Metal Gear Solid 2: A Prophetic Warning of The Digital Age
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a video game that has left an indelible mark on the gaming world. One of the most iconic intros in the industry and a high budget for the entire score of the game's second opus were just the tip of the iceberg of what was to come… The game that was probably one of the most hated on release ultimately became one of the most praised for its intricate stories. Hideo Kojima, a visionary video game designer known for his complex narratives and genre-bending titles, released the second opus of the MGS series in 2001.
This sequel dared to break away from the series' established formula by introducing Raiden, a young inexperienced and androgyne/feminine-features recruit, as the playable protagonist instead of the series favorite, Solid Snake who looks like a retake on Rambo - the antithesis of the character’s traits and key personality points. This bold choice was just the first hint of the thematic subversion MGS2 would embrace.
More than just a stealth action game, Sons of Liberty is a social commentary disguised as an action adventure. Kojima, through clever storytelling and biting satire, explores the potential dangers of the digital age, particularly the impact of information overload, the manipulative nature of social media, and the rise of artificial intelligence which is in our present-day more relevant than ever. By first starting with explaining briefly the general theme and plot of the game, we will then dive deeper into how Hideo Kojima broke the fourth wall by warning us of the dangers of the internet, the interconnected world and AIs/powerful algorithms through clever and satire story-telling.
Thematic Core: Memes vs. Genes and the Flow of Information
The first Metal Gear Solid focused on genes and their influence on an individual's destiny. The second opus, however, explores the concept of "memes" – ideas, information, and cultural trends that spread and evolve over time, much like biological genes. The game argues that in the digital age, memes have become just as powerful, if not more so, than genes in shaping our lives. Information and ideas spread rapidly online, influencing our beliefs, behaviors, and even our understanding of reality. Sons of Liberty uses this concept to explore the control of information. The villainous organization, “The Patriots”, manipulates the flow of information through a vast digital network, shaping public opinion and controlling the story for their own benefit.
MGS 2’s Story and Context
Hideo Kojima, with a team of visionary creators including Yoji Shinkawa (mecha designer), Tomokazu Fukushima (co-writer), and Moto Sato (military consultant), crafted a masterpiece that transcended video games. Metal Gear Solid 2 stands out not just for its cutting-edge graphics and innovative mechanics, but for its surgically precise execution, its story that shatters the fourth wall, and its enduring social commentary.
Not afraid of controversy, it throws players into a world grappling with the rise of AI and the manipulation of information, a concept frighteningly relevant today. The villainous "Dead Cells," led by Solidus Snake, aim to disrupt the Patriots' control over the flow of information, a control symbolized by the AI named after George Washington and its network of Metal Gears. Raiden, the game's protagonist, embodies the player's growing unease. As he progresses, the lines between good and evil blur. This mirrors the real world, where influencers and "viral creators" shape public perception. The manipulative "S3 Plan" exemplifies this further - a VR simulation turning Raiden into a copy of Solid Snake, highlighting the potential for AI to shape reality.
MGS2 delves deeper, exploring the dangers of clinging to comforting ideologies, akin to self-replicating "memes." It challenges our willingness to follow orders, even from seemingly trustworthy figures like Colonel Campbell. Ultimately, MGS2 is a call to arms: urging players to question the narratives they consume and seek the truth, however uncomfortable it may be.
Breaking the Fourth Wall!
Sons of Liberty is known for its innovative storytelling techniques that blur the line between reality and the game world. Kojima deliberately misled players through trailers and marketing, subverting expectations by introducing Raiden instead of Snake. This initial manipulation reflects the game's central theme: the manipulation of information in the digital age. Players are bombarded with conflicting messages, creating a sense of unease and uncertainty. Even the opening tanker chapter, initially presented as a familiar mission for Snake, is revealed to be a VR simulation used to manipulate Raiden.
Illusion of Choice and Information Overload
MGS2 cleverly demonstrates how games, and by extension, internet platforms, social media and news outlets, can create the illusion of choice. Players often feel a sense of accomplishment, believing their actions determine the outcome, when in reality, everything is predetermined by the developers or algorithms. Kojima shares the idea of memetic impact, and mentions throughout the story of the game that humanity is undergoing an information overload: which is the norm in our current day and age. Overloaded videos and social media contents (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, etc…) catered to our own tastes. As shown in the game, any types and genres of games, whether it is a video game, a card game, a table top one etc. the player is always manipulated in a way into thinking he/she accomplishes achievements and success through their own deliberate actions. But in fact, everything is done based within a set of rules and settings of its developers during conception. It is a pretending game that the player goes through mentally - a sort of roleplay that requires the player to immerse himself in a character/world or concept for victory (him/her successfully winning the game at hand).
Here the player and Raiden are both being deceived and the uncomfortability is affected by design, to fit the main theme of the game. For example: the naked snake scene, the VR loop scene where the Colonel tells the player to turn the console off, the game over title written “FISSION MAILED” while the game still processes in a smaller panel and many more. “Raiden, turn the game console off!” Do we really have control over our thoughts?
Kojima makes effective use of narrative dissonance before deconstructing it right in front of the player. The game highlights this concept through scenes like the rigged codec calls and predetermined responses. MGS2 also tackles information overload, a defining characteristic of the digital age. The characters, particularly Raiden, are bombarded with data through codec calls, emails, and environmental details, mirroring the constant barrage of information we face online, making it difficult to discern truth from fiction.
Fake News, Misinformation, and the Rise of AI
The game explores the dangers of misinformation and the potential for AI to manipulate this very information. As mentioned earlier, the game's true antagonist, an AI network called "George Washington" controls the flow of information, suppressing dissent and shaping public opinion through fabricated news stories and propaganda. This concept eerily mirrors concerns about the potential for social media algorithms and AI to spread fake news and propaganda in today's world. Kojima forces the player to question the information they are presented with, hiighlighting the difficulty of discerning truth in a world saturated with digital noise.
For a game that criticizes and pinpoints some of the negative effects of the our current digital age and overflow of information, it is funny to imagine that this precisely what would have caused the game to lose all of its success from launch if the community knew what the game really consisted of, more particularly the fact that they wouldn’t even have played their favorite character Solid Snake (whom iconic persona was a prime factor of MGS1 success) for more than an hour but instead his antithesis: Raiden. As a twist of fate, Raiden has become one of the most beloved and known characters of the entire industry both aesthetically and lore wise.
In our days, all info gets leaked, hacked and spoiled in many ways either before or at launch via trailers, comments etc. Mysteries remain until the player actually decides to search an answer on the internet and instantly obtain the information he or she was seeking. There are no secrets to games anymore like it used to be in the 90s and early 2000s - Developers such as From Software were able to revive this sense of mystery and secrecy within their games (Dark Souls, Elden Ring etc.). But even in those games with hidden mechanics - the community challenges and prides itself in piercing/uncovering these mysteries which are made aware to others sometimes right instantly upon discoveries. It has reached the point where nothing is left uncovered to the smallest line of source code. You might ask yourself, how many new players started the game without checking a YouTube video beforehand or even glancing at “BEST BUILD TO START'' and other similar types of information - what is the percentage of players non biased? Some people believe that a lot of the magic behind open worlds and more particularly MMORPGs disappeared with the overflow of addons, forums , information platforms and secrets being revealed publicly about their world’s mysteries via the internet breaking the mysterious veil that makes a world intriguing, dark and otherworldly via inexplicable nature. Take the example of World of Warcraft “Vanilla 2004” VS its remake (or rather retake) “Classic 2019”. Directly tying up to the main theme of the game, giving the player a “direct taste” of the deceptive medicine. There is no way to communicate an idea better than making a person experience it first hand / directly in person.
The Dangers of Unquestioning Belief and Algorithmic Bias
Sons of Liberty tackles the dangers of unquestioning information and algorithmic bias, foreshadowing the concepts of the "Infocalypse" and the "Dead Internet Theory" where truth drowns in a sea of misinformation. Raiden's initial naivete exemplifies the blind trust we place in authority figures, even when presented with questionable information. This manipulation of information, the game suggests, creates a society susceptible to control. MGS2's prescient themes extend to the potential for AI to surpass the "Reverse Turing Test" (as explored in the "How Smart is ChatGPT" PDF), blurring the line between human and machine and raising anxieties about the rise of artificial general intelligence.
Furthermore, the game touches on the concept of ideological bias, referencing how deeply entrenched beliefs, similar to those described by Maggie Appleton in "Dark Forest and Generative AI," can morph into self-perpetuating "memes'' that prioritize the comfort of fiction over the discomfort of truth. Its high-budget, iconic intro sequence and overall emphasis on soundtrack underscore the emotional manipulation inherent in shaping narratives, highlighting the dangers of clinging to comforting illusions in the face of a terrifying reality.
A Look to the Future: AI and Context Creation
While MGS2 presents a dystopian view of AI control, it also explores the potential benefits of AI. The game suggests that AI could help humans navigate the information overload by creating context and filtering out irrelevant data. The final conversation between Raiden and the AIs, The Colonel and Rose, touches on this idea:
(…) Rose (AI): Everyone withdraws into their own small gated community, afraid of a larger forum.
They stay inside their little ponds,
leaking whatever "truth" suits them into the growing cesspool of society at large.
Colonel (AI): The different cardinal truths neither clash nor mesh.
No one is invalidated, but nobody is right.
Rose (AI): Not even natural selection can take place here. The world is being engulfed in "truth."
Colonel (AI): And this is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.
Rose (AI): We're trying to stop that from happening.
Colonel (AI): It's our responsibility as rulers.
Just as in genetics, unnecessary information and memory must be filtered out
to stimulate the evolution of the species.
Raiden (Player): And you think you're qualified to decide what's necessary and not!?
Colonel (AI): Absolutely. Who else could wade through the sea of garbage you people produce,
retrieve valuable truths and even interpret their meaning for later generations?
Rose (AI):That's what it means to create context. (…)
The conversation also touches on the idea of how information is manipulated and controlled in society, how it affects our understanding of truth and morality leading to hindering overall human progress. The AI characters discuss how different interests create and spin their own version of truth, resulting in a society where people withdraw into their own gated communities, leaking only what suits them into the larger cesspool of society. The AI argues that it is the responsibility of rulers to filter out unnecessary information and memory to stimulate the evolution of the species by playing a role in filtering and organizing information to promote a more unified understanding for humanity’s evolution. This raises questions about who has the power to decide what information is necessary, and whether or not it is ethical for one group to control the narrative of truth. Ultimately, the conversation highlights the importance of creating context and interpreting valuable truths for future generations. The game cautions against granting AI complete control over information curation. The question remains: who decides what information is necessary and what is not?
Foreseeing over 20+ years ahead of its release date
While works like Ready Player One envisioned a future Metaverse, MGS2, released in 2001 - three years before the dawn of social media (TheFacebook was created in 2004) - eerily predicted the daily struggles we face in our current digital culture. 10 years before the massive rise of fake news bots delivering their own truths, people gaining power via data siphoning, terrifyingly realistic deepfakes (2017), 20 years before AI such as ChatGPT rose to mention the game’s very message: the moderation and control over the flow of information and the ever-present struggle for control over information flow - all issues that wouldn't become widespread concerns for another decade or more - were woven into the fabric of MGS2's narrative to its very name “Sons of Liberty'' as well as marketing and the whole promotion around the game.
Kojima’s work also stands as a testament to the power of video games to not only entertain but also to provoke thought and critical reflection. By dismantling the illusion of a controllable online environment, the game encourages players to become more discerning consumers of information in the digital age. As the lines between reality and the virtual world continue to blur, the game's message remains relevant, urging us to develop critical thinking skills and media literacy to navigate the complexities of the internet information landscape.
Hats off to Mr. Hideo Kojima for foreseeing all these very specific yet important issues and combining them into a mind-bending action story his players would never forget.
Written by Guillaume W. Vincent
