10 Video Games That Lied Straight To Your Face
7. Metal Gear Solid 2's Omission Of Snake
Hideo Kojima is no stranger to trailer-making. His mysterious marketing campaign for Death Stranding succeeded in piquing gamers' interests. He even recreated the 1917 trailer inside his latest product. And this isn't the first time Kojima has used his marketing know-how to great effect.
After the success of Metal Gear Solid, a sequel was inevitable. The nine-minute 2000 E3 trailer followed Snake infiltrating Big Shell and taking on the Sons of Liberty. The box-art plasters Solid Snake across its cover, with even the tagline boasting about “Snake stopping terrorists.” Booting up the game, it does indeed deliver a Snake-centric adventure… for ten minutes, at least.
In one of the biggest bait-and-switch gaming moments in history, the player skips two years ahead and plays as the new protagonist, Raiden, for the rest of the game.
While critics praised Metal Gear Solid 2, the character swap was extremely divisive amongst fans. Some applauded the game and Kojima’s sneaky switcheroo, while others argued the game was worse off for it.