Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty has long been considered one of the weaker entries in Hideo Kojima’s stealth franchise, nestled between the iconic PS1 original and the critically acclaimed prequel, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Yet playing the game in 2023 is, quite frankly, a revelatory experience. The story once looked down upon as “over-indulgent” or “nonsensical”, has proven to be frighteningly prescient when it comes to the dangers of AI. With this in mind, you would assume that Konami would treat the game with the utmost care and attention, but sadly, its release on Switch includes one very glaring issue.

Much like the release of Metal Gear Solid, Sons of Liberty comes with a variety of language options off the bat, with Japanese available as an additional download. Unlike the first game, however, choosing your region here makes no difference to the game’s performance. Sons of Liberty is, disappointingly, a 30fps title on Switch versus the 60fps release on other platforms. Now, it’s important to note that the performance is, for the most part, perfectly fine in practice; playing a stealth game from 2002 at 30fps yields no major issues from our experience. However, it’s the principle. The Switch is more than capable of running MGS2 at 60fps, so for Konami to omit this feature is kind of infuriating.

Other than that, this is MGS2 through and through, down to the occasionally awkward controls and lengthy (and we mean lengthy) cutscenes. For newcomers in particular, getting to grips with some of the game’s optional mechanics can take some getting used to, including peeking out of lockers, increasing your grip gauge by performing pull-ups, and holding up guards. It’s all great stuff once you wrap your head around it, but there’s a significant learning curve for your first playthrough, particularly if you’re keen on being as stealthy as possible.

In what is par for the course with the Metal Gear franchise, the story is a true highlight of this game, proving that you can hit many of the same beats as the prior entry yet still tell an original and engaging tale. We’d be lying if we said Sons of Liberty maintains the same sense of pace, however, and this is down to the length of the cutscenes and how often they interrupt the gameplay. There are moments where you might have only moved a few feet before the game introduces another cutscene or codec call, and while most of these are certainly interesting, there are a few that most definitely outstay their welcome.

Still, there’s no denying the quality on display with Sons of Liberty, and rarely has a sequel demonstrated such a drastic improvement with its visuals and gameplay. For all its indulgent quirks, Sons of Liberty is another seminal video game that fully deserves its reputation as one of the greatest of all time. It’s just a shame that Konami couldn’t max out its potential for its release on Switch, as this is a game that deserves all the love and care in the world.