Why Does Raiden Turn Into Black Raiden In Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance?

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has a “White Raiden” and a “Black Raiden”. Hideo Kojima tweeted a couple of images of Black Raiden from the game’s Tokyo Game Show demo this morning:

So, what’s the difference between the two? You begin the game as White Raiden. However, according to Konami’s Metal Gear brand manager, Kevin Vlaming, after Raiden takes a severe beating at the hands of a character named Samuel Rodriguez, he is rebuilt to be stronger.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be released on February 19th, 2013 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.