MAG Beta Impressions

Well let me start by saying this game is confusing and frustrating… to begin with that is. Yes, it is extremely overwhelming and without help it is very difficult to understand what is going on and on top of that it isn’t graphically stunning to say the least. Luckily, however, I found someone who was willing to show me the ropes and before long I found myself completely immersed in the loud and over the top gameplay. Unfortunately I have only been able to play one game mode (as the others are locked) and this is 128 player game.
Each team is split into 2 platoons and each platoon is split into 4 squads which are then split into 8 soldiers (unfortunately, since the squads can only hold 8 players, you can only have 8 people in your party). So this ‘chain of command’ system encourages team play right? Not really. Get stuck on in a squad with a bad leader and you are doomed to being a lone wolf doing only what you think you should be doing, and usually that leads to you being on your own surrounded by enemy or simply not having enough man power to do what you think you should be doing. If you do find yourself a nice clan that uses mics and knows what they are doing then you won’t need to worry about this lack of team play because you and your squad will be causing havoc among the enemy lines and with just a few well coordinated squads the battle will be a tremendous victory. If you are in a clan and you are going to playing MAG then you’ll want to make sure you all join the same faction.
So what are these factions? The game is based around the story of 3 Private Military Corporations (SVER, Raven and Valour) fighting for the world’s resources. These each have there own ‘theme’ SVER are the gritty battle worn soldiers who don’t rely on technology whilst Raven is the complete opposite and Valour is somewhere in the middle. The feeling of these companies fighting each other constantly is well conveyed ingame as there is a great ‘widget’ that shows which PMC is in the lead. This is important as it effects the type of battle you play, if your faction is winning then you will play in defence games; this means you will be playing in your own territory and will have bunkers, machine guns, the lot. Attacking, however, is the funnest game mode as it requires precision, teamwork and a squad leader who knows what objectives to knock out first.
Overall the game is very unique and whilst not having good graphics in its own right add in some explosions and 64/128 people shooting at each other a very unique and involving experience is created. This is a game were awesome gameplay is more important than any other key element that would usually important when examining a game and trust me when I say it delivers on that front.