While I'm busy playing both Bioshock 2 and Heavy Rain for future reviews, forum-goer and Ars Riot Squad member Casey Crouch has been playing the hell out of the PlayStation 3 exclusive MAG and has shared this thoughts on the final product.

At Sony's 2008 E3 press conference, the company unveiled a new game from veteran developer Zipper, simply titled MAG. The game's selling point is its 256-player capacity, where every gunshot and every explosion on the battlefield that you hear is the direct action of another player. After a long wait, Zipper's freshman effort for the PlayStation 3 is on store shelves, and the war among global private military contractors is about to begin.

The game takes place in the not-too-distant-future, when nations are tired of funding very expensive militaries and decide it's time to outsource. Through corporate consolidation, mergers, and buyouts, we're left with three dominate PMCs who are engaging in a global shadow war to damage each other's reputations, operations, and technology, all in the name of increasing their own share price. The whole endeavor obviously goes afoul, open warfare begins, and gamers cry out a collective "I told you so!" Granted, the story may not be the most unique in recent years, but it does its job of providing a backdrop for pitting three warring factions against one another. Unfortunately, the game doesn't quite deliver on its promise of an online persistent war, at least from what we've seen thus far.

MAG's presentation is absolutely standard fare for a modern FPS. The engine's rendering prowess is competent by today's standards but is hardly a standout; its art direction is lackluster. The important thing is that the game handles draw distances well, though the lighting model has a tendency to break down at longer distances. This is most noticeable when looking out from most spawn cameras at the distant structures and trees, or when looking down a sniper scope at a distant target and seeing shadows pop in and out. In many ways, MAG shows itself as a development studio's first effort on the current hardware.

Previous-generation annoyances rear their ugly heads: unreasonable invisible barriers to terrain that seems most certainly accessible, and static terrain that cannot be moved, bent, or broken. Don't try to break through a small wooden fence with an APC, or shoot an enemy through a sheet of plywood with a rocket launcher. This is in stark contrast to the living and destructible world of Bad Company 2, an upcoming title that has its own share of buzz.

The game is not without its glitches as well. I've fallen through the map while crawling prone over a ridge, and have taken damage and been killed after having bumped into another player. Though these were one-time events, it is entirely possible that their causes will be identified, isolated, made repeatable, and used for nefarious means before being patched.

MAG is a strictly an online shooter; if the servers are down, you won't have access to your stats, armory, or even the anemic single player tutorial. The mechanics are all functional, though it should be noted that the controls are a little weightier, closer to Killzone 2 than Modern Warfare 2.

Other than the previously mentioned basic training level where you learn simple things like crouching, jumping, aiming, and running, every deployment option will pit you against online opponents. Killing enemies, healing and resurrecting allies, repairing structures, and accomplishing objectives will reward experience points to level your character. Standard fare thus far, but where MAG differs from current offerings is that when you gain a level you are given a skill point which you are then free to spend anywhere accessible in your skill tree. The skill tree is basic, but offers a wide variety of options with which to equip your five loadouts. Another nice touch is that you can easily earn more XP through support actions and objectives, which almost always advance the battle in your side's favor, instead of outright combat. Support roles are very important, as a high KDR alone will not win matches.

The first few hours of MAG are truly a grind, you'll need to rank up to level 8 to open all the modes and get enough weapons and skills to start adding real variance to your loadouts. There is also a bit of a learning curve to the controls, which can often feel borderline unresponsive in an intense firefight. After leveling up, however, the game really begins and you start to see the importance of teamwork.

Zipper did a good job of building a HUD and corresponding command system that facilitates good teamwork. Of course, these tools are only as good as the players using them. When leaders fail to set target objectives or call in support, the match often ends very quickly. Playing with people that you know, with headsets, can make for a very effective squad, which adds a lot of fun to the game, but it's often not enough to make up for ineffective upper management to turn the tide of the larger 256-player battles. MAG offers a fairly basic clan system, though it functions more as a party system than a true clan system. The strong emphasis on teamwork has attracted a lot of SOCOM players to the title, as evidenced by the squad banter about the recently released SOCOM Confrontation map pack. MAG is likely to pull more players away from SOCOM than Modern Warfare 2.

MAG is a flawed experience, which is unfortunate considering the stiff competition it is already facing from Modern Warfare 2 and will soon face from Battlefield Bad Company 2. It's hard to overlook the inconvenience of being kicked back out to the main menu at the end of every match, or not to notice the way your gun skips a few frames of animation to seemingly teleport to the iron sights view.

That doesn't mean the game is not fun. It's hard not to smile the first time you airdrop back into a match, gliding your parachute towards an objective while hundreds of people scurry below you, or feel a smug sense of self-satisfaction as your squad quickly takes an objective. MAG is also surprising addictive because of the combination of its skill tree and loadout mechanics. MAG has been compared to many other games, but it's the feeling of being just one soldier in a greater conflict, just trying to complete your objectives and stay alive, that truly makes it special.