MAG - Archived Review
Originally published December, 2010.256 players on a map. That is quite an achievement for any shooter game during this generation of consoles. But what does that do for the game? Standing for “Massive Action Game” MAG is a team-based first-person shooter that tries to gain new ground by amounting large-scale battles online. But is there any substance to the game? Or does it merely provide a generic experience with a large number in the background?
Story
MAG takes place in the near-future where corporations and conglomerates run things. War is no longer something countries get involved in; it’s all run by consumerism. However, that doesn’t prevent gun fights from starting amongst the independent military groups looking to seize control of expensive contracts from investors.
There are three factions to choose from: Valor, Raven, and S.V.E.R. Each group is more or less the same in terms of equipment quality and statistics. The choice is more superficial than anything else. Valor is the more traditional military look of something out of theUnited Statesmilitary in small flack jackets and camouflage while Raven units are more decked out in carbon-fiber armor and tech gear. SVER units, however, are meant to be the ragtag mercenary group with most character models involving a hoodie with an assault rifle in hand.
That’s all there really is to the story of the game. It’s intended to be a competitive online-only multiplayer game so there is no story mode nor a reason for one. It’s a decent background and setting for the game, though a little more depth or maybe some co-op missions to give it some story would have spiced things up a bit. It doesn’t need a story, but it wouldn’t hurt.
Mechanics
The first thing the game is going to have players do is choose a faction. At the initial time of release, once a faction was chosen there was no going back. If players wanted to fight in a different group, they would have to delete that profile and start over. This makes no difference to the characters qualities or fighting abilities; it’s all on the surface. Which isn’t to say that customization doesn’t count, because once a faction is chosen, up to five character slots are available for different play styles. Do you want a heavy soldier with tough armor and a heavy machine gun, or do you want to sacrifice defense for speed with a lightweight sniper? The guns your character uses, the armor he wears, and the secondary items he uses will be independent of each other so that style of play can be customizable. It’s a create-your-own class system that is also balanced by points to keep people from running around with all the equipment and armor they want.
A certain amount of points for the avatars are at your disposal to determine what equipment to use. Obviously, the more powerful and versatile equipment is going to cost more points so a person running around with a repair kit and a revival kit is not going to be able to carry more than a basic rifle and sidearm. This balances the system and also forces the players to specialize their character without actually choosing a class. This limits the customization, but doesn’t limit the player as much as simply choosing a class.
The equipment you get is also part of the character building process. As you progress online and gain levels, the experience points you earn you can use to purchase upgrades for weapons or new better equipment. The experience points get more costly till it takes a number of levels before being able to buy the next item. But to keep players from feeling trapped with their choices in character development, MAG has a reset button for players to use all their points earned to get the set up they want.
Since the initial release of the game, however, the menus and mechanics of the game have been changed a great deal. Before, leveling up would force players to choose between stat upgrades or weapons. But since the updates, weaponry is in an entirely different section where players use currency earned from their levels to buy equipment. This at least does not limit players who want to play as medics to be stuck with the least powerful rifles available. The point distribution, while a little jarring at first, is an improvement overall from the initial launch of the game. The downside is that all the customizing options for extra surface-level gear like sunglasses and helmets must be purchased. Needless to say, there are a lot of clones running around the maps with the barebones look.
Perhaps the biggest problem this game had when it first came out was the wait time. There were three different modes to choose from and if the one chosen didn’t have a lot of activity, best have something to do in the meantime. Waiting in the queue list could be painful at times because of how long it took to get into a match. With only 3 different real modes to choose from outside of training, and only 3 maps per mode to be on, the wait was not always worth it. And once on the battlefield, there would be respawn counters starting at 20 seconds. This can sometimes be shortened or lengthened due to the actions of the commanding officers. But waiting a whole half-minute to get back to the battlefield can be a trial in patience.
However, since the updates of the game with the addition of two new modes, the biggest flaw has been improved. In a recent patch, developer added a little counter for players waiting to be revived to let them know if it would be faster to wait for a medic or to respawn, which helps reduce the wait a bit. And to cut down on the wait time in the menus, the developers at Zipper added the multiqueue option. With this, players can select which game modes they want to play and will automatically be entered into the game that loads first. This cuts the wait in half and makes it much more efficient than before. And even if you’re a die-hard for one particular mode, at least they give a bonus to experience points gained for using the multiqueue as an extra incentive.
The experience was also spiced up by the patches with new modes, new maps, and old scenarios reconceived. Before if, for example, the Raven team was defending, it would be their map, same with all the other teams. This meant seeing the same environment over and over and teams exploiting the weaknesses on the map consistently. Now, players get to defend areas on maps that aren’t part of their team, mixing things up a bit in the process. This doesn’t make the experience completely new, but it’s a welcomed addition.
Gameplay
But all these specs, incentives, and mechanics don’t mean anything if the gameplay isn’t solid. For the most part, it is. There will be plenty of times where it feels like your character is made of paper as the bullets just rip in and tear you down. There will also be plenty of moments were a stray bullet, or a sniper’s shot, or the knife slash that was just a hair faster will give a cheap death. But when is it player versus player without frustration?
Overall the shooting is as solid as any other shooter on the market, which is both good and bad. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with it, but there isn’t anything that makes it stand out. The game boasts the largest amount of players on a battlefield at a time of any game. And it doesn’t lie. However, the maps are so big that the grandiosity of that number never really reaches critical mass. Most of the time players will be in a platoon that will split up and attack from different angles and the number of people attacking each other, so it never feels like you’re neck deep in conflict. There are a few exceptions in different modes that force everyone into a particular point on the map and there is a real sense of chaos, but these modes do not boast the 256 players at a time.
Number of players aside, the shooting mechanics are all in form. You have the basic list of weapons and equipment available with a rifle and a sidearm. You also have 3 inventory slots for: grenades, smoke bombs, flashbangs, medkits, repair kits, mines, and rpgs. During combat having the wrong character set up can leave you at a real disadvantage for being much help on the battlefield. But having the right mixture of supplies can also be a great asset so it’s important to come prepared. For instance, play an Acquisition match with a character that has anti-vehicle mines and all you have to do is leave those in front of the gate where the car can be stolen and get ready for some XP as you mow down enemies on the front lines.
Yes, experience points are the main incentive on the battlefield. You are rewarded for killing enemies, more for helping teammates, and even more for completing objectives. If you want more recognition for your actions than experience points, then move on because even though this game has a medal system, don’t expect to see too many of them aside from the Purple Heart (die 1000 times in a career). The basic amount of experience points are doled out for simple actions like killing or assisting in a kill, and bonus points are awarded when those actions are in the vicinity of the objective. Healing and resurrecting teammates is more fruitful than being the aggressor and receives the same boosts from objectives.
How are the objectives determined? By the superior officer, of course. While on the battlefield, players who have gained high enough levels and feel worthy of the responsibility may opt to be a commanding officer to give orders and objectives. Each squad of 8 has a squad leader who determines which objective is worth tackling for his or her squad. The extra experience acts as an incentive to follow orders, which you can certainly disobey and go off on your own for likely less experience.
There is more to being a leader than simply the responsibility. Benefits for the role include small bonuses to the character such as decreasing reload time of squadmates within your proximity. You may also call in tactical strikes like mortar attacks bombarding an area with explosions and wiping out an entire squad at times. Beyond the squad there are platoons. For the bigger skirmishes there are different platoons that hold up to four squads. Platoon leaders and beyond that the Officer In Charge (OIC) get even more benefits and abilities that are crucial to leading the team as well as bringing in extra support to turn the tide of battle. Staying close to your squad and the commanding officer can be extremely helpful in completing your objective.
A headset doesn’t hurt either. There will be plenty of games where players are unable to communicate and follow orders, which will likely lead to failure. If the rest of the team feels like running off and being Rambos without supporting each other, it’s only going to be a slaughterhouse. Even if you don’t have a headset, if you at least do the best to help the team, success is more likely to follow.
Presentation
Much like other qualities about MAG, the presentation doesn’t stand out much. It’s not a bad looking game. The smoke effects are good and the designs for the different armies are cool. But there is really nothing to make this game stand out visually more than any other game like it.
The extra effort paid to the items in the inventory help boost the presentation a bit. Each weapon has its own statistics as well as some written details about its specs and traits. And since each weapon is made by the military group each player joins, the manufacturing details for it are obviously different for each weapon in each army. It’s a small touch that goes a long way.
Zipper Interactive obviously wanted players to get involved with the military they chose because of the level of detail put into each faction’s background, weaponry, and overall look. This is also likely why they made it so only one profile could be accessed per player. It was likely meant to inspire a community growth among teammates and to prevent people from jumping ship if there was a sudden losing streak. This was later circumvented by making second and third profiles available for purchase online, due to complaints. At least Zipper makes them pay for the option.
In the audio department, overall sound quality is good. The guns sound like they should when fired with or without a suppressor. Exploding shells hitting the ground around you look and sound as they should: dizzying and loud. There is no extra ringing effect afterwards for each explosion, and though that’s less realistic, it’s preferred with the amount of chaos taking place. The game looks, sounds, and feels like a battlefield with death and destruction all around at all times.
Music stays out of the mix for the most part. There is a little southern guitar plucking while navigating menus and waiting for a game to start. But once the match gets going, no music until the end, unless you can get a streak going. If a player gets a streak from either completing objectives or just killing lots of enemies, the rock tune starts playing to get things pumping and let the player know that he or she is kicking some ass. It’s a goofy little bonus but it does its part.
Conclusion
MAG is an example of a game that had a rocky start, but came through after some continuous TLC. Estrella Vinces, Gamestop Employee fromSan Franciscosaid, “I don’t normally like shooters, but there is something about being constantly rewarded for being part of the team that draws me in.” There isn’t much about MAG that sets it apart from its competition aside from the large scale battles and team-focused gameplay. But with constant improvements and small adjustments to make the experience better, the extra attention paid by Zipper Interactive helps bring up this game’s score a full point.