Metal Gear Solid 2--Sons of Liberty
(Del Rey; 2009)
"The book follows the path and events of the game down to the annoying amount of pigeons plaguing Raiden at the Big Shell. Every codec conversation that doesn’t explain how to climb a ladder or swim with a 110-pound weight on your back for gameplay sake is included. A few times during the book, I would say a line of dialog aloud before flipping to the next page to read it. This linear adaptation doesn’t mean Benson forgets to have a little fun, though...During the tanker mission, Snake snaps a photo of a locker model poster. It’s hinted that he’s doing it to see Otacon’s reaction more than for his own personal use. This bit is an Easter egg in the game but in all honesty, I got a good chuckle at how it was included as an actual event in the book...Benson also does a nice job at alluding to elements in MGS4. Near the end when Snake gives Raiden the sword that Olga left for him, Benson makes sure to put a great deal of emphasis on how quickly it affects his battle psyche and becomes essential to him which gives a nice nod to his complete badassery with it in Guns of the Patriots...Also, remember when we all thought for about five or six years that Olga’s child was a boy? At the end when Raiden and Snake are discussing the whereabouts of the child, it’s originally referred to as a “he” though by the time the trailers with Sunny in them started to break, we realized it was actually a “she”. Benson offsets this “mistake” with an exchange between them that suggests the child could be a girl as well. It’s a very minor addition and I doubt anyone but me will appreciate it but it made me smile...The book truly shines in giving better control of pacing the build...Bottom line: Go get it even for the sake of adding another official piece of MGS merch to your collection (it’s got the Kojima seal of approval, guys). If you think your understanding of SoL is already on the expert level, the novelization is a great companion to the game. In fact, if you play the soundtrack whist reading it, you can nearly have the full experience without ever turning on your PS2. But if you’re like me, then you’ll benefit indefinitely from reading it. It’s not groundbreaking but it’s not supposed to be. It gives you exactly what you need without making you begrudgingly participate in those fleeting moments of “gameplay” where you actually have to move the character to cue the next cutscene."
(Amanda Mack, MISHMASH MAGAZINE.com)
