	MAG
	Developer: Zipper Interactive Publisher: SCEE Release Date: Out Now Players: 64 - 256	Words By:
MAG is an online-only FPS with an emphasis on team-based strategy developed by Zipper Interactive, who were recently 'acquired' by Sony and who are also responsible for the hugely popular SOCOM series. The game boasts battles of up to 256 players, broken down into 8-player squads, which in turn make up Platoons, which in turn make up companies. The game encourages players to act as a unit completing missions by strategising to achieve goals for their particular company. The game is set in the near future, the year 2025 where countries armies have decreased in numbers and are only assigned to deal with 'national emergencies'. This shift in power has lead to the formation of PMCs (Private Military Corporations), who unlike the smaller national armies are permitted to leave their countries and work for whoever they please. The PMCs eventually turn against each other as a means to secure contracts for themselves by damaging their competitors’ armies, this comes to be known as ‘The Shadow War’. There are 3 PMCs to choose from when you start the game, each with their own characteristics and overall online score; S.E.V.E.R. - a motley bunch of average Joes turned soldiers from the Middle East and Russia; Raven - who utilise high-technology and hail from Western Europe; and Valour - standard soldiers from the UK, USA and Mexico. MAG controls very much the same as every other war-themed FPS and anyone who has played any of the others (Call of Duty, Battlefield: Bad Company, Resistance etc) will find the control system familiar. The damage system is point based as opposed to the commonly utilised 'fade-out' system that a lot of this generation’s games employ, and health is administered by switching to a small medikit style vaccine which tops your health up. This can be upgraded to a 'resuscitator' which can also heal injured players from your PMC, this is the main mechanic that encourages you to work together and there is a certain sense of satisfaction to be had in healing squad mates before they bleed out, or being healed at the last minute by someone else. As well as this health upgrade are numerous gun and armour upgrades, and other roles such as mechanic, responsible for welding bunkers and fixing your team’s equipment. MAG’s main selling point is its massively multi-player game types, which can be unlocked (relatively quickly) by levelling up your character. Along with your standard death-match (known as 'Suppression'), you're treated to 'Sabotage' (in which you're required to infiltrate and secure 2 posts, then go on to secure their base); 'Acquisition' (in which you're required to steal 2 transports and escape intact), and 'Domination' (a suitably complicated mixture of the previous types and the only type to boast the full 256 players). Suppression and Sabotage are relatively easy to understand and could be from any other FPS, it's the latter two types that offer the player the 'deeper experience' that MAG boasts of. The latter game type, 'Domination' is truly a spectacle unseen on a console shooter before now. There is something absurd about spawning along with 40-50 other people, your radar teeming with blue and red dots representing you and your enemy. Bullets fly from every angle imaginable and unless you have mastered the game somewhat (experimented with a different gun, chosen a role, played the other types a lot) then it is virtually impossible to stay alive, let alone get anywhere near a decent amount of kills. Although with patience, you can find ways around the unfolding chaos, either by flanking, sniping, or just having spent your battle points wisely on heavy armour and even heavier artillery. MAG truly shines in this game type, offering something other FPS don't, and should you be willing to brave the intense heat of a 256-man battle then there is a lot of fun to be had. APCs and Hummers are available to drive in Acquisition and Domination game types, although they are a relatively uninspiring affair, L2 and R2 accelerate and reverse, triangle changes from shoot to drive mode, R1 shoots. The most fun that can be had is manning the turret whilst someone else drives, but although this seems like a lot of fun at first, it is very hard to get kills like this. Vehicles overall don't play a massive part in the game asides from in the Acquisition game type, not as much as say Warhawk. And they are quite easy to run away from and quickly explode with a grenade/RPG when in close quarters. As well as the job roles that become available there are leadership roles which players can apply for after certain levels. Depending on your level you are assigned different objectives during matches (defend your squad’s base, steal transports etc), these objectives are issued by the Squad Leader, who usually has a mic and is responsible for keeping people in check as well. Extra points can be earned for following objectives and making kills in places where you're supposed to be, again, encouraging communication and teamwork thus strengthening the community. One thing MAG definitely has going for it, even at this early stage, is that it already has a very strong sense of community. There is a lot of talking and strategising between players, as well as warnings from people who are bleeding out about where the enemy is. This game is definitely a different experience to your usual shooter in terms of how much communication is going on, and how much can be gained by listening to it. MAG’s graphics are solid, no worse or better than any of the other FPS available. It adheres to the clichés set by the genre, but the target audience of this game won't want anything different, so for all intents and purpose they 'do what they say on the box'. Gameplay is very impressive though, and even in the battles with ridiculously high numbers of players there is very little to no lag at all, the game running nicely even during the thick of battle. Even at this early stage there are very few bugs to speak of, environments are solid and everything runs very smoothly for such a highly ambitious game. The core problem for this game is not anything to do with the actual game itself, which is a solid online shooter which offers a very different experience, but in the competition it faces, most notably of course, the megalith that is Modern Warfare 2. The furore surrounding that game, thanks to the media's widespread adoration of it and its tremendous popularity amongst casual gamers, is most likely going to over-shadow this game. Although MAG caters for new players as well as any other game, and offers a much more community-based and arguably positive experience, I simply can't imagine your average bloke in the street choosing MAG over Modern Warfare 2. On its own merits, MAG is something of a gem, and for those who play it and put in the hours, far more rewarding than its competition. But how many people jump ship from MW2 and how the community grows over the coming months is going to determine whether this game is going to be looked back at as a ground-breaking cult classic, or a lost cause.

Best Bits
- Strategy elements are interesting
- 256 players!
- Great sense of community

Worst Bits
- A single player campaign would have been interesting given the story
- Aside from the MMO game types, relatively unoriginal


by: Olly