Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
There’s a lot going on in Metal Gear Solid 2 so we’ll try and get through it all. Raiden is involved in one grand experiment. The Selection for Society Sanity or S3 Plan essentially shaped Raiden into who he was, from his VR training of the first game to the events of MGS2 which were meant to mirror the first game. But why?
The main goal of The Patriots, who created this plan, is to control free speech and stimulate our culture to evolve by reducing the stress on the individual. It’s a kind of martial law concept that is theoretically meant to evolve society’s culture as a whole. Raiden is the experiment here and he’s essentially the most extreme test case. If The Patriots and GW (the name given to Arsenal Gear’s AI which is controlling the nanomachines Inside of Raiden) could successfully control this new “Solid Snake”, then how difficult would it be to control society? I mean, that weird simulation of Colonel and Rose seen later in the game? That’s GW messing with Raiden’s brain and it worked pretty well up to a point. In a spooky way, MGS2 is sort of heralding the future – you control the memes and society soon follows.
Solidus Snake, the ex-President and leader of the Sons of Liberty, has an interesting role. He’s essentially battling against the Patriots and is even likened to George Washington at several points. By the end of the game, his symbolism is a lot deeper – he’s sort of like Big Boss in a metaphorical sense. Revolver Ocelot or “Liquid” Ocelot is an odder character. He’s essentially playing both sides in an effort to locate the Patriots. And then there’s Solid Snake, who’s first charged with leading the terrorists and then is ultimately battling against them, trying to find Arsenal Gear and ultimately the location of the Patriots.
By the end, the entire game is an experiment by the Patriots, a group of AI, to control you with Raiden as the main conduit. Raiden eventually establishes his own identity by the end of the game. He overcomes Solidus Snake who resembles Big Boss in the end, thus proving himself superior (though Solid Snake eventually looks like Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 4 as well so it’s a never-ending cycle). There’s even a bit of a father-son vibe going on with Solidus and Raiden having been selected because their relationship mirrors that of Big Boss and Snake. But anyway, in the end, Raiden throws away the dog-tags with the player’s name on it and says he’ll be picking his own name and life.
