TITLE : MAG 
DEVELOPER : ZIPPER
PUBLISHER : SONY
RELEASE DATE : JAN 26(USA)/JAN 29(UK/IRE)  

The king is dead, long live the king. Forget everything you thought you knew about console first person shooters. It is now worthless. The guys at Zipper have just blown them all out of the water and MAG will change the face of multiplayer online shooters for ever.

Unlike many other sites we waited until we got to play the full game before publishing anything. This did involve getting up at 6am so i would be at work for the 7am server launch but for once i didnt mind coming in early. Although to be fair a lot of our opinions had been formed over the months of play during the BETA testing phase. For the credibility of the site we  needed to wait to have a good blast off the full working title to have them confirmed. If anything playing the full game has improved our opinion everything has improved. The game finds players alot quicker, it runs very smoothly, and the graphics have been improved opon. While none are major changes, what they have done is polished off the product and Zipper have taken into account what the community wants. It must also be stated that this is an early opinion piece as the game will take weeks of playing to fully experience everything (but by that time no one will want to read reviews).

The story behind MAG : In 2024 the 3 super powers signed the millennium peace accord. It was meant to protect the security of the world but soon cracks started to show. With the world seeing increasing food and fuel shortages sparking riots over the priceless commodities. Global governments have turned to private companies to administer aid and carry out peace keeping missions in the place of professional soldiers. But as the money ear marked for humanitarian aid soon started to make its way into the pockets of the 3 main military companies Valor, SVER and Raven. The companies started to go to war with each other. 


Now the year is 2025 and the 3 companies are embarking on a massive recruitment drive for the shadow wars. Guerrilla wars that are never meant to have happened, between armies with out countries. Soldiers contracted in to fight. This is the Shadow Wars this is MAG.

The main selling point is the 256 players online at once, and surprisingly it works it works incredibly well in fact. I was worried when reading about this game that it would end up like Resistance 2 with people every where and no order to the game at all. Just spawn, shoot, get shot, die, and spawn over and over again as the enemy appeared from everywhere and anywhere. But no what they have managed to do is to balance the games perfectly. Although 256 players can be in one game at a time the maps are so big and the action nicely spread out that it is never unrealistically hectic. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of action because there is. Lag isn’t an issue either which makes you wonder why MW2 cant get that right.

So how did they pull it off?  First they start with finding 256 people. They are then split into 2 teams of 128 then those teams are split into 4 platoons of 32. Each platoon is then split into 4 squads of 8 players. Each squad under the guidance of a squad leader has specific objectives with in the battle. Achieving these moves the battle line and ultimately wins the war. All 3 companies have access to different weapons and vehicles which keeps it fresh.


Secondly they have created huge diverse maps for you to fight over. They are filled with hills and dips buildings and vehicles. One side of the map can require a completely different strategic approach to the other side. Knowing how to approach each part of the landscape will quickly give you the edge. Having a squad leader who knows what he is doing is priceless. What is good is that the battle line actually shifts while you play. It is very satisfying to drive the enemy back and to be able to see your results on the ground.

So with big maps you have lots of running yes? Well not really. Different maps allow for different approaches some provide APC’s to carry the troop into battle some provide gun ships. Or you can even be airdropped right into the thick of things. But the sure fire way to not have to do a lot of running is to not die a lot. I know it sounds so easy doesn’t it? Now most people will be used to COD style games where you run in tiny circles shooting the same 6 people then you get shot and spawn 20 feet away and repeat this for 10 mins. Not here the idea is to work with your squad. This becomes so important so quickly. Running off on your own will unsurprisingly get you shot and wounded miles from any help. Sticking with your squad can simply means having a medic 10 feet from you, allowing you to be revived quite easily. Get into a good squad with plenty of medics and you may be able to last the full game with out ever respawning.

Squad tactics are so important not only for the medic aspect, but also for such things unheard of in FPS like some one to cover your back! Some one to give you advice or info on what’s up ahead someone to control the battle plan instead of everyone just trying to get there own kills. What zipper has done is to actually make killing people the least rewarding part of the game in terms of XP. Very often you will find that the player with the most kills is not the biggest XP earner. And the guy who stayed back healing downed allies and fixing structures has gained far more. Battling as a team and completing your pre set objectives is the quickest way to get ahead in this game.

Graphically while not as pretty as uncharted 2 or MW2 it’s still very solid. What it lacks in the graphics dept. it makes up for in shear scale. You could play some maps 100 times and still be finding new little positions to pick off the enemy from. The step up in the graphics from the original beta through all the updates to the full game is very notable. It now looks a lot sleeker and the colours and animations are a lot better. 

Your first outing on MAG may prove daunting but don’t let it put you off. The game doesn’t really open up until you have reached level 10. The games up until then will be limited in size this is another good ploy by Zipper as when you unlock the huge 256 player games you will find every one is at a decent level you don’t end up with large numbers of beginners. Spending your skill points wisely will again determine your enjoyment. Adding a red dot sight to your gun is probably the best thing you can do with regard the combat. Further enhancements like grips and extra capacity can be added on as you earn skill points. Getting a medi kit so you can heal your team mates is the best way to get quick XP.

Over all MAG has changed my view of online shooters I have since tried to go back to Modern Warfare 2 but it all seems a bit unrealistic and somewhat childish now. I couldn’t get to grips with no one working together, people being able to run around like headless chickens without getting shot, and using poor tactics seems to get rewarded rather than punished. MAG is aimed at the older gamer. It’s the thinking mans shooter and that suits me. It was an ambitious plan when they set out making MAG but credit where its due they have pulled it off.


You might think it’s an unfairly high score but for the scale of the job and the end product being so seamless we think it’s a well earned score for a truly ground breaking game.