The first person shooter venue for the Playstation 3 console has gained rapid popularity due in part to the success of Call of Duty series. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was the largest media event of its kind, selling millions of copies before the game was even released according to an article by ABC News. Shortly after the release of MW2, the Playstation Company produced MAG which boasts a 256 person multiplayer room. The newest release in the world of online war games is Battlefield Bad Company 2, a fast-paced shooter with an emphasis on vehicles, and an almost completely destructible terrain.
Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer Game Play
Call of Duty has held the market in online multiplayer games through their last few titles. The biggest gripe about the recent Call of Duty series is that it simply has not changed that much. On one side of the argument, this is a good thing; players of the preceding COD titles already know the control schemes, menu layout, and basic character management options. On the other side of the debate, serious fans of the series can easily spend over $200 if they bought all three recent titles and their respective map packs, and are essentially buying the same game with new maps and weapons.
Modern Warfare 2 has some added features over Modern Warfare, i.e. kill-streaks, perks, and weapon load-outs but a number of the maps are very similar which leaves the experience with the potential to stale quickly. Modern Warfare 2 does have the highest number of game modes when compared to the other two games in this article, and thay have even added a third-person mode to their list.
MAG (Massive Action Game) Online Multiplayer Gameplay
The creators of MAG have made history by introducing a 256 player game mode (that actually works) into the mix. MAG requires all players to join a faction upon creation of their character and players are attached to this team upon completing prestige mode. Issues have been brought up by Nick Kolan, in a February 2010 IGN article, over the fairness of certain factions maps, weapns or perks. A tally is kept of every factions wins and added up systematically to provide benefits to the winning factions.
Many users have experienced some lag issues with MAG as well as a few occasional system freezes why trying to enter games that are already in progress. Despite these minor nuisances MAG’s gameplay is surprisingly smooth considering the amount of dependency it has on individual internet connections. There is only four separate game modes in MAG compared to MW2’s number approaching 20, and the lack of any kind of hardcore mode for highly experienced gamers is disappointing. MAG has accomplished something that no other game listed here has; they have made it much easier to organize friends and clans. Including a community option in the faction menu, allows players to jump in with friends or clan-mates during an ongoing match. Because of the team cooperation required in MAG this feature is very convenient.
MAG allows players to unlock different skill classe one at a time instead of just automatically getting a new gun every time a level is reached. A medic and engineer class are another nice improvement from MW2.
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Online Multiplayer Gameplay
Battlefield 2 has added a much needed element to the world of online first person shooters. Complete with collapsing buildings BBC2 has included maps that take damage throughout the game. With an advanced physics engine, players can mow down trees and fire tank rounds into nooks and crannies where pesky snipers often hide. This is a great deal for players who get infuriated by campers constantly returning to the same hard to reach place repeatedly.
Battlefield 2 has a medic and engineer class with slightly different gear (defibulator), and additional gear is unlocked by using weapons and by rank. Battlefield Bad Company 2 shares the same problem as MAG with only four countable game modes not adding a whole lot of variety to objectives. The game creators did give a nod to the fans who do not like HUD, making it possible to play all game modes in hardcore.
While Battlefield Bad Company 2’s online gameplay is much faster paced than MAG or MW2 (spawn delays are five seconds, and players can choose a squad-mate to spawn on), this does not make up for the common problem of being thrown into understaffed teams or being dropped from a game that you are seconds away from winning.
What Should the Serious Gamer Do?
This article should give people the best examples of differences and similarities of MAG, MW2 and Battlefield 2. Rent all three games from Gamefly or Blockbuster and buy the one that suits your cyber-killing needs the best.
Chris Weber - Chris Weber is a freelance writer in the Chicago area. He has experience in news, copy and content writing. Chris has many hobbies which ...
