For me, MAG was a rather unknown quantity in Sony’s library. Forging an identity out of its player cap (that’s still an astonishing 256, folks); I assumed its hook was in its promise and its premise, not the mechanics or the likelihood of it all actually working. Silly me to doubt Zipper; if tonight Playstation Blog event, which we more or less crashed, was any indication, MAG is the real deal, and shouldn’t be subjected to unnecessary doubt or hasty generalization based on its considerably outlandish claims.
Typically one can gain a sense of a game’s quality by how well it allows you to perform your intended actions. Let it be said that in MAG, I could do everything my brain told my fingers, but my success hinged on whether or not I was, for lack of a better word, playing by the rules. Zipper wasn’t kidding when they stressed that a team based approach was the key to coming out on top, which I quickly found out by dying about nine or ten times in a row until I started to fall in line with the orders issued by the squad commander. Luckily, following orders nets you bonus experience points (as does giving them successfully if you happen to be in charge), which provides an incentive to the team based necessity of MAG’s particular brand of warfare.
Of particular concern was the PS3’s optional user voice chat, or lack thereof. I don’t know about you guys, but when I’m playing Warhawk or Modern Warfare, I rarely hear people discuss anything relevant to the game at hand. Incoherent nonsense and immature racism mar an otherwise perfect opportunity to discuss tactics, but MAG solves some of these issues by allowing your commander to issue canned phrases to help you along your way. Sure, that’s not exactly a novel concept, but in a game like MAG, proper communication between teammates seemed essential to a good performance and a fun experience.
Though you’ll have to fall in line when it comes to winning a match, it doesn’t seem to come at the cost of creating a unique experience. While not quite class based, the character you create has access to a skill tree, and can forge enough of a unique identity (all of which are frequently rewarded by proper actions) to make the player feel like an individual, even if he or she is in a collective group. Not to mention that you’ll have to get to rank 10 before you’re allowed into the marvelous 256 player “domination” battles (which is really a godsend, you wouldn’t want casual players or idiots who don’t take the game seriously marring an otherwise incredible experience).
All of that was impressive, but the behind the scenes stuff did well to raise a few of our collective browes. With such a massive (har har) player base, one would expect a bit of lag to put a damper on the experience, but we detected no such tomfoolery. Initially I suspected the event was on a closed network free of PSN woes, but, as I was later told, we were actually playing in the live beta. You know, the same one that just went wide open and it currently sporting some 18,000 players. That was ridiculously impressive, especially given the scale of the game. A developer we spoke with stated that MAG being pushed out of a Q4 release gave them time to infinitely polish the game, and it really shows in the latest (dated pre-christmas) build.
Also worth mentioning was Zipper’s preparation against cheaters. I personally haven’t found many cheaters on PSN (let’s be honest, PC and 360 games are far easier to hack), but Zipper implied that there are always going to be people who cheat, and that they had taken measures to counteract potential douchebags. What exactly that entails is unknown, but Zipper was quite confident that they won’t be a problem.
And, really, confidence is the best word I can use to describe MAG. It isn’t the prettiest game around and it doesn’t have the brand recognition of Call of Duty, but MAG offers a wholly unique experience along with all the familiar genre prerequisites. It’s different, and it takes a certain sense of patience and dedication not often found in similar titles, but maybe that’s what’s going to set MAG apart. The numbers are impressive, but what you’re going to do in the context of its enormous premise will emerge as its endearing hook. You’ll come for the promise, but you’ll stay because it might be kept. MAG drops later this month, check back with us then for a full review!
{hwdvs-player}id=951{/hwdvs-player}
