Teatro de casting-ando!!!!

Sunday, March 14, 2004 » gaming update

Since the last few days fell into what I like to call the pre-finals slump1, being the period after homework ends and before serious finals studying truly begins, I took it upon myself to get back to playing Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance, the "director's cut" edition of the controversial MGS2. The countless VR missions alone are worth picking up a discount copy even if you own the original, but last night, after finishing the plant chapter, I discovered a frequently glossed-over feature that really deserves more recognition: the casting theater.

As was probably mentioned in Substance's press releases, the casting theater lets you view a handful (or, more accurately, eight) of the game's cutscenes. These aren't the half-hour-long, X-Files conspiracy-ridden, garbage cinemas that are responsible for the game's infamy, but rather some of the shorter, action-oriented ones, like the invasion of the tanker early on or the final swordfight scene at the end.

Just the ability to rewatch these clips may not sound that special. It isn't. The real surprise feature of the casting theater is the ability to reassign any of the characters in the scene to (almost) any of the other characters who are in the game, including some who aren't. As soon as I discovered this, I replayed several scenes with more interesting casting choices, like:

• Snake killing Raiden in the final battle (I guess that was obvious)
• Meryl killing Rose (that'll get her to shut up)
• A bloodthirsty Otacon terrorizing a team of 32-bit, MGS1-era Snakes
• A platoon of middle-aged women storming the tanker via helicopter
• A single one of the aforementioned women performing various acrobatic stunts as she single-handedly takes on an army of Metal Gears, all the while uttering curses in a gruff, male voice

After finals are over I'll work on topping that last one.

1 As of five seconds ago.