Spotlighting the New IPs of 2010 – MAG

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Welcome to Part 3 of a week-long series at MMOMFG.com where we’ll be spotlighting some of the biggest and most original titles slated to drop during the first few months of next year. We believe that new intellectual properties (IPs) are the life-blood of the video game industry and the studios and publishers willing to take a risk on a new idea or story deserve much praise. After all, it takes a successful new IP to establish a franchise and churn out those money-grabbing sequels…not that there’s anything wrong with that. For the next five days we’ll be posting a rundown of what to expect from some of the most highly anticipated original titles of the first quarter of 2010. We highlighted Split/Second yesterday and Alan Wake the day before . In Part 3, we look at Zipper Interactive’s upcoming FPS, MAG.

MAG

Release Date: January 26th 2010

What is it? Massive Action Game, as it was first known during Sony’s E3 2008 press conference, is a first person shooter that will feature a staggering 256 players (with users divided into 8-player squads, 4 squads forming a platoon, and 4 platoons forming a company) on one map. Though this a big task for any game, I find it an especially hard undertaking to pull off on a console. I’ve played a few bastardized shooters on both the 360 and PS3 to know that it’s not an easy task to do.

Split up into three factions, players will have to choose which faction to join before engaging in the Shadow War. Once you do, you’re set for life (though changing your alligence might be possible) so make sure you and your friends are in agreement. Every fight that occurs (except the 32 vs. 32 suppression game mode) will effect your faction standings with the “Domination” of 128 vs. 128 being the highlight of the title.

Why it could hit

256 players is a lot of people - A lot of people means plenty of opportunity for some great team play, intense action, newly formed comrades on the field of battle. The satisfaction of executing a plan to perfection in a big matchup will be undeniable. Sticking with a squad of 8 throughout the entire battle and coming out on top is a great moment in any team oriented game. MAG will make it feel even better.

Climbing the Ranks – Since 256 people is a lot to handle, people are going to have to step up to the plate and become leaders. By becoming a square or platoon leader, you will report directly to the OIC (Officer-in-Charge). With overhead maps, quick button orders, and objectives to be handed out, its more than just having a title in MAG, it’s being responsible with your rank. In order to win the Shadow War, it looks like you’ll have to be able to rely on your command skills as well as your FPS twitchyness.

Persistent Battles - Counter-strike and Halo are fun games to play online, but in MAG you’ll feel like you’re really contributing to your factions success (or demise). With three out of the four game modes having a direct impact on your faction’s standing more players will hopefully take the entire Shadow War seriously and bring their A-game.

Why it could miss

256 players is a lot of people – With numbers like these, a game can easily turn into a sheer clusterfluck with obsessive radio chatter, unwillingness to cooperate with squads or platoons, and players taking the role as a DB by not cooperating at all. But it can also give us a pretty good adrenaline rush if everyone and everything comes together as developer Zipper Interactive is hoping.

Is anyone out there – You can’t force someone to cooperate as a team. You can’t make someone take orders. What if people don’t care about being a leader? A lot of MAG relies on teamwork, and you know what…people hate taking orders from some punk teenager. If you’ve ever had a boss younger than you, you’ll know the feeling. The last thing I need is a commander spamming objectives in my ear. Which brings me to my next point…

Does anyone have a mic – This isn’t a problem with the 360, but the PS3 failed to come packed in with a microphone. Which means 75% of the games I play in are eerily silent. Even though MAG doesn’t rely on this, not being able to listen and respond to your teammates can be pretty odd, especially on a battlefield. Let’s hope people spend a few extra dollars on a headset and join the fight properly.

What our Crystal Ball Tells Us

Like all ambitious online games, MAG will have a rough start. We foresee it being insanely popular, but expect that there won’t be enough servers to meet it’s demand. This seems to always happen with online-only games; take Warhawk for example: stats didn’t update, ranks didn’t update, and logging in took multiple tries. This isn’t a knock on the game, but rather the unanticipated demand that will descend upon Sony’s servers. We’ve seen many publishers fail to cope with a rush of 300,000 – 500,000 players hitting the servers the day a title hits the shelves. If Sony can scramble and make this as little a problem as possible, MAG is going to do just fine.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s New IP of 2010 where we take a look at Visceral Studios’ title, Dante’s Inferno.

*Images via Sony.