Ranking the Bosses of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Bosses Ranked!

Metal Gear Solid is a series that has always been known for its inventive and exciting boss encounters. While Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty scales back on the bosses a smidge when compared to its predecessor, it still has quite a few memorable and exciting fights that are well worth unpacking. Conversely, the sequel is also notable for being one of the absolute craziest games ever made. From a sassy vampire and lucky lady to a chubby bomb enthusiast and clone brother, this is every boss battle in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty ranked.

9. Gurlukovich’s Soldiers

This is an easy one to put at the bottom as it’s barely even a boss fight. If we used terms like “special events” in gaming 20 years ago, this might have been better described with fancy language like that. When Snake is cornered in a hallway during the Tanker Incident chapter, the player must rush back and forth between two crates, dodging gunfire and grenades from Colonel Sergei Gurlukovich’s soldiers along the way. Between your frantic movements, you have to switch to first-person in order to take out the guards. While there is a certain tension to being trapped and not knowing how many soldiers are coming, this is still just a basic combat exercise for Metal Gear Solid 2.

8. Fortune

As excellent of a villain as Fortune is with her railgun and uncanny knack for dodging bullets, the problem with the character’s battle is that it plays out as more of a wait-and-see type of situation than an actual boss fight to conquer. While the initial feeling of panic when facing this fight for the first will have you scratching your head nervously and trying to shoot Fortune from different angles, eventually, a codec call abruptly signals the end of the battle. Once the player knows this is coming on subsequent playthroughs, they will not even bother wasting their ammunition.

7. Olga Gurlukovich

The first boss fight of Metal Gear Solid 2 starts things off with daring style and a technical showcase of environmental interactivity. As Olga Gurlukovich confronts Snake on the deck of the Manhatten’s USS Discovery tanker, the player must chase her around the ship, hiding behind boxes and crates to avoid incoming gunfire. While the fight is seemingly paint-by-numbers, a few complications emerge to keep the battle engaging, like a tarp flapping in the wind and a blinding searchlight. The struggle is also interesting as it’s one of the only deliberately non-lethal fights players face in the Metal Gear Solid series.

6. Vamp (Sniper)

While the second encounter with Vamp is very short, it is also brutally violent and intense. As Vamp emerges from the water and prepares to stab Emma Emmerich, Raiden must calm his nerves enough to take the vital shot on Vamp. Even with Emma’s body blocking the player’s view of getting a clear shot, if they take too long, Octacon’s sister will be killed. Likewise, if the player fires recklessly, Vamp will also kill her before the player can reach the fight’s proper ending. Though she inevitably succumbs to her wounds, the player’s success in this fight gives Emma and Hal one final goodbye and leaves your effort as not an exercise in futility.

5. Fatman

Fatman might be the most over-the-top villain in the Metal Gear Solid series, but that does not mean his boss fight in Sons of Liberty is something to laugh at. What makes the battle with Fatman different from the other members of Dead Cell is that Raiden must multitask disarming the mad man’s bombs while also trying to avoid his gunfire and getting in the occasional return fire as well. By the end of the fight, Fatman will be planting up to three bombs at a time, making the rush and panic of the battle extremely effective on the player. His tactics might be insanity, but his placements leave the player in a clever predicament.

4. AV-8B Harrier Jet

As if Liquid Snake’s Hind D gunship wasn’t intimidating enough in the original Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty steps things up with a battle against an AV-8B Harrier Jet piloted by Solidus Snake and Vamp. The jet’s lightning-fast speed makes hitting it a calculated exercise, while its extreme firepower can have you running out of rations in no time. Certainly among the most challenging fights in the game, the enduring battle with the Harrier Jet will keep the player on their toes even in repeated playthroughs.

3. Vamp

Vamp is undoubtedly the Psycho Mantis of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The player is given no real clues as to where his powers come from; all they know is that they will intimidate them. Funnily enough, this battle is also akin to the Revolver Ocelot fight in the original game as well due to its square arena of straight paths. However, Vamp is not confined to those paths like Ocelot was. Instead, Vamp dives into the dangerous waters and even skips liberally across them, often emerging in dangerously close proximity to Raiden. There are a number of tools at the player’s disposal to help you get the best of this bloodsucker, and that level of variety keeps the fight interesting no matter how many times you bite the dust.

2. Solidus Snake

The addition of a katana to Raiden’s arsenal and the subsequent sword fights are a welcome surprise at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The final battle with Solidus puts the player’s swordsmanship skills to a final test. The game’s epic conclusion takes place on the rooftop of the New York County Courthouse, and while the player only has their sword to rely upon, Solidus has a host of tricks and weapons to test your mettle. Solidus’ enhanced exosuit makes the final boss a truly dangerous foe. This fantastic final encounter would likely be the best of Metal Gear Solid 2’s bosses were it not for the incredible spectacle that comes before it.

1. Metal Gear RAYs

The most impressive fight in Metal Gear Solid 2 is undoubtedly the battle with a fleet of mass-produced Metal Gear RAYs. While even players on light difficulties will fight at least three of the mechanized menaces, if you go to the maximum difficulty, the player will have to take down a controller-smashing 20 of them. No matter which difficulty you choose, the fight is insanely memorable as Raiden must keep his wits about him while battling the robots three at a time until he finally takes down the numbered mech that triggers the post-fight cutscene. This isn’t just the best boss fight in Metal Gear Solid 2; it’s one of the best in the entire series.