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MAG's 256-Person Capacity Makes It the Biggest PS3 Shooter Yet

by Tim Stevens on June 8, 2009 at 03:11 AM

In gaming, there are online games and off, with the latter group of logged-off games largely becoming a relic of earlier, simpler times. Then, in the online realm, there are massively complex multiplayer games and games which are, well, somewhat less massive. First-person shooters, like Quake, tend to be smaller online affairs, rarely playable with more than 32 gamers. That may all change with MAG, an online shooter that supports a massive 256 simultaneous players in a single map.

A tactical first-person shooter, MAG is in a similar vein to another hugely popular online game for Sony: SOCOM. The series, and its multiple iterations on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles, is still going strong, but MAG takes things in a different direction. Ditching any true storyline, the focus rests entirely on online combat, though the player teams up with one of three factions fighting for global supremacy. You sign in, choose sides, then lock and load to start capturing territory.


256-player matches are the big draw here, but how that fight for global domination works is quite notable. Each map is massive, and each features an number of points of interest. As one side or another makes progress and captures these positions they can take over that area. Once conquered, the global map shows that faction has expanded its territory, and it's up to one or more of the other factions to get it back -- by any means necessary.

Gameplay is very tactical, with gamers choosing a weapon load-out to suit their style, whether it be up-close and personal with a fully automatic rifle, or a little further back with something scoped. Each kill earns experience and, ultimately, promotions. You start as a grunt, then move up to command a platoon of other grunts. If you get really good, you could be the one issuing orders to half of those 256 players in any given match. This way, in theory, only really skilled players will be issuing the commands, and if the lower players ever want to proceed they'll need to obey them.

Last week, we spent a good bit of time with the game playing in a full match, and were amazed at how smooth the game was. Typically, even in a 16- or 32-player match, you'll see glitches or lag, where characters get stuck or warp around, but in MAG, we saw nothing of the sort -- things were perfectly fine, even though players were spread across the West Coast. Graphically, the game is a bit simplistic, but its scope more than makes up for it.

MAG is due out sometime before the end of 2009, exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Check out more coverage of the game at Joystiq.

Tags: e32009, feature, featured, features, mag, playstation, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, top

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