MAG may be massive but it is an action shooter at its core. You can run around and shoot enemies, throw grenades, and drive vehicles just like any other shooter except with MAG you’ll do it with up to 256 players. The team at Zipper was one of the pioneers of online gaming on consoles with the SOCOM franchise and they’ve used this knowledge to create a brand new server architecture to make an original game like MAG possible.

The year is 2025. The optimism and harmony of the 2010s were completely eradicated by 2020. A global crisis loomed. Food shortages sparked riots, currencies plummeted, fuel reserves dwindled, and oil-producing nations began to ration what remained. It is a dark future. Governments earmarked money for humanitarian efforts, overseas security, and intelligence services which, over time, found its way the coffers of a small group of Private Military Corporations (PMCs). These three private armies (Valor, Raven, and S.V.E.R.) then began to recruit aggressively. Soldiers without a country, the contractors fight wars that never happened. This is the nature of the Shadow War.

A first-person, online-only shooter, MAG lets you experience battles with up to 256 real people across a global battlefield. Players join one of three PMCs fighting each other in a shadow war and can either become skilled operatives or rank up to eventually command their private army to victory. Featuring unprecedented online action of a scale never before devised with player controlled strategic assets such as calling in air strikes, mortar barrages and parachute insertions; the persistent Shadow War in MAG keeps players coming back for more.

Utilizing a sophisticated ranking system and chain of command model, MAG manages the large number of players by breaking them down into squads of eight players. Players climb their way up the chain of command to take control of their 8-person squad, then 32-person platoon, and ultimately a 128-person army.

Key Features

• Unprecedented Action – For the first time ever, fight 256 real player battles in hi-def online combat for contracts around the world.
• Command Structure – Rise through the chain of command, earning the right to lead an eight-man squad, 32-man platoon, and even command a full 128-man army.
• Persistent Shadow War – Each battle victory or loss contributes to your PMCs world standing, moving them on the offensive or pulling them back to the defensive.
• Choose an army – Three distinct PMCs from which to choose from, each with their own history, personality, and style.
• Customization – Customize your character and begin to pursue a wide variety of combat specialties.

PlayStation Move support, an increased level cap, our revamped skill tree, the new economy system, and our highly-demanded clan deploy feature are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many fantastic new or improved items in MAG 2.0 it’s almost like a whole new game!

Patch v2.0
Available September 30, 2010 | 36MB (TPPS), 532MB (DLS)

Gameplay (General)

• Character level cap has been increased from level 60 to level 70
• Added new “Supply Depot” menu and in-game economy system (see “Gameplay – Economy” section for details)
• Implemented new “Clan Deploy” feature that allows Clan Leaders and Officers to deploy into group queues of up to 128 players
• Characters moving from MAG v1.XX to MAG 2.0 will receive an immediate and automatic Respec the first time they log in
• Repair Kits can now inflict damage on enemy soldiers, vehicles and objectives
• XP rate for “Repair” has been increased from 1.5XP/ 10pts to 3XP/ 10pts
• Players can now track all “sprinting” enemies on the mini-map without the need for equipment
• All “Damage Bar” rates for “Domination” maps have reverted back to their original (and identical) values
• Tuned the frequency in which a player can jump to eliminate “bunny hopper” techniques
• Reduced helicopter settle time, widened turret rotation and significantly increased health to strengthen their use as a forward spawn point
• The “Silent Step” OIC Leadership ability now works as intended by allowing nearby squadmates to move at both regular and running speeds without detection from the motion sensor — does not stack with any related skills or modifiers

Gameplay – (Economy)

• Added in-game currency known as “Credit Points (CP)” that is awarded for by completing objectives, earning ribbons, finishing missions, and killing enemies
• All gear and weapons are now located by default or can be sold or purchased in the “Supply Depot” menu

Gameplay – Skills (Overall)

• All Skills cost only one point per unlock, allowing players to purchase new skills with every level increase
• Removed all gear and weapon attainment from the “Skills” menu, they now reside in the separate “Supply Depot”
• Added “Engineering, Medical, Resistances, Special Ops,” and ‘Vehicles” meta-categories to the “Skills” menu
• Removed “Electronics, Explosives, Heavy, Personal Defense,” and “Support” meta-categories from the “Skills” menu
• Each meta-category in the “Skills” menu now has multi-branching paths
• The “Advanced Grenades, Improved Resuscitation, Improved Shot Detection, Improved Stealth,” and “Knives Expanded Reach” skills have all been eliminated or rolled into other skills (see Skills sub-sections below for details)
• Respec Points progression has been changed from 1K, 2K, 3K, 3K-Repeat to 1K, 3K, 5K, 5K-Repeat
• Respec Points can no longer be “banked” and are capped at the amount needed for the next Respec

Gameplay – Skills (Assault)

• Added the following skills to the “Assault” menu: “Assault Swap Speed” and “Rocket Launcher Reload Speed”
• Added three upgrade tiers to the following “Assault” skills: “Assault Reload Speed, Assault Rifle Steady Aim, Assault Swap Speed, Grenade Launcher Reload Speed,” and “Rocket Launcher Reload Speed”
• “Assault Reload Speed” skill has changed and now decreases the reload time for all assault rifles and machine guns
• “Assault Rifle Improved Stability” skill has been renamed to “Assault Recoil Stability” and has been changed to reduce the recoil on all assault rifles and machine guns
• “Assault Swap Speed” skill has been changed and now decreases the amount of time it takes to swap assault rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers and grenade launchers

Gameplay – Skills (Marksman)

• Added the following skills to the “Marksman” menu: “Increased Scope Magnification, Marksman Fire Rate, Marksman Recoil Stability” and “Marksman Swap Speed”
• Added three upgrade tiers to the following “Marksman” skills: “Increased Scope Magnification, Marksman Fire Rate, Marksman Reload Speed, Marksman Recoil Stability, Marksman Steady Aim,” and “Marksman Swap Speed”
• New “Increased Scope Magnification” skill increases the level of zoom when using a scope on a sniper rifle
• New “Marksman Fire Rate” skill increases the rate of fire for all sniper rifles
• New “Marksman Recoil Stability” skill reduces the amount of recoil on sniper rifles
• New “Marksman Swap Speed” skill decreases the amount of time it takes to swap sniper rifles

Gameplay – Skills (Close Quarters)

• Added the following skills to the “Close Quarters” menu: “Close Quarters Fire Rate, Close Quarters Swap Speed, Improved Knife Damage,” and “Knife Frequency”
• Added three upgrade tiers to the following “Close Quarters” skills: “Close Quarters Fire Rate, Close Quarters Recoil Stability, Close Quarters Reload Speed, Close Quarters Swap Speed, Improved Knife Damage,” and “Knife Frequency”
• “Close Quarters Improved Stability” skill has been renamed to “Close Quarters Recoil” stability and has been changed to reduced recoil on all pistols, personal defense weapons, submachine guns and shotguns
• New “Close Quarters Fire Rate” skill increases the fire rate of all pistols, personal defense weapons, submachine guns and shotguns
• New “Close Quarters Swap Speed” skill decreases the amount of time it takes to swap all pistols, personal defense weapons, submachine guns and shotguns
• New “Improved Knife Damage” skill increases the amount of damage knife attacks do to enemy soldiers
• “Knives Improved Swipe Speed” Skill has been renamed to Knife Frequency” skill, which decreases the time between knife attacks

Gameplay – Skills (Special Ops)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Special Ops” menu: “Extended Tracking Duration, Improved Acoustic Locator, Improved Explosive Detector, Improved Motion Tracker, Improved Sensor Jammer” and “Improved Suppressors”
• New “Extended Tracking Duration” skill increases the amount of time a detected enemy is tracked on the mini-map and CNI
• New “Improved Acoustic Locator” skill increases the effective range of an equipped Acoustic Locator gear item
• New “Improved Explosive Detector” skill allows a soldier with an Explosives Detector gear item equipped to approach enemy mines while prone without triggering them
• New “Improved Motion Tracker” skill increases the range an equipped Motion Tracker gear item detects enemy movement
• New “Improved Sensor Jammer” skill allows a soldier with Sensor Jammer gear items to move at a faster rate before being spotted by enemy Motion Trackers, as well as masking nearby squadmates
• New “Improved Suppressors” skill increases the effectiveness of any suppressor when mounted on a weapon

Gameplay – Skills (Medical)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Medical” menu: “Heal Recharge Rate, Improved Healing, Improved Resupply Rate, Medical Kit Heal Range, Self Heal Speed,” and “Resuscitation”
• New “Heal Recharge Rate” skill reduces the time between medical kit and first aid kit applications
• New “Improved Resupply Rate” skill reduces the time it takes to refill your gear and ammo at supply points
• New “Medical Kit Heal Range” skill increases the range a medical kit can heal wounded teammates
• New “Self Heal Speed” skill decreases the time it takes to apply a first aid kit or medical kit when self-healing

Gameplay – Skills (Engineering)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Engineering” menu: “Advanced Electronics, Advanced Explosives, Improved Repair Kit Damage, Improved Repairing,” and “Mine Deploy Speed”
• New “Advanced Electronics” skill decreases the amount of time it takes to take control of battlefield electronics-based objectives
• New “Improved Repair Kit Damage” skill increases the amount of damage the repair kit does to enemy soldiers, vehicles and objective assets
• New “Mine Deploy Speed” skill reduces the amount of time it takes to deploy anti-personnel and anti-tank mines

Gameplay – Skills (Athleticism)

• Added the following skills to the “Athleticism” menu: “Increased Launcher Move Speed, Increased Move Speed,” and “Improved Sprint Speed”
• Added three upgrade tiers to the following “Athleticism” skills: “Advanced Paratrooper, Increased Endurance, Increased Launcher Move Speed, Increased Move Speed, Improved Sprint Recovery,” and “Improved Sprint Speed”
• New “Increased Launcher Move Speed” skill increases the top speed a soldier moves and aims while holding a rocket launcher
• New “Increased Move Speed” skill increases the top speed a soldier moves normally
• New “Improved Sprint Speed” skill increases the top speed a soldier moves while sprinting

Gameplay – Skills (Vehicles)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Vehicles” menu: “Improved Smoke Screen Rate, Improved Turret Cooldown, Improved Vehicle Awareness, Improved Vehicle Impact Damage, Increased Vehicle Speed,” and “Vehicle Mine Resistance”
• New “Improved Smoke Screen Rate” skill reduces the amount of time between smoke screens activated by the driver of the vehicle
• New “Improved Turret Cooldown” skill reduces the time it takes for the soldier’s turret weapon to cool down after it has overheated
• New “Improved Vehicle Awareness” skill makes the mini-map visible while a soldier is manning a vehicle or bunker turret and can be upgraded to add base Acoustic Locator and Motion Tracker functionality
• New “Improved Vehicle Impact Damage” skill increases the amount of damage inflicted on enemy soldiers when impacted by the driver’s vehicle
• New “Increased Vehicle Speed” skill increases the top speed of the vehicle the soldier is driving
• New “Vehicle Mine Resistance” skill decreases the amount of damage a vehicle the soldier is driving takes from enemy anti-vehicle mines

Gameplay – Skills (Resistances)

• Added the following skills, all with three-tiered upgrades, to the “Resistances” menu: “Chemical Damage Resistance, Extended Bleedout, Explosive Damage Resistance Flashbang Resistance, Impact Damage Resistance,” and “Increased Health”
• New “Extended Bleedout” skill increases the time a soldier can remain incapacitated before he bleeds out
• New “Flashbang Resistance” skill decreases the duration a soldier is affected by flashbang grenades

Weapons

• Increased base damage on most automatic weapons by an average of 15%
• Improved the spread rate of Assault Rifles and Submachine guns when auto-firing so that they remain accurate longer
• All suppressors now reduce shooting detection range by half of their old default value
• Knife tuning: Reduced range by roughly 30 centimeters and decreased default “facing” damage bonuses
• Knife tuning: Changed knife attack angle so that a hit requires target to be closer to the center of the screen
• Shotgun tuning: Corrected issue that prevented all shotguns from reloading when the player was still holding the “fire” button
• Explosive tuning: Anti-personnel Mines now have a “line of sight” check for detonation and have been given a more realistic damage cone
• Explosive tuning: Increased “Anti-tank Mine” damage to vehicles by 50%

Gear and Apparel

• Explosives Detector no longer beeps when in proximity of a teammate’s mines — only when near an enemy’s; beep frequency has also been adjusted
• Motion Tracker has been updated so that it is no longer based on an enemy’s speed and is now based on an enemy’s stance, detecting movement for all un-jammed players
• The Sensor Jammer had been updated so that all prone movement by the equipped player is masked; can be enhanced with “Improved Sensor Jammer” skill to mask crouched movement at level 1, walking at level 2 and sprinting at level 3
• Light/ Improved Light Armor base speed has been reduced by nearly 3%
• Heavy/ Improved Heavy Armor base speed has been increased by nearly 3%
• Light and Heavy Armor types have been given “bonus” modifiers when used in conjunction with “Speed” skills so that Light Armors receive greater benefits and Heavy Armors receive lesser benefits

Interface

• Added “Community News” page to better inform players in-game of all MAG-related events or promotions
• Different grenade types now show specific in-game icons when thrown
• Repaired bug that would sometimes result in the post-game results screen displaying the incorrect amount of earned XP
• Added “Total Awarded Currency Points” to “Bonuses” section of the character “Stats” page

Audio/ Visual

• Thrown or launched grenades now have a “trail” effect as well as an updated overall appearance to make them more visible on the battlefield
• Solved issue that prevented equipped grenades to appear in the player’s hand prior to throwing them
• An assortment of camera and animation optimizations for various scenarios including but not limited to iron sight/ laser sight zoom, ladder climbing, mine placement, self-healing, and weapon swapping
• Improved presentation of the character “jump” animation
• Updated various pieces of artwork with newer versions for better performance
• Fixed issue that sometimes prevented medical device appearance and/ or animations from displaying properly
• Increased the Sensor Array’s animation time to match the duration of its usage
• Repaired bug that prevented the “Alarm” audio from being played when charges were planted at “Objective C” in the “Syr Daria Uplink” and “Darrien Network” maps
• Slightly lowered the amount of camera shake from air strikes, explosions, and when firing weapons
• Repaired camera “pop” problem that would sometimes occur when sprinting out of a parachute drop
• Removed “shiny” graphics that would randomly appear on bridges for all maps in which a bridge is present
• Fixed issue that prevented win/ loss voice-over from being played when game clock expires in “Interdiction” mode
• Improved visual appearance of the Ribbon awards

Technical

• MAG now fully supports the PlayStation Move peripheral
• Fixed “Spooning Elevator” bug that allowed players who revived downed teammates while laying on top of them to float upwards and reach areas not intended to be accessed
• “MVP” criteria no longer considers bonus XP modifiers in its equation
• Repaired issue that disconnected some members of large-sized clans from the MAG game environment when logging in
• Fixed issue that would sometimes halt the patching process at 99% of the install period
• Resupply Depots have been optimized so that the meter accurately reflects what is being resupplied and the resupply process itself is more efficient
• Players can no longer take the driver’s seat in vehicles that are not their squad’s “spawn” APC, but can take any other seat in the vehicle regardless if their squad “owns” the APC or not
• Repaired issue with “Happy Hour” timer that would sometimes shave a few minutes off the correct total
• Solved problem that sometimes caused incapacitated players to rotate and move around
• Players are now prevented from spawning inside a helicopter that is headed out of the map
• Mended problem that caused the “Primary Objectives Completed” stat to sometimes double for various game types
• Made additional fixes for rare “game crash” scenarios
• Various localization updates and changes