Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance

Developers
	Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
Windows	Success
Publishers
	Konami
Release dates
Windows	March 27, 2003
Reception
Metacritic	77
IGDB	80
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person, Top-down view
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Stealth
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary, North America, Sci-fi, Supernatural
Series	Metal Gear

Metal Gear
Metal Gear	1990
Metal Gear Solid: Integral	2000
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance	2003
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance	2014
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes	2014
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain	2015
Metal Gear Survive	2018
Metal Gear (MSX2)	2020
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 (series)
Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater	2024

Key points

The unpatched retail version of the game is notorious for its poor compatibility with most video cards, causing serious graphical issues. Most of these problems are fixed in the GOG release, but can be fixed with third-party patches otherwise.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
GOG.com (unavailable)		Temporarily unavailable due to licensing issues.

Version differences

The GOG.com version fixes compatibility issues of the original 2003 release running under modern Windows operating systems.

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 2.0 - Fixes some graphical issues on GeForce and Radeon video cards.

MGS2 V's Fix

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.

PCGamingWiki Patch

Alternative to MGS2 V's Fix.

Fixes missing textures and other graphical issues, includes an enhanced control scheme.

Instructions[citation needed]
Install Patch 2.0. Download PCGamingWiki Patch. Extract the contents of Patch to <path-to-game>\bin\.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\bin\*.ini

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\savedata

MGS2 V's Fix (version 1.7 and above) will move savegames location to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\METAL GEAR SOLID 2 SUBSTANCE\

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy

Video

General settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor			See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen			See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD			See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)		See Widescreen resolution.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Only available for the GOG.com release. Set the Display Mode to your display's native resolution and Presentation to Windowed via the DirectX Configuration tool. Use SRWE for the original retail release.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Only available for the GOG.com release. Only application defaults, 16 samples, or Disabled in the DirectX Configuration tool. Force in the GPU Control Panel for the original retail release.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Only available for the GOG.com release. Can be set to application defaults, 2x-8x MSAA, or Disabled in the DirectX Configuration tool. Use MGS2 V's Fix for the original retail release.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Only available for the GOG.com release with its DirectX Configuration tool. For the original retail release force it through the GPU control panel.
60 FPS		FMV cutscenes are capped at 30 FPS. In-game cutscenes fluctuate between 30 and 60 FPS for cinematic purposes.
120+ FPS		Frame rate is capped at 60 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Widescreen resolution

Use MGS2 V's Fix

Widescreen Fix

For original retail release: Download Widescreen fix by nemesis2000. Extract mgs2.7z files to the installation folder (password: mgs2). Edit mgs2w.ini to set the resolution. For GOG.com version: Download Ultimate-ASI-Loader.zip, extract it and rename it 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 the files from "mgs2.7z" except d3d8.dll to this newly created "scripts" folder and rename mgs2w.dll to mgs2w.asi. Modify mgs2w.ini to select the resolution among otherfixes. Notes Supported exe size: 6,733,892 bytes.

Input

While playing the Right Click button is used to shoot any weapons, choke, drag, throw or drop enemies around.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Limited and poor native support. Use MGS2 V's Fix.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See Controller support
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion		See Controller support

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		For XInput controllers, use MGS2 V's Fix.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Controller support

Use MGS2 V's Fix[citation needed]

"Modern" controller layout for Xbox 360/One Controller

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)

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
Surround sound		Certain Cutscenes and transitions are presented in stereo
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Spanish
Russian				Unofficial translation by «7 Wolf» and translation by «8-bit»

Issues fixed

Green screen on the projector in Tanker Chapter

Fixed in the GOG.com release.

Install MGS2 V's Fix

Black screen at startup

Download the PCGamingWiki Patch.

Sound Device Playback to 44,100 Hz[citation needed]
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.

Broken graphics on GeForce/Radeon GPUs

Download the PCGamingWiki Patch.

Missing textures

Download the PCGamingWiki Patch.

Instructions[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>\bin and launch MGS2SConfig.exe. Under Drawing, find Model Quality then set it to the second value.

Missing shadows and other textures on laptop with dual graphics

Sometimes there is an issue with missing shadows, for example when Snake sees enemies' shadows and Raven's shadow. There's also an issue with missing textures such as ugly water on a laptop with dual graphics, even if you already applied PCGamingWiki Patch.

Hex edit exe file[citation needed]
Download and apply the PCGamingWiki Patch. But DO NOT copy mgs2.exe and mgs2_sse.exe from the Patch folder to <path-to-game>\bin. Open mgs2.exe and mgs2_sse.exe with a hex editor such as HxD. Search for text-string geforce. There should be a text-string RADEON to the left of it. Replace RADEON with Intel(. Notes Compatible with Nemesis2000 widescreen fix.

Game freezes on intro video

Blacklist game in LAV Filters[citation needed]
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.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

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