This page is for the original Substance release. For the Master Collection re-release, see Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Master Collection Version.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is a singleplayer first-person and third-person and top-down view action stealth game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami. It is part of the Metal Gear series.
The original game, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, was released on PlayStation 2 in 2001, and chronologically takes place after the events of Metal Gear Solid and before Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The expanded re-release, Substance, was released in 2002 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and added new features such as Boss Survival Mode, Skateboarding mini-game, the additional Snake Tales storyline, additional 500 VR and alternative missions and Casting Theater, among other changes. It was later ported to PC by Success and released on March 27, 2003. However, the PC version was based on the European release, which features toned-down graphic imagery. In addition, the Skateboarding minigame was removed from the PC version due to Evolution Skateboarding not being released on PC.
The initial, unpatched release of the PC version has poor compatibility with most graphics cards and causing serious graphical issues, but can be fixed with third-party patches. Most of these problems are fixed in the GOG re-release.
General information
- GOG.com Community Discussions
- GOG.com Support Page
Availability
Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
Retail |
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GOG.com (unavailable) |
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Unavailable due to licensing issues.[1] |
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Version differences
- The GOG.com version fixes compatibility issues of the original 2003 release running under modern Windows operating systems.[2]
Essential improvements
Patches
- The latest official Patch 2.0 (ATI Patch) is available at community.pcgamingwiki.com and at soggi.org. It fixes some graphical issues with ATI Radeon chipsets.
- Installer built from scratch with many fixes automatically applied.
- Open source.
- Official 2.0 patch & sound fix included and automatically applied.
- Easy resolution and graphics setup.
- Nvidia & Intel fix automatically applied.
- Nemesis2000 widescreen fix automatically applied.
- Xbox 360 Controller supported + restored vibration (uses XInput Plus).
- V's button layout + simil-PS2 one.
- Anti-aliasing (FXAA/SMAA) included.
- Last updated on Jan 31, 2021. Outstanding issues such as right stick/mouse not working as reported on Github have yet to be fixed.
- Requires MGS2 V's Fix.
- A mod that disables the additional frame skipping during cutscenes, making them all run at 60 FPS like PS2.
- Also fixes physics-based objects during cutscenes that ran at half-rate, most notably the rope during the first cutscene.
- Alternative to MGS2 V's Fix.
- Fixes missing textures and other graphical issues, includes an enhanced control scheme.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
- MGS2 V's Fix (version 1.7 and above) will move savegames location to
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\METAL GEAR SOLID 2 SUBSTANCE\
Video
- Settings in the GOG.com version must be changed with the included DirectX Configuration tool.
Use Widescreen Fix
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For original retail release:
- Download Widescreen fix by nemesis2000.
- Extract all files from
mgs2.7z to the installation folder (password: mgs2).
- Edit
mgs2w.ini to set the resolution.
For GOG.com version:
- Download Ultimate-ASI-Loader.zip and extract
dinput8.dll .
- Rename
dinput8.dll to winmm.dll , and place it inside the bin folder.
- Create a folder named
scripts inside the bin folder located in the installation folder.
- Extract all files from
mgs2.7z , except for d3d8.dll , to the newly created scripts folder.
- Rename
mgs2w.dll to mgs2w.asi .
- Edit
mgs2w.ini to set the resolution.
Notes
- Supported exe size: 6,733,892 bytes.
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Input
- While playing the Right Click button is used to shoot any weapons, choke, drag, throw or drop enemies around.
"Modern" controller layout for Xbox 360/One Controller[3]
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- If you haven't done it already, install the official patch and the PCGamingWiki Patch from above.
- Download the zip archive from here and open/unzip.
- Extract all the contents into the installation folder. Overwrite existing files.
- Go to
<path-to-game>\bin and make sure that padbtn.ini and padbtns.ini are set to Read Only!
- Launch
MGS2SConfig.exe and go to OPTION ➔ KEY Config and bind R2 to the END key on your keyboard. Hit OK and Exit the launcher.
- Connect your controller.
- Go to
<path-to-game>\xpadder and launch Xpadder.exe .
- Select your controller in the top section.
- Click the small controller icon, and open
<path-to-game>\xpadder\xbox-controller.xpaddercontroller .
- Click the file icon on the right, and open
<path-to-game>\xpadder\mgs2s.xpadderprofile .
- Close Xpadder and launch the game.
- Enjoy!
The controls are the following
- Left Stick - Move
- Right Stick - Move camera (Third person) / Look around (First person)
- Start - Menu/Pause
- Select - Codec
- A = Crouch / Prone / Roll Button / Accept (Menu) / Get Off Ledge
- B = Attack / Knock / Back (Menu) / Get Off Ledge
- X = Choke (Tap while Standing) / Throw (Tap while Moving) / Drag Bodies (Hold) / Shoot (Tap Once to Shoot, Hold to Aim, Release to Shoot)
- Y = Action Button (Open Doors, Climb Over/Climb Back Up, Interact)
- L1 = Left Gadget / Equipment Menu (Hold)
- R1 = Quick Equip/Unequip Weapon (Tap) / Right Weapon Menu (Hold)
- L2 = First Person View (Hold)
- R2 = Choke (Tap while Standing) / Throw (Tap while Moving) / Drag Bodies (Hold) / Shoot (Tap Once to Shoot, Hold to Aim, Release to Shoot)
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- This fix aims to implement a modern approach to the control scheme. It is a combination of using xpadder and modifying the game's controller support, and meant to be used with an Xbox 360 or Xbox One controller.
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
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Surround sound |
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Certain Cutscenes and transitions are presented in stereo |
Subtitles |
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Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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Royalty free audio |
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Localizations
Issues fixed
Green screen on the projector in Tanker Chapter
- Fixed in the GOG.com release.
Black screen at startup
- Fixed in the GOG.com release.
Sound Device Playback to 44,100 Hz
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- Download the PCGamingWiki Patch.
- Push ⊞ Win+R, then type mmsys.cpl.
- Find the Default playback device, marked by a green icon, and Double Click on it.
- Select the Advanced tab, then under the Default Format header, click on the drop-down menu.
- Set the playback frequency to 44,100 Hz, either 16bit or 24bit, then hit OK.
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Broken graphics (Black textures and/or Ugly shadows).
Manual fix by Hex Editing[6]
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- For Retail versions, Install the Official Patch 2.0.
- Open
mgs2_sse.exe (and mgs2.exe for Retail versions) with a hex editor such as HxD.
- Search for
geforce as a text string. Select only the instance that has RADEON to the left of it.
For NVIDIA GPUs:
- Replace
GeForce with removed
- Then replace the
RADEON to the left of it with GeForc . Case-sensitive!
- Save the changes.
For Intel GPUs/Dual Graphics Laptops::
- Replace
RADEON with Intel( . No need to change GeForce .
- Save the changes.
Notes
- This will allow playing at max Model quality without visual glitches.
- Compatible with Nemesis2000's Widescreen fix and crosire's d3d8to9.
- If the above solutions don't work, set Model Quality in the Drawing tab to the second value.
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Game freezes on intro video
Blacklist game in LAV Filters[citation needed]
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- Press ⊞ Win+R.
- Type
regedit and press ↵ Enter.
- Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\LAV\Splitter .
- Create a new key named
Blacklist and select it.
- Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named
mgs2_sse.exe and select it.
- Change its value data to
1 and click OK.
Notes
- Alternatively, disable mpegvideo format in LAV Splitter Configuration program.
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Caption language gets reset after each game restart
Change the operating system language[citation needed]
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- Go to Start → Settings → Time & Language → Language.
- Choose a language from the Windows display language menu. Or under Preferred languages, select Add a language to install the desired language if not listed.
Notes
- The game resets the captions to the operating system language regardless of the in-game choice.
Changing operating system language fixes the issue.
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Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
8.1 |
|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
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|
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Modifications
- A mod that adds a toggleable, fully controllable third-person camera to the game, 360 degree camera like MGS 3 Subsistence.
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
98, ME |
2000, XP |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or AMD Athlon
| Intel Pentium III 1.2 GHz or AMD Athlon |
System memory (RAM) |
128 MB |
256 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
3.9 GB |
7.6 GB |
Video card (GPU) |
3D accelerator card 32 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible
| 64 MB of VRAM |
Notes
References