The rumors are true. Hideo Kojima and his team of designers at Konami Computer Entertainment of Japan are hard at work on a follow-up to last year's critically acclaimed and wildly successful Metal Gear Solid 2 for the Xbox, and it's not Metal Gear Solid X. Called Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance, the game will be shown at E3, almost two years to the day since Sons of Liberty was unveiled, and its name is telling.
Like the Japanese release of Integral for the original Metal Gear Solid, Substance will build on the Metal Gear Solid 2 experience by adding literally hundreds of new VR missions and noteworthy bonus material. But there's more to Substance than just a series of new mini-missions. Among other things, Substance will remedy Kojima's controversial introduction of Raiden by letting you assume the role of Solid Snake throughout the entire course of Metal Gear Solid 2.
The game will also let you play as several other characters, including Pliskin and the cyborg ninja. There are even five new episodes completely unrelated to Sons of Liberty that will take you on entirely new adventures with Solid Snake.
Substance is so big, in fact, it'll take up an entire double-density DVD disk when it releases for Microsoft's console this November. PlayStation 2 and PC fans shouldn't be disheartened, however, as Konami is concurrently developing Substance for those other platforms as well. To find out more about this game, we sat down with Hideo Kojima, famed creator of the Metal Gear series and director of Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance.
GameSpot: We understand that you're a fan of the late-'70s British band Joy Division. Was the inspiration for this game's title taken from the band's album, Substance?
Hideo Kojima: That is one reason. The real reason is that this is the substance--real form--of Metal Gear Solid 2. This is what MGS2 should be.
The appeal of Metal Gear Solid is the stealth gameplay that allows much freedom along with being able to enjoy the story while playing the game. People who played MGS said that not only did they enjoy the gameplay but also the story. That is why I created Metal Gear Solid 2 as an orthodox sequel in which the emphasis is on the story. Because of this, the freedom of gameplay has been restricted to a certain extent. With Substance, you can play Sons of Liberty and also enjoy more gameplay that is not restricted by the story of Sons of Liberty. MGS requires both aspects to make it complete. In that sense, this is the substance--real form--of MGS. This is not the same as a conventional director's cut.
GS: How soon after the release of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty did development on Substance start?
"This is what Metal Gear Solid 2 should be."
-Hideo Kojima
HK: After the completion of the US version of Metal Gear Solid 2, we developed the Japanese, European, and Korean versions of the game. We started developing Substance right after completing the Japanese version.
GS: From the early screenshots we've seen, it looks like you can play as Raiden through the tanker part of Metal Gear Solid 2 and as Snake through Big Shell. Does this mean that you've rerecorded dialogue to compensate for this character switch?
HK: We basically used voices from Metal Gear Solid 2 and did some rerecording for lines specific to this game.
Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance preview with Hideo Kojima:
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*Halo of Flies dribbles while laughing manically* 
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