Metal Gears Solid 2 - Story Explanation

No, I am not going to delve into every aspect of the Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty Story, but I will attempt to defend this highly criticized story. The big deal with MGS2 is two-fold: 1- You play the majority of the game as Raiden and not Snake and 2- The ending/VR thing with Raiden at the end makes little sense. The reason for the confusion and ambiguity - PostModernism. Postmodernism is blatantly present throughout Metal Gear Solid 2. Largely influenced by the disillusionment induced by the WW2, postmodernism tends to refer to a cultural, intellectual, or artistic state lacking a clear central hierarchy or organizing principle and embodying extreme complexity, contradiction, ambiguity, diversity, and interconnectedness or interreferentiality. Now having a nonsensical plot is not an argument for PostModernism, but take for instance the ambiguity of Raiden himself. Raiden is a character in MGS2, but we also learn that he has played through VR missions and Shadow Moses (or MGS1) as Snake. In fact, his codename is changed from Snake to Raiden at the start of his mission. The parallels between Raiden's experience and the players is certainly there. Raiden not only represents the videogame player, he could very well be the video game player/you. This type of contradiction and ambiguity is present in nearly all postmodern works. Another huge aspect of the MGS2 story is Deconstruction which is a central theme in many postmodern works. I will let wikipedia explain:

"In its original use, a "deconstruction" is an important textual "occurrence" described and analyzed by many postmodern authors and philosophers. They argue that aspects in the text itself would undermine its own authority or assumptions and that internal contradictions would erase boundaries or categories which the work relied on or asserted. Poststructuralists beginning with Jacques Derrida, who coined the term, argued that the existence of deconstructions implied that there was no intrinsic essence to a text, merely the contrast of difference. This is analogous to the scientific idea that only the variations are real, that there is no established norm to a genetic population, or the idea that the difference in perception between black and white is the context. A deconstruction is created when the "deeper" substance of text opposes the text's more "superficial" form."

The ending of Metal Gear Solid certainly toys with the reality of the universe and makes you aware that your character was involved in a VR game and that you are indeed playing a game based on a false reality. Sons of Liberty undermines its own authority and plays with both the player and character of Raiden in order to erase the boundary of game/reality even while making these contradiction all the more obvious. I think the quote above: "This is analogous to the scientific idea that only the variations are real, that there is no established norm to a genetic population" is a pretty good one sentence description of the theme (at least one of them) in Metal Gear Solid 2. Just something to consider.

The Halo Trilogy - A Deeper Look

Part 2: Who is Master Chief Exactly?

Master Chief or John 117 is a genetically & technologically enhanced super soldier or Spartan II. We know that Dr. Catherine Hasley picked him and all the other kids out when they were young, replaced them with flash clones and then bred them to be Warriors. The Covenant calls him Demon and Monitors such as Guilty Spark call him Reclaimer. Those are the facts, but we can only guess as to what John’s face may look like, because I will divulge this spoiler…Halo 3 does not reveal John’s face or head sans Helmet…the closest you ever get to seeing him is the end of Halo 1.

I am actually very happy that Master Chief’s face is never revealed, because ultimately Master Chief is a symbol and Bungie let that symbol be all inclusive and up to the imagination. Wise choice if you ask me. It’s actually sort of a shame that they imply his race at the end of Halo 1 when his helmet is removed. It’s still very hard to say, but I recall that his head was somewhat fair in complexion. Master Chief since the very first Halo, has symbolized the Hope of Humanity against an overpowering foe. For the Covenant’s religion that meant he was labeled as a demon, but perhaps the more interesting name Master Chief has had since the very first game is “Reclaimer.”

Let’s look at the definition for reclaim:
1. to bring (uncultivated areas or wasteland) into a condition for cultivation or other use.
2. to recover (substances) in a pure or usable form from refuse, discarded articles, etc.
3. to bring back to a preferable manner of living, sound principles, ideas, etc.
4. to tame.

*WARNING SPOILERS START HERE*
Of all Master Chief’s names, Reclaimer certainly ends up fitting him the best. In fact, Reclaimer was really his only purpose. As a symbol and character, Master Chief had to die (and should have died...if only the promise of money and sequels didn't matter). I knew this going into Halo 3 and certainly felt that as a literary device, Master Chief’s purpose was to save humanity. After this purpose is complete, John 117 really had nothing else to live for, so it would have been appropriate that he sacrifice himself for his purpose. Spartan 117 brings back a preferable manner of living, sound principles, and ideas. The Covenant’s religious principles are dead, the parasitic flood is eradicated, and earth/humanity are saved. I wish he had died and that his death were a conscious and sacrificial choice. My hope was to have a scene like the “Believe” ads. Oh well.
*SPOILERS END HERE*

Master Chief is truly a symbol of all the players who enjoy Halo. He is a hero and symbol of hope despite his face, identity, name (John Doe perhaps), race, or even gender. Bungie deliberately leaves John 117 as anonymous as possible and that’s a good thing.

The Halo Trilogy - A Deeper Look

Part 1: Theme Overview

One of the characteristics that make Halo such a phenomenal game series is its story. Unlike a lot of action games and shooters, Halo’s story is not simply about the UNSC vs. the Covenant. It is about humanity’s struggle with religious zealots with vastly superior technology. While there are many intricacies within the grander story, the real fear and threat to humanity is in the faith and goal of the Covenant’s religion and it’s Great Journey. This conflict in a video game actually parallels a lot of the current fears in present day society in regards to terrorism. At least in the present day, the US and other Nations don’t have to worry about the threat of these extremists having superior technology.

While the Covenant regards Halos as religious sacred structures, the Halo narrative tells us otherwise. They are in fact weapons capable of wiping out all sentient life in the galaxy. Unlike real life, the Halo narrative verifies that the religiosity of the Covenant is misguided and wrong. While there are parallels between Muslim extremists and the Covenant, it should be very clear that Islam and all the religions of the world are as correct as the next religion. The real threat in both real life and the Halo series is not the religion, but the zealots and extremists who follow their beliefs blindly and literally.

There is nothing wrong with the Covenant’s belief in “The Great Journey,” in fact most of our own religions have similar ends (Heaven, Nirvana, etc.). The problem is in humanity’s (and in this case the covenant’s) capacity to understand the divine. Clearly the Covenant prophets have misinterpreted certain aspects of Forerunner technology, documentation, and history. This fact is highlighted by the Elites enlightenment and the resulting Covenant civil war in Halo 2. For the first time, the Elites question their religious hierarchy and instead of accepting these questions and pursuing their answers, the Prophets cast out the Elites. Perhaps if the Prophets listened to the Elites’ questions and worked towards the truth of their religion, there would be no need to ‘finish the fight’.

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Thinking Cap Thursdays

Going from lite and cheery on Wednesday to Academic on Thursday. Thinking Cap Thursdays will feature in depth looks and essays into the deeper elements of gaming. Some of the planned series include looks into great game stories, video games as art, symbology in games, mythology in games, etc. Thinking Cap Thursdays will break up a discussion/analysis into a series of posts and hopefully be interesting, insightful, or at the very least spur discussion or thought. This feature will definitely be the most academic, and will look at games from a scholarship point of view instead of from a gameplay/fun factor point of view.