Not so long ago we lobbed away over 500 beta keys to some lucky CVG readers, so they could take an extended look at the Massive Action Game beta and sample the new 256-player PS3 shooter being cooked up for Sony by Zipper Interactive.
What do our Radar brethren think? Well here's a few choice quotes and excerpts:
"It works. That's the main thing you need to know: 256 people shooting each others' faces off with extreme prejudice.
"The only time we really got a sense of the magnitude of the war we were contributing to [was] when we dipped into the map to see what looked like a swarm of angry bees fighting."
Radar goes on to note: "The only real downside is the wait it takes to get everyone in a game; about half an hour on average so have a magazine handy."
Still it makes for a very interesting read on one of the more intriguing titles in production for PS3.
Excuse me, but waiting half an hour for any multi-player online game is bound to be a dud. Especially so when we are talking about an FPS game that is supposed to appeal to the frenetic action, twitch-fingered, trigger happy, adrenaline gamer(s). If they can shorten the wait time considerably it could do much to improve "MAG"'s chances of success.
I really like MAG. I enjoy the flow of the games and I've worked alongside some pretty decent (usually American) commanders who have to tell you where to go.
You have to play with a mic because the teamwork is vital to winning a game. Luckily, most people on there do use a mic, so that's a plus.
The gameplay is surprisingly very smooth, without a hint of lag - I literally haven't seen any. It really is a technical marvel. Even more surprising when you consider that the visuals are no worse than MW2.
I think that you have to wait a good while for a game because of the fact that only limited people have the beta - and it can take 256 players to start a game! I usually wait about 10 mins.
Saying that, I bet the games are much quicker once the full game is released.
I hope it does well because I'd say it is more enjoyable and involved, in the long term, than MW2.
I quite liked it as well. Haven't played it for a while (too much going on) but as a shooter it's solid and the objective-based multiplayer feels much less frustrating than KZ2. I didn't find enough people with headsets though, so a lot of the matches I played ended up with everyone sort of accidentally heading for the same goal.
But the maps are well-designed and the power struggles at choke points are cool. I haven't seen lag either. And having 128 people on your team means a lot of opportunities for complex flanking maneuvers, which smaller games don't have. I'd definitely consider picking this one up.
Cheers Mark and Dajmin. Nice to read some more in-depth hands-on commentary. Gauging by your experiences with "MAG" it does sound a lot more promising. If nothing else I'd certainly like to see the size of "MAG"'s player list succeed; it has the potential to revolutionise online gaming for consoles. And who knows? Maybe even the PC boys 'n gals could learn a thing or two from "MAG"'s setup.
Quite interested in this, disappointed I didn't get a beta key.
Half hour wait could be a bing, but can someone tell me how long a match goes on for after that. I assume its not a hlaf hour wait for everyone to get going then a ten minute game...?
Either way, I'll be keeping my eye on this one, huge scale wars are fun!
Quite interested in this, disappointed I didn't get a beta key.
Half hour wait could be a bing, but can someone tell me how long a match goes on for after that. I assume its not a hlaf hour wait for everyone to get going then a ten minute game...?
Either way, I'll be keeping my eye on this one, huge scale wars are fun!
The reason why the wait is so long, at the moment, is because only a couple of thousand people have the beta. When you consider that it takes 256 players to fill a game, you realise there can't be many games being played.
Once the full game is released, I'd imagine that games will arrive just as quick as in other online titles.
They could opt for the PC route whereby a pre-selected amount of player slots are available and players can join and/or leave as they wish. As long as a slot is available a player can join an active game at any time (although depending on the spawning settings he/she may have to wait for a new round). This, in tandem with a game starting after a short amount of time regardless of how many player slots are already filled, would negate the need to wait for all 256 slots to fill up before initiating a game.
That would be a more sensible method of game launching. The maps are too big for 8v8, but even if the held it off for 12, 15 or 20 per side it would work. The choke points would move a lot more at that stage, but it'd soon balance out as more people joined.
I assume its not a hlaf hour wait for everyone to get going then a ten minute game...?
Either way, I'll be keeping my eye on this one, huge scale wars are fun!
The reason why the wait is so long, at the moment, is because only a couple of thousand people have the beta. When you consider that it takes 256 players to fill a game, you realise there can't be many games being played.
Once the full game is released, I'd imagine that games will arrive just as quick as in other online titles.
I wouldn't really expect ANY lag on a Beta test, whether this remains the case when there are thousands of people all playing games, on the same servers, at the same time remains to be seen.
If they can manage that then respect and credit will be paid where due.
I really like MAG. I enjoy the flow of the games and I've worked alongside some pretty decent (usually American) commanders who have to tell you where to go.
You have to play with a mic because the teamwork is vital to winning a game. Luckily, most people on there do use a mic, so that's a plus.
The gameplay is surprisingly very smooth, without a hint of lag - I literally haven't seen any. It really is a technical marvel. Even more surprising when you consider that the visuals are no worse than MW2.
I think that you have to wait a good while for a game because of the fact that only limited people have the beta - and it can take 256 players to start a game! I usually wait about 10 mins.
Saying that, I bet the games are much quicker once the full game is released.
I hope it does well because I'd say it is more enjoyable and involved, in the long term, than MW2.
I can't wait.
Exactly. Once lots of people have it, then it will come into it's own I'm sure, and waits won't be such an issue.
I think it's important they get the match making/lobby setup options spot on with this.
To be fair, the waiting was usually down to there not being enough people on to make a game. When the full game is out, assuming a lot of people buy it, the 1/2 hour waiting should be nonexistant. You guys are spoiled anyway, try playing any MMO at launch. I think when Aion was released I once had a 6 hour wait!
F{i]u{/i]ck me, half an hour waiting time? They have to fix that if they want even a half-decent amount of sales. From what I've seen, the graphics look abysmal and the guns look underwhelming, no thanks.
Honestly, the game doesn't have as much visual polish as COD4 and MW2... but tactically, the game is quite sound. I would much rather play it on a 360 controller, but as a game, it is quite acceptable.
I wouldn't really expect ANY lag on a Beta test, whether this remains the case when there are thousands of people all playing games, on the same servers, at the same time remains to be seen.
If they can manage that then respect and credit will be paid where due.
You do expect lag in the beta, after all the beta is there to test the set up. I've been playing the Bad Company 2 beta and it suffered from some serious lag for the first few weeks.
Well I played a few games on the beta and I must say top the earlier comments 'visuals no worse than MW2' - BS. The visuals are horrendous imho. Not quite as bad as PS2 era but damn, they look like ass.
The gameplay overall is ok I guess. The teamwork element is really good, especially if you got a good team of tactical players as I had a couple of times! The shooter mechanics aren't stellar but hey you cant have everything. I wish it played more like MW/KZ but the game was just like it is - if that makes sense xD
Interested to see what they come out with in the final build.
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