MAG

Written by Matt Swider  on February 08, 2010

Review: Massively Addictive Game... for a couple of hours.

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Game Types
Suppression is a 64-player team-based free for all, meaning you don't start with 256-player battles right away. This basic 32-on-32 infantry match-up is where players are thrust into the thick of a war game and are expected to learn through trial and error means. PS3 owners had similar on-the-job training when it came to the other SCEA-published online addition, Warhawk, albeit on a smaller scale. As we said back in 2007 with Warhawk, a little more explanation of objectives or a pre-battle map overview would've been appreciated for new players.

Sabotage, the first unlockable game type, sticks with 64 players, but adds objectives. One company must attack and simultaneously hold the other's two communication facilities, then destroy a third objective. The rival company has to defend the three map points at all costs. What's entertaining about this Sabotage is that objective C isn't unveiled until A and B are locked down by the enemy. As soon as that happens, everyone scrambles to either defend or attack the third map point in a mad dash.



Earn more experience points and the next gametype that opens up is Acquisition, another name for Escort, and not the fun political sort of Escort. This is the gritty war type of Escort where one attacking company is in charge of stealing two vehicles from a rival base and safely driving them to an extraction point. Meanwhile, the rival team defends against the attacker's invasion and can resort to blowing up its own vehicles in the event that one is stolen. It's better to have it in pieces than in someone else's hands. This game type ratchets the player count up to 128 and can get a little maddening at times. There's little cover with 64 enemies running around, and being able to crouch and snipe for more than three consecutive kills takes skill.

Domination is the final game type. It antes up the player count to the full 256 and layers objectives that must be protected or destroyed during the game's duration. Outer defensive positions include bunkers and turrets, while inner base defenses include AA batteries and radar sensors. Once these are down, UAVs can be launched and the final objective is all about inflicting or preventing a massive amount of damage on the base. Domination is a fitting name for a game type that's seemingly filled with more bullets than air. Despite the enormity of the maps, firefights are going on in almost every corner while bombs are being dropped, causing wave after wave of soldiers to respawn. Communication often depends on whether or not players find this massive game type fun, and it's also the tool for success. But whatever you think of Domination, it's definitely the most impressive feat on a console given the size and nature of this game.

What's Missing
With up to 256 players, again running smoothly, the game sacrifices destructible environments and certain graphical elements expected from a next-generation title. For example, throwing a grenade next to a non-drivable vehicle results in no noticeable damage. There are a lot of little details missing from MAG that gamers with a keen eye or players coming from Modern Warfare 2 will recognize right away. That's the cost of successfully supporting a game with 256 players.

The downturn in graphics is excusable because of MAG's massive infrastructure, but the lack of maps and game types is surprising, especially from Zipper Interactive. Yes, the maps are well designed and the frame rate is reliable, but the environments all revolve around a predictable Уmilitary outpost in the jungleФ theme. There's no variety that touches on the classic map themes of snow, desert, nighttime, etc. This is an aspect in which SOCOM succeeded, especially when it came to the original game's Frostfire map, a close quarters level design that felt like the unofficial successor to James Bond 007's Complex level on Nintendo 64. A massive, tightly-spaced maze of rooms would've spiced up the lack of variety in MAG instead of having everyone wait on future maps via DLC.

The game types found in Warhawk were much more creative than MAG's four, as Sabotage and Domination both revolve around destroying or protecting objectives. Acquisition isn't too far off, either. It's the closest game type to Capture The Flag, but still feels like a massive protect or defend style of gameplay over classic CTF. Warhawk not only had a true CTF, but a creative Zones game type in which players attempted to control random points on a map. Having 256 players scramble to take point at randomized map location every few minutes would've been a blast. Later, Warhawk added Hero via DLC, which bestowed vast power and glowing energy on a player on each team for a limited amount of time while everyone guns for him. Nothing that's nearly as creative here. It's either free-for-all Suppression or a game type with objectives that aren't very distinctive.

MAG is a very technical game, so much so that if you respawn into a round via parachute and accidentally nick the roof of a building, you're likely to start with 75% health after dropping to the ground. Although this can be alleviated with a skill upgrade, it's a perfect example in which you can inference how deep this stat-focused game can get. Unlike SCEA's 2009 New Year FPS, Killzone, which forewent any sort of HUD on the screen for clean HD graphics, MAG is filled with text information all of the time. But, as technical as it can be, there are things missing that make it feel less polished than SOCOM on PS2, like the inability to lean around corners and snipe enemies without being completely vulnerable. Zipper Interactive once developed a series where that was possible, so why does MAG, all fancy and next-gen, feel like a step back when it comes to such basic minor bits of gameplay?