MAG, or How I Became Bored With Call of Duty

“Two in nest on upper-right ridge,” crackles over my headset. It’s my squad’s sniper, Aken.

“Can you pick them off?” I ask back hopefully.

“No,” Aken replies. “I can’t see their heads.”

“Then we got ‘em,” I reply. My second teammate, Paz and I move quietly along the brush, flanking the position.

“Cover us,” says Paz. “Get them looking at you.”

Aken responds by lazing two shots over the enemy position, drawing their attention. Paz and I pounce, each knifing one of the soldiers in the back.

“Two down,” says Paz. “Move up.”

“Group coming to you guys!” Warns Aken suddenly. “Looks like four-plus!”

Paz and I make for the brush. I leap in, but I suddenly hear the grunt behind me as a spray of automatic fire contacts my comrade. I spin around, but they rush right by, my sensor jammer keeping me off of their radars. As the last one passes, I bolt from the brush, and knife the first in the back while the four are still looking the other way. I pull up my rifle, and let loose a barrage of lead and fire, killing the last three.

I turn to head to the objective, but I suddenly start taking fire. I dive to the ground, but I can see the enemy soldier pummeling me with an LMG. I quickly try to aim with my assault rifle, but it clicks.

Out of ammo.

I’m dead, I think. Then suddenly the report of a high-caliber rifle echoes across the battlefield.

“Saved your life,” chuckles Aken. “Now get going.”

—–

256 players. That was the first thing that drew my attention. Two-hundred and fifty-six individuals playing in the same game at once, on the same battlefield, fighting over objectives in an epic blend of unforgettable confrontations and sheer madness.

I understand the draw of multiplayer modes such as Modern Warfare 2, or even Killzone 2, or Halo: Reach. In fact, I’ve sunk several hours into each of these games in the past year, but ultimately the enticement started to fizzle out. While I was at first enthralled by the idea of fighting against real people, these modes quickly caused me to realize that the maps are designed for camping. For sitting in one place, and waiting for people to walk by so you can shoot them from a safe spot.

The reason why a shooter’s single-player campaign is (usually) so thrilling isn’t merely about the set-piece battles. It’s also about the fact that as you’re playing, you’re not simply trying to “kill everything.”

There’s also usually a very specific set of objectives that you’re looking to accomplish, and the kills and fighting is merely the means, not the end. You’re looking to rescue your teammate who is being held hostage in the middle of a base.

Or you’re looking to disarm a nuclear bomb before it’s launched on your allies. You’re not just looking to kill everything in sight – A hint that many developers seem to forget when they design their multiplayer, inadvertently damning it to be “just another shooter.”

I’ve always been drawn away from “deathmatch”-style gameplay. When killing is the only goal, the game gets a little boring to me. It’s just that I can’t simply sit in one place for fifteen minutes and wait for kills to come to me. My end goal is not to just be “the top of the list.” I don’t need accolades from a group of random players who get to briefly see my amazing personal stats for a minute while the next map loads. That just doesn’t feel very substantial. I’ve always been looking for more.

So as I pulled up the beta for MAG, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was exactly the kind of game that I wanted to play. Each match (barring Suppression) was a game of objectives. Two large teams of players are pitted against each other on varied and intricate terrain, and given multiple objectives. Each soldier is encouraged to complete objectives given to them by their leaders, and the team who works together best generally wins. I bought the game on day one.

Suddenly there’s a whole new side to multiplayer battles. It’s not just a run-around skirmish. This feels like an actual battle on some real-ish world battlefield. When a certain position is taking fire, you send units to flank and create an opening. A sniper can truly cover his squad, helping more than simply shooting at targets of opportunity.

The stealth player can dramatically tilt the battlefield by destroying a key objective and creating chaos behind enemy lines. An engineer can save the day by repairing the AAA at a crucial moment, forcing the advancing forces to pull back, offering defenders a chance to turn the tide.

Every battle becomes a story of its own, with different dynamics, unique playstyles, and wholly different outcomes. Teamwork means something. As I’ve played this game over the past year, I’ve gained some real comrades-in-arms who I still try to play with regularly. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which helps us to best utilize one-another to achieve our goals on the field. The game is less like a “crapshoot” and more like a competitive sport, actually.

The game feels like you’re playing a single-player campaign, except that the “level” is wide-open, each “soldier” is a real person, and the instructions that you’re receiving over your headset are from an actual leader who is right on the battlefield with you. It’s a feeling that anyone who has played the game knows and loves, and anyone who hasn’t, doesn’t.

All in all, this game has been an incredible experience. I’ve made numerous friends and acquaintances, I’ve had ups and downs and good games and bad games, but at the end of it all, when I look over my multiple gaming choices, it simply comes down to this. The one game that makes me constantly want to come back for more…

…Is MAG. And what a Massive Action Game it is.

- K