Metal Gear Solid 2

Difficulty Level Questions before the game

Before you can dive into the action the game asks you some strange questions (and punishes you with endless CGI sequences, but more on that later...), asking on your progress on the previous game (Metal Gear Solid on PSX) or if you even played it.

Your answers to this quiz decide if you play the whole game or just a part of Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty. And it also determines the difficulty level of the game you will play.

So keep an eye on the following notes and set the game the way you want to play it.
This is only for the normal version Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty, when you are playing Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance you don't see these questions.

I've cleared the previous game multiple times so bring on the action!

Tanker + Big Shell
Difficulty: Normal, Hard

I've managed to clear the previous game but action isn't my strong point!

Tanker + Big Shell
Difficulty: Very Easy, Easy, Normal

I didn't clear the previous game myself but I watched everything!

Tanker + Big Shell
Difficulty: Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard

I didn't clear the previous game and action isn't my strong point!

Big Shell
Difficulty: Very Easy, Easy, Normal

I didn't clear the previous game but bring on the action!

Big Shell
Difficulty: Normal, Hard

SPOILER
after this point, only read on if you want to get spoilered and if you played the previous game!!!
Mark the text in the next box to make it readable...

So why is the game asking all these weird questions?
Just because the game is very very clever. If you didn't play MGS on PSX you have no idea who Solid Snake is and you don't get to see the tanker chapter with Snake and you also don't know how Snake looks, so Iroquois Pliskin on Strut B is just another soldier for you and in no way the legendary Solid Snake, well, this guy supposedly died 2 years ago within the tanker on the Hudson river, but you don't even know this yet. So as the player you then ARE Solid Snake, as the Colonel tells you so via Codec, and this plays right into the funny story of EVERYONE lying to Raiden!
If you then finally completed just the Big Shell Level without having played MGS 1 and then restart MGS2 you get to see the Tanker Level and Snake in it and this Snake guy really reminds you of Pliskin that just appears later in the timeline... scratch your head now!