The motives and identities of many of the antagonists and allies change throughout the course of the game, as the protagonists discover a world-shaking conspiracy constructed by a powerful organization known as the Patriots. They demand an enormous ransom in exchange for the life of the President of the United States and threaten to destroy the facility and create a cataclysmic environmental disaster if their demands are not met. The story revolves around the Big Shell, a massive offshore clean-up facility seized by a group of terrorists who call themselves the Sons of Liberty. A remastered version of the game was later included in the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and Xbox 360.
An expanded edition, titled Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, was released the following year for Xbox and Microsoft Windows in addition to the PlayStation 2. Released on November 13, it is the fourth Metal Gear game written and directed by Hideo Kojima, the seventh overall game in the series and is a direct sequel to the original Metal Gear Solid. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a 2001 stealth game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2.
