MAG - E3 show floor footage p.5

BID0 wrote:

Eighthours wrote:

Tragic Magic wrote:Don't think it looks very good to be honest. Just looks like a boring free for all.

Well, its success or otherwise will depend very much on its structure for each individual player/squad.

Well that's an uphill struggle seen as the PS3 doesn't come bundled with a headset. I imagine some battlefield 2 style pointers will be present though.

I would imagine that the game will come bundled with a headset like SOCOM and Warhawk did.

BID0 wrote:Well that's an uphill struggle seen as the PS3 doesn't come bundled with a headset. I imagine some battlefield 2 style pointers will be present though.

You need to actually read the previews. So much hate already yet, again, it's another developer trying to push the boundaries of online gaming and people are judging it without reading a single word.

Tragic Magic wrote:Don't think it looks very good to be honest. Just looks like a boring free for all.

A prime example of what I'm talking about.

Jaxley wrote:I have to say, personally, i'm only disappointed by what i've seen. IMO the reason for this game is to pave the way for future, better similar games.

And thats a bad thing?

I haven't read anything negative about this game yet. They must love it.

I used to play Joint Operation a lot years ago and loved it.

Really looking forward to MAG.

Jaxley wrote:And all of a sudden doesn't just look like a random blastfest.

*sigh*

DeadFish wrote:
I used to play Joint Operation a lot years ago and loved it.

How awesome was that game!? I long for the day I can actually play that sort of game on a console

cooldawn wrote:

BID0 wrote:Well that's an uphill struggle seen as the PS3 doesn't come bundled with a headset. I imagine some battlefield 2 style pointers will be present though.

You need to actually read the previews. So much hate already yet, again, it's another developer trying to push the boundaries of online gaming and people are judging it without reading a single word.

Sooooo the previews have actually confirmed that it comes bundled with a headset? My appologies for jumping to conclusions.

Also the PS3 uses bluetooth headsets does it not? I've got a handsfree kit knocking around in the loft somewhere, anyone know of a list of supported headsets? or do any work?

BID0 wrote:

cooldawn wrote:

BID0 wrote:Well that's an uphill struggle seen as the PS3 doesn't come bundled with a headset. I imagine some battlefield 2 style pointers will be present though.

You need to actually read the previews. So much hate already yet, again, it's another developer trying to push the boundaries of online gaming and people are judging it without reading a single word.

Sooooo the previews have actually confirmed that it comes bundled with a headset? My appologies for jumping to conclusions.

Also the PS3 uses bluetooth headsets does it not? I've got a handsfree kit knocking around in the loft somewhere, anyone know of a list of supported headsets? or do any work?

I should have deleted the first sentence there. Your second sentence is answered in the previews so, after reading you would know how the system works.

F-Heonix wrote:

DeadFish wrote:
I used to play Joint Operation a lot years ago and loved it.

How awesome was that game!? I long for the day I can actually play that sort of game on a console

it wasnt that awesome mind you.

havent played it for years though, ive still got it though. came free with my graphics card

F-Heonix wrote:

DeadFish wrote:
I used to play Joint Operation a lot years ago and loved it.

How awesome was that game!? I long for the day I can actually play that sort of game on a console

I enjoyed it but I'm sure MAG will be much better.

Hands On

Taking the time to sit down with MAG today, IGN can happily report that it's shaping up nicely and holds a heck of a lot of promise for an increasingly congested category of gaming.

With hundreds of players at once, potential for chaos is clear. Thankfully, the map we played on - one of twelve maps coming to the final game – was enormous; a full square kilometre of in-game terrain, filled with buildings, winding corridors, shanty villages and hilly scrubland, just waiting to be charred and blackened. To help keep things from dissolving into an enormous cluster of bloodshed in the centre of the map, the game pits two sides, attackers and defenders, with the task of capturing and defending specific waypoints on the map. The map itself also spawns both teams across four points of the map, further spreading the action across the entire area.

There's a requisite degree of shooter knowledge at play in MAG; if this is your first online-dedicated FPS, then you might find the experience a little dizzying – after all, there's a hell of a lot of depth here, not to mention customisation options and special abilities. That said, the raw mechanics will feel at home to anyone who's played a console shooter before; the default controls allow you to do the usual sprinting, ducking, zooming and weapon cycling.

Your character's progress is essential for getting the most out of the experience. The more you play and contribute to your team's overall victory (be it through kills, meeting objectives or following the orders of your superiors), the more points you earn towards upgrading your weapons, armour and accessories.

There's no class structure, either. Instead, you can simply earn the kinds of skills and abilities you want in order to define your characteristics. A good example of this might be the lack of medic class; if you want on-demand healing, then you can unlock the ability to do so. In this way, you're never restricted to the weapon types you can use – rather, you just need to earn them.

As you rank up, your might increases and you earn 'leadership abilities'. These come in the form of things like the ability to call in air strikes at will, carpet bombing whatever target you desire. At the moderate level of Squad Leader, you get a slightly less destructive set of elements.

Your default load-out gives you a few grenades, a decent machine gun and side-arm. However, we were playing on a 'Heavy' – a hardcore, bullet-chewer of a jarhead, packing a rocket launcher and a seriously potent heavy machine gun and plenty of Platoon Leader-level tactical commands.

At this level, you can issue less experienced players some orders – ones that can be ignored at their will. However, players will be rewarded for following these orders with a decent boost of experience, rather than if they simply run-and-gun their way through proceedings.

Vehicles, such as the APC, allow multiple units to dispatch around the map, but are vulnerable to rockets. Hardened APCs stand up a little better – but units like the rocket-clad choppers and even a well-armed Heavy can make short work of these. However, the option to use this kind of vehicle is there – and it stands as a good example of the depth and flexibility MAG offers. Watching the skies fill with craft and the ground swarm with soldiers, trucks, jeeps and zipping artillery fire is magic. It's one of the few online-dedicated games on a console to really make you feel like you're participating in an overwhelmingly large battle.

The game keeps the pace nice and swift, thanks to rapid respawn rates and the option to change your weapons roll-out between respawns. Though they weren't shown to us at the time, there's the promise of maps that cater to 'smaller' scale battles of 128 and 64 player too. The developer on hand also alluded to local servers in the US, UK, Japan and Australia – which should come as a relief to those fearing poor pings.

Visually, the title still needs a bit of polishing, but the framerate remained mostly smooth and lag was barely noticeable. The game does a great job of keeping the HUD items fairly obvious; player names, icons and key pieces of information are all displayed intelligently, with no need for iconographic guesswork that tends to hinder some shooters and online multiplayer games.

All told, there's a lot to look forward to about MAG. It does indeed deliver on the promise of 256 players at once on your PS3, and it does so with a surprisingly clever character creation system that bucks classes and conventions for a far more personalised option. Make sure to keep your sniper scope on this one.

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/992/992051p1.html

Gameplay Montage
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Show Floor Gameplay (CAM)
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Conference Gameplay
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Gamespot Stage Demo

As someone who loved the original SOCOM I'm really looking forward to this, however, I just can't see how they will get 128 people to work together. Having just watched the E3 demo video I see they have decided to go for a CoD4 style experience points system, while that is great fun its also going to lead to players running off to try and rack up kills which could ruin the experience.

I think the game will work when you get clans working together. The squad commander will relay messages and orders to other squad leaders. Working in teams of 8 could work. I am really excited to see if this works. But it will be a game that demands dedication.

Sarge wrote:Gameplay Montage
[gametrailers]50654[/gametrailers]

Show Floor Gameplay (CAM)
[gametrailers]50363[/gametrailers]

Conference Gameplay
[gametrailers]50270[/gametrailers]

Gamespot Stage Demo

Wow! This looks like a proper evolution/sequel to Battlefield 2142 of conquest mode. I wish they were doing this game for the PC since DICE aren't making this sort of game any more.

Anyone know if this will have 4 player split screen on-line like Warhawk?

Kiran wrote:Anyone know if this will have 4 player split screen on-line like Warhawk?

warhawk has split screen?

suzzopher wrote:I think the game will work when you get clans working together. The squad commander will relay messages and orders to other squad leaders. Working in teams of 8 could work. I am really excited to see if this works. But it will be a game that demands dedication.

That's pretty much how PlanetSide did it, worked great. To be honest, I really wish this was PlanetSide 2!

I'm still not sold on the idea to be honest but I don't expect I ever will be until I actually play the thing during a beta or whatever. In my view once a FPS goes beyond a certain number it becomes exceptionally difficult to keep a balanced playing experience. If they can overcome this and make sure that the game offers something different over mere additional numbers then I'm sure I'll warm to it a bit more.

Garth wrote:

suzzopher wrote:I think the game will work when you get clans working together. The squad commander will relay messages and orders to other squad leaders. Working in teams of 8 could work. I am really excited to see if this works. But it will be a game that demands dedication.

That's pretty much how PlanetSide did it, worked great. To be honest, I really wish this was PlanetSide 2!

I've never played PlanetSide. Is it still going? Would be interested to have a go and see what it's like.

suzzopher wrote:I've never played PlanetSide. Is it still going? Would be interested to have a go and see what it's like.

I believe it is, it was subscription based back when I played it which was what eventually made me stop (after about a year). Probably still have to pay to play now too, and I'd guess there aren't many people playing it now. At its peak it only had about 75,000 players.

Here's how it worked, IIRC (last time I played was quite a long time ago and things may also have changed since then, so I might not be totally correct!).
The game supported clans (called Outfits), and you had a chat channel to your clan members at all times.
To get all the best abilities in the game (to be able drive/pilot cool vehicles, use cool guns etc) you had to earn battle experience points and level up. To earn battle experience points, you needed to kill enemy players and conquer enemy territories and buildings (3 factions in the game, all easily identifiable by colour and design) across various huge continents on a persistent world.
However, you received more experience if you joined a squad, which IIRC was up to 10 people including a squad leader (the leader was the person who created the squad I think). You had to be close to your squad at all times to get the bonus experience, and you had a chat channel specifically for communicating with members of your squad.
As a squad leader, you got command experience. The more command experience you got allowed you to level up through the command ranks, allowing you to issue orders to more and more people. The squad leader could team up with other squad leaders within the area, creating a platoon (maximum 3 or 4 squads IIRC), and they had another chat channel available to them which allowed them to speak privately with the other squad leaders from the platoon to coordinate attacks/defence.
I think if you got enough command experience you could lead a platoon (allowing you to give orders to all squads/squad leaders under you), and communicate directly with other platoon leaders via another private chat channel.
The highest ranked commander (which required a lot of experience from leading troops) could issue orders directly to friendly troops on the continent, and had access to the other chat channels too.
I think the commanders could use a special attack (like an orbital laser blast or something) every once in a while (twas on a countdown timer), and the various commanders could set waypoints on everyone else's map to help them get to where they were the action was.

It really worked very well, people always looked to join squads to get more experience points, and squad leaders often needed to team up with other squads to take on more rewarding targets such as buildings. People worked together! As soon as you started taking over enemy buildings on a continent it wouldn't be long until the enemy would turn up, looking to get experience from killing you and recapturing buildings. At the same time, the other enemy faction might start attacking one of your captured continents, and the aim was to create a path to an enemy home continent - so there was always a pretty good balance of constant war over territory.

Some of the best experiences I've ever had in gaming were with PlanetSide, I've played nothing like it since. The huge co-ordinated assaults were a sight to behold - squads of aircraft flying overhead, tens of ground vehicles speeding towards the enemy. Of course, you had to be on foot to enter buildings to capture them, and the infantry shoot-outs were fantastic. A horde of foot troops of various types (armoured suits, stealth suits, and your average low level grunts) battling in the courtyards, fighting through the corridors within the buildings (above and below), dropping on the roof from airborne troop carriers etc.
When you died, you spawned either at a friendly base of your choosing or a nearby spawning vehicle purposely set up by someone in your faction to aid your side.
They added a few expansions since I last played - mechs were added, underground areas, and I think the continents were changed to planets.

But enough about PlanetSide, I could talk about it all day!
MMOFPSs are going to be huge some day, a hit waiting to happen - mark my words!
Please make a Halo one Microsoft!