Konami’s Japan site confirms MGO’s GENE expansion pack

Metal Gear Online is heating up and an expansion has been confirmed to be on the way. Dropping on the 17th of July in Japan is the GENE expansion pack which brings in new characters, maps, game modes, and features. We’re not sure when it’ll come to the rest of the world, but at least we have details on it. More after the jump.

A lot of us PlayStation 3 owners have been busy with Metal Gear Online for the past few weeks for good reasons: the action is intense and the gameplay is superb. Don’t look now but Konami is ready to up the ante once more as an expansion pack has been announced in their Japanese site.

Called the GENE expansion (also called Metal Gear Online Expansion Plus), this one does a lot more than add new maps. It also has a new game mode called “Survival” and implements the new Reward Shop where gear can be purchased. Two new characters have also been added to spice things up.

The expansion is set for launch in the region on the 17th of July and these details have been confirmed:

• Survival mode – a new mode with gameplay details unexplained, but you can earn points here so that you can buy new items for your character in the Reward Shop. The items can be used in other game modes, so don’t worry about being confined to Survival.
• Extra character slot – If you’ve been getting a little tired of the character you’re using now, the expansion adds another slot so you can create an all-new soldier with different skills and a different look.
• New character: Meryl – Meryl specializes in handguns for accurate shooting and she can raise the Psyche of her teammates when she’s close by. She also enables teammates to get up faster after being knocked down and best of all, she uses SOP to give her teammates a view of what she sees. She’s the ultimate in taking the point in most operations.
• Johnny Sasaki (AKIBA)- No, he won’t stink up the place to lower enemy psyches. What he specializes in is disarming traps which he can easily detect. Once found, these traps can be converted into items for use against the enemy.

New maps

• Coppertown Conflict / City of Sorrow –  Wide streets, underground passages, and rooftop areas. Suitable for close- to medium-range combat.
• Tomb of Tubes / Underground Waterway – An intricate labyrinth of underground passages. Suitable for close- to medium-range combat.
• Virtuous Vista / South America Power Station – An outdoor map with natural terrain. Suitable for medium- to long-range combat.

• Metal Gear Online patch adds new game mode, hosting option
• Metal Gear Online standalone to hit July 17, 100k MGO users worldwide

Via Konami