The official servers were shut down on July 1, 2011. It is now only playable offline in single-player. Monster Hunter Freedom is not a direct port of Monster Hunter but instead a portable update of the Monster Hunter series.The game is a simulation of hunting in a world filled with deadly monsters. Like actual hunting, successfully killing or capturing a monster requires the use of strategy, skill and provided items. Monster Hunter sold poorly in Europe and the Americas due to being given no advertising; however, it was a huge hit in its native land, Japan. The game used to have an Online Mode (Town), Which would let players pick between 2 Servers (Red World and Green World), then a Town Area going from A to Z , where up to 8 players could enter and start 4 man party Quests. After January 1st, 2008, the online servers for Monster Hunter in North America and Europe were shut down, and thus online play for the PS2 version of Monster Hunter is no longer available. With the Monster Hunter online server being gone forever, the game-play population among MH fans has greatly decreased because offline mode provides fewer choices of weapons and armor. Although much of the game can be played offline through single-player, the majority of the content is in the online section of the game. Not all of the monsters are found in single-player and the player's rewards are smaller when they are offline. The goal for players online is not to defeat the most monsters but to reach the highest hunter rank, which is the storyline that is carried out online by NPC characters." A total of 30 Monsters: 13 small and 17 large. Monster Hunter only has a maximum of Green sharpness, though the sword at the upper left corner glows yellow.