I can see it now. Its just too perfect. I do not think Stephen King could have set this up better. Can it be possibly more fitting than our friends over there at Slant Sux? Is it just a coincidence that the upcoming Zipper Interactive game that promises to bring large scale 256 player epic wars acronym rhymes with one of the most dreaded words in online game play...LAG? 256 players in an online functioning game? But I still get lag when I play baseball online and that is only 2 v 2? Well lets just hope for the best, because if they pull this one off...well lets just say that those epic battles ala Star Wars Battlefront I may just be making a return licked in overdrive! Let get our First Look at Zipper Interactive's MAG.

About the Game

The first next-generation game for Zipper Interactive (creators of the online phenomenon SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs), MAG offers a sweeping battle experience for a total of 256 players online. Eight player squads combine together to form a tactical military experience like no other.

Here is part of an article from our buddy Greg who got a chance to put his hands on the title. Lets check out what he had to say about MAG.

Few games did as little for me when they were announced as MAG did last year at E3. I mean, in a year where Resistance 2 was shown and Fat Princess debuted, the house of Sony dedicated part of its press conference to announcing that Zipper Interactive (the company behind most of the SOCOM franchise) was planning to bring 256 players online in the same match in MAG: Massive Action Game. And, that was pretty much it. We didn't play it, and there wasn't a big demonstration. We just knew that the SOCOM guys were working on something big and one day we'd see it in action.

That day has finally come.

After getting whisked away to the Zipper offices in Washington state, learning about the journey to MAG, and getting a rundown of the three paramilitary organizations in the game, a screen lit up and the first-person shooter began. Now, maybe I'm just out of the loop, but the first thing that caught me off-guard was the first-person perspective, but the next thing that got me was how organized all this stuff is so that the games doesn't just devolve into 256 people running around and killing each other.

When you first boot up MAG, you're going to need to enlist with a squadron. See, in this world, we're 20 years in the future and the planet's dwindling fuel reserves have made fighting outside of your own borders a feat most countries can't afford. With that, the fighting around the globe is left to three private armies that are always jockeying for position as the number one unit. Raven is filled with high-tech gear and sleek black outfits featuring molded plastic armor; Valor is the camo-wearin' crew you'd think of if a bunch of Army grunts splintered off and formed their own group; and SVER is comprised of soldiers who find hunks of scrap metal and make it into part of their armor. Each of these crews has a very specific color palette assigned to them so that when you see a purple and black base, you know you've run into Raven territory, and when you're behind a machine gun that's spray painted all kinds of crazy colors, you know that you're playing as a member of SVER. Every mission you go into in MAG is a contract you've been given by a government; if you suck, governments will start giving their contracts to the other team.

When you've picked your allegiance, you're HUD and menu screens are tricked out to represent your squad, and you become a part of the Shadow War. Now, what's interesting about this battle is that it is ongoing. Even when you're not playing, other people are and your faction could be losing or gaining ground in this never-ending conflict. When you are playing, there's going to be a hierarchy on the battlefield, and you'll need to know because everything that's happening out there -- every explosion, every plane that flies over your head, every command you receive -- is happening because of something a player did; nothing is pre-determined effect thrown in for the hell of it. When you hear an explosion in the distance, that's happening because someone somewhere just blew something up.

We can hope the game will deliver the final package. This kinda thing may change the industry. Keep checking back here as we will give it to you as we get it.

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