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MAG on Playstation 3 Review.

MAG’s distinct feel coupled with Zipper’s inability to effectively communicate lead to one of the steepest learning curves on Playstation 3. But those with the patience to persevere will reap the reward; and in MAG’s case, the reward is one of the most involving (and technically impressive) team-based multiplayer shooters in recent history.

What’s It All About?

MAG (or Massive Action Game as it was originally known) is the latest IP from Zipper Interactive, the team formerly responsible for the SOCOM franchise. It’s a first-person team-based multiplayer shooter set in a futuristic world fronted by various military organisations. The player will need to pledge an alliance with one of the three factions in MAG rather early on. This is a huge decision, as MAG expects you to play and fight for the cause of your opted faction pretty much indefinitely, although Zipper have made some noise about the possibility of being “scouted.”

It’s an important distinction in an online shooter, as the game breeds a “sports-like” sense of loyalty. With that loyalty, there’s the emphasis of team-based play. Indeed, MAG’s selling point is its massive 256 player game types. Here, players are split into squads of eight and issued various objectives around the map. The sense of scale, whilst being much more focused than straight-up 256 player deathmatch, is huge. Experienced players are offered the task of leadership, with those being led receiving perks and XP for following orders.

MAG is a multiplayer-only game. We reviewed the game on retail servers.

What We Liked:

• A sense of team-work. MAG is very much unlike any other multiplayer shooter you may have played. In fact, the best comparison we can come up with is SOCOM. Which is unsurprising, seeing as this is from the team behind the original SOCOM games. Players looking to go on Call Of Duty-esque kill-sprees and lone-warrior bounties will be out of their depth in MAG. It’s best to detach any pre-conceived notions you may have with a shooter before playing MAG, because this is a different ball-game. Communication, patience and team-work are all absolutely paramount. Those squads working as a unit, will find they’re able to easily dominate squads that aren’t. With that comes a compromise however – as MAG takes a good 5-10 hours to really feel “right.” In that sense, Zipper ask a lot – 5 to 10 hours of purely “learning” a game can be quite intense, and there will be some who fail to get over the hurdle. Those that do however, will be richly rewarded.
• Tense war feel. MAG’s gameplay is divided up into four main game types: Suppression (billed as a training exercise in the gameworld, here you’ll fight against other members of your selected faction in a team deathmatch setting); Sabotage (an objective based game-mode where players fight over specific control points); Acquisition (a 128 player game mode where players must protect or defend a stock of vehicles) and; Domination (MAG’s showpiece 256 player game mode centred around a host of changing objectives). Each of MAG’s game modes (Suppression aside) feel tangibly different from those in other games; in MAG, whichever role you decide to play as (be it Medic, Technician or Sniper), you genuinely feel like you have a role to play within the on-going battle. Matches can often feel like a tug-of-war, but they are perfectly tuned to reduce prolonged “stand-offs”. Essentially, if you’re better organised than the opposing team, you will win. But when the game feels rather level-pegged, it can be extraordinarily tense as the balance of the match shifts. Almost exhausting infact.
• Technically very impressive. We’re not quite sure what Zipper have done behind the scenes with MAG (our knowledge goes as far as “dedicated servers”), but we do know the technology running MAG’s 256 player battles is astounding. There can be upwards of 60 players moving independently on screen with not the slightest hint of lag. The occasional framerate dip is to be expected, but from the netcode side of things it’s staggering. The matchmaking queue system is also rather prompt, although it obviously depends on the number of players circulating the servers at the time. Hopefully MAG develops enough of a player-base to ensure finding a game at all times is efficient.
• Audio design. According to Wikipedia, MAG’s soundtrack has been composed by symphonic metal band Apocalyptica. The game uses it’s pseudo-futuristic, ambient themes to highlight moments of high-octane in a battle. It adds to tense war feel.
• Levels of customisation. Despite being online-only, MAG is absolutely stacked with content. Not only are there three unique factions to play as, but also, each faction is open to customisation via a huge pool of weapon and kit upgrades. Upgrades are made via the Barracks, where level gains are rewarded in “Skill Points”. Skill points can be spent on a whole range of player enhancing abilities that make the game suitable to any particular style. You’re also able to build and store five loadouts, which are selectable upon respawn. This allows you to select certain weapon and equipment types for certain scenarios or modes. There’s a lot of depth.

What We Didn’t Like:

• Breaking the barrier. MAG is an extremely challenging experience. Zipper’s inability to communicate with the player throughout the game can also make it difficult to learn. Learning players will die a lot and feel surplus to requirement. This changes with patience and endeavour, but it is true that Zipper ask a lot of their audience to effectively “learn” their game.
• Marmite. It’s not guaranteed that those who take the time to learn MAG will end up loving it. We absolutely did, but we can imagine players who are not suited to the team-esque demands of MAG and merely want to “go solo”.
• Headsets. From what we’ve experienced of MAG, those playing the game “get” the team aspect, and as such are opting to wear headsets. However, if you’re yet to pick up a Playstation 3 headset (we recommend the official Sony one, but remember any bluetooth headset should work) we insist you add the cost of that onto your MAG purchase. Seriously, you need to communicate in this game. Even if you’re not a big-talker online, the simplest of discussions between your team-mates can make the difference. It’s a shame Sony didn’t package the headset in with the game.
• Some clunky controls. MAG’s controls can take a bit of getting used to. Equipment is accessed via a “scrolling” mechanic, which has you pressing the L2 button repeatedly until you find your item of choice. It’s not always the most precise method of switching between equipment in pressured situations, and can be frustrating.