Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has just announced the launch of MAG in the US, where this is an exclusive title for the PS3. Developed by Zipper Interactive, MAG will bring unprecedented online action on a scale that has never before been imagined on the home console platform. In fact, this is the one and only first-person, online-only shooter which allows you to join a fray with another 255 real people in a global battlefield, where the game’s system will employ a sophisticated command structure that aligns players into squads of eight to work together in order to progress through a persistent world known as the “Shadow War.” Hmmm, the last time I enjoyed such mayhem was in Quake II which could support up to 64 people on a server, but that was total mayhem especially where free-for-all was concerned.

MAG is set in 2025 when the world’s nations are supposedly at peace, but under the surface a war rages. This “Shadow War” is the secret conflict fought between Private Military Corporations (PMCs) vying for dominance across a global battlefield. As the private military industry starts to flourish, it is dominated mainly by three companies: Valor based in Alaska, Raven headquartered in Vienna, and S.V.E.R. based out of Grozny. It is with selecting an allegiance to one of these three PMCs that the player enters the world of MAG. MAG’s PMCs are distinct in their own history, personality, and style, including unique soundtracks, user interfaces, character aesthetics, and geographical regions – each PMC has its own “home base” map for each gametype within MAG and is effectively camouflaged within that area. Players choose a character in one of the PMCs and begin to fight for that PMC’s control of the Shadow War. Each battle victory or loss contributes to the PMC’s world standing by gaining or losing contracts, and moving them to the offensive or pulling them back to the defensive. When a PMC earns a contract, a variety of in-game rewards ranging from experience bonuses to upgraded gear, weapons, and vehicles are bestowed upon all players of that particular PMC.

The game is definitely in-depth, and will require a fairly steep learning curve, but we’re pretty sure that the payoff is well worth the effort put in. You will need to be a teen to play this since it has been rated “T”.

Press Release

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