MAG

[Bernie32]

This looks really intriguing, at least the concept is. Hopefully, they can carry it out.

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^^Trailer^^

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^^More In-Depth Preview^^

[ajalves]

Looking good Billy Ray

[dakshdar]

Didn't they try something like this with PlaneSide? That game was very "eh."

If you have to rely on more than 8 people on a team you're basically fucked in stuff like this. People just run off and do their own shit.

[buckeye76]

Looking good Billy Ray

[Hoos]

Regardless of the 256 person selling point, it will not be some huge all-out war. The game is going to break you down into teams of 8 and give you missions. How each squad does in their mission impacts the entire game.

I’m going to keep an eye on this one but my early thought is that I will take a pass on it. I can’t stand 3rd person shooters anymore. Plus, COD MW2 is where I’m most likely to end up at.

[ajalves]

i thought it was 1st person.

3rd person will be one huge flop

[Hoos]

Much to my surprise, it is actually a FPS. Zipper has always made 3rd person so that is great. There is going to be a public beta as well.

[BIGmike]

Give me COD Modern Warfare 2.

[ajalves]

Give me COD Modern Warfare 2.

obviously .....ill give mag a rental at least

[BIGmike]

I'll play the beta, but Zipper has sucked at making games since SOCOM 2.

[dakshdar]

Regardless of the 256 person selling point, it will not be some huge all-out war. The game is going to break you down into teams of 8 and give you missions. How each squad does in their mission impacts the entire game.

But this is how it will go:

Squad of 8 NDL guys at the side gate to the enemy base, checkpoint A.

Squad-Leader Hoos: Ok guys, we breach the gate in 10 seconds and rush in with the other squads from the other gates.

10 seconds later the NDL squad rushes in and gets killed by the entire enemy team of 256 people.

Meanwhile 2 miles from side gate checkpoint B.

Retarded other squad leader: Ok guys, we found out you can get experience points by shooting this cactus 1,000 times so lets get to it.

[BIGmike]

Yeah this game is set-up to fail on a team basis.

[Bernie32]

yeah, but we can get an entire NDL army

why settle for 1 squad?

[ajalves]

This is an online-only game. To solve the problem that all online-only games have (lack of campaign), the game is ongoing. You choose one of three armies-Raven, Sver, or Valor-and all battles for your army are counting toward that army. There will be a massive live standings list, these standings will, hopefully, account for the fact that there is no campaign.
In the previews that the press has been to, each match lasts more than an hour. The battles are more like a real war zone than any game before. If you want helicopter support, you have to climb into a helicopter with your squad.
Also, there is no peer-to-peer data sharing. Everyone gets data from the server. Thus, your lag depends entirely on your connection.

[ajalves]

I got my hands on MAG at Zipper’s office in Seattle and was able to put the combat game through its paces during a very short 20 minute play session. As the game wraps up its alpha phase, its remarkable as much for its scale as its unique gameplay feature

MAG is set 20 years in the future, when resource shortages and political pressures have forced the world’s governments to rely on the services of private armies for security. In MAG’s world, there are three competing mercenary corporations, each with its own unique setting and style. Raven is the sleek and high-tech set. It favors a clean looks and cutting-edge weapons. The second combat corporation, Sver (pronounced “sever”), are a rag-tag group of mercs who rock thrown together weapons and an edgy, underdog style. Valor, the third MAG army, are closest to “traditional” soldiers-- they wear camouflage gear and look like dogfaces, but with a certain Hollywood flair about them to give the faction flavor.

Each group has its own set of weapons to choose from, different vehicles, different air-strikes and different command capabilities. But each has a counter-balance on the other sides; Zipper says it has worked hard to balance the factions, and that the biggest difference between groups is the types of people that gravitate toward each army’s unique style.

The three factions are locked in a never-ending battle with one another over lucrative government contracts in a perpetual struggle called “The Shadow War.” This conflict serves as the basis for MAG’s persistent online presence. Although Zipper hasn’t revealed the full details of the Shadow War’s scoring system, the company promises that each win or loss will affect the larger, persistent world of MAG. Think of it as a 24-7 tournament between your side and the two other mercenary corporations of the game.

No matter what color clothing they wear or what they call themselves, having such a large number of players online at a given time could easily result in chaos and a bad player experience. Keeping things logical and sensible and only allowing for the good kind of chaos associated with battle gave birth to MAG’s unique command structure. Here’s how it will break down:

A fully manned, 128 player MAG army will feature 16 squad leaders, each in charge of an eight-player squad. Four platoon leaders guide four squads each, and, at the very top, the Officer in Charge coordinates the battle for his side.

At the bottom level of the pyramid are the rank-and-file soldiers. You’ll start the game as one of these, and choose between the three starting weapon packs accordingly. If you favor heavy artillery, gear up with the rocket launcher pack, if you’re more a utility player, strap on the assault rifle pack, and if you’re more about sniping, there’s a long-range rifle for you, too. Don’t worry too much about your choice: You’ll be able to switch out mid game if you’d like.

Although the game’s eight-player squads have commanders, feel free to lone-wolf if you like, but your mini-map will show you squad objectives (blow up that bunker, destroy that anti-aircraft battery, etc.) and you’ll quickly learn that helping your squad with objectives will add experience points faster than taking out random enemies or running around and looking at the pretty scenery. It’s a carrot approach as opposed to a stick: You won’t be penalized for not listening to orders, but the game will be a lot more fun and you’ll progress faster if you stick with the group.

As you complete objectives and fight in battles, you gain experience points based on your actions under fire. Earn enough experience and you can “level up” and assume the next rank—The Squad Leader. Squad leaders set the objectives for their men by issuing FRAGOs, or fragmentary orders. So while the battle’s main objective might be to take over an area, along the way, the squad leader will tell his men to complete intermediary tasks to make it happen. The game communicates FRAGOs without the necessity of a headset--Squad leaders’ wishes are displayed clearly on the game’s mini-map immediately to members of a squad.

Wisely, Zipper stuck with a control scheme that is immediately understandable and intuitive to anyone who has ever played a shooter before – hit the right button to fire your gun, left to switch to grenade or med pack and right to use them. Pretty standard stuff.

The level design works hand-in-hand with the command structure. We started by blasting open a gate in response to our squad leader’s orders, and the goal was immediate and identifiable both visually and on the mini-map. After entering the enemy’s territory through the blasted gate, things got a bit more chaotic. My squad was met with resistance from enemies who tried to stop us from proceeding with showers of lead. No one lasted long.

Players in MAG respawn with their squad, and are given an opportunity to change their weapon package on the fly – so if you notice your team needs a little more heavy weaponry, you can strap on a rocket launcher. Spawn points, always a major aspect of a battle game, work like this: As your team takes more territory, your spawn point moves up, but if you want to hang back a little, you can choose a position further back from the frontline.
While in a “real” battle, the majority of the glory usually belongs to a commander, in MAG, there are plenty of moments for low level characters to get some heavy-hitting heroics. In our game, I managed to stealthy plant an explosive charge on tank blockade, then stand back with some of my squad mates and defend the bomb until the thing blew up. Other possible scenarios: When a higher-up on the enemy side orders an air-strike, one lone grunt can repair the anti-aircraft gun and end the strafing run that’s killing his buddies.

After the too-brief battle, the game featured a round-up screen that detailed players’ contribution to the battle. Along with the obvious tally of deaths vs. kills, the game singles out specific actions on the battlefield and rewards you experience points based upon them as well as a look at your rank. I’m a sucker for fake “achievements,” and this feature, as much as the action and explosions, is the thing that is likely to keep me logging in to blow off some steam.

Of course the 800-pound gorilla in the room with this game rhymes with its title: Lag. The battle we played in was lag-free, and, although I can’t say for sure, seemed to live up to Zipper’s stated goal of at least 30 FPS – at no point did game play feel stuttery, disjointed or interrupted. It was smooth. Of course, we were playing the game under optimum conditions – in Zipper’s studio and with only half of the player cap. How MAG will perform with 256 players on 256 different connections from all over the country won’t really be known until the game actually drops later this year.

I’ve never been a super-hardcore realistic wargame player, so I didn’t go into this preview of MAG with incredibly high expectations, but playing it completely changed my mind. If the final game lives up to the promise set by the preview when it releases commercially, PlayStation 3 owners will be very, very happy, and I’ll be building my stats and working my way up the chain-of-command from release day on.

[ajalves]

After reading those article about it, which seemed pretty solid, I found out it is coming out in late November...lol.....AFTER Modern Warfare 2

Good luck with that

[BFiVL]

2 weeks after MW2, I dont think ill be buying that unless MW2 shit the bed which I highly doubt. COD4 is still the best FPS on the ps3.

[ajalves]

lets play some COD4 tonight for a change......

[BFiVL]

lets play some COD4 tonight for a change......

Id love to this weekend. Note to AJ, If Beefy or schoola ever say "Let's play Zombies" and I agree, kick me in the balls. I stayed up till 11:30 playing that shit. Zombies is like a bad movie that sucked you in cause it had a good trailer. You stay there watching cause you hope it gets better but never does.

[oldschoola]

lmao