7 Ways Metal Gear Solid 2 Predicted Our EXACT Future

By Daniel Boyd / August 10, 2023

In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty’s final cutscene, Snake attempts to perk up a dejected Raiden by telling him, “You can find your own name, and your own future.” The cutscene ends the game on a hopeful note, which does feel necessary, following some of the other dark ideas implied by the finale.

With that being said, Hideo Kojima has since somewhat contradicted that idea of finding one’s own future, given how many of the predictions he made in MGS 2 have since come true.

It is equally as impressive as it is terrifying, realising just how prophetic a game about a former US president with mechanical arms, a flamboyant vampire and a load of giant bipedal mechs turned out to be.

Although there undoubtedly were ideas pertaining to some of these seemingly futuristic concepts flying around at the time, the haunting accuracy of some of the notions that the game touches on is kind of ridiculous in hindsight. Between this and Kojima making a game called Death Stranding about a man delivering packages across a harsh outdoor environment to people locked away indoors, prior to the recent global pandemic, it is starting to feel like he may know something we don’t.

7. Social Media Culture Shaping Public Opinion

While the exact wording may differ, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty touched upon the notion of internet forums facilitating the adoption of herd mentality.

In a significant Codec call toward the game's conclusion, the Patriot AI versions of Rose and Colonel Campbell chastise Raiden for blindly following their instructions. They reveal their motivations for keeping him in the dark, justifying their actions as necessary for the greater good.

Within the speech, the AI addresses the tendency of humans to waste their freedom of speech by engaging in empty rhetoric to avoid conflict. They discuss how unverified truths, manipulated by those with vested interests, challenge the concept of political correctness. This results in individuals embracing whichever false narrative aligns with their own beliefs, and retreating into isolated online communities.

Remarkably, Kojima's concise portrayal foreshadowed concepts such as Q-Anon, cancel culture, and Twitter controversies long before their real-world emergence. The game's accurate summary of these real-world elements is somewhat mind-boggling in retrospect.

Metal Gear Solid 2's narrative serves as a thought-provoking reflection on the power of online discourse, and the implications of blindly accepting information without critical analysis.