MAG takes place in the year 2025 where three PMCs (Private Military Companies) rise to power. These mercenaries and soldiers has no formal place in the world. Around 2020 countries around the world slimmed down their military to an iota to promote world peace. However the citizens rebelled, and countries threatened one another. Due to the minimalistic armies, treaties with other countries, and the Millennium Act, countries’ militaries were not allowed travel to other countries to fight. This is when the PMCs began to unofficially leave their country to fight other countries who threatened theirs. The PMCs gave countries a way to fight overseas without violating the Millennium Act. This is when the Shadow War takes place, and where MAG begins.
Trying to cram 256 people into one room isn't too easy, and can sometimes could make quite a mess. However the game developer Zipper Interactive managed to do this with MAG the Massive Action Game, and it is pretty amazing (no fanboy-ism intended). MAG made its’ first debut at Sony’s E3 2008, and its’ first playable beta debut in August 2009 for external testing. MAG has come a long way from that short video clip shown at E3 two years ago. MAG is now one of 2010s most anticipated titles. I was lucky enough to have hands-on time with MAG since August and got to see it evolve a lot. Now that it is finally released, I have the opportunity to review this title, and let all of you know what is good, bad, and awesome. I have been playing MAG since late Monday, and have barely been able to put down the controller to write this review, let alone eat and sleep. I am not the biggest fan of FPS’s (First Person Shooters), but MAG has changed that opinion for me.
MAG is all about teamwork, and organization. Without them pretty much nothing would get accomplished. Working together at the scale MAG does is truly amazing, and changes the aspect of multiplayer gaming. Zipper has done a great job organizing all the players. Each team is broken down into three lines of command, Officer-In-Charge, Platoon Leader, and Squad Leader. Each leader has his/her own command abilities. I will try to break down how each team is organized in a typical 256-player match. Primarily there are two teams of 128-players. There are eight players in one squad including the squad leaders, platoon leaders, and OICs, which are dispersed throughout all the squads. There are four squads in Platoon, and four platoons on the entire team. That makes 32 players per platoon, which is the typical amount of players for any online shooter. Multiply that by four, and you have got MAG.
No other game has even approached the scale of MAG, which makes this title very unique. When you first insert the disc (after you are done looking at the insane disc art), and launch MAG (after you finish drooling over the crazy introduction video) you are asked to pick a PMC. You can choose between Raven, Valor, and S.V.E.R.. Each PMC has their own Pro’s and Con’s. Valor is the old school PMC and was created with the beliefs of the US Army in mind. S.V.E.R. is the least advanced of the three PMC’s, however they have pretty hard-core weapons, and absolutely no uniform of any type. Raven (The Official PMC of Play Unwired) is considered the “high-tech” PMC with extremely advanced weaponry.
Once you join a PMC, you are expected to be loyal to it (stick with it), which is why you cannot be a part of multiple PMC’s or switch between them without loosing all of your skill points, XP’s, and upgraded weapons. However once you reach the level-cap, 60, you can choose to restart as another PMC, or the same PMC in veteran mode. In veteran mode, you restart at level one, you will loose all skill points, levels, etc. You will keep your overall experience though, and even get a golden badge to show off that you are a veteran. To sweeten the deal, you get a 10% XP bonus on every game you play in veteran mode.
As you begin to play MAG, you will notice that you progress through different levels and ranks, represented by how many XP (experience points) you gain from playing the game. You get five XP for each kill, three for an assist, and ten for a revive. You get a “frago” bonus by pursuing the objective that your leader has set. Each time you “level up” you get one skill point, which can be used to buy weapons, accessories, new abilities, and resistances to certain types of damages. You can also earn medals, and ribbons for achieving certain goals in the game.
The first thoughts of many about 256-player battles are that nothing you do will really affect the outcome of the game. Those accusations are false, that one player can take your team from a loss to a major victory by simply destroying a bunker to allow your team to advance through the battlefield to other objectives. However this doesn’t constitute not working with your team to approach the bunker, kill off the enemies around it, and keep them away from it until it explodes. MAG does not have a story or campaign, because it is an online only title. You wouldn’t want to be running around with 255 other bots, now would you? From my experiences recommending MAG to others, it seems to be either a “love or hate” title, because of its lag-less largely multiplayer nature.
One of the most controversial topics for MAG is that “isn’t that going to have such horrible lag” and “I don’t have a really fast internet connection, so it’s going to lag” I am not going to bore you by telling you how, and why MAG does not lag. I have played MAG on a 2mb/s internet connection and on a 50mb/s connection. I have not to this day encountered any lag whatsoever. That is not to say that the game is purely lag-less, just that in my experiences it seems to be a pretty solid game regardless of your connection speed. I have noticed a few glitches though, however they do not affect the overall gameplay, just the aesthetics Sometimes after you shoot and kill an enemy, their body will just freeze in midair (you are credited properly with the kill though). Other times when you are shot and fall down near a hill, you can see the underworld of MAG, however you do not fall through the ground, and can still be revived by a medic.
MAG has very good graphics and a solid frame-rate, for a game of this scale. The detail in this title is amazing, and much more intricate than the beta (for those of you who had the chance to give MAG a try sometime before the release date). Although some other games like Socom: Confrontation, Modern Warfare 2, or Battlefield 2 may have better graphics, you have to realize that MAG has pushed to provide the best, largest, most intriguing, and most realistic battles while these other titles are do not do those things.
MAG is the first game of its’ type, and no other title comes close to the massive battles, and massive action that MAG offers. If you are looking for an awesome new FPS to try out, I most certainly pick up a copy of MAG. I guarantee you will be just as amazed as I was when you start your first battle.
Score: 9/10
(9's are an excercise of potential. The flaws they may have are so miniscule, they can be ignored and won't hamper the title in any way.)
Title: MAG (PS3 Exclusive)
Published By: SCEA
Developed By: Zipper Interactive
Street Date: 1/26/2010
MSRP: $59.99
By: Matthew Saeger (mbsaeger)
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