M.A.G Posted by Joe Anderson on Jan 27, 2010 13:23 (53 days ago) |
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Ambition and Originality are words that Sony and their network of studios have never been afraid of and with their latest release M.A.G (or Massive Action Game) these qualities are yet again at the forefront of their plans. It’s certainly an ambitious game since 256 players have never met online on a console before, however that wasn’t going to stop them from trying.
M.A.G has no real story as such just a small bit of background information that lets you know that the year is 2025 and that three factions, S.V.E.R, Valor and Raven are vying for dominance in a world that’s all about power.
 When the game begins you must choose your character and which of these private armies you would like to be part of. The choice between three factions all comes down to personal taste. S.V.E.R are the rebels of the bunch, so what they lack in technology they make up for in knowledge and sheer determination. Raven are a group of Europeans with advanced technology making them a force to be reckoned with, while Valor are the veterans of the bunch, a group of American and British soldiers with standard weaponry and a lot of muscle. Be warned though once you choose the private army you wish to be part of you must stick with them, until you delete the character or reach the level cap, which is currently level 60.
Character creation is a simple affair, you choose between a few faces and voice, choose your faction and then off you go and of course this is where the fun begins.
Once in the main menu you will begin the game in basic training, this allows you to get to grips with the controls and other basics of the game such as placing charges, firing your weapons, using equipment etc. It is important to play through the training mode as the controls can be quite daunting at first and there is also the fact that your character will advance a whole level once you complete it.
With the character creation and training out of the way you can finally get into the action. The first mode you will come across is named Supression, this basically takes the form of War Games within the faction, with 64 players taking part with non lethal weapons in a training exercise, this is a great way to get used to the game before the main event as you still gain experience for your character.
The other four modes are where the real action is, first up is Sabotage which sees you battle to either defend or attack to two key areas (depending on your objective given at the start) of the battlefield. This mode includes 64 players, with each faction being split into a further four squads each. The object when defending is to defend the two key areas from capture until the time runs out, simple stuff really. It does get slightly more complicated when attacking though as you must capture the objective point you are given at the start (which could be a satellite station for example) and then defend it until the other squad captures the other. Once both are captured together another objective will open up and here all squads join together and attack the base, with the other team trying their best to defend it. Should your squad blow up the base you win.
Sabotage is probably one of my favourite modes due to the nature of play here, the maps are fairly small and well designed and team work really is essential. This mode however is not the main one, far from it.
The final three modes consist of Acquisition, Domination and Directives. Acquisition is a 128 player battle in which players must defend or take control of opposition vehicles, its similar to Suppression in the way squads are broken down, however here once the vehicles are captured or destroyed its game over. Domination meanwhile is the main event, 256 player online battling to secure or defend eight key points on the battlefield. Again things teams are broken down into squads with the goal being to secure the battlefield. Then finally there is Directives, which is basically all the other modes meshed together, giving your character the chance to take on the game on all fronts.
So now you know how it works but how does it play? Well I’m pleased to report that M.A.G offers a near flawless experience in terms of action whether you are playing with 64 or 256 players. The action is always smooth running with little to no lag which is quite an achievement.
The game also has a few things up its sleeve too, for example when your character is killed you will lie there bleeding until either you bleedout or you are healed by a teammate, though you can press x to speed this process up. Once you spawn you are able to change weapon layout and spawn locations some of which can take the form of parachuting from a plane right into the action, which I have to say looks spectacular (though be careful you don’t get shot at). With the right equipment your character can also mend turrets and other items, as well as healing teammates and blowing the enemy to smithereens.
As your character progresses you will gain points which can be used towards new skills, this allows you to learn to use new weapons and equipment as well as specialising with what you already own. This obviously gives you even more incentive to keep playing, especially when combined with other incentives such as the trophies, ribbons and medals which are all waiting to be earned.
 The main thing that I and other players have expressed concerns about is not M.A.G itself but the people playing, who may decide to go in gung hoe instead of sticking to the main point of the game which is to work as a team. Thankfully though because of the way the game is designed this doesn’t seem to be an issue. This is because the game is not all about kills, in fact kills only really earn you a small amount of XP, whereas working as a team, healing, planting charges, capturing bases and sticking together earns you a whole lot more. From my playtime (roughly 10 hours, not including the beta and preview events) I have noticed that most people have took to working together quite well, with plenty of people chatting, planning and because of this winning.
Graphically M.A.G is certainly not too bad looking, sure it could have had a bit more detail in some areas, such as more choice in characters or more scenery, however what’s there is great. The maps are well designed, parachuting looks amazing and so does the action, so I’ve certainly no complaints.
With 256 players online at once M.A.G may have been ambition taken a step too far, however this game works and it works so well that we may just be looking at the future of first person shooters, and if this is the future then I for one am very excited.
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Feb 1, 2010 12:36:10 (48 days ago)
