MAG Hands-On Preview
MAG, formerly known as Massive Action Game, is a highly anticipated title for the PlayStation 3, being developed by Zipper Interactive. It's going to be a first for console gaming, as it will allow 256 players to play at the same time in a single match online.
Gaming Union was finally able to get their hands on the game, although the version being played was the same displayed at this year's E3 2009. Either way, it was a fully comprehensive 256 player battle, and it seemed pretty stable.
After picking a faction and being treated to a loading sequence the action began. There were various weapon sets on offer, but it was all a bit confusing. Without any real context it was quite difficult to determine what was what, as most were referred to name alone. However, most of the weapons on offer were fully automatic, with controls that were very simplistic and atypical to most first person shooters. The majority of players would feel right at home.
Unfortunately the same can't be said about the gameplay. The map was extremely confusing, as there were numerous objectives, un-crossable boundaries and everything else was just difficult to work out. The game would come up with messages saying an objective had been completed and it would encompass a sense of confusion as players attempted to work out where that in fact took place.
The player felt almost insignificant, not specifically knowing what they are meant to be doing. However, it wasn't just this, the actual combat itself felt quite hit and miss. Some of this may be down to the connection at the event, but when a few well placed rounds instantly downed a player, an identical occurrence would do the opposite. The gameplay also felt a bit wooden, nothing seemed amazingly smooth which is a bit of a shame. Overall it felt like it lacked any real impact. The guns didn't really feel like they had any oomph.
Graphically the game looked quite good in places and in others it just seemed a little lacklustre. It's understandable though, due to the sheer size of the game. In fact, considering the size it's actually rather impressive, but given the production values of other games around at the moment, it does feel quite underwhelming.
MAG, while an extremely interesting idea, just didn't seem to warrant enough reasons for it to be actually a majorly important title. It was lacking a certain something and it just felt like a confusing mess. This is likely due to the lack of context behind the demo, and when playing the full game, and getting a thorough introduction, things would probably make more sense. It would be easy to see MAG being an extremely good title, but right now, it looks like it could go either way.
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