In celebration of the 20th anniversary forMetal Gear Solid 2, one fan has released a mod that gives the game a set of third-person controls. This entry in the franchise is remembered for a number of reasons, such as itsincredibly mind-boggling narrative, innovative gameplay, and social and political commentary that some fans still resonate with today.
Like the first game,Metal Gear Solid 2uses a more static perspective than other games in the franchise, being locked to certain angles. Starting withMetal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, the games would implement a more free moving, interactive third-person camera that more modern gamers might be familiar with. SinceMGS2never got a camera mode like this even after it was re-released, one modder took it upon themselves to implement this perspective.
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This mod was created by Boris Larin, or oct0xor, who stated this control scheme and perspective were what the game “deserved.” This mod is exclusively available to the PC version of the game,Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, where it implements the controls ofMetal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. This mod was showcased in a trailer that was released a few months ago, but now the mod has officially been released for fans to experience themselves, known as “The Substance of Subsistence” or SOS for short.
According to Larin, sinceMetal Gear Solid 2never had any code that could use a normalthird-person camerain the game, the method of implementing it required them to reverse engineerMGS3: Subsistencealong with rewrite and script parts ofMGS2: Substance. The GitHub page for the mod notes that all MGS2 mods require patching the game, which also can cause compatibility issues, which is why they also included a universal mod loader to hopefully smooth out the process.
With this mod completed, Larin reiterates that this mod will only work with PC versions ofSubstance, meaning that any other platform won’t be a viable option, including the HD re-releases on Xbox and PlayStation. A follow-up tweet from Larin also notes it’s not possible to legally obtain these versions of the game on PC, asMGS2andMGS3ran into licensing issuesthat resulted in both games being pulled from digital stores last year. Larin’s final tweet asks if Konami could renew the licenses and even offers to help implement their mod into a possible re-release.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substancewas released for PC, PS2, and Xbox.
