Massive Action Game: [Insert Gameplay Here]

Hilariously enough, as soon as the Killzone 2 release hype has died down, it’s the turn of Massive Action Game (MAG) to be touted the new hipster on the block. It’s funny how the tide keeps changing but it’s also amazing how a title that was literally a blip on the gaming map some six months ago is now being dissected and conversed about like it’s the next killer app for the Playstation 3. Sooner or later, it’ll become blasphemous to say anything against MAG so now seems as good a time as any to criticize it.

If Sony is hoping the main hook for this game will be the number of people it can support online, it can quietly can it and do so quickly. Sony isn’t intentionally or unintentionally creating a subliminal connection that says, “Well , maybe the gameplay is no good. Hit ‘em up with numbers!” Yet after checking out the features, MAG seems like another run-of-the-mill military themed FPS.

Kit creation and character customization options are nice and all, but these are pretty much the mainstays of many online shooters, past and present. Ability to rank up and earn new perks? As if that hasn’t been done a thousand times already in Call of Duty 4 and Killzone 2. But really now, who honestly cares if there are PMCs vying for control in the future? How about some maps, gameplay footage, physics models, play-balancing, AI run-throughs and the hundreds of other things that would interest me in a title beyond simply blowing up bridges as a secondary goal? Bottomline: Less numbers, more gameplay.

MAG is quickly becoming a hot topic but Sony should show us more of the actual game. We could do well without all these “MAG Not Possible on the 360″, “MAG is Now FPS Only” and “MAG is Not an Iteration of SOCOM” headlines.