MAG - 256 Player Matches

[SharinganTH1422]

This forum's so dead, but I can't believe I forgot to post here when I found out about this, and can't believe no-one else has posted about this:

http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/action/ma...cial-trailer-1

That's the trailer for it. It is based on tactical and teamwork-oriented gaming. Many things remain to be seen, there are a hell loada things that could go wrong with it (lag is probably the most obvious) and we know very little, so we shouldn't get over-excited, but I have to say the concept is very much intriguing, and if they can even get half-way to where I'd like them to get, it should still be a decent game. I doubt we'll get huge support from it here, mainly because there are so few PS3 gamers at TG, but hopefully we can find a like-minded place that we can join up to (doubtful, but you never know)

Either way, it's gonna be an interesting experience.


P.S. That music is awesome. If anyone knows what it is, please tell me. I'll give you cookies.



EDIT: Very interesting interview:

http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/action/ma...videos;title;2

Making all the right noises IMO.

[Desode]

If I still have internet and haven't moved to my house out in the sticks . I will be playing this for sure. Hopfully I will figure out how to get internet that I can game on when I get my house finished. I don't know how I will survive without online gaming in the winter months. DESODE

[peardog]

Looks too good to be True...

[SharinganTH1422]

Looks too good to be True...

The naive optimism of youth I suppose...

As I said it could very easily all go wrong, there are an incredible things that can go wrong, but they've been working on this for years already, it's the same guys who made SOCOM - one of the most tactical console shooters - and I'm sure their competent enough to realise that lag is a glaringly obvious problem, and I suspect they'll be doing their best to counter that.

Even considering all this there's still a hell of a lot that can go wrong, but either way it'll be very interesting to see how this game turns out, even if it ends up being a catastrophic failure.

[SharinganTH1422]

New Trailer (not quite as good as the first):

http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/action/ma...action-trailer

New Feature Interview + Hands-on preview:

http://uk.gamespot.com/events/sony09...88&tag=nl.e576

As you'd certainly expect, MAG has proven to be an ambitious undertaking for Zipper and Sony. Not only have they elected to build a new game engine from scratch, but they've also had to design a network infrastructure that will be key to making sure that these giant matches run smoothly. Zipper and its partners have been working for the past few years on this brand-new server system, culminating in full-capacity testing beginning in late 2008. Since then, it's been a balancing act of keeping smooth visuals that run at a minimum of 30 frames per second while maintaining a serviceable connection for all players. With the framework in place, next on the agenda is a public multiplayer beta, which several Zipper employees told us is a necessity to test their system under real-world conditions.

Our hands-on time with MAG was set on one of the 128-player maps, with closer to half of the maximum number of players actually playing, a decision that Zipper made for easier coordination among journalists and testers. But even at a fraction of the game's capacity, the match was impressive in scale. The map was huge, and between all of the distant gunfire, parachutes dotting the sky, and splinter battles, there was a lot going on.

The controls offer zippy movement and don't feel far off from the Call of Duty games.

Overall, the core gameplay seems pretty accessible and straightforward. Most of the depth looks like it will come from teamwork and getting to know the ins and outs of each map.

Me want...

[Sonny2Gunz]

Is TG going to be forming a MAG division?

[SharinganTH1422]

Apparently not.

[Bugsy13]

we should definitley get up a squad for this game

[Harpo245]

I saw the E3 gameplay. Looks absolutely fan-dabby-dosy!

[Mobiusxg5]

yeah I am definately pre owning this game and quickly joining the Raven corporation.

Raven corporation is a futuristic army that plays with guns that have been in expermenting.

The other 2 is S.V.E.R. and VALOR

S.V.E.R is you guerilla warfare army or terroist group
VALOR is your typical modern warfare Corporation that plays like the US Army

[TheSaboteur]

ok, this game has TG written all over it. Anyone else in TG in the MAG beta?

[SharinganTH1422]

Unfortunately not.

How is it?


EDIT: http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/action/ma...cial-trailer-2

[Smokeyandthebandit]

I'm in the beta right now...it's very fun.

[|Alex124|]

You know, this kind of reminds me of those games a few years ago that were offering 64-128 players that everyone was so hyped up about. They had many problems, other than lag.

Like Delta Force Black Hawk Down. It wasn't that bad of a game, but really scale was the only thing going for it (multiplayer wise.) The only thing that this game can boast about is scale. Which means gameplay is going to be like any other generic shooter, except much more chaotic and frustrating.

I also just don't see this being possible. I don't care what kind of network topology they are using.. 256 players with no dedicated server is just going to be a mess. And as far as this being a tactical shooter.. that's kind of silly. Its got run and gun written all over it.

And as much as I think this is going to crash and burn, I'm still going to try it out. It might surprise me.

[Dangeresque]

You know, this kind of reminds me of those games a few years ago that were offering 64-128 players that everyone was so hyped up about. They had many problems, other than lag.

Like Delta Force Black Hawk Down. It wasn't that bad of a game, but really scale was the only thing going for it (multiplayer wise.) The only thing that this game can boast about is scale. Which means gameplay is going to be like any other generic shooter, except much more chaotic and frustrating.

I also just don't see this being possible. I don't care what kind of network topology they are using.. 256 players with no dedicated server is just going to be a mess. And as far as this being a tactical shooter.. that's kind of silly. Its got run and gun written all over it.

And as much as I think this is going to crash and burn, I'm still going to try it out. It might surprise me.

Just so you know, it does have dedicated servers, that is why the beta is only at select times. any so far the gameplay is solidly engaging. The only problem is that the beta only lets you play 1 of the 3-4 main game modes any given night, so I am really looking forward to being able to pick the game mode I want to play.