350°

MAG 2.0 Coming Soon

blog.mag.com: Everyone here at Zipper Interactive is extremely proud to announce that our next downloadable MAG update, MAG 2.0, is not only our biggest and most important patch yet, but also one that’s less than a month away!

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blog.mag.com
Xwow20084999d ago (Edited 4999d ago )

i need to get this game soon.
Also from what i read the 2.0 patch will do some major changes for the game that will keep the fans very happy.

Christopher4999d ago

I'm really happy with the level of support Zipper is putting into the game. I own it but didn't care for the gameplay at the start and figured they fix a lot of the issues.

Eventually, I have to go back and try it out with all the new changes. I may not like it, but when a developer keeps up the support of it like they have, you owe it to them to at least see what changes they've made.

FragGen4999d ago (Edited 4998d ago )

Meh... MAG wasn't even a complete game when it released, IMHO, so I'd hardly call them scrambling to redo the thing a major achievement.

MAG 1.x felt more like a tech demo/extended beta. That's why the initial user base left in droves. It was unpolished, unbalanced, had insufficient clan support, had no training mode or documentation to speak of (so SL's and CO's were completely incompetent), the GFX were undistinguished, the maps lacked variety and were locked to a coalition, the vehicles were pointless, no persistent compelling shadow war as promised, you could go on all day ... it just felt like they had worked so damn hard to shoehorn 256 players in that EVERYTHING else fell by the wayside in the initial release.

This is an effort to bail the water out of a sinking ship rather than "great support". People like to call out COD/MW2 on being glitchy and buggy every time it gets patched but zipper does it to the point of having to essentially rework the entire game and it's suddenly being responsive and supportive... talk about a double standard.

Christopher4998d ago

Gotta completely disagree with you there FragGen. It was definitely a complete game with a lot of action and gameplay. My issues were with choices in gameplay design choices, not in the overall feeling that gameplay was incomplete, because it wasn't.

raztad4998d ago

Well MAG premise is to have massive battles going on and it has been pretty sucessful at it.

Yeah it may lack some polishing here and there (as someone has pointed out animations are poor) but the rounds are pretty smooth and fun. Furtunately MAG core works very well and it is not glitched to the extend to be a heaven for cheaters.

Contrary to what you are saying Zipper have been supporting this game since day one. Listening the community and improving the balance/gameplay in several ways.

I'm happy MAG 2.0 is coming out. The visuals are even better (they were pretty acceptable for a game of this scale) and the upgrade/economy system is getting an overhaul. It is gonna be fun.

Blaine4998d ago

and think the exact opposite, and you will have a perfect description of what MAG is.

Here, I'll do it for you:

MAG 1.x felt like a complete and polished product. That's why the initial user base got hooked and played it a lot within a very short time span. It was well polished, expertly balanced, had great clan support, a training mode and documentation (so SL's and CO's could learn what they were supposed to do), the GFX were quite good, the maps varied and huge, the vehicles EXTREMELY useful**, a persistent compelling shadow war as promised, you could go on all day ... it just felt like they had worked so damn hard to shoehorn 256 players in that EVERYTHING else fell right into place and came together to make a very compelling game at release.

There, that's MAG.

**HOW THE FUCK IS HAVING A MOBILE SPAWN POINT NOT USEFUL?? Also, when the maps are so huge that it takes a few minutes for a mechanic to walk from the back spawn to the front lines to repair extremely important defenses, then having a fast and agile jeep to take you there in 20 seconds is also EXTREMELY important. You fail hard FragGen.

ThanatosDMC4998d ago

Well, he doesnt have the game after all.

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BattleAxe4998d ago

I'd like to see more suppression maps. If I'm playing by myself, I feel kinda lost in some of these other game modes. Some kind of co-op or Massive Zombie add on would be icing on the cake.

Orbis4999d ago

MAG was (and I guess still is) a captivating online experience. It's such a shame that it was released in an era dominated by FPS's such as Call of Duty, as a lot of people refused to come out of their comfort zone and give the game a genuine chance.

maruyuki4999d ago

improve on the first person animations

i think thats like 70% of why people thought the game looked cheap to most people

if they can get that down, and put some more rpg elements into it where you need to buy new armor and a like 50 different weapons and it takes you like a year to get everything, i think it could be a very, very huge game that everyone looks forward to

Dnied4999d ago

The audio as well

although I did enjoy it, I felt the audio / sound effects were terrible... especially in comparison to bc2

Vip3r4999d ago

That's what I thought when I was beta testing it. Animations need to be top notch to ensure the game doesn't appear cheap.

FantasyStar4999d ago

I agree. MAG overall felt very cheap and didn't provide that visual-flare that keeps pumps the adrenaline. I very much want to like MAG, but first MAG has to get the overhaul it deserves. 256p is seriously an awesome idea and I've participated in a few (after hours of grinding for ranks: totally worth it).

Nykamari4998d ago

Patch 1.07 took care of the animations and made them better. MAG is my favorite FPS this generation and let me tell you, I don't think I could play another fps until other match what Zipper has done. The battles in each mode is very intense and full of people that 16 x 16 seems like an empty parkinglot! The beauty of MAG is that it's always evloving into a new game. Look at it from release to now, it's not the same game! It keeps on getting better and better! I'm a 4x vett. 500+ hrs.

CryofSilence4998d ago

Yeah. I can't go back to other FPSs after playing MAG -- not that it's a bad thing. :)

CryofSilence4998d ago (Edited 4998d ago )

I've extensively played the Beta. The animations and sounds have received a major overhaul, as have many other performance issues. The game has a consistently much higher frame rate too. To this day, and I bought it at launch, MAG remains my number 1 played game.

Nykamari4998d ago

I'm on SVER( main account) but I have a RAVEN and VALOR too!

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MGRogue20174999d ago (Edited 4999d ago )

I tried M.A.G & it wasn't for me.. too glitchy, average graphics & no recoil.

I hate to say it.. but I'll stick to mah' CoD gaming, thanks..

CoD does multiplayer perfectly & I can't complain about anything everytime I play it..

BiggCMan4999d ago

so call of duty isnt to glitchy, has amazing graphics, and realistic recoil?? get the fuck out of here man. if the game isnt for u, then at least give reasons that make sense. MAG servers are amazing, the graphics are good, and the recoil is fine. ever since the new beta program, everything has been revamped. from recoil, to sound effects, animations, servers, EVERYTHING. call of duty has more problems with it then a cancer patient with diabetes.

thief4999d ago

"CoD does multiplayer perfectly"
That statement disqualifies you from commenting on gaming

Elwenil4999d ago

Yet another player who has probably never fired a weapon and certainly nothing fully automatic. At least go check out some YouTube videos and see what REAL recoil is like with similar weapons before commenting on what games have realistic recoil.

Pennywise4998d ago

You just described MAG as "too glitchy, average graphics & no recoil"

And said you will stick to COD. Hypocrite much?

Do you forget the 100's of COD glitch articles? Ive played COD and MAG, unlike you... MAG's graphics are right on par for the scale it delivers.

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R2D24999d ago

MAG was (and I guess still is) a captivating online experience. It's such a shame that it was released in an era dominated by FPS's such as Call of Duty, as a lot of people refused to come out of their comfort zone and give the game a genuine chance.they need to improve on the first person animations - i think thats like 70% of why people thought the game looked cheap to most people if they can get that down, and put some more rpg elements into it where you need to buy new armor and a like 50 different weapons and it takes you like a year to get everything, i think it could be a very, very huge game that everyone looks forward to. i need to get this game soon. Also from what i read the 2.0 patch will do some major changes for the game that will keep the fans very happy

ThanatosDMC4998d ago

So you're the same guy above^? Everybody take note.

vlastanovak = R2D2

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470°

MAG was one of the most ambitious shooters ever and deserves a PS5 sequel

Zipper Interactive were once one of Sony's most important studios and became a household name due to their work on the SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs series during the PlayStation 2's heyday. Their most ambitious title was MAG. Could it make a comeback?

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gamerevolution.com
yellowgerbil1578d ago

Best game ever. I had put over 1700hrs into that game before it deteriorated too far with cheaters getting out of the map and sadly decided it was time to let it die (Zipper had already been closed down by that time).

_SilverHawk_1578d ago

Amazing game. Hopefully sony makes a sequel

XisThatKid1578d ago

This is the game in modern gaming that even got me into shooters i spent literally days with this game Raven All the way. War against the the mighty D ride oh so edgy S.V.E.R.

NecrumOddBoy1578d ago

Original Battle Royale. No microtransactions. Definitely ahead of time.

XBox4eva691578d ago

It's almost as far from battle royale as you can get. o_O

frostypants1578d ago

It didn't have a BR mode.

Da12RespectA1577d ago

That wasn't a battle royale game at all.

rdgneoz31577d ago

3 teams of 32 fighting it out would be considered Battle Royaleish. If you're gonna saying teams are OK when you start doing teams of 2 or 3 or 4, then 32v32v32 should work. And on besides that, it had 128 v 128 which was insanely fun.

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Muzikguy1578d ago (Edited 1578d ago )

I personally hadn't played much of it. I did spend a lot of time in PlanetSide 2 though (somewhat like MAG). Games like these tend to get overrun by cheaters and then ruined too often.

Teflon021578d ago

MAG didn't have that issue as far as I remember. I use to love the 256 matches. That game had an amazing community. Everyone actually communicated and played together. No one B****ed at the team. Everyone understood there was so much going on that if things are going wrong. Everyone had to think of new strategies.
Fav moment was when all 3 other squads 32 took their objectives but we were struggling with ours and had one more to blow up. The other leaders were communicating asking if the 2 nearest squads should send ppl. Our leader was like Naw I got a idea. So he told us all to die and set ourselves at the nearest hills prone without being seen. So we all did and surrounded the areas.
He said everyone on his count throw your grenades. Then snipers go all out and everyone else run in. They won't be able to get everyone and if needed the snipers go in about 10 seconds after.

Everyone did that and I got to the objective and set it off. 9 of us survived and got it. felt amazing to say I got the objective, cover me in that moment. Wish it was PS4 so I could have saved that moment
It was literally the coolest moment I had in a online shooter, closest since was BF4.

Muzikguy1578d ago

@Teflon

That does indeed sound like an awesome moment. One that makes games like these memorable for sure. It does seem like MAG had a lot more cooperation than most any online shooter

Teflon021578d ago

It did because you absolutely can't get no where in it without teamwork. It also didn't have an extremely big base of players. Everyone who played really wanted to play. I really hope they bring it back and do the same thing to only have serious players get into the big matches again

UltraNova1578d ago

Wow, what a run! This game looks better than PUBG!

Muzikguy1578d ago

Watching that video you wouldn't think the game was on PS3.

Spenok1578d ago

I adored this game too. Some of my best FPS online memories on it. So freaking good.

I'd love to see another game like this come out at some point. And NOT like Planetside... M.A.G. was something special.

yellowgerbil1578d ago

Yeah problem is if it existed now adays, it would likely be riddled with xp boosts and dance moves and all that other pay garbage...
MAG and Warhawk are the only 2 online games I ever got into, and both need a PROPER sequel on PS5.
Remember the first time I got 100 kills in a match, was in a turret with a repair kit and just mowed down wave after wave on Valors map.

1577d ago Replies(1)
1577d ago
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PrinceOfAnger1578d ago

I had so much fun with this game

TGGJustin1578d ago

This is a game that was ahead of its time. Had it came out on PS4 it would've done much better. I put hundreds of hours into this despite the problems it had on PS3.

UnholyLight1578d ago

Really interesting as an Xbox owner at the time. This game had captured my interest as a kid but I never got a chance to play it. Being on PS4 and soon possibly PS5, I would love to see this franchise brought back to life. I imagine with the power of next gen it would be really quite fun.

From what I hear and what I remember, this game was FAR ahead of it's time. A real shame it never truly took off from my understanding.

grifter0241578d ago

I'm an xbox boy since mech warrior but got a ps3 slim for mag. If you liked halo or cod you'd have had a blast in mag. Was one of the first games you could actually do something other than shooting and still make a difference in game.

spicelicka1577d ago

PS4 needs something like it. In the multiplayer space it's far behind the Xbox, there are no quality multiplayer games on it that aren't on other consoles.

Dirtnapstor1578d ago

Yes, yes, and yes. Way ahead of it's time. Would love to see a PS5 variant of this game.

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120°

Modern Warfare Ground War mode has MAG vibes

Erina Rose, Sausage Roll writes, "Call of Duty: Modern War introduced a new, improved, Ground War game mode this weekend that reminds us of the old PlayStation 3 classic, MAG."

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sausageroll.com.au
ilikestuff1703d ago (Edited 1703d ago )

I never played mag, I did play this beta however, and if mag was like this beta then (fart noises) for mag.

1703d ago
TheGamez1001703d ago

Man do I miss mag and zipper.

TheSinsibleOne1703d ago

Seriously though. Nowadays this and next gen are practically begging for a new MAG.

zodiac9091703d ago

How did we go from having games like resistance 1, 2, warhawk with 30 vs 30 player battles, and M.A.G. with 128 vs 128 players, ON LAST GEN to now having 20 vs 20...such a step back.

JEECE1703d ago

Because Sony hadn't figured out how to market their exclusives yet. Plus at that time COD craze was at its peak. So "generic high school bro #7," who was the primary purchaser of FPSs at that time (or at least represented a crowd necessary to sustain a playerbase), if he even had a PS3, would have just seen a game like MAG as a "copycat of Black Ops, man."

Not to mention MAG was pretty terribly uninviting for new people after awhile, because it was more skill-based. This was great for veterans, but if you weren't willing to put in the time getting destroyed for awhile, you would never appreciate the game. The Battlefield: Bad Company and BF:3 games out during that gen were far more accessible to lower level players.

Vegamyster1703d ago

Battlefield 4 was at the start of the generation and had 64 players, to me it depends more on how the map/gameplay is utilized, i enjoyed the 20vs20 modes more in the MW Beta than the 64 player ground war mode.

1703d ago
moomoo3191703d ago

It feels absolutely nothing like MAG lol. Way more battlefield vibes

xX-oldboy-Xx1703d ago

And even those are very small vibes, it still feels like COD at the end of the day.

390°

MAG: The Greatest Game You Never Played

Almost 10 years ago the greatest first person shooter came out and most of you probably never heard of it, never got to play it and never will.

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sausageroll.com.au
FiLTHY ESKiMO1822d ago

Who would the next gen version nor that Zippers gone?

_SilverHawk_1822d ago

I remember this game and it was amazing. I would like it if Sony would make another one because this game was ahead of it's time.

RememberThe3571821d ago

It was an amazing concept and it was a cool game, it was just ahead of it's time. I played the sh!t outta MAG, but the game itself played just okay. I'd love to have seen a sequel, even just a spiritual successor, especially with the next gen coming and the way cloud computing has advanced a game like that nowadays would be awesome.

Elwenil1821d ago

It may have been amazing if you played for SVER, but if you played for Raven or Valor, it was an unbalanced mess. I had some fun with it, but the player count was an illusion at best and false advertising at it's worst. The map and faction balance was so ridiculously skewed you knew who was going to win as soon as you saw what team you were against. It definitely had some interesting ideas, but was far from an amazing experience in my opinion. I would have much rather Zipper have made another SOCOM game rather than MAG.

darthv721821d ago

that game would make for a great battle royale release. So many players all at once... it was ahead of its time for a console shooter.

TheGamez1001822d ago

Was such an underrated game. One of my most favorite fps of last gen. So unfortunate zipper was closed down. Imagine if it was a success and thered be a 2nd game by now.....

TekoIie1822d ago (Edited 1822d ago )

I can think of many better games that I've yet to play...

"Almost 10 years ago the greatest first person shooter came out"

HAH. So is Planetside 2 now the best FPS ever? Because it does everything MAG can and does it far better. I'm afraid that MAG is basically your standard FPS but uses scale as it's selling point. The vast majority of shooters that focus on smaller scale matches have gameplay leaps and bounds better than MAG so it is definitely not the greatest FPS.

I know many people are going to try and refute this by telling me to look at the three factions but MAG has literally no character. The game is call 'Massive. Action. Game' for gods sake which is a contender for 'The Worst Title a Game Could Have' award. I've never been a fan of Zipper but I hear great things about them from their PS2 days. However, with MP gaining popularity in the generation that followed I think it says a lot that they couldn't keep up with the competition.

Knushwood Butt1822d ago

'HAH. So is Planetside 2 now the best FPS ever? Because it does everything MAG can and does it far better.'.

It was released years later.

Was there anything offering what MAG did when MAG was released?

TekoIie1822d ago

"Was there anything offering what MAG did when MAG was released?"

Yes, Planetside 1.

Knushwood Butt1822d ago

Fair enough.

Can't say I've played it, but I enjoyed MAG for a while.

FantasticBoss1821d ago

MAG was one of the very few games trying to do scale like it did, but I think it missed the mark. Wish it could have had a sequel though as they may have been able to iterate on it to create something pretty neat.

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Profchaos1821d ago

Sony had a awesome approach to online in the PS2 days with SOCOM co op that had games working together to achieve a tactical goal they pioneered voice chat on the PS2 for SOCOM but as they steamrolled ahead it was clear team Deathmatch would take over in popularity which shifted zippers approach so all their experience amounted for not much when designing online in the PS3 era.
It still was a decent game but couldn't stand out compared to cod which had millions of players consistently

yellowgerbil1822d ago

Loved mag had over 1700hrs into it across many accounts, remember my first 100 kill sabotage game, was insane

BLow1821d ago

Yes, so do I and not that game they released on PS3. I'm talking the one Zipper did and not Slant Six. At least Slant Six tried to do the series justice once they fixed the issues.

The one Zipper did didn't feel like Socom to me. It felt more like Ghost Recon to be honest. I absolutely loved the voice commands and I figured they would be even better on next gen hardware. They didn't even bother doing anything.

Maybe, I just wanted it more grounded and not so techy if that makes sense. I just wanted to go into jungles or missions just using my wits and patience and not have to use a bunch of gadgets. I wanted to be able to give orders with my voice to squad members. Yeah, they can at least have earpieces lol.

It's hard to explain but I know the old school Socom players know what I'm saying. Socom just had a certain feeling and the new game didn't feel that way. Slant Six yes. Zipper no...

We can only hope but if they bring it back they have to do it right. If not don't bother and just make something new. I rather have the memories I had with Socom be mostly positive than negative. Unless you pull a God of War, don't bother lol.

I've already said too much but that goes to show how much I loved Socom. Especially 1 and 2.....

Deathdeliverer1821d ago (Edited 1821d ago )

Game was simply ahead of its time. If mag came out now with improved graphics people would be blown away. Back then people whined about the graphics even though it had players literally everywhere. It was several great games in one. Battlefield, Ghost Recon, and Call of duty.

Hungryalpaca1821d ago

What exactly was it ahead of its time in? Player count? Planetside released in 2003 and and played count per match was over 300.

xkvcq1820d ago (Edited 1820d ago )

The BETA for MAG was one of my fondest gaming moments. I was highly anticipating the start of the beta servers but I had school that day. I had started downloading it that morning as soon as it was available and just when it finished downloading I found out school was cancelled, last minute, because of weather. BEST. SNOW DAY. EVER. I played the beta all day, continuing to put off my homework :P

TekoIie1820d ago (Edited 1820d ago )

Well have I got news for you pal! Planetside 2 has been available for nearly 4 years on the PS4 and longer on PC and people still aren't blown away. Maybe the novelty of scale is actually overrated and people don't care as much about it which is why MAG failed when multiplayer shooters were at peak popularity during it's lifetime?

If you were blown away by 256 players in 2010 why would you not have been blown away by 1000 roughly 2-3 years later?

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