System Requirements:

Pentium 4 - 1.8Ghz or faster CPU

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP or Vista

512MB of Ram

1.5GB Disk Space(3GB Recommended)

3D Accelerated Video Card

16bit Sound Card

56kbps or Broadband internet connection

List Price: free!

We have been touting the joys of freeware on this site for a little while. Now I will begin to show you why. We will begin our freeware reviews with one of the easiest little legal addictive game on the internet, Maple Story. In the world of extravagant 3-d first person shooting games that will cripple nearly every system that is not stocked with a least a video card made in the past 6 months, there comes a game that breathes in something different to new players and something classing to old school gamers. A 2-dimensional side scrolling adventure game. The system requirements are fairly modest, with just needing a 3-d accelerated video card, a 1.8 Ghz P4 or faster CPU and a decent internet connection.

The game itself is very simple adventure and role-playing game. The premise is the tried and true you are an adventurer set to get your fame and fortune in the world. The character creation screen is simple, you need to roll for your 4 primary stats, strength, intelligence, dexterity and luck. Then you choose a name although choosing a name is not as easy as it sounds because there are many names that are already taken, so be creative. You can also customize your characters basic looks ( face, hair color and style, skin tone, and clothing). From there the game starts you off on Maple Island the basic training ground for the game. Where you will learn combat and game skill from the NPCs. After which you can then take a ship to Victoria Island where you come across stronger enemies and can visit towns and other worlds.

As you progress through out the game you can advance your character by choosing a profession (Fighter, Mage, Bowman, or Thief) It is best to keep your class choice in mind so you can allocate your characters stats appropriately. Gaining levels at the start of the game is made rather easy and moves quickly. Like most MMORPG games you gain levels by killing monsters and completing quests. Most quests are broken into 3 categories, killing monsters, delivering items and finding items that monsters drop. Most of the time you will spend killing endless mobs of monsters to gain levels though. At higher levels there are major boss monsters that does require a rather powerful team to take on. But these bosses give a challenge to the more experienced players.

Being that it is a MMORPG you will, of course, interact with other players all over the world. Now Maple Story does not have a PVP feature. So the risk of being randomly killed by another player is nill. They have incorporated a fame system where players can raise or lower another players fame. There are a handful of quests that you cannot begin unless you have a minimum fame score. Other than that the fame system has little impact on gameplay. You can also create parties with other players where the experience and loot from the kills gets distributed to the party based off of levels and how much the other players had to do with the kill. Maple Story also incorporated a guild system where you can build a player community.

Maple Story is a free to download and play MMORPG, however, there is also a cash shop where players can spend real money for virtual gear for their character. Items such as clothing, weapons, and even pets allow the player to customize their character even more than the standard in-game items can. However some items have a time limit and will expire after a period. A player can also buy tokens that will allow the character to gain double experience, re-allocate stats and skill points, even change their names.

Like a mentioned before the game play is very simple and addictive, but with such a simple story and gameplay it may loose the attention of players who need a more in depth game. Killing monsters does get very monotonous over time especially at higher levels where one does not level up so quickly. Also many of the quests get boring over time. Go here, get this and go back may make it easy in the beginning but higher characters will need to find bigger and better things to do.

Over all Maple Story is a fun and entertaining game for no cost and no monthly fee. The creators of the game are constantly adding in new worlds and towns to explore, and the seasonal events make the game fun to come back and play after taking a long break. We here at Geekstream give Maple Story a 7 out of 10.