MAG is an online-only military-themed multiplayer first person shooter. While this description
doesn't exactly make the game stand out in the crowd, this little tidbit does: It supports
matches with up to 256 players. Now, that's a big number, but don't let it dazzle you.
You won't be seeing 128 enemies charging towards your position, guns-a-blazing. Many of the
matches actually are, or feel like they are, 32-player contests, and while you do get a
nice sense of the larger conflict playing out, only the few players in leadership positions
will really have to consider the larger picture. These commanders have some interesting tactical
abilities at their disposal, but most players are foot soldiers who busy themselves with
securing individual objectives and shooting the enemy in the face. The core action and
the experience rewards are familiar and satisfying, but there are also some rough edges to contend
with. There are some issues with variety and connectivity, and command positions can be
hard to come by. But regardless of your rank or position, MAG stages dynamic and engaging
online battles that are packed with plenty of things to do and plenty of enemies to kill.
When you first enter the Shadow War, you need to choose a faction. S.V.E.R., Valor, and
Raven: each has their own unique aesthetic, but all are functionally the same and feature
the same unlockable gear and bonuses. As you kill enemies, heal allies, and destroy, repair
or capture battlefield assets, you earn experience points and rank up. Each rank gives you a
skill point that you can spend in the barracks to specialize and improve your soldier. Assault
rifles, SMGs, sniper rifles, and light machine guns are all available, as well as sights,
bipods and the like. You can improve your damage resistance, sprint distance, or reload
speed. You can get new gear, like mines, poison gas grenades, and medical guns that revive
your allies. There are a lot of ways to tweak your character to your style of play, but
it's best if you pick a style and stick with it. Spreading yourself thin can leave you
underpowered and behind the curve. You can experiment with different loadouts and eventually
respec your soldier entirely, but MAG encourages specialization, and this can feel limiting.
Folks who want a shotgunner loadout and a sniper loadout can certainly arrange it, but
the whole system is calibrated to reward more single-minded players.
Specialization fits into the squad mentality that permeates MAG. You aren't really meant
to be an army of one. You play as part of an eight-man squad in each of the four match
types. Suppression is a straightforward 64-player team deathmatch. In Sabotage, one team must
capture and hold two objectives in order to unlock and then blow up the third target.
These two match types are available to you very early, and feature almost nothing in
the way of command structure strategy. They serve as training grounds where players can
hone weapons skills and learn the fairly simple art of capturing objectives. Once you gain
a few levels, it's off to the bigger battles. In Acquisition, one team must infiltrate another's
base, steal a vehicle, and drive it back to the insertion point. In Domination, you must
destroy a series of objectives in order to damage the enemy's infrastructure and claim
victory. These matches last up to half an hour, and feature 128 and 256 players respectively.
Though the battlefields are designed so that you generally have only 64 players concentrated
in a given area, this still makes for some large-scale encounters. You regularly hear
about the other platoon's accomplishments, and you can run over there and help them out
if you like, but this is discouraged. For starters, you're hanging your own squad out
to dry. But more importantly, you get double experience points for pursuing the objectives
designated by your squad leader. This very tangible reward is how MAG encourages teamwork,
and it's very effective. It's like this: Acquisition and Domination
games have bunkers, barricades, anti-air batteries, sensor arrays, motor pools... a whole variety
of valuable targets. Destroy a bunker and your enemies will spawn further from the front.
Repair a barricade, and your enemy cannot escape with a stolen vehicle. If a squad leader
targets one of these assets, you'll get double experience points for any action performed
in the vicinity. Sticking with your squad essentially allows
you to level up twice as fast and even standing near your squad leader gives you attribute
bonuses. There is certainly something to be said for the thrill and effectiveness of a
skilled soldier infiltrating alone behind enemy lines, and it's up to you whether to
do that or not. But on battlefields this busy, it pays to have friends. And not just because
they can revive you. Anyone in a command position in either Acquisition
or Domination can use command abilities to call in help. Some abilities are localized,
like cluster bombs or poison gas bombardments. Others are broader, like sensor sweeps and
signal jamming. The abilities you can use depends on whether you are a Squad Leader,
a Platoon Leader, or the Officer in Charge. These positions are exciting and present unique
battlefield challenges, but you won't always get a command post when you want one. All
you can do is volunteer at the beginning of a match and hope that you are selected, which
you often won't be. With all the points of interest and enemies,
there is plenty to do on the battlefield and plenty of places to do it. Maps are well-designed
and manage to have a lot of flanking routes and chokepoints alike. Yet the action can
start to feel a bit repetitive as the hours pass. Different areas of maps present their
own challenges, but playing in one quadrant feels very similar to playing in another.
And you never get to switch sides on a given map, because they are tied to specific factions.
Though you can mix up your own personal strategy, odds are you'll be switching between only
a few effective loadouts, and this specialization can contribute to the creeping familiarity.
You can try to mix things up by applying for command positions, but you may have to wait
longer than you want to get one. Despite it's particular foibles, MAG is a
lot like other multiplayer shooters. Not every match is created equal, and it's up to you
to salvage what you can from lame matches and avoid getting into a rut with your soldier.
Fortunately, maps in MAG are varied and rich with objectives, so there is plenty of opportunity
to contribute to the war effort in diverse ways. The game handles its scope well, and
though you may run into some lag here and there, it's a predominantly smooth experience.
With big battlefields, intense action, rewarding skill customization, and engaging command
roles, MAG is a great place for shooters fans to flex their trigger fingers.