Part 2
So I here I am, another few hours in and ready to give the verdict (Part One is here). Upon release of the title I had hoped that the game would achieve a better sense of balance. If you read the first part of the review I gave my impressions of the gameplay aspect of the title but with a newly recruited online community joining the ranks, has MAG found its place in the plethora of online shooters out there.
When I first started the game I was under the impression that the armies (‘Raven’, ‘SVER’ & ‘Valor’) were essentially the same and that no matter what team I picked it would be a generally even playing field. I have since discovered that there is a reason that I keep losing….because ‘Raven’ are getting their butts kicked.
Currently the majority of players have sided with ‘SVER’, with the second largest group siding with ‘Valor’ leaving ‘Raven’ in dead last. A backlash of this is that all of my matches are predictably one sided. ‘Raven’ are lower in the overall leaderboards and therefore are in an undesirable position.
It is difficult to penalize the game for this though as the developers could not have anticipated what sides would receive the most attention and I am fairly confident that this is an issue which will be ironed out over the natural course of time.
I have grown more used to the frantic pace of the gameplay. I am finding myself lasting longer through rounds and have even achieved MVP status once. It is still quite difficult to organize a cohesive team effort in a battle of any size, in many ways due to the dreadful lack of voice-chat equipped players yet despite this I have found an almost unspoken feeling of unity amongst the ‘Raven’ ranks. We are losing so badly at the moment that we revel in any big victories.
The large scale battles ring with Chaos such as explosions, earth shattering noises and the screams of your comrades on the ground. The game very successfully puts you in the centre of a warzone but at times I find myself feeling that no matter what size the battle there is a sense of isolation from the big picture. 256 players may be playing simultaneously but you will never really see more than 30 players in one area.
This is still a great achievement mind you and it doesn’t take you out of the experience but any players expecting to see 200 hundred men facing each other from across a river may be disappointed.
Earning experience is still achingly slow and dedication will be required to truly gain any distance in the ranks.
It’s tough to say whether MAG will sustain a thriving online community but I guess only time will tell. I am by no means a seasoned player of online FPS’ but even I have come to expect certain standards. These games must hook you and at times MAG fails at doing this a little too often. Everything functions well and the game mechanics were very clearly well planned but when many games offer so much more as well as having single player components, MAG can seem like an incomplete package.
Presentation: Functional. Bare bones menus and character customization are a disappointment. The three factions are very accessible to players of all tastes and add great personality to the game. Lack of offline play hurts the value.
Graphics: Nicely designed environments and character models run fluidly and virtually lag free. Textures aren’t mind blowing but look pretty from a distance. Explosions and lighting effects compliment great draw distance.
Audio: Very strong sound effects are accompanied by a very suitable and satisfying mix of contemporary orchestral and rock soundtracks. The battlefield will come alive with sound.
Extras: Tonnes of combat ribbons and very difficult trophies will challenge even the greatest of players. Zipper have promised to add plenty of DLC to the game in the future also which adds to the replayability.
Overall: I want so much for MAG to succeed. This is a classic case of great minds with great intentions that didn’t quite pan out the way they wanted. This shooter is solid, there is no denying that and the title acts as a benchmark for online server quality but when we get down to the bare bones of it, MAG although very ambitious and generally solid simply pales in comparison to what is currently being offered in the online FPS market.
6.0 Solid Shooter
