PS3 Review – MAG
The day is finally upon us. MAG, which came out of nowhere at Sony’s E3 press conference in 2008, has finally been released. Touting game modes that can contain 64, 128 and 256 players in a single map, this title truly has some innovative aspirations. But does the execution match the concept?
Which faction will you choose?
MAG definitely earns the “massive” part of its name. If you’ll recall, the title of this game as it was first publicly known was Massive Action Game. When you start out, you first choose a faction for your character. There is only one character slot from the beginning, so what you choose you have to stick with, at least until level 60. The only game modes available to you are Training and Suppression. The initial training is a laughably-short tutorial, which has you moving, running, jumping, ducking, crawling, shooting your primary and backup weapons, and tossing grenades. Other training is available for those looking for some more specifics. The other mode, Suppression, is as small as it gets for this game’s real modes – 64 players, 32 per team.
If that sounds like a lot of competition, well it definitely is. That mode is fun to simply shoot all enemies and not worry about objectives. It is in the later game modes, which have to be unlocked as your player progresses, is where this title both shines and frustrates through no real fault of the game itself. MAG was, after all, developed by Zipper Interactive, the same folks who brought us the wonderful SOCOM series for the PlayStation 2. Those games required strategy and communication amongst team members in order to win a match.
Even the largest of SOCOM: Combined Assault’s battles were two teams of 16 players apiece. So if a handful of people did not have microphones, the team did not suffer too much. MAG practically requires that everyone wear a headset and take an active role in communication. This title is not for the casual gamer. If you are in a vocal squad and have a competent leader, your team should be well off. If not, you do not stand a chance against an organized enemy. Oh, and one more thing – be sure to have at the very least three medics on a squad, because when the action heats up in those Acquisition and Domination modes, people will be falling to the ground all around.
Considering MAG can host a whopping 256 players one may think the graphics are going to take a major technical hit. While not as stunning as Uncharted 2 and it lacks the frame rate of Modern Warfare 2, MAG does offer some nex-gen flash. While the graphics are not as robust, it is a trade off for the massive amount of players, bullets, explosions and smoke that can be on the screen at any given time, a trade off that is well worth it. The audio, however, is nice and crisp and in full THX surround sound. On a 7.1 system every speaker was being used, and there were some nice effects. For example, if you are near someone who is talking on the microphone, friend or enemy alike, you can hear them speaking from their in-game character, location and all. This does muffle their voice a bit when you have the volume low, but it is a nice feature that adds to immersion and can even help with reconnaissance.
The maps are massive, especially in the 256 player Domination mode. Though you only see a fraction of the level while running around unless you wander off from your squad, you can take a look at the entire location by hitting select to bring up a surprisingly detailed map. There are countless routes to take and multiple spawn points to keep things fresh – there are only 3 maps per game mode at launch, after all. In the fullscreen map, you can see every building, player activity and vehicle locations at a glance, and even hover over some items for more information. It is a marvel that the game keeps a steady framerate with so much data to constantly process.
Playing this beast is an adventure in and of itself. There is nothing quite like rushing into a base with your squad and a neighboring squad, or even your entire platoon if you can get organized enough. Overtaking the opposition there is rewarding, and defending these locations perhaps even more so. Being on the receiving end of a successfully choreographed assault, however, can be controller-throwing frustrating as you die countless times and lose bases, and other battlefield resources often. Losing can be a bit overwhelming as you see red objective square flashing everywhere all while trying to keep an eye out for enemies. But these moments of pain are worth the inevitable victory and the experience/skill points that go along with them. Losses are not all negative, since you do earn experience to help your character level up and earn new skills.
Reaching a new level will reward you with a skill point. Skill points can be spent on skills that give you new abilities, weapons, items and customizations. This is where you can fine tune the play to what you enjoy. There are ample combinations that should satisfy even the most niche shooter player. On occasion you can respec your character and try something completely different. Just don’t forget to change your loadouts.
What are YOU looking at?
In the end, this is one of the most rewarding games available. It requires that you actually invest some time in learning the ropes, and those of us who are twitch-shooters will definitely not fare well at first. The game gives bonuses when grunts are near leaders, which is a nice motion to encourage teamwork, and seems to serve its purpose quite well. There are rewards aplenty to be found for good performances, and if you get a good group together the hours will just fly by with each round. Yes, if you land in a bad squad the experience can be frustrating, and yes, the graphics are rather lackluster. But the pros far outweigh the cons here. Every FPS fan who enjoys playing online should pick this up for their PS3. This is the kind of game people will play for as long as they can, and if Zipper keeps the DLC flowing, it may be played for a good long while. I’ll see you on the massive battlefield.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
An incredibly “massive” experience. Less then spectacular graphics with immersive audio. Can be very frustrating when your team is unorganized. |  |
37 Responses to “PS3 Review – MAG”
Thank you PSLS.
This game is greatly misunderstood. Great review.
Awesome review Paulmichael, well done bro. Can’t wait for this to come out tomorrow in the UK. First day buy!
very interested in giving this a rental.. solid review
I may need to give this another try now that its out of beta mode, and they should have all the bugs worked out… and hopefully people actually know what they are doing, because it definitely frustrated the hell outta me when we had a poor team leader and everyone was just all over the place. yelling TAKE THE DAMN OBJECTIVE!! didn’t really do me any good. Yes, you definitely need a mic for this one, I’m almost surprised there isn’t a bundle of some sort with one.
GREAT REVIEW INDEED! I bought this game yesterday and didn’t want to stop playing it last night. I enjoy it much more than the likes of Modern Warfare 2 just because with the large maps it is much harder for someone to sneak up behind you and knife you in the back (but that is a weakness of the 1st person viewpoint in a video game). The only problems I had so far with MAG are that 1) a lot of people like to just sit in a high spot and snipe and with the large maps it can be impossible to figure out where they are even when they show you where the shot came from when you die. In turn I ended up having to use the same sniping strategy just to stay alive for more than 5 minutes. 2) it takes a while to run back to your squad after dying in action and as of right now very few people have the ability to heal you. But I consider both of those problems very minor considering how much fun the game actually is and I enjoyed how much it has been improved since the beta. The graphics ended up being better than I expected as well. Sometimes I have problems playing games just because they look ugly but that isn’t the case with MAG. I also enjoyed how well the servers worked so early after release and how little lag I experienced. I thought for sure lag might be a problem with 256 players.
Quick chime-in (hi everyone, btw!),
Thanks for the review. Too easy to hop onto the mid-score bandwagon. If you like the game, you like the game. The success is really dependent on the community. I would love nothing more than to play with a bunch of people online and work on my trophies. So I hope to see you all out there, I will be getting the game in the next few weeks.
Cheers and have a nice weekend.
Looks sweet and in the end it sounds like all you need is experience.
PSLS is now officially my go-to site for game reviews. Well done Paulmichael Contreras.
This game is so underrated by many people and its because they cant take their heads out of call duty. this game has no intentions of being Modern Warfare 2. I loved the beta and just had my g/f pick this up while I’m at work. I cannot wait to go home and get to busting fools. Alot of people on their first try say they hate this game and their only reason is that its not like MW2. Put enough time into MAG and you will soon realize this game is very unique and intense. I love it. Just sold MW2 for it.
I totally agree with the final remark. Being in organized teams is where this game is pushing for my favorite online shooter, but being in disorganized teams is just annoying. I hate when I’m the only one using my mic and everyone is just running around MW2 style
Love the review. I felt all along people were going to short-change this game. But I’m reading more and more gamers are falling in for this game. I like that you pointed out the negatives, but also admitted that it would just take time to adjust, depending on your playing style. Well “played”, Paulmichael.
that what im talking about
… awesome review
To be honest I too hated this game. well I’ll say hate is a strong word, more so I didn’t understand I suppose. It was so frustrating to me that I got shot all the time and it didn’t feel like I was actually amounting to anything. But then I started playing or rather following my squad and not lone wolfing it and it turned out to be a blast. In my defense however I don’t have a mic yet, but soon(next week) all that should be over with. I’m looking to start my own clan or join one so that we may practice a bit and get good at this…because we all know there is going to be a tournament here soon…mark my words.
So I’ll definitely be looking for that. I would say If I do start one it will be in the mindset that we each have at least 1 main and 1 alternate, switching in and out. And each clan member has to have medic as one of the two just so we can switch in and out and people can play their other characters and feel like they are getting in on the action as well.
I might be wrong but we can create more than one character on the same side right? I mean the respec fee is kind of high. Correct me if I’m wrong. But that is my vision of how I want my team to function.
I’ve been playing it since Beta1 and yes I bought it. A true 5/5 game. My TV shall not receive any MAG mercy.
Wow, that’s a high score. I’m still gonna have to Gamefly this title, only because I played the beta and that was extremely fun but I was just hoping for more graphically and if during the renal period the graphics are on point then I’ll have to pick it up.
I love this game!
great review! i was a beta tester since phase 2 and can say this game works. there are a few lag hiccups but im sure zipper is aware and keeps the servers lag free, overall the game is playable. the game works and yes sometimes its frustrating with your squad is disorganize but it works. the graphics is great for what the game holds and does. nothing is pre-rendered, AAA dont repair or break on its own randomly. the game modes are fun but yes after a while a bit repetitive so i suggest going back and forth between the other modes. the game is easy to pick up and play nothing is confusing considering there’s in game voices telling you what to do as well as live players. to me the sound (guns, explosions, vehicles, etc.) is also great and adds to the experience when i play MAG. also unlike a certain live experience everyone is fairly respectful i dont find myself feeling like im babysitting kids or the need to block/mute players. havent run into a loud mouth kid (even though i play with a lot in MAG) yet *knocks on wood*. yes there is a lot zipper can do to improve the game like day and night changes (battles arent always done in the morning), weather elements: rain, snow, etc. more skins, guns, maps (if possible). in the end i love this game and damn counting the betas i been playing a lot lol.
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Im really torn on this. I have two problems adding to my general hesitation of picking this up- I have never really been a multiplayer FPS fanatic- the COD games irritate me. Second, I have something of a terrible internet connection where I live. I can barely sign on to PSN to DL content/patches…. playing on a server for simple games is hard enough….
Your review makes it tough on me Paulmichael! Great write up, man.
so I came back to read some of the other comments after mine and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by the responses to most of our comments by you, Paulmichael Contreras. There aren’t a lot of writers on gaming sites that would give their readers that much feedback and I, for one, have to say it is very much appreciated so thank you very much. Since we all seem to be fans of MAG make sure to add me as a friend, maybe we can start a PSLS clan! My PSN ID is brgjr_05. If you add me Contreras, or anyone for that matter, make sure to let me know who you are so I can associate your username here with your PSN ID.
Good video, totally agreed. I’ve tried going back to MW2 a couple times the past couple of days and I just can’t. So many problems with that game.
Great review, great game!
Nice review, I’m 99% convinced to buy this game, just need to know how the gameplay feels like? is it like CoD:MW1, MW2, Killzone, counter-strike?? (or at least the closest game to it)
Sorry if my question is stupid or anything..
Off- topic: I bought my PS3 less than 3 months ago (by-the-way the PSN community is way more mature than LIVE) .. 21 yrs old.. in the grey area between casual and
hardcore gamers.. add me if u play games for fun!
PSN-ID: tamer-7788
Definitely deserved.
It is a fantastic game, and I’m pretty much all agreed here. This game really is something special.
Great review, Paulmichael!! Keep up the good work. Btw, I’ve heard rumors of a 4th PMC coming to the game! Correct me if I’m wrong, but there isn’t a PMC that covers Asia is there?
@Cameron
THANKS, my pleasure
@Paulmichael
thanks for the reply! “it’s like a MUCH more tactical Killzone 2″ that must be VERY tactical..
Hey man, nice review.
Very nice review, will look into getting this game.
Excellent review.
I too was frustrated with the game at first, but because I rented it for a full week I wanted to get my moneys worth. After a day or two of learning what to do, I was having so much fun that I just didn’t want to put it down. Major wife aggro was involved to say the least.
For anyone thinking of trying it out, remember to be patient and the best time is to be had when you learn to fight with your squad and work as a team. That’s when the brilliant gameplay design really shines.
I haven’t had this much fun since Zipper’s original Socom 1 and 2 on the PS2.
This game is very unique, but the best way I would describe it when relating it to other games is this:
Mix some Battlefield: Bad Company with a bit of Call of Duty and Socom teamplay… Then put it on major steroids and multiply it by a factor of 10. That’s MAG.
I definitely agree this game cant be compared to MW2. While I do believe MW2 is a much better game overall, MAG is still very good. It a much more tactical team based game, if you play this game with the MW2 mentality you will be frustrated. You simply cant just play this game for kills like you can in MW2 and expect to level up.
Another thing I like about this game is that most of the better skills/weapons are unlocked much further into the game(.i.e. grenade launchers, resuscitation) , whereas in MW2 you can pretty much succeed at level 5 as much as you can at lvl 70
i donrt think you can really say mw2 is better then mag…. theyre 2 completely different types of games… im on my 2nd playthru…started as valor, am now s.v.e.r., and will be finishing up on raven…currently lvl 50 on s.v.e.r…. great review…great game…just greatness…cant wait to see what kind of DLC can be added to this game, the possibilities are endless!! if anyone wants a good team player..add me… psn id = SPECTR
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