MAG (Massive Action Game)

[Jason]

Anyone thinking Resistance 2: Fall of Man had the edge in multiplayer console gaming with its 128-player firefights is about to get that bubble burst, because Zipper Interactive haven't so much raised the bar as picked it up and taken it home with them - their upcoming shooter MAG boasts a phenomenal 256 (yes, that is correct) players duking it out at once in two 128-man teams.

Of course, anyone who's ever tried to organise any kind of strategy on any team larger than about four will know that it's a task akin to herding cats - players will just run around and do their own thing in lieu of actually having any kind of organised leader.

This is where MAG hopes to do something new - featuring a level-up system based around levelling up individual skills with specific weapons, MAG allows players to control their own development, it also introduces an interesting 'Officer' system to introduce some semblance of order to battles. It allows any player above level 15 (max level 50) to apply for a set number of 'officer' positions. The officers will be able to communicate amongst themselves on a private channel - they can then pass down instructions to the 'grunts' in the form of objectives.
In order to encourage players to carry out the (non mandatory) objectives, anything assigned to players by officers is worth double the usual XP, so team players who obey their COs are likely to level up a lot quicker than lone wolves who rush off alone.

Sony and Zipper Interactive are also apparently being very proactive with regards to game balance, from setting up specific bird's eye cameras with 'heat sensors' to detect where choke points are too crowded, to taking massive amounts of data from the beta testing in order to determine which weapons are overpowered and which are too weak.

It's a very interesting concept, and one that could potentially change the face of online FPS games on the consoles. Of course the one stumbling point is going to be servers - a game like MAG lives or dies on the quality of the servers and connections, and whilst the gameplay could be amazing, without decent servers, it'll fail big-time. It's expected to launch in late January '10.

Thoughts?

[Konrad]

Interesting... In fact, I had no idea Resistance featured servers that large. Unfortunately, like most dreams nowadays it will end at this one question: Will it also be released for PC?

The concept is fascinating, but well see how it works. Im intrigued, though ill probably never get to play it.

[Jason]

Yeah, Resistance 2 had 128-player battles online. I managed to get in on a couple when I rented it, and they weren't too bad - they were certainly a sniper's dream - if you find a good spot, you can do some serious damage, simply because it's very rare anyone but another sniper ever gets close enough to kill you.

And you so need to get a PS3. Start dropping hints to family members and so on - Christmas is coming, after all... >_>
Although I wouldn't be surprised if a port found its way to PC if the game really takes off on PS3 - console loyalty is one thing, but cold hard cash is another, and there's a big market for large-scale shooters on PC.

[Konrad]

Im sure I could scrounge up the money to pay for a PS3, it's just that whenever I think of spending that much money - there are ten things I would rather have. My computer serves me just fine for now, though I would not be surprised if my next "upgrade" was a turn towards console, rather than a third custom-build "MONSTER RIG". All in all, those things ARE expensive. :\

Sadly, by the time the next generation of consoles comes around my computer will already be an old grandpa (it's currently past it's mid-life crisis) and when that happens, the console will be so outrageously expensive I won't even bear to look at it.

[Wayne]

MAG sounds like a great Idea, will it work is another question. I often wonder why most players online even bother to play Team Death matches, every body goes off and do the lone wolf thing anyway. Most people have an ear piece or headset and only use it to spout trash. So if there's gonna be a game that encourages team work I'm for it, I just doubt those incentives will be enough to get certain hard heads to cooperate. Seriously, I really need to find some solid team players and just play with them alone, to find team work online is like finding a rock star at a bible study! Even in a game like army of two people still run off and the only time you hear from them is when they get shot down and need reviving. I met up on a strong team once in COD3 but that was about it.

[Jason]

This has always been an issue for me as well, and I'm looking forward to seeing how MAG works out. My only worry will be those games when you get some idiot drunk on his own power in charge and he starts genuinely believing he's some kind of military genius.

I'll probably get this, mind. It's interested me enough to make me want to give it a try, and it sounds like a lot of work has been put into weapon and map balance.

[Rob]

Sorry in advance if this is US specific but there is a weekend beta of MAG on the PSN. I'm going to start downloading it now and play it later today.

[nilihanth]

So far I haven't seen any examples of real teamwork, especially at the hands of a squad leader or field commander. I really only played a handful of matches but in none of them did I even see a leader of any sort. I can see where a good leader could do good things and, even better, a whole organized clan.

I like the skill tree as well. It makes it seem like a bit of an RPG. I really like most things about the game but two things: Damage and no quick grenade toggle. The damage is much like MW2's regular online mode but it seems even more unrealistic. The grenades in MAG are just too cumbersome to get to. You have to toggle through your secondary gear to get to the grenade? Boooo. Grenade should be the 1st in the list or be put on a different control entirely. I'm not complaining about having to select a grenade to throw it--technically that's realistic--but they way they make you toggle through gear to get to it is slow and painful.

I'm curious to see how the game goes once it's into it's full run and everyone has access to all the game modes and have good battle experience. MAG seems to have great potential.

[Jason]

It's been confirmed now that MAG will hit UK shores on the 29th January, two days after the rest of Europe, and one day after Australia and New Zealand.

The US will be getting it on the 26th Jan, although judging by Gamestop's recent antics, I wouldn't be surprised if they're selling it now. :p

[MyNameDidntFit]

Wait... wait wait wait wait!

Australia is getting something before someone else? There must be a mistake...

[Jason]

Apparently not. For some reason we only seem to release games on Fridays, so if it's officially released before a Friday, we won't get it until the end of the week. Beats me as to why, though.

[Jason]

Further info: the trophy list for MAG has been released, so the trophy-minded amongst you can peruse the list at your leisure before the launch in a couple of weeks:

Bronze:

* Angel of Mercy – 25 enemies killed in their in incapacitated state over a career
* Boom Town – Earn the Mortar Demolition, Total Blackout and AAA Demolition Ribbons
* Close Call — Earn three Bomb Squad Ribbons
* Clown Car – Awarded when a player destroys an APC or a Bunker, killing two players
* Commandon’t – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Commando
* Coughing Killer – Killed an enemy while affect by poison gas grenades
* Dropping Like Flies – Destroy five enemy helicopters
* Duteous Maximus – Be on the winning faction for 10 Directive matches
* Efficiency Engineer – Earn three Bunker Buster Ribbons
* I Drink Your Milkshake – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Field Support
* I Got 5 On It – Kill 5 enemies with a single Strategic Strike, excluding Poison Gas Barrage
* In Your Face – Earn five Combat Melee Ribbons
* Jack of One Trade – Awarded when a player reaches the bottom tier of a skill tree
* Junkyard Jockey – Earn three Mr. Badwrench Ribbons
* Lil Buddy – Earn two Purple Sidekick Ribbons
* Mia Culpa – Kill 50 enemies in a turret over a career
* Out of Scope – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Sniper
* Screeching Halt – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Rapid Assault
* Target Practice – Awarded when a player shoots down 25 paratroopers over a career
* The Harder They Fall – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Direct Action

Silver

* A Whole Lotta Hurt – Earn five Combat Machine Gun Ribbons and five Combat Fragger Ribbons
* Baby Need a Bandage? – Earn 5 Silver Cross Ribbons and 5 Golden Cross Ribbons
* Chest Candy – Awarded when a player has earned one of every ribbon
* Devil Dog – Earn 5 Combat Assault Ribbons and 5 Combat Sidearm Ribbons
* Double Trouble – Earn the Golden Cross Medal and the Grim Reaper Medal
* Hammer of the Gods – Called in 50 cluster bombs or mortar barrages
* Headhunter – Earn 5 Silver Bullet Ribbons, the Longshot Ribbon and the Sniper Master Specialist Medal
* Precious Cargo – Destroy 20 Escort Vehicles over a career
* Silent But Deadly – Awarded when a player kills 25 enemies with Poison Gas over a career
* Steamroller – Have a 3-to-1 Kill-to-Death Ratio in any match
* Take Me to Your Leader – Earn 1 win as a squad leader
* The Streaker – Earn the Streaker Medal
* Triple Threat – Earn 5 Silver Cross Ribbons, 5 Master Engineer Ribbons and the Grim Reaper Medal

Gold

* Commandant in Chief – Awarded when a player reaches level 60 with a Raven character
* Eager Beaver – Awarded when a player has earned one of each medal
* Prima Noyan – Awarded when a player reaches level 60 with a S.V.E.R. character
* Sergeant Major – Awarded when a player reaches level 60 with a Valor character

Platinum

* Massive Action Gamer – Won All Trophies

[AzH]

Sounds impressive!

And unwieldly, and confusing, and frustrating, and badly organised, and etc etc etc.

[Jason]

Won't bother me. I really don't 'get' trophies, and in particular trophy whoring. Why bother? Just play the game. :-/

[MyNameDidntFit]

Aye, play the game and if you get the achievements then... yay?

[Jason]

Exactly. I really don't get those people who whinge and cry because they didn't get an achievement for some reason. Get over it. Is your self-confidence that low you have to measure it in entirely useless virtual trinkets?

If I had my way, trophies/achievements would still be around, but they'd only be for really impressive stuff. None of this 'congratulations, you pressed start, here's 20G!' crap. Something like a trophy for having notched up 10,000 kills in six months, that's impressive (although slightly worrying in a game that isn't the size of MAG), or for pulling off a headshot at a distance of 800+ metres. Some actually impressive stuff, rather than the current rubbish which everyone usually gets if they play for long enough.

[Jason]

It looks like Zipper are pushing the meta-game side of MAG as well, with each of the factions having their own website, not to mention a fake news-reporting twitter account too.

Raven (http://www.raven-gmbh.de/)

Valor (http://www.valor-co.com/)

S.V.E.R. (http://www.sver-services.com/)

'Olivia Darby' Twitter Account (http://twitter.com/GNN_OliviaDarby)

Some quarters are reporting that the MAG Beta hasn't been amazing, with matches tending to boil down into little more than lots of lone wolves running round pew-pewing, which is a shame, but hopefully with the different game modes there will be a little more teamwork. I guess no matter how good the game is, and no matter how much effort Zipper put into things, they can't change the way people play the game.
I normally avoid clans like the plague, but the thought of the potential MAG has is making me consider looking into finding one once this all goes live.

[MyNameDidntFit]

This game is one of the primary reasons I'm looking at picking up a PS3 that isn't my brother's >.> (that and the fact that he's moving out shortly, but meh)

I'll definitely be buying it if/when I do acquire my own PS3.

[AzH]

I didn't realise i was a PS3 exclusive. It's officially off my list.

[Jason]

Yeah, odd that - one would think that a game of this scale would be well-suited to PC. I suppose if the money's there, it'll make the move. If not, it probably won't.

[AzH]

Console port? *shudder*

[Jason]

Good point, well made.

Although in dreamworld, Zipper would see the potential for a game like this on PC and create a whole new IP based around the idea of huge online battles. I really can't work out how no-one has done this before now.

[AzH]

Probably just the technology issues. The requirements for servers of that size must be huge.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Well, if this does well on PS3, I think we can be guaranteed that someone, Zipper or otherwise, will build a massive scale shooter for PC at some point.

[Konrad]

I'm hoping for Battliefield 3, old style gameplay with 200+ people servers and all the vehicle spam you can can carry.

[Jason]

Interesting gossip working its way through the wires at the moment - there are several reports doing the rounds that according to an email sent to Gamestop employees, from February the 10th, it will be a mandatory requirement to have a headset to play the game. It should be noted that the developers have denied this, though.

True or not, it's an interesting thought, particularly as neither MAG nor the PS3 currently ships with a bundled headset.

[nilihanth]

hmm, I could see a headset being required to be any form of leader in-game, but forcing each player to use a headset is as herculean a task as getting all stupid people in the world to throw themselves off a cliff. :eek:

[MyNameDidntFit]

If they want to do that, they should at least bundle the game with one... otherwise... God help the game store employees with the flood of returns... :/

[Jason]

Exactly. This smells like hearsay to me, otherwise it's an awful decision by Zipper, particularly if they sold the game for a month without advertising the fact it may require a headset in the future. I imagine they'd be opening themselves up to all kinds of legal trouble.

[MurphyTheSaint]

Does anyone actually play this? is it good?

[Daggers]

PS3 exclusive? Bollocks.

[MurphyTheSaint]

Bollocks!!! Yes!! *fistpump*

[Jason]

I quite want to play this, but it isn't available for rental, and I've yet to see it at a price I can justify for a game I'm not 100% sure I'll enjoy.

Also, see Penny Arcade's take on MAG:
http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/758239966_phfCE-L.jpg