It's been a couple days since the Metal Gear Online beta went live in all regions, so a few of the more hardcore players may be looking for something new by now. Don't worry, Konami is on the case. The beta was recently given an update, adding a new map and gameplay mode.

The map is called Midtown Maelstrom and is set in the Middle-Eastern town that also serves as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots' setting. Midtown Maelstrom promises to be a paradise for the more tactically-oriented players, offering a lot of narrow alleys and passages.

The new gameplay mode, on the other hand, is Sneaking Mission. One player plays as Snake, while everybody else gets divided into Red and Blue teams, with each of the three groups having their own paths to victory.

For Snake to win, he must get a set number of dog tags from other players. For the teams, whichever side takes Snake out first wins. If nobody manages to kill Snake, the side with the most number of kills once time runs out wins.

Konami also announced that starting with this update, rankings will be updated after each maintenance session. The update also includes fixes to the following Community Support Page problems:

• In-game mail couldn't be read.
• Clan Emblems couldn't be displayed.
• Posts by KP and GM accounts were very difficult to read.

The Metal Gear Online beta is expected to run until May 11. Keep checking back here for more updates.

Thanks to spicyhamster for the tip! Sorry for the mix up!