A Love Letter to Deck A, Crew's Quarters (MGS2)

Metal Gear Solid 2 is definitely my personal favorite Metal Gear game.  It had everything: A great story, great music, fun gameplay, etc.  What about Raiden, you ask?  Once you understood his purpose, you really should end up liking the character for his important role in the game's story. At least, I did.  There are several moments in MGS2 that are remembered more than others: Anything from the Tanker chapter, the exciting finale in Arsenal Gear including Cambell's crazy codec calls, finding Ames... The list goes on for quite awhile.  Though all of these moments make for an incredible experience, one specific area in the game shines above them all to me: Deck A, Crew's Quarters in the Tanker Chapter.


Why It's So Great:

Simple, yet incredibly likable

In 2001, Konami included a pack-in demo of MGS2 with the release of Zone of the Enders, letting players who purchased ZOE experience nearly the entire Tanker Chapter before the game was released.  After loving what I had played of ZOE, I popped the MGS2 demo in and made my way inside the Tanker, lucky enough to pick the door leading to Deck A, rather than a door leading to another deck further inside.  Aside from the outdoor aspect of the Tanker, the indoor sections of the Tanker was the game's chance to show players the new features MGS2 brought to the table.  There isn't a better location to show off several of the new stealth functionalities than Deck A, the area intended to be first explored by the player.

The layout was simple: A U-Shaped corridor with two doors in the center leading to a locker room, and a single guard placed on the right side of the U.  Along with being simple, the area was also extremely easy.  Taking out the one guard is a piece of cake, and doing so allows you to continue onward without much effort.  But... What if this was your first time playing the game?  What if you wanted to use the lockers in the locker room for real?  Well, I, like many people, triggered an alert phase on purpose just to see what things would be like.  In 2001, the fun to be had with the lockers and the clearing was unprecedented.

Easy to continue, fun to not

The player could experiment with the lockers, the game's clearing aspect (which is still one of my favorite MGS features to this day), tranquilize guard after guard as more and more keep coming after each purposeful alert, and even try shooting the lights or fire extinguishers for added fun.  Clearings in particular hold a great feeling of suspense never experienced in MGS1, as a group of guards search the area you have hidden yourself.  The camera at the top right of the screen was exciting to watch and laugh at.  Stuffing bodies after bodies inside of the lockers was great too.  All of these proud moments in Deck A, Crew's Quarters truly show how great of an experience MGS2 was to be, as well as how ahead of its time the game was.

Lockers added an extra layer of fun to stealth.  Deck A proved this early on.

Nearly every single time I play in Deck A, whether on purpose or not, I always trigger an alert with the single guard to this day.  The fun never seems to get old.  Sometimes, the area is even unpredictable.  You can end up in an unplanned alert if Snake happens to sneeze around the enemy.  It makes for a great laugh and starts the MGS2 experience off strong.  Areas similar to this appear throughout MGS2, but none of them compare to the fun of experiencing Deck A, Crew's Quarters.  I will personally never forget my first time playing in Deck A, Crew's Quarters, nor will I ever forget the incredible demo that stole my time away from ZOE.