The word team is thrown around a lot in online video games. There's hardly a multiplayer game anymore that doesn't include something along the lines of a team deathmatch or team objective. Often enough however, the word team can seem almost redundant. You might be wearing the same uniform, but the gameplay is still tailored to a solo experience. You're earning points for a particular side, but actual teamwork is rarely required.

If nothing else, this is what M.A.G. does best. Having spent some time with the beta, I can say that I have never before played an online shooter with such a focus on cooperative effort. So ingrained in MAG are these elements that your skill to work alone is rendered almost irrelevant. You might be a good shot and know the FPS genre like the back of your hand but if you don't know how to work with others you're not going to be much good to anyone.

MAG's player cap is impressive...

M.A.G. is largely objective based. Though only one play mode was available when I played the beta, matches largely play out as a series of battles between individual squads vying for positions on the map. The game might boast a player cap of more then two hundred and fifty, but generally speaking you'll probably work most directly with around a dozen or so other players grouped into your squad. Player's of a higher rank can earn the privilege to lead said squads and even larger forces if they do well enough. A position of leadership brings with it a number of privileges, the most important being most namely the ability to assign objectives. Leaders get to choose what targets to prioritize, which in turn translate into your objectives for the match.

At its best, this system works really well. Being on the offensive is much more satisfying when you have something definite to go after. You feel a real sense of progress as you push across the map, knocking out the defenders installations one by one. I found the strategic elements to work equally well while playing as a defender. Online matches that require you to hold positions are nothing new, but in M.A.G. things feel a lot more directed. The area you need to protect is yours. You and your squad spawn there and you need to work as a team to defend it.

Probably one of the coolest moments I had during my entire time with MAG was at the beginning of a match where I was playing on the defensive side. The game started and my squad leader, in possession of a headset, immediately chimed in.

...But not as much as its strategic gameplay.

“Stay near our bunker.” he said. “Our job is to hold this spot. If we can do that we'll win.”

It was a simple instruction, but it worked wonders as my squad for the most part stood their ground and fought tooth and nail to keep our territory intact.

Unfortunately, I also found that sometimes these moments could be few and far between. M.A.G. may be designed for a specific style of play, but that doesn't guarantee that people will play it that way. Despite the obvious intention of the developers for M.A.G. to be a strategic shooter, many matches did devolve into little more then mindless free for alls. Many players simply chose to go solo, and when that happened en mass the game basically became yet another generic shooter. This could be bad because while the strategic elements help to set M.A.G. apart from the rest of the pack, without them the game doesn't do much else that hasn't been done before. The large player cap is nice, but it alone doesn't make the game better then what's already on the market. The weapons, settings and gameplay are all very basic, it's what the game does with them that makes it great.

This is an issue I could see being easily remedied, though. Teamwork seemed to occur more naturally when a lot of people had headsets so perhaps they could be packaged with the game. Maybe receiving extra points or something similar for staying within proximity of your squad could be a possibility. Whatever the developers choose to do, I am excited to see how MAG turns out. My time with the beta was very much positive and I think that Zipper Games have the potential for a real winner on their hands.