Review by: Jason McMaster

MAG, aka Massive Action Game, isn't a new concept. The Battlefield series in particular brought this style of game to the forefront – a total ton of players fighting over objectives on huge battlefields. There are soldiers, medics, engineers, snipers and any manner of combination of the above fighting to defend or take the objectives given out by those in command. What's different this time is that the players have a role to play in the command structure.

Upon starting MAG for the first time, players are asked to choose a faction between S.V.E.R., Raven and Valor. Valor is the US, Raven is Austrian and S.V.E.R. is Czech, and though they don't really seem to have any sort of advantage or disadvantage based on your pick, the armor does look different. I chose Valor because, hey, U.S.A.!!

Much like the other team-based multiplayer games out there, MAG has a leveling system based on in-game performance. Each level nets you a skill point that you can then spend on making your character into a unique snowflake… with a machine gun.

The skill system isn't innovative, but it certainly gets the job done. There are different avenues to follow, depending on what you want to do with your soldier. These range from support abilities to heavy machineguns, covering just about everything you'd expect in between. There are even specialty fields you might not expect – there's a tree devoted to running longer, finding enemies and masking your trail. However, most people will spend their points in the mainstay areas of support and machine gun upgrades.