14 DAY TRIAL // The big unveil at Sony's E3 press conference was arguably Massive Action Game, a multiplayer oriented shooter which is due to revolutionize the way players approach team based online games. In an interview for Eurogamer, Sony representatives said that the game might be ready in time for a spring 2009 release. They also stated that God of War III could be out by autumn of 2009.
The game is developed by Zipper Interactive, the people who are also making the SOCOM series, another big exclusive shooter for the PlayStation 3. The main idea of MAG is to be true to its name and offers the biggest online battles of all games available on any platform.
The players joining the multiplayer battles will be divided into smaller squads, each featuring eight people. The various squads will be tied to each other and will create an army. The idea is to offer both the excitement of a massive war that's going on before your eyes and the tactical approach that squad based multiplayer shooters are well known for. It's still a bit unclear how the larger battle will directly influence the fight at the squad level but details will be available soon.
Because the profile a player creates for MAG is a persistent one, Sony points out that you will be able to progress in a manner which is pretty similar to that of a role playing game. As you battle your way through the conflict, you gain experience by killing enemies and by completing objectives which you can then use to unlock new abilities and skills, very much like in Call of Duty 4. Some of the best players will be chosen to lead squads and the entire army in the field.
A spring release of the game is a little bit early, considering that no details were available before E3, but the people at Sony seem to be confident in respecting that date.