MAG – PS3 Review

By Ricky/C

Overview

MAG is the Massive Action Game from Zipper Interactive, the developers who brought us the highly successful SOCOM franchise. Don’t be fooled though! This isn’t just another shooter. MAG is a Massive Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter and is like nothing else out there.

It’s the year 2025 and the Shadow War is in full swing. The three Private Military Corporations: Valor, S.V.E.R and Raven are fighting for financial dominance and supremacy on the battle field without the public knowing of the war’s existence. The market for Private military services and professional soldiers emerged with the start of the Millennium Accord which prohibited governments from deploying troops beyond their borders. You have to choose a PMC and fight through many tough battles securing enemy intelligence, sabotaging their communications, destroying targets and doing whatever it takes to secure the financial dominance of the corporation.

Gameplay and Features

MAG is an online only multiplayer game and has no campaign mode. Your first daunting task will be to choose your PMC or so called faction. Raven Industries: based in Vienna, Austria, they feature high-tech weaponry and state of the art technology, but also soldiers in tight little black numbers. Seryi Volk Executive Response (S.V.E.R): based in Asia, they feature an aggressive approach and a rugged look. Renowned for their guerilla tactics, they have a ruthless dedication to total annihilation and victory. Valor Company: based in the Alaskan wilderness, they feature a care bear approach and a commitment to improving political and economical conditions. Trained to be flexible with their battle-tested weaponry, equipment and vehicles they won’t stand back or hug trees. You should choose your PMC wisely, because you can only play with friends if they are in the same PMC. You’ll be stuck with your PMC till you reach level 60 or you can delete your game and start over.

After choosing your PMC you can log onto your PMC network. Menus are well designed, look great and are really simple to use. You can start customizing your weapon lay-outs, go into training, do some upgrades or join a battle with some friends. The controls in-game feel smooth and similar to most shooters. The game isn’t as fast and deadly as Modern Warfare 2, but with the large maps, objectives from the squad leader and good team work the game play is unique to MAG.

For me the truly unique feature of this game is the server architecture allowing up to 256 players to play in a single battle. Users are divided into squads of 8 players, with 4 squads forming a platoon and 4 platoons forming a company. Once you reach level 15 you can become a squad leader, and as you rank up there is also a platoon leader. That gives you the ability to direct players to an objective and after some game time on MAG it is clear that working with your squad will be rewarding.

XP is scarce if you don’t try and play towards the objectives. It is possible to run and gun your way to some XP, but for major rewards it helps playing with your squad. There is something to suite everyone’s playing style. From the camping sniper, the close-quarter assault rifle slinging soldier to the handy helper healing or fixing everything.

The maps are humongous and visually pleasing. The layouts are done very well and you will feel like you are playing a new map every time you enter a game, simply because they are so big. Graphically MAG doesn’t compare to titles like Killzone 2 or Metal Gear Solid 4, but it is right on par with PS3 standards and considering that up to 256 players can play a game simultaneously with little or no LAG you’ll forget about the graphics in a flash. The sound and sound-effects are stunning and MAG is up there with the best.

Likes

256-player online battles
Little to no LAG
Tense action
Humungous and well designed maps
Superb team work objectives

Dislikes

Connection issues once in a while
Graphics aren’t the best
Its not easy getting a command post

Conclusion

MAG is definitely on of the must-haves in your collection. It is on of the most unique games available on PS3 and will ensure hours of enjoyment. Considering its online only, it might not appeal to everyone, but for the rest of man kind MAG is truly a Massive Action Game.

With Free Downloadable content coming on the 25^th of March, featuring upgrades to the arsenal of all three PMCs and a double points weekends starting on the same day, MAG might be old, but not over the hill. If you are a fan of shooters, ranking up, playing online with friends, fierce action and epic battles I’d recommend MAG above many other titles.

Zombiegamer Rating: