When you hear the words “update” and “Metal Gear Online,” you may start to cringe a little. So far updates just meant more hassle to sift through before you could really begin to enjoy the ongoing beta. Well that’s not the case today. This new update that was released for Europe enhances the gameplay experience by a lot. Once updated, you are going to get a new map called Midtown Maelstrom and a new game mode called Sneaking Mission.

The Midtown Maelstrom map seems to be more of the same. You’re dropped down into a war torn setting that was probably once inhabited by middle class citizens until something big blew up. Expect to find lots of rubble to use for cover and a comfy spot for sniping. The real fun lies in the new Sneaking Mission mode.

Sneaking Mission mode lets you play as the Solid Snake as you go around collecting dog tags from fallen enemies. There’s more to it than that though. While you have all the nifty equipment that Snake has in the game, you can also get a little help from a player controlled Mk II. The Mk II is that tiny Metal Gear that Snake controls to help him get a leg up on competition. What I think is so cool about this mode is that it’s kind of reminiscent of the game itself. Two sides are duking it out while Snake is skulking around and taking them out when they least suspect.

As stated earlier, this update is just for the European beta. I’m pretty sure a US update will arrive very soon. The rest of us will just have to enjoy the experience as we have it for now- which is still a blast to have.

[See also: Metal Gear Online gallery]