20 Mind-Blowing Things You Didn't Know About Metal Gear Solid 2
14. The Game Changed Significantly Due To 9/11
Countless movies, TV shows, and video games received major changes or outright cancellations following 2001's 9/11 attacks, and so with Metal Gear Solid 2 just two months away from release, Kojima and his team had to work fast to reconfigure aspects of the game.
The New York-set finale originally had a far more elaborate sequence involving Arsenal Gear crashing into Manhattan, including it knocking the Statue of Liberty over and more explicitly transforming Manhattan.
A post-credits scene was also set to show the Statue of Liberty now residing at Ellis Island.
Elsewhere American flags were removed from the final boss battle against Solidus at Federal Hall, and Raiden's name's spelling was even changed in Japan from katakana to kanji characters because the former was very similar to "Bin Laden."
All in all, it's impressive that these changes were made with so little time left until the game went gold and shipped, especially in an era where day-one patches for consoles weren't yet a reality.