After being kept in the dark for so long like a crop of mushrooms Konami has finally announced its beta plans for the EU, and frankly we couldn’t have asked for more.

The EU open beta will be available for download from the PLAYSTATION Store as of the 17th of April, with the beta itself running from April 21st through to the 6th of May. Unlike the US beta, which is based on pre-orders, it seems the EU beta is going to be open to any and everyone free of charge.

No word, as of yet, as to whether there’s going to be a special edition of the game coming to Europe. The US version includes the “Metal Gear Saga Volume 2″ and a bonus DVD charting the history of Metal Gear to date. A bit of a disappointment for hardcore fans for whom those little extras make fanatic loyalty worth the while.

The full version of MGO will be included with MGS4: Guns Of The Patriots when it goes to retail worldwide on June 12th. I can’t help but wonder how serious Konami is about this “beta” or if they’re just trying to promote their title with what is essentially a glorified, ego boosting, demo. Either way, we’ll take it!

[See also: Metal Gear Solid 4 gallery, Metal Gear Online gallery]