MapleStory took a big gamble when it pressed the reset button and launched the “Big Bang” update this December. It could have easily imploded and turned into a black hole, but it didn’t. Instead, “Big Bang” is attracting a fresh wave of North American fans eager to explore Maple World.
The side-scrolling, 2-D MMO registered more than 136,000 concurrent users earlier this month, beating the previous record set in July 2009 when it launched a popular summer-themed update. Nexon America CEO Daniel Kim attributes this milestone to the “highly engaging content” of the “Big Bang” update, which includes three new playable classes that are too good to pass up during the free-time holidays.
MapleStory “Big Bang” Update is so huge, it had to be split into three phases. Phase 1 and Phase 2 already brought in the Battle Mage and Wild Hunter classes as part of the Resistance storyline, and appear to be quite popular in the fight against the cult-like Dark Wings who resurrected an evil mage in the most banal of places–a mining village called Edelstein. (Couldn’t they have found a blood-bathed temple or a dark tower to do all these destructive scheming?)
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Players should make a short work of the steampunk mobs crawling in the area. Battle Mages have staffs and magical buffs that can rain destruction on enemies, while Wild Hunters can shoot arrows non-stop and act all badass atop their jaguar mounts.
But a third class called the Mechanic is hands down the most anticipated new class in “Big Bang.” The Mechanic lets you wear a mechanoid suit to battle, Gundam-style, and will be booted up during Phase 3 in January 2011. Now throw in an action figure equivalent and you’ve got the makings of a hit class right there, especially when you’ve got Transformers 3 fans looking for anything mecha-related to sate their appetites in the meantime.