I know MGS4 would later retcon it so he was, but in MGS2 they made a point of having him keep contacting you even after GW was destroyed. Like every other game in the series, MGS2 was originally envisioned as the end of MGS, and I don't think the intention at that time was for Campbell to have been an AI, just like I'm pretty sure that the support team from MGS3 wasn't originally supposed to become the Patriots.
the support team from MGS3 wasn’t originally supposed to become the Patriots
Ugh, don't remind me- I'm still harbouring a grudge for Kojima for that one, what bullshit
spoiler
Actually he did all of the characters dirty in MGS4 (sans Snake, I actually found the rapid aging thing an interesting twist)
I mean, is he though?
That's what Snake and Otacon think, and Raiden says he's never met Campbell in person- I never assumed otherwise. Of course, Rosemary does get switched for an AI imitation near the very end but I always thought the Colonel was always intended to be an AI all the way through
Oh yeah, they set it up so you'd think Campbell was an AI, but then you destroy the AI and he keeps talking. Which, don't get me wrong, he wasn't the actual Campbell either, but I always took that to mean that he wasn't the AI either- he was something else. I think that was supposed to be a big twist, but so many people were so checked out by that point that it didn't scan that way, and then they went on to retcon the twist out entirely.
I mean, is he though?
I know MGS4 would later retcon it so he was, but in MGS2 they made a point of having him keep contacting you even after GW was destroyed. Like every other game in the series, MGS2 was originally envisioned as the end of MGS, and I don't think the intention at that time was for Campbell to have been an AI, just like I'm pretty sure that the support team from MGS3 wasn't originally supposed to become the Patriots.
Ugh, don't remind me- I'm still harbouring a grudge for Kojima for that one, what bullshit
spoiler
Actually he did all of the characters dirty in MGS4 (sans Snake, I actually found the rapid aging thing an interesting twist)
That's what Snake and Otacon think, and Raiden says he's never met Campbell in person- I never assumed otherwise. Of course, Rosemary does get switched for an AI imitation near the very end but I always thought the Colonel was always intended to be an AI all the way through
Oh yeah, they set it up so you'd think Campbell was an AI, but then you destroy the AI and he keeps talking. Which, don't get me wrong, he wasn't the actual Campbell either, but I always took that to mean that he wasn't the AI either- he was something else. I think that was supposed to be a big twist, but so many people were so checked out by that point that it didn't scan that way, and then they went on to retcon the twist out entirely.
I just assumed there were more AIs apart from GW