Fumanstu continues his weekly series on games and his life. This week he talks about MAG and Global Agenda. He would also like to point out that he’s managed two in a row. Go him! He likes 7-up and writing about himself in the third person.
Last weekend saw the launch of MAG for the PS3 and Global Agenda on the PC. On the surface these games have a fair bit in common, most notably a RPG style character progression and a real emphasis on working as a team. However, both games come at these shared themes from two very different angles.
Looking at character progression first, MAG gives you the freedom of the entire skill tree to select from. You get a skill point every time you level up. using your skill points you purchase from items that are roughly grouped into ‘classes’, depending on where your predominant points are spent the game will assign you a class so that squad members can see what you’re rough role in the squad is going to be. Items in the skill tree include weapons, attachments etc. After assigning points in the skill tree its important to remember to go and set up your equipment as you won’t automatically start using the new items. You can swap between loadouts before you spawn allowing you to react to the demands of a map. Its a great system because it allows you to start off boosting what you feel comfortable with before branching out into other areas.
GA features a much more tightly controlled system. When you create your character you choose from one of 4 classes and from that point onward you are only levelling within that class. Every level will earn you access to new equipment (which will cause different effects) or skill points. Skill points are spent within a fairly standard RPG skill tree. You can then configure your loadout before a match or at the spawn point in a map, which gives you a degree of on the fly customisation for your character.
Notice that both systems are largely the same, MAG is provides slightly more options because it doesn’t tie you to a class right from the very start. Otherwise, however, they both follow the same template of earning equipment and configuring your character through that equipment. As a system, it works really well grounding the empowerment of your character with a degree of logic.
Moving onto to looking at how both games encourage teamwork and there is far less commonality. MAG’s philosophy is simple, acting on your own (with a few sniper exceptions, that demand skills of their own) will get you killed, usually before you can do anything of any use. Work together though – and the game dangles many carrots like increased XP and resuscitation to encourage this – and you will find that you’re far more effective. Playing MAG well requires that you forget many of the lessons that other shooters will have taught you.
GA takes a different standpoint entirely by making characters much much harder to kill. There are no headshots or instant kills in GA. A one on one fight will usually result in one of the players retreating before getting killed. Effective play requires that players combine skills on enemies (or each other in the case of healing and buffs) to take them down and accomplish objectives.
In short GA encourages you to work together by ensuring that all abilities combine and become much more effective whereas MAG places you in situations where you are completely ineffective without others.
Finally, a short tale taken from a match in MAG to illustrate how it all hangs together.
In a defensive match we were tasked with holding an objective against the enemy. If the enemy was able to take the both the forward objectives they would then be able to mount an attack on the main objective. There was roughly three access points to our defensive area and our team had taken up positions to try and cover these points. I was moving around between the three points attempting to provide heals and rez’s where necessary and the odd bit of covering fire. In one particular push from the enemy they made it through one of the points and we rallied to force them back. We had lost one of our bunkers (spawn points) and we desperately needed it back to ensure that we didn’t have to waste time running back to the fight when we died. The squad leader issued the order to repair the bunker and I moved towards the bunker. As I moved in I could see a squadmate, already crouched down repairing. Too late I saw the incoming enemy and raised my weapon to try and protect my squaddie but before I could fire, he was down, bleeding out in front the bunker. Snapping off a few shots I took revenge for my fallen comrade and I ensured I finished the job to prevent any unfortunate respawns. Turning my attention to my squadmate, I swapped to my medkit and had him back up on his feet in no time. We turned our attention to the bunker, with a quick swap to the repair tool, we had the bunker up and working in no time. Thus ensuring that the rest of the team could continue to return to the battle as soon as possible. With a swift virtual nod to each other, we moved onto the next objective.
Fumanstu continues his weekly series about the games in his life. This week he talks about MAG and Global Agenda and how they share some common game systems. He would also like to point out that he’s managed two posts in a row. Go him! He likes 7-up and writing about himself in the third person. Read more ›
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Feb 03 2010
by [Munja]
Filed In: News, RPG
Through contacts on various MH fansites, myself and Chris managed to bag a VIP invitation to a promotional presentation of Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii by Capcom. With trusted reassurance from Tenebra, the community Manager of Capcom EU, we arrived intact at the Science Museum in London. A lavish breakfast of bagels and cocktail sticks adorned with cheese and pineapple awaited, fortunately the more astute of us had snaffled a full English prior to entry and left the varied morsels to avaricious game journalists. However, the coffee was much appreciated.
Side entrance to the Science Museum in London - the special exhibits today include cheese and pineapple on sticks
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Jan 29 2010
by [fumanstu]
Filed In: Articles
One of the things that I suffer from is an irritating habit of putting off anything that could conceivably be delayed. This applies to writing stuff for The Claw as much as it does to getting pretty much anything done at work. Pperhaps, it especially applies to writing for The Claw. In my experience things that you’re trying to fit in around the rest of your life are the things that never get done. So in order to combat this and get some regular content up and, at a long shot, attracting some regular readers I’m launching Fridays with Fumanstu, a weekly column that will look at the world of The Claw from the personal view of..well..me. Warning, I will talk about WoW. But not this week.
Rewind the clock back nearly 8 years. Microsoft was just about to launch Xbox Live into Europe. Online gaming was still a rather new concept to me, I had dabbled a bit on the PC, mainly with MMOs (Yeah, look at how *that* turned out) and I think I might have taken my Dreamcast online once to play whatever version of Quake it had. Luckily for me, I lived in a house with three other geeks – or two other geeks and one complete freak, has anyone ever shared a house where every occupant is normal? Anyway, the point is that securing the appropriate net connection was not something that proved an issue – sure the cabling would have probably caused any H&S officer nightmares but it (literally) hung together. So it was some excitement when the day came round and I slapped down the cash for an Xbox Live Starter kit and ran (well, drove) home with a spring in my step. Later that day, Fumanstu was born.
Fumanstu was a tag that I’d used here and there for a few years, coined by a friend and it just stuck, as these things are wont to do. However, committing Fumanstu down as my XBL gamertag was the first time that Fumanstu had been established in the online space in any sort of permanent way. Online gaming grabbed me as I’m sure most reading this are familiar with. Those early days were filled with late night games of Ghost Recon after my girlfriend (who is now my wife) had gone home for the night. (I wasn’t quite sure at the time that she was ready for the full geek assault). I remember being astonishingly bad at Moto GP, after I’d worked out that if you unlocked the tracks in the full game they became available in the ‘demo’. Not forgetting to mention how much fun stomping around in big mechs was in MechAssault.
Of course, over the years we got, amongst many many others, Halo 2, PGR2, Counterstrike and Rainbow Six 3. It was R6 3 that really sealed my fate, I look fondly back on my time in that game and one map in particular, Carnival – I miss you. There’s not many games that I can name the maps that I like off the top of my head but that one is forever embedded into my memory.
Time moved on and soon MS delivered the 360 to the hungry gaming community. And with it came a cornucopia of riches. At the time it was the best online experience out there. Those first few years of the 360 really were a dream for the online gamer – MS really cementing online gaming not just into the gaming community but into entertainment culture as a whole.
However, for the last year or two a sense of frustration has been building in me. The PS3 online service is no longer the shambles it once was and Steam is driving content delivery and online community on the PC. In most of the important ways, XBL is no longer the kill of the hill. Worse than that the 360 is slowly drowning in a sea of me-too’s and sequels with MS not doing enough to distinguish the 360 from the PS3 (presumably because MS have run out of money to buy the loyalty of any developer doing anything that looks vaguely promising) and this is coming at precisely the time when Sony have finally found their mojo and their development teams have gotten a grasp on the obscure PS3 hardware.
So it came to pass that Fumanstu started to see less and less gaming time. The 360 noticed and on the occasions when it was turned on it complained. The drive started to open reluctantly and crashes became more common. Occasionally, I’d turn it on and be greeted with a black screen. Finally, at about 10pm on Wednesday 27th January 2010 something gave up in my 360 (I like to think a component gave a little scream and its little electric wisp drifted upwards) and I was shown the RRoD. My 360 had a good run, lasting nearly 4 years. Unfortunately, with 360’s a good run is the last thing you actually want. In my case, it’s well outside the repair warranty, so I’m faced with the only option of paying for a new one. Which is something I’m not prepared to do, there’s not enough on the horizon that would convince me to get a new 360 when I’ve already got a PS3 and I’m not about to reward MS further for making a product that isn’t up to the standards that I would expect.
So with the death of my 360 comes the death of Fumanstu. My longest running online presence is no more, a sad day but one that I don’t want feel bad about. Instead, its a day that I want to remember those games of R6 3 and the many many others that gave me so many hours of fun and entertainment. To remember all people that I’ve played with and friends that I’ve made.
One thought to end on, tonight I sit down to play Sony’s new multiplayer offering, MAG. A game I hope that will live up to its promise and move the online FPS arena forward in a number of subtle ways. If you want to come and play with me you can. My tag is Fumanstu.
One of the things that I suffer from is an irritating habit of putting off anything that could conceivably be delayed. This applies to writing stuff for The Claw as much as it does to getting pretty much anything done at work. Perhaps, it especially applies to writing for The Claw. In my experience things that you’re trying to fit in around the rest of your life are the things that never get done. So in order to combat this and get some regular content up and, at a long shot, attracting some regular readers I’m launching Fridays with Fumanstu, a weekly column that will look at the world of The Claw from the personal view of..well..me. Warning, I will talk about WoW. But not this week.
Read more ›
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Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is, to quote Tristram Shandy, my hobbie-horse. Despite the groans every time I mention it, I persist in telling as many people as possible how good it is. All the time. And it is. Good. Honestly.
You could be forgiven though, for thinking otherwise. A battery of complaints have been levelled at the game by fans, including an array of multiplayer connection issues on release, the lack of dedicated servers (perhaps justifiably), inconsistent AI and worst of all – broken promises. The spiritual successor to Bohemia’s ‘Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis’ promised a large array of vehicles and weapons, some of which never made the finished product, much to the ire of fans, and the appearance of a co-op tether (due to online engine limitations, players must remain within 300 or so metres of each other) provoked more outrage. Codemasters’ post-release support has come under fire as well, from the lack of SDK kit to poorly received multiplayer DLC. Read more ›
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So… does anyone remember this questionairre? Which one of you poor saps said you’d pay £110 for two tarted up Ps2 games and GoWIII in a shiny box? What? None of you? Then how the hell did this happen? VG247 are now saying that SCEE have confirmed this. The mind boggles.
What’s your opinion? Is this just the beginning? Or has Activision already started a backlash, with gamers reluctant to fork out those kind of readies in this kind of economic climate? Feel free to talk about it in our forum.
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Jan 04 2010
by Christi MacPherson [BeardyBrave]
Filed In: News
This launched over the xmas period but we’ve only just got rid of the xmas fog and noticed it now.
Massive Action Game … um … MAG has now launched an open beta. This means anyone on the PSN network can have a crack at it. there are apparently some connection issues right now but they are on it kids. From our experience of the closed beta it’s well worth a crack. It won’t appeal to everyone but it has depths that other shooters can’t match.
The horse’s mouth is located here. Read more ›
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Dec 31 2009
by Christi MacPherson [BeardyBrave]
Filed In: News
With 2009 wheezing it’s last, sputtering breath we thought it would be a good idea to highlight the … er… highlights of The Claw so far. It’s only been a couple of months and already we have a worthy back catalogue of discussions, reviews and a couple of seriously noteworthy interviews thanks to the highly prolific Spelk. So here they are in some kind of order.
Left 4 Dead 2
Latest addition to The Claw crew, Stuart Griffin ( SkyDice ), shotguns 2009 in the face with a wonderful run through Left 4 Dead 2. Read more ›
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Dec 30 2009
by Stuart Griffin [SkyDice]
Filed In: FPS
When Valve’s new zombie extravaganza hit shelves in November 2008, many of us thought the co-op shooter genre had changed forever. Left 4 Dead created a glorious concatenation of gunplay and team survival tactics – with zombies. Despite attracting complaints over the amount of content, Left 4 Dead redefined the online co-operative experience, with Valve promising their usual excellent post-release support and extra content. Many of us spent hours fighting off vicious slavering hordes just to get through the queue at Gamestation for the promise of infinite replayability, fully automatic weapons and ZOMBIES – the ultimate gaming combination.
So when L4D2 was released exactly a year later, you’d be forgiven for being surprised at the vitriol emanating from the Steam community. Valve gleefully announced the addition of melee weapons, new Special Infected, new levels and new multiplayer modes, only to be greeted by howls of resentment from their beloved fans. The original game’s ‘extra content’ appeared only in the most desultory fashion, enraging many gamers who felt that L4D2 was a cynical cash-in; a game that should have been a DLC add-on to the original. Boycotts were created and thousands of forum posters gushed their hatred towards the zombie-masters at Valve. Read more ›
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Dec 10 2009
by Christi MacPherson [BeardyBrave]
Filed In: News
The contents of the latest Euro PSN store update have just been posted. It’s huuuge – but the real standout addition is PixelJunk Shooter. Can’t wait to try it out 
PlayStation Store via PS3
Special Offers
(Until the 17th of December)
Killzone 2 – Flash and Thunder Pack (was – £4.79/€5.99 now – £2.39/€2.99)
Killzone 2 – Map Pack Bundle (was – £9.99/€12.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
SOCOM Confrontation (was – £19.99/€29.99 now – £14.99/€19.99)
The Last Guy (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
Dark Mist (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
Killzone Liberation (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
MediEvil Resurrection (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
Gangs of London (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0 (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £11.99/€14.99)
Need for Speed: ProStreet (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £11.99/€14.99) Read more ›
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The staff at The Claw (Stuart [FUMANSTU], Christi [BEARDYBRAVE], Dan [DRDAMN] and Ian [SPELK]) decided it was about time to sit around a virtual table (Google Wave), get our claws out and tear through a recent game title we’ve all played. Throwing in questions, and responding individually, hopefully highlighting several perspectives about the game all at once. We come up with the term ‘Clawfest’, so here it is, make of it what you will…
Which version? Read more ›
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