Sony just released the public beta of MAG, a new type of FPS. MAG’s claim to fame is that it will allow up to 256 players in a game world at one time. This would be the largest FPS to date. Aside from this technical achievement, there are no others to be had for this game. If this game only played 24 or 32 players, no one would be talking about this one at all.

Presentation

The game’s interface is not slick or polished and features one of my biggest pet peeves. So my question… why do all games that show some type of computer display on-screen, and as part or the GUI or in-game experience, show a flickering screen with scan lines? Hello? CRTs have been dead for years. There are no scan lines in LCD screens, which obviously is the equipment depicted in the game. Seems this game is trying to capture the realism of displays 15 years in the past. Enough already. You can also see scan lines when you are connecting to server, deploying to your missions, and a few other places within the interface.

The interface looks dated– badly.

Gameplay

Of all the areas of the game I’ve commented on, this one I’ve had the least amount of time to consider, as I’ve been unable to get in many games due to technical issues on “their” side. What I have noticed is that movement feels clunky. Also, when using the sights on my rifle, the screen doesn’t zoom gracefully, it sort of “pops” into zoom. Very jerky. It would also be nice if the world map was in the lower left portion of the screen instead of the upper right.

The weapons seem very weak. It appears to take a lot (of time/bullets) to kill people. At least every other close-quarters battle I’ve had involves me and the other guy doing a “noob dance,” just moving around in a circle trying to shoot one another. The firefights don’t seem to be too much fun. Also, every bullet seems to have a tracer, not good if you have a silencer… sort of defeats the whole purpose of not wanting to be noticed.

Environment

The maps in this game are big just for the sake of being big. However, the area you are dealing with feels small and crowded, despite the overall large footprint. In all the maps I’ve played, you can’t really walk 20 or so feet without bumping into something, whether it be a tree, fence, rock, or other obstacle. Things seem to be randomly cluttered around the map, if only to provide cover to some camper waiting for you to walk by. There are no wide open spaces with nothing in-world to give you the sense of scale. The world doesn’t look like it could actually be a locale in the real world, and that takes away from the user experience. Trains look like toys and bridges look like walkways.

Because of these flaws, the environment feels to take place on a 2-D plane. Almost the entirety of the game takes place on flat ground, offering no high vantage points for snipers. You can barely get into the 3rd dimension, often not being able to jump or walk over very small obstacles, but rather have to go around them. Objects you would think you have access to you don’t.

The colors and lighting are not very realistic. Colors are cartoony and shadows are jaggy, darker shades of the regular color. Actually, the graphics are quite bad. The game feels like a FPS lost the World of Warcraft environment with less creative content. There are no physics to speak of and everything seems rigid and not fluid. Poor explosions, no destruction, and the lack of being able to shoot enemies through thin in-world materials makes gameplay really suffer.

MAG lacks the freedom of other games, even though it’s supposed to be grand in scale. With no open spaces, the world is just too cluttered with polygons. In one map there is a train yard. This should be a nice vast expanse of land, however the area seems to be only about 50 feet across, cluttered with objects strewn every 20 feet. It’s as if you are playing a game with Battlefield sized maps, and with COD gameplay… but without the fun of either game.

Audio/Sound Effects

The game really suffers in this area. The music is cheesy and the in-game effects don’t feel realistic in the slightest. For instance, BFBC2 beta had unbelievable sound, and that was just the beta. At least it would have been nice if the audio took away from the poor graphics but this game suffers badly in both departments. I guess it can’t help much that I’m getting static sounds from the music during the beta.

The music sounds like it’s straight out of some redneck bar down south. My apologies to rednecks.

Gimmicks

This is a gimmick game– the gimmick being that 256 people will be in the same “world.” Having said that, if this were the same game that supported say 24 or 32 players max, nobody would be talking about this game. The amount of players is the hype. That’s what gets people talking. It’s certainly not the graphics, gameplay or overall user experience. Other than the perception “this game rocks with 256 players,” there is nothing else redeeming that would make this game be a winner. It’s really average and mediocre in most areas.

Verdict

Too much ambition and not enough product. If the tone of this sounds too harsh, there are a couple reasons. First, I’ve been trying about 20 minutes to get into a game and I wrote the draft of this review on a crappy Windows PC. I was too lazy to go into the other room and get my MacBook Pro. God, PCs suck and Windows is a nightmare.

The game gets 2 out of 5 stars.