Note: The following preview is based on experience from a Private Beta. As a result, certain aspects in the final release may be different from those mentioned here.
What is M.A.G?
MAG is the world’s first FPS to offer enormous 256 Player battles! When it was first announced back at E3 '08, I was a little skeptic and did not believe that the game would live up to its expectations and would ultimately suffer with tons of lag and frustrated players. However, just last month when I received my invite from Sony, I was completely overwhelmed by the effort Zipper Interactive have put into this multiplayer war-a-thon!
M.A.G consists of three factions: ‘RAVEN’, ‘VALOR’ and ‘S.V.E.R'. Each of them is part of a large-scale battle called ‘The Shadow War’. The RAVEN faction comprises of high-tech geeks with guns, who have all the latest weapons and are up-to-date with the latest technology. VALOR represents the traditional military class of soldiers, while S.V.E.R is a group of tactical guerilla fighters with the ability to pull off large-scale stealth operations. Not much is currently known about each faction's unique perks/abilities; however, all three do possess their own unique weapons and gadgets.
Moving on to the gameplay. FPS fans should feel right at home with MAG. The controls are kept simple and intuitive, resulting in a smooth overall experience. Even if you aren't big on shooters, you'll find yourself getting straight into the heat of the action.
In the game there are nine character skills for all factions, each with around 3-5 skill tiers as shown below:
Assault: Unlocks skills related to assault rifles, improved assault rifles and battle rifles. (5 Tiers)
Personal Defense: Unlocks items and skills related to backup weapons and knives. (4 Tiers)
Athleticism: It affects base damage resistance and other physical attributes of a character. (5 Tiers)
Close Quarters: It unlocks items and skills related to shotguns and submachine guns. (4 Tiers)
Electronics: It unlocks electronics-based gear items. (4 Tiers)
Marksman: It unlocks items and skills related to sniper rifles. (5 Tiers)
Heavy: It unlocks items and skills related to machine guns and rocket launchers. (3 Tiers)
Explosives: Unlocks items and skills related to explosives.(3 Tiers)
Support: Unlocks items and skills related to healing teammates and repairing team assets. (3 Tiers)
As far as the maps are concerned, only four maps have been revealed thus far:
Copper Hills Relay-128 Player max
Darien Network- 128 Players max
Elk Bay Logistics- 256 Players max
Corvus Research- 256 Players max
Absheron Refinery- 256 Players max
With each map being ten times bigger than those present in a normal FPS, a lot of hurdles have been incorporated in order to decrease all the carnage and disorder that comes with such a high player count. Sure, M.A.G is about attacking and killing, but there's a great deal of strategy and teamwork involved here.
Each team comprises of several 8 player squads, with each having a squad leader who organizes the attack/defense methodology for his group. On the higher chain of command, a Platoon Leader who is in charge of all the squads plans and leads the central line of attack. The Squad leader and Platoon leader selection is based on rank, experience and vote. If a selected Squad or Platoon leader produces incompetent results, a vote is cast, during which all team members give out their verdict on the retention of command.
Only two Game modes were available during the course of the Beta, as shown below:
Sabotage: 256 Players battle over 3 objectives, with the first team to do all three winning the match. Objectives are toggled once activated by the attacking team, and can be reactivated by the defending team. From the onset, objectives A and B are unlocked, while objective C is locked.
Domination: 256 Players fight to 'Secure and Hold' 8 targets, each contributing to the main mission objective. There are 2 primary objectives (Vent Stations and Pump Stations) per zone. Each of them is controlled by the attacking team, as it attempts to “bleed” the defender score bar and contributes to the destruction of the refining facility. To reach the Vent and Pump stations, attackers must first overload the refinery system by seizing the zone’s Burn-off and Cooling Towers. When both Burn-off Towers are destroyed, the Cooling towers are unlocked after a short delay. Once both Cooling Towers are destroyed, the final objectives are unlocked. Attacker Victory is achieved by controlling both Vent and Pump stations, which further depletes the defender score bar. If the bar reaches 0 before the timer expires, the attacking team wins. If time expires and the defenders score bar still has points, the defenders win!
The weapon customization in the game is another reason why it's so completely MAGnificent. Being a sniper enthusiast, there were many things I could do to my rifle, in order to customize it to my liking. Once I had the Marksman skill with each tier, I could get a new sniper, coupled with tons of attachments for my weapon. For example, getting a better scope attachment lets you zoom and snipe from greater distances. Another interesting option is available to players is 'No Regeneration', which disables player respawns. In other words, if you're dead, you're dead. To compensate for this, players can either be healed by medics or can equip themselves with a syringe gun, which when fully charged, can be self-injected in order to heal you over time.
Although you acquire plenty of new gear via the skill tree, you cannot equip all equipment at once. So a ‘Credit System’ is incorporated, which puts a restriction upon the number of items you can equip. Say, if an item costs 300c, and you only have 200c left, you cannot equip it.
With each level u gain one additional skill point with skill points u can buy certain weapons or weapon mod’s or gadgets which can give u an advantage over your opponents and be a more effective team member.
Visually speaking, the game sports a lifelike depiction of war-torn settings. Although the environments and character models aren't as detailed as say, the recent slew of Call of Duty games, they're good enough to look appealing. The biggest draw here is the vast sense of scale that the game portrays. You'll instantly notice the huge draw distance, as well as the large number of on-screen players. Couple this with the fact that the lag ranges from minimal to zero at any given time, and M.A.G ends up being a very technically sound game.
The lag situation in the game is an all time minimum even when there are 256 players in the battlefield there is no or very unnoticeable lag in the game, probably due to the fact that M.A.G has dedicated game servers.
M.A.G is one of the most unique and captivating games I have had the pleasure of playing. It provides a multiplayer experience that's just too vast to pen down in a preview. I could obviously go on, but it's all the better for PS3 owners to try it out for themselves, when the game is released early next year. Till then, drool all you can, and hope that you get into the public beta that starts later this month.
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