[merylsilverburg]

I got my November issue (kinda early, but oh well) of EGM today and they had this article on MGS Substance:

Electronic Gaming Monthly- Issue 160- November
Fresh Gear: It's Substance over style for the Xbox version of Metal Gear Solid 2

Even one year later, there are moments in MGS2 you never forget: Raiden battling three giant REX robots at once; Solid Snake jumping into the sea to chase after his nemesis, Revolver Ocelot; you tapping a button over and over trying to skip through endless, confusing dialogue....OK, they aren't all necessarily happy memories. But the new version of the game, MGS2: Substance, heading to the Xbox this fall and the PS2 early next year, adds more action and pure gameplay to balance out the story-heavy main game (which is also included in Substance). Here's the new stuff you can play as either Raiden or Snake, with slight differences depending on whom you pick:
SNAKE TALES
These five levels might be the best part about Substance for those of us who have already played MGS2. Each is its own self-contained story, starring Solid Snake and using the same enviroments and characters from MGS2. Think of Snake Tales as slices from the game in some alternate Twilight Zone dimension. For example, in one mission, Solid Snake- not Raiden- is called in to defeat the terrorists and rescue the president from Big Shell. He meets Secret Service Ames- but in a different location this time. And in the hostage room, he must listen for a woman dialing a cell phone, not a man's heartbeat. Snake Tales use the same framework, levels, and people as MGS2, mix them all up, and pad 'em out with new story sequences (all told through text).

VR MISSIONS
You get almost 200 of these training-style mini-games, in four flavors: Sneaking (use stealth to get to the goal), First person (complete missions entirely from a first-person perspective) and Variety (a smorgasbord combining elements from all of the above). Because all of these missions are set on a sort of virtual-reality "holodeck," backgrounds are very simple, but the game does change the look of the levels to morning, evening, or night after checking your Xbox's internal clock. You're also scored on all your missions; do well, and you may unlock some secrets.

ALTERNATE MISSIONS
Like the VR missions= but set in enviroments from teh actual game (the Big Shell oil rig and tanker boat)- the Alternate Missions explore some of the more quirky bits of MGS2's gameplay: Bomb Disposal (locate and disarm hidden explosives), Eliminate (kill everything that moves), Hold Up (sneak up and draw your weapon on all guards without being seen or firing a shot), and Photo (match a picture of an object hidden somewhere in the level with your own snapshot).

NEVER PLAYED METAL GEAR SOLID 2?
You're in luck. The full standard version of Sons of Liberty is included in Substance as well, with an added perk: now you can play through the whole thing as Solid Snake or Raiden. (In the original, you start as Snake and switch to Raiden a couple of hours in.) All the dialogue, item locations and story elements are still exactly the same as in the original PS2 version- buy hey, you've never played it before, right? You also get another difficulty level- even harder than the super-uber-tough Extreme- for a little added replay value. And remember, when you start to hear Rose drone on and on about when she and Raiden first met (you'll know what we're talking about soon enough), you've got all those extra VR missions to play instead.

You know...after reading this and all...it doesn't make me very excited about Substance. I mean, hell, I'm still gonna get it, but it just might be real disappointing.

On another subject, the mag also mentioned that the Documentary of MGS2 is out...Sept. 24. Just yesterday. I still have no idea where to get it.