MAG (video game)
A 256-player console FPS with persistent faction warfare.
MAG was a first-person shooter for the PlayStation 3, released in 2010 by Zipper Interactive and Sony Computer Entertainment. It once held a Guinness World Record for the highest player count in a console FPS, supporting 256 players. Because the game required an online connection, its January 28, 2014 server shutdown made it unplayable.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Zipper Interactive
- Publisher
- Sony Computer Entertainment
- Director
- Ed Byrne
- Producer
- Alan Van Slyke
- Designer
- Andy Beaudoin
- Programmer
- Nate Klee, Mike Nicolella
- Released
- January 26, 2010 (NA)
- January 29, 2010 (EU)
- February 11, 2010 (AU)
- Genre
- Massively multiplayer online, first-person shooter
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
MAG employed a new server architecture to support online battles with up to 256 participants. Players were organized into eight-person squads, with four squads forming a platoon and four platoons forming a company. Each squad was led by a player who had advanced through the game's ranking system. Character statistics and development increased with frequent gameplay. Leaders could simultaneously direct the battle and participate directly in combat. Version 2.0 introduced a new skill tree and a supply depot for purchasing weapons. The skill tree contained individual classes where players could spend skill points, while the supply depot used money earned from each match to buy weapons and attachments separately. After purchasing an item, players could sell it for half its original price. Patch v1.05 modified the leadership selection algorithm to use leadership points earned by winning battles while at least a squad leader, and considered whether the player had a Bluetooth headset. Basic battles occurred within ongoing, faction-based campaigns. The E3 unveiling trailer showed large landscapes, tactics such as air strikes and parachuting, and vehicles including tanks, APCs, and airplanes. Players could customize their character's face, voice, armor, weapons, and kit. A player could level up to 70 on any faction, then enter Veteran mode to re-select their faction, losing progress but retaining medals, ribbons, statistics, and leadership points, and receiving a non-stacking +10% XP bonus. Gameplay included six modes (two being downloadable content: Interdiction and Escalation) plus a training mode.
Development and release
Before it was just MAG, the game was called MAG: Massive Action Game, a title that stuck only in Japan. Sony first showed it off at E3 in 2008. The developers kicked around other subtitles like Shadow War, Zero, Global Assault, and Final Hour before settling. Each of the three factions got its own soundtrack. Apocalyptica members Perttu Kivilaakso and Mikko Sirén scored S.V.E.R., Tree Adams handled Valor, and Sascha Dikiciyan (Sonic Mayhem) did Raven. Private beta invites went out in early August 2009 to applicants, with play limited to set windows and press included. Zipper Interactive set the public beta for September 17. Private testers could also get into the Qore beta, and annual Qore subscribers who signed up before that date had a shot at entry on the 17th. The beta ended December 5 after reaching version 1.50. An open beta hit the PlayStation Store from January 4 to January 10, 2010, and another ran August 24 to September 24, 2010. The site jointheshadowwar.com used Facebook Connect to build a community, posing as a fictional Private Recruiting Operation that hired out-of-work soldiers, but it's now offline. The first free DLC dropped March 25, adding a new grenade type, skins, and special light machine gun editions. The second DLC arrived April 19, bringing new sniper rifles and a fresh armor type.
Story
The game begins in 2025. Maintaining full-scale militaries becomes a burden in a globalized world where the only security threats are small rogue organizations, and fuel for mechanized armies grows costly. Most nations reduce their armies to a size needed for national emergencies. Under the "Millennium Accord," no nation's military may leave its borders, officially creating world peace. Private Military Corporations (PMCs) rise in their place, offering two advantages: competition lowers costs, and they can work for anyone anywhere. In an unregulated global economy, PMCs compete by dishonest means. After mergers and buy-outs, the remaining PMCs decide to use their weapons fully. Their original attacks aim to neutralize competitors' soldiers, lowering supply to raise prices and drive competitors out of business. The Shadow War grows in secret until it becomes an open conflict, with PMCs securing interests and fighting for contracts. The game features three PMCs: Raven Industries GmbH, based in Vienna, Austria, with personnel from western European nations, emphasizing precision and high-tech training; S.V.E.R. (Seryi Volk Executive Response), a guerrilla force based in Grozny, Chechen Republic, drawing personnel from China, India, Russia, and some African and Middle Eastern nations, known for passionate battle and makeshift tactics; and Valor Company Inc., composed of U.S., British, Canadian, and Latin American special forces, based in Alaska and North-Western Canada, with tough weaponry and reliable vehicles.
Reception
Critics were mostly kind to MAG when it launched, with Metacritic noting a generally favorable reception. GameTrailers highlighted the appeal of its massive multiplayer battles and creative progression system. G4 scored it four out of five, calling it a strong addition to the PlayStation 3's library. IGN's US and UK branches both pointed out problems like bugs, stiff character movement, unbalanced teams, and a lack of content and polish given the price. GameSpot liked the well-designed command structure but found the game technically clunky. 1Up.com gave it an A-minus, describing it as unlike anything else on the PS3 or any other console. GamePro awarded four stars, stating that when the game works, it works brilliantly, and good matches happen often enough to make the rough ones worth it. GameZone gave it seven out of ten, calling it uneven and eventually tiresome. Edge gave it six out of ten, praising its robust clan support and rare cooperative scale for dedicated players, but noting that it lacks the clarity and empowerment that other team shooters like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 provide from the start.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who directed MAG (video game)?
MAG was directed by Ed Byrne.
Who designed MAG (video game)?
MAG was designed by Andy Beaudoin.
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