A whole bunch of goodies in the forthcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 'MEME Expansion' pack - two new characters, a trio of extra maps and an official Tournament lobby for the game‘s online mode. It’s, like, the gaming equivalent of Ferrero Rocher, or something…

The MEME Expansion heralds two special characters - Mei Ling and the amusingly-named Liquid Ocelot (best friends with Gaseous Elephant, no doubt). Each is fully playable and brings his or her special attributes to the proceedings. Mei Ling has Soliton Sonar capabilities, is a dab-hand with the Trench Mortar weapon and, because she’s a lady, has the ability to transfix her enemies (er, pictured). Meanwhile the comically butch Liquid Ocelot can manipulate the Guns of the Patriots’ lock system and is able to deactivate various weapons in the online multiplayer modes. He also runs around with his shirt off.

Maps-wise the MEME pack supplies three new arenas to slug it out in - the industrial Silo Sunset, the leafy Forest Firefight and a snowbound deserted factory called Winter Warehouse. There are new rules too, and you don’t necessarily need the MEME pack to implement them. The ‘No Headshot’ setting inflicts the same level of damage when shot in the head as with a regular body shot, ‘Stealth Death Match’ lets users compete with the stealth elements switched on automatically and the ‘Interval’ option allows players to practice and chat on the battlefield, without their ranking or records being affected.

Finally there’s the official Tournament Lobby, where players fight for points to spend on customising their characters with fun but mostly useless add-ons - the crocodile cap from MGS3, the Ghillie camouflage suit and an afro wig being just three to look forward to.

Okay, the important stuff - the MEME Expansion launches on the Playstation Network on November 25th, priced a thoroughly reasonable 7.99 Euros (£6.72 or thereabouts). Alternatively a bundle comprising both the MEME and GENE packs is available for 12.99 Euros (£11-ish). Not a huge saving but better than nothing, right?