Hideo Kojima reveals that the impressive motion capture of Metal Gear Solid 2 was done with “trial and error”

Directed by none other than Hideo Kojima himself, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty made a huge impact on the entire game industry back when it came out and, 23 years later, is still considered one of the best video games on the PlayStation 2.

Fortunately, we are still discovering fascinating new information about the production of this masterpiece because, earlier today, Hideo Kojima revealed an interesting tidbit about Metal Gear Solid 2’s undeniably impressive cutscenes. After one of his fans posted a video with behind the scenes footage of the game’s cutscenes on Twitter/X, Kojima retweeted it with the following statement:

According to Kojima, he and his team experimented with optical motion capture for the first time during the production of Metal Gear Solid 2’s cutscenes. While most game studios use this technology nowadays, Kojima clarifies that this was approximately 25 years ago, back when optical motion capture was a brand-new development. As a result, he said that “everything was trial and error, but every day felt fresh and exciting”.

The experimental nature of this production is perfectly reflected in the video that he retweeted, as you can see Kojima and his team back in the early 2000s, trying their best to put this revolutionary new technology to use in order to shoot and produce mind-blowing & cinematic cutscenes. After all, this was completely unprecedented because they needed real people to act out the various sequences of the game. The only question is: Was all this trial & error worth it in the end?

Hideo Kojima changed the game with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Yes, it was. Because Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty came out in November 2021, 3 years after Metal Gear Solid 1, and yet the difference in presentation between the two titles is absolutely mind-blowing. For starters, it’s evident that Hideo Kojima and his team knew how to use the cutting-edge graphics that the PlayStation 2 was capable of in order to create some high-quality models and environments. This was especially ambitious because the console was barely over a year old when the game came out.

On top of that, the optical motion capture they used to create the cutscenes really helped Metal Gear Solid 2 feel like a high-quality live-action movie, and Kojima’s love of the medium of film certainly helped with that. Yes, MGS2 may have a lot of extensive cutscenes, but they were so good and engaging that most players didn’t mind watching them all the way.

Let’s reflect on what Kojima said on Twitter/X for a moment. “Trial & Error” coupled with “Fresh & Exciting”. That’s pretty much what creatives like him often strive to do: To implement new technologies in unique and groundbreaking ways, which may be extremely challenging, but also has the potential to achieve impressive results that can revolutionize the industry forever. Of course, not every game director has the time & budget to be this ambitious and experimental – and that’s perfectly fine – but it’s good to know that Hideo Kojima got the opportunity to do it back in the early 2000s. Not only because the motion-captured cutscenes of Metal Gear Solid 2 looked so good, but because it also influenced the cutscenes of later installments in the franchise, including the legendary Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.