MAG in the early days was amazing, especially in Domination maps. 256 headless chickens running around, all trying to work out what the hell was going on, I hadn't seen anything like it on console mp before. I was fortunate at the time that a forum I frequented got behind the game in a big way, which at it's height resulted in people queuing up every night just to secure a place in the first squad (any stragglers were left out in the cold in a random squad). Everyone was on voice chat, and we all slipped into our roles with ease. With so many pairs of eyes covering all angles, we often made light work of taking down bunkers, securing and holding the burnoff towers, the cooling towers and finally the pumps. It got to the stage where we were coming out top squad so often, it wasn't uncommon to be turning down tens of friend requests a night asking for an invite to our squad.
It wasn't a looker, even on release. The gunplay was fairly rudimentary, and certain maps were pure hell for being red-lined back to spawn, but when everything was going your way, it was an immensely satisfying experience. I remember we were all so hyped for the DLC, but that was oddly the beginning of the end for our squad. It fractured the player base, and as is the way with console mp, people just moved on and never came back.
I personally put several hundreds of hours into the game, and may well add some more before the plug gets pulled. But this time, I'll be rolling out as a veteran, walking across the maps and just reminiscing. I will be there the day the servers go down, and I will remember the glorious victories, snatched from the brink of defeat... the failed advances of 30 minute Domination matches that went nowhere due to absent-minded squads... the fact that Elk Bay was practically Area 51 for the amount of times it actually ever turned up in map rotation. Most of all, I will lament the camaraderie I experienced with my dear old squad, for it was them who truly made the game what it was for me.
S.V.E.R. 4EVA.
