss!

[@stapuft]

on the note of mispronunciations (of english words), "levenworth" is "leh·vuhn·wrth" not "lee·ven·worth"

[@retroguyst8132]

Beautiful work here. Great video essay! It's because of independent creators like you that mainstream media is going the way of the dinosaur and I'm all for it.

[@Ner0mancer]

@11:30 Reminds me of Lord of War

[@ryan-yh7vo]

Genius.

[@realdomdom]

I love [current thing].

[@solidusgadget]

Как же больно всё-таки слушать Насташу и Ольгу.

[@aadipie]

Thanks for that, boss. o7

[@BrilliantK]

@biographics coming in clutch!

[@elliekaun3932]

Обожаю ваши видео. С каждым из них я открываю для себя бессмертные произведения господина Хидео с новой стороны. Спасибо вам за все что вы сделали.

[@zacharyburns5017]

A wild Simon Whistler appears...

[@GuyOnAChair]

Good stuff at the start.

[@robertpatter5509]

What's odd is a Russian carrying a German HK USP 9mm. I always thought that was just odd . You would think Olga would carry a Makarov instead. Where would Russians get a USP to begin with? How would they be familiar with this type of pistol at all?

[@demonking86420]

Would make sense if it was an East Germany made weapon But HK is a West Germany manufacturer so yeah

[@Abdirahman_Mohamed]

Where's part 2 of MGS2 explain Jorin???

[@pedrovazquez6064]

I would put even a higher like or something, but I can`t!!!

[@isaacvaught8908]

You’re pretty good

[@AlphariusOmegon-vd9gg]

Ive been watching your essays for a long time, your russian was always pretty nice, just mistakes in stresses maybe. But problem is in source, yabloko-moloko is absolute cringe and english pronounciation of russian characters s hearing like parody

[@mmcmullen7411]

So gerlukovich is basically Putin, got it

[@Lysanderfication]

We need a guy like Vlad.

[@lucasbechtol4126]

"System for society sanity." S3. Nice

[@Stret173]

ччииввооо... ну щас и узнаем чего!

[@AdaptiveApeHybrid]

Oulala

[@mbe102]

Hey Jorin, just an idea for you, repost this on youtube, but with Russian Title, and Russian Information Section, etc. Maybe even see if you can get a Russian VO :O. Might help ya reach that demo :O.

[@fgfgfgfgf2919]

this video hits different now after ukraine..

[@Pestielicious]

Not really

[@apchistuz]

The events take place in 2007&2009

[@HenryCasillas]

📦

[@DialloMoore503]

My Most Anticipated Movies in 2022: Avatar 2 Samaritan Nope Bullet Train The War Hunt Memory Clean Blacklight The Woman King Till Top Gun: Maverick Creed 3 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 The Man From Toronto The Tiger Rising

[@ChudGippity]

Who cares?

[@DialloMoore503]

@@ChudGippity Just sharing. No need to be rude.

[@rangerv1]

this is a comment

[@dontcare3]

this is a comment.

[@satsubatsu347]

20 minutes to affirm that Kojima makes trope quilts that are agonizingly obvious and obnoxious. I'd like those 20 minutes back, with interest.