The year is 2025 (surely Zipper missed a trick by not making it 2056...) and nations have given up the costly pursuit of war in favour of Private Military Corporations (PMCs) who are willing to die for the highest bidder. And competition keeps that price at an all time low. But when you leave the act of war in the hands of the corporations – sooner or later it'll just become another commodity. Enter the Shadow War. Enter MAG.

If you have any interest in online shooters it will have been impossible to avoid the hype surrounding MAG – with Sony shouting the number '256' seemingly from every rooftop and press release for the last few months. It is undoubtedly an impressive number, a feat never before matched in console history but great potential does not make a great game.

It's refreshing then to see not a single reference to that overused number in any of the introduction screens to MAG. The opening cutscene is agreeably stirring and the menus are spartan and easy to navigate. Choosing your faction is presented very simply – with a text screen and short, uninspired video for each. The decision is ultimately more cosmetic than the developers would have you believe but it serves its purpose of giving some kind of identity to the otherwise faceless hordes of enemies and allies online.

Faction chosen, limited character model selected and its off to the training exercise to get acquainted with MAG's controls. Its a basic FPS layout – fundamentally similar to Killzone and featuring that dastardly combination of the L3 button to sprint and R3 for your melee attack. We aren't fans of trying to move a stick in 3 dimensions while also trying to move and aim. Squad orders are on the d-pad and triangle toggles prone and crouch. R2 cycles your weapons and L2 your items – which means it can be 3 button presses just to get your repair or medical tool out, not ideal while someone is taking potshots at you with a sniper rifle. But the controls are smooth and responsive and if the button placement isn't perfect it is at least in keeping with the grounded, realistic feel of the game.
 
We chose the rough and ready marine-a-like Valor for our first playthrough and our gruff commander during the training mission even managed some token humour. Then it was off to the first game type – Suppression: where a maximum of 64 players can take part in war games. Basically, its a massive deathmatch but within the confines of your own faction and the perfect proving ground for raw recruits because you can earn experience points without effecting the state of play in the Shadow War. The best thing about getting stuck into MAG is that you'll never notice the incredible work which is going on behind the scenes to make these massive battles a reality.