10 Fake Game Over Screens You Need To See

9. Fission Mailed - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty

Next up we have perhaps the most famous - or is it infamous? - example of a Game Over fake-out, in Hideo Kojima's bewildering, ahead-of-its-time Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

It's safe to say that the game goes off the narrative deep-end in its final few hours, as protagonist Raiden ends up faced with a number of increasingly bizarre goings-on. This includes the erratic behaviour of Colonel Campbell, who even urges the player to turn the game off (and is later revealed to be an AI recreation of Campbell).

The trolling continues at the tail-end of the game as Raiden and Solid Snake battle their way through Arsenal Gear. At one point, the screen briefly flashes white, before a Mission Failed screen appears...except it reads "Fission Mailed", along with the options "Emit/Continent" rather than Exit/Continue.

Also, rather than showing the player's fail state in the left-hand box as per usual in a Mission Failed scenario, the player can continue playing the game because, indeed, you haven't actually failed and the game is still running.

God bless you, Hideo Kojima, you bloody maniac. It's fair to say his barmy, post-modern antics influenced a number of the other entries on this list.