Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance - PlayStation 2

In essence, Substance is kind of like one of those special edition, director's cut DVDs you get for films, in that it's the same old movie but with so much cool stuff layered on top it seems totally new. There's also a similarly scattershot approach to the new features, but the most obviously appealing are the chance to play through both missions as Solid Snake (or a bunch of others including Pliskin and the cyborg ninja) instead of the anaemic Raiden. Then there's a mountain of over 100 VR missions and five brand new mini-episodes for Snake to try his luck at.

Any additional extras, and the answer to whether Snake really does get to do a Tony Hawk, remain secret until the final version is complete (if you're really desperate to see Solid Snake on a skateboard you might want to check out his cameo appearance in Evolution Skateboarding in the meantime) but it's impossible to imagine that if you're a Metal Gear fan you won't enjoy this. --David Jenkins