Schatten gets a PS3 and MAG, falls in love.

[Ritterin Sophia]

So I finally got a PS3, I had to go 60 miles/96.5km to find one but I got it. I'm now playing MAG and I notice no one had made a topic about it's release a month ago or none that I could find. So, I knew I wanted this game when I started watching gameplay (there's no single player story so no worries about spoilers) of it and I realized that I was having more fun watching someone else play it than I was having with Modern Warfare 2.

So I got the game and I have to say I love it.

The story is set in the near future, due to rising oil costs standing Armies have become inefficient, and you're a member of a Private Military Contractor engaged in what is known as The Shadow War. The Shadow War is a clandestine war between the three major companies where each hinders the others abilities to effectively carry out contracts and thus gain those contracts for themselves. These contracts have in-game benefits.

There are three factions and they're largely balanced off each other, I've yet to find a game breaking advantage for any particular group.

SVER (pronounced 'sever') is a group of street thugs from war torn Asian, Middle East, and Eastern European nations hired to conduct operations for the company. These are your AK wielding toughs and them in spades, from AKS-74U to the AN-94 to AK-103, PKMs, RPKs, SVD and other assorted Russian equipment with the exception of their machinepistol that is a TDI Vector. Unlike other FPS games these guys aren't villains, they just have a more unorthodox look. Their weapons on average hit harder than any other PMC, but are less accurate.

Valor are your generic American and Commonwealth soldiers, recruits are typically veterans of militaries of English speaking nations. Most weapons are your average 'American' weapons included M4's, FN SCAR's, M60's, and M249's. Standard look is what you'd expect from an American soldier with a bit of Vietnam nostalgia thrown in. Their weapons play the middle between the other PMC's.

Raven are a high-tech PMC based out of Western Europe. Their weapons include a mix of FN, H&K, Benelli, Steyr, and even SiG weapons. Their look is more appropriate for a SWAT team and their weapons are typically highly precise but lighter hitting.

Games play on three different modes:
Suppression is a 32v32 TD against people from your own PMC.
Sabotage is a 32v32 match. On offense you'll start out trying to capture two objectives, when simultaneously controlled they unlock Objective C which is where you plant a bomb. Obviously on Defense you'll be trying to stop this.
Acquisition is 64v64 match, wherein your objective on offense is to steal two prototype enemy vehicles. Destroying AA batteries, bunkers, roadblocks, and other impediments along your way.
Domination, my favorite, is a 128v128 match, where you must destroy multiple impediments, control numerous points, and just destroy enemy equipment on offense.

A class system exists wherein you must allot points to deck out your character with equipment and increased abilities based on points, there's only 60 points and around 150 something points of skills in total. There's no regenerating health, instead everyone has a First Aid Kit to heal themselves, further points allow you to heal allies and eventually revive downed ones. You also get respec points that allow you to switch some things out if you don't like them

The leadership system is fairly simple as well, you have squad leaders, platoon leaders, and Officer's in Charge (no clue why they didn't just use Company Leader). You will typically get less points from objectives than your subordinates (due to coordinating with your PL and other squad leaders, assigning new objectives, and calling in airstrike and other commander's abilities) but you'll get a pretty decent xp bonus for leading them through all of a match. As a leader you set objectives by designating a frago area, in this frago area allies get double xp and increased abilities.

The game

Other things I enjoy:
The game does not award credit on only kills, in fact healing or reviving an ally and accomplishing objectives (destroy barrier/bunker/whatever) gives you twice as much xp as a kill.
Lone Wolf play is effectively discouraged due to the lack of a frago bonus.
Due to the necessity of team play your typical online asshole is not going to have as much fun on this game.

Factoids:
Some skills are a must have, for example saving your first four skills for Medical Kit and Resuscitate are absolutely necessary for a good team.
You can only have one character per PSN account, at level 60 you can choose to change your faction, and this is necessary to get each Gold Trophy necessary for the Platinum Trophy.

Dislikes:
It's still online which means you still have idiots no matter how less likely it is to occur.
The PS3's ;ack of a headset is crippling since you can't coordinate without it.

I give it a 4/5

Anyone else got it and would like to comment on it?

If anyone's interested I'm on SVER (I plan on going Valor and finally to Revan) and I'm putting my PSN in the name thread.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Crap after playing some more it turns out I was slightly wrong, capturing or destroying objectives is worth three times what kill is worth.

[adam_grif]

Any old bluetooth headset will synch up with your PS3 for use as a microphone, unless the game doesn't support that. That's how I had to play EndWar on the PS3.

[Stark]

Yeah, Sony doesn't generally force you to use branded massively overpriced stuff. That said, what's the point of a headset when almost nobody else has one? ENDWAR!

[Ritterin Sophia]

Any old bluetooth headset will synch up with your PS3 for use as a microphone, unless the game doesn't support that. That's how I had to play EndWar on the PS3.

Yeah, but it's kind of an inconvenience when I don't use headsets and your competition (Microsoft) hands out a pair with every console, especially when the selling point for the game is large battlefields requiring teamwork to win.

As for you Stark about 1/2 the people I've played with have them, so it's not really a problem.

[adam_grif]

Any old bluetooth headset will synch up with your PS3 for use as a microphone, unless the game doesn't support that. That's how I had to play EndWar on the PS3.

Yeah, but it's kind of an inconvenience when I don't use headsets and your competition (Microsoft) hands out a pair with every console, especially when the selling point for the game is large battlefields requiring teamwork to win.

As for you Stark about 1/2 the people I've played with have them, so it's not really a problem.

Not every console. Also, the Microsoft Method involves making annoying proprietary hardware then charging through the teeth for it. At least this way you can buy any headset you want. And if it means less halotards screaming at foreign language players to fuckoff back to china then it can only be a good thing.

[Ritterin Sophia]

And if it means less halotards screaming at foreign language players to fuckoff back to china then it can only be a good thing.

I'm going to be completely honest here, that's one of the problems I recently had in MAG, two matches where half my squad was speaking japanese and another where they were speaking what sounded like arabic so I couldn't understand a damn thing we were doing. They really need regional servers for a game like MAG.

[Edward Yee]

I think I created the old MAG thread, actually. I'm mildly skeptical of the regional servers thing thanks to World of Warcraft, though I've had the Japanese-seeming players as well.

Note that a headset isn't needed even as a squad leader IMO, so long as you're updating your FRAGOs in a timely fashion to either signal "commander's intent," or to reward players who took the initiative to deal with sudden circumstances. The same Motorola H350 that gave me problems on the PC paired just fine with the PS3, which is perfectly great, and a wired USB headset will work too.

Gameplay-wise, the FRAGO just gives doubled XP, not increased abilities... that's the unit leaders' "aura," and OIC/platoon leaders have the subordinate commander's abilities as well. XP = respec points at a 1:1 ratio and respec points are NOT subtracted FROM your XP. The first respec costs 1000, the second 2000, and all subsequent respecs are 3000; any loadouts that were dependent on spec'd gear will be reset.

Schatten, I'm also SVER... planning to veteran to Raven just to get that over with, then it's off to Valor, then I'll decide whether to go with SVER or Valor. Valor ALWAYS gives us a rough fight, but Raven... depends.

[JointStrikeFighter]

Calling them killboxes would have sounded much less retarded than FRAGOS

[Stark]

WiC sure could have used a system to reward players who achieve q-menu requests made by teammates.

[Edward Yee]

Calling them killboxes would have sounded much less retarded than FRAGOS

Except that it'd be inappropriate, as ALL XP-gaining actions are doubled when near one's FRAGO target. The problem is that the fact that FRAGO = "fragmentary order" (as opposed to your overall objects, which would probably be the operational orders, OPORD) is explained nowhere except in fanon writing. Come to think of it, that applies for several things about this game.

[JointStrikeFighter]

Sorry killbox is still more appropriate than FRAGO lol.

[aieeegrunt]

I'm still WTF about the PS3 not coming with a headset.

[[R_H]]

Calling them killboxes would have sounded much less retarded than FRAGOS

Sounds like a cereal brand aimed at gamers.

So the "FRAGOs" are just recorded messages (like in CS:S or BF2)?

[Edward Yee]

Nope. The Squad Leader selects a target for his FRAGO through the map interface (Select), and the squadmates' XP gains are doubled when near that target or completing associated actions. For example, you'll gain XP when planting charges or taking an objective site and gain XP when the charge detonates or when the objective is taken. You would get that doubled XP for both the "arming"/activation and the detonation/securing (even if you're no longer near the site when that happens), but anyone who gets kills, heals, resses or repairs near it will also have their XP gains doubled.

[Stark]

I think everyone is pretty clear on how it works; doesn't make the name less awful.

Then again every single name in the entire game is awful (including the name of the game itself) so it's not really an important issue.

And PS3s ship with no headset because for years the PSN was broken. They get wireless and USB use though, so it's not all bad.

[Edward Yee]

I think everyone is pretty clear on how it works

For some reason I though [R_H] didn't.

Incidentally, when people ask at my store for the official Sony Bluetooth headset, I end up recommending that they just use whatever they already have; I think I had three separate callers today alone that already had other Bluetooth headsets.

[Stark]

Oes Sony push the idea that you can use any old Bluetooth? In the console world that's not the expectation.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Oes Sony push the idea that you can use any old Bluetooth? In the console world that's not the expectation.

From what I gather that's what happened, but I'd never really cared about the PS3 enough to care until now. I mean it's nice that you can use any old BT headset, but what if I'm not one of those assholes who drives around in their car talking over their cell phones? As you said that's not the expectation, especially when the console that is your primary competition is cheaper and has them.

[adam_grif]

From what I gather that's what happened, but I'd never really cared about the PS3 enough to care until now. I mean it's nice that you can use any old BT headset, but what if I'm not one of those assholes who drives around in their car talking over their cell phones? As you said that's not the expectation, especially when the console that is your primary competition is cheaper and has them.

If you buy some games, they come bundled with them (i.e. SOCOM).

Either way, I'd much rather my standard controller come with a rechargeable battery + cable and console with free HDMI cables (PS3) then have to fork out extra for both of those basic, extremely useful things (360). A headset is used far less often, and they aren't really that expensive to buy or difficult to track down, considering you don't have to buy some shitty proprietary one to get it to work.

Yes, it would be nice if they also threw in a headset, but you're still getting great value with your PS3 purchase in terms of not having to buy loads of extraneous shit that should come standard.

[Stark]

Uh, except not having a recharger (ps remember the original PS3 controllers? HONK HONK) doesn't affect multi at all, whereas the bulk of the market not having a headset does affect multi. The fact that people interested in competitive multi games like MAG use headsets says nothing about the general market.

In short, saying the 360 is a piece of crap that comes with nothing a modern console should is totally irrelevant to the multiplayer impact of the population not having 100% headset penetration.

[adam_grif]

(ps remember the original PS3 controllers? HONK HONK)

???

In short, saying the 360 is a piece of crap that comes with nothing a modern console should is totally irrelevant to the multiplayer impact of the population not having 100% headset penetration.

I didn't say it did, just that it's better to include things that everybody needs with your console than it is to include something that only people playing competitive multi in certain games need. Schatten is essentially complaining because the PS3 bundles aren't catered to his specific situation, and that he has to buy something separately.

[Edward Yee]

Not headset-related, but one thing I like is that well after the SOCOM 4 announcement, MAG is STILL getting support. As of 25 March they've introduced flashbangs, a variant for each starting LMG, and extra uniforms, all as free DLC, and March 25th through March 38th was "doubled XP for any and all MAG players who completed matches."

[Ford Prefect]

console with free HDMI cables (PS3)

Eh? Since when? All the people I know who have PS3s have purchased HDMI cables separately.

[adam_grif]

console with free HDMI cables (PS3)

Eh? Since when? All the people I know who have PS3s have purchased HDMI cables separately.

?

Mine came with one, although it's possible it was just thrown in as part of a bundle, since I also got Uncharted 2 and Assassin's Creed for free with mine.