MAG is a massive online FPS by Zipper Interactive with 256 simultaneous player battles. Three factions at war, hierarchical military structure, strategic logistics. Unique in its genre, demanding but fascinating.
Your verdict
Category
First-Person Shooter4 players16+
Co-op
Description
Massively multiplayer military FPS from Zipper Interactive offering 256 simultaneous player online battles. Published by Sony, released in Europe in January 2010. 256 simultaneous player battles, three military factions, strategic command mode, realistic tactical gameplay, and in-depth character progression. European version.
MAG review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
The visual challenge of this online shooter lies in its scale: up to 256 players on one map. Three factions at war are told apart by their own identity, gear, silhouette and palette, to stay legible amid massive chaos. The art direction organises the vast, each side flying its colours so the eye places allies and enemies at a glance within the melee.
The music puts itself at the service of coordination rather than heroism. Discreet during the long logistical phases, it swells at the capture of an objective or the turn of a battle, marking the decisive moments of an otherwise diffuse clash. This functional score plays as morale signals, giving a collective pulse to an online war with no appointed hero.
A multiplayer FPS from Zipper Interactive, MAG pushed the genre towards titanic online clashes of up to 256 players, organised into hierarchical squads with officers and zone objectives. The scale of the coordinated chaos and the sense of total war made it a unique experience in its time. The definitive closure of the servers now deprives the title of its very heart, the multiplayer, with no offline mode at all. A historical curiosity for fans of very large scale military FPS.
