There has been great debate over what makes a game great. In my opinion, epic battles are manditory. Zipper has delivered the most massive battlefield experience for console gaming and there's no other game like it. Where else are you going to roll in a platoon of 32 players with up to 8 platoons on the battlefield? Nowhere.

While other games promise individual achievements, MAG is all about teamwork and strategy. Not since SOCOM and Star Wars Battlefront have we seen player counts this high in one battle. Add in the huge and complex maps and you have an evolved and mature title still worth playing.

The Frontlines

The Smugglers have been rolling deep with IA, Deadly Blue Dots, and others in force. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday events are on the calendar for all three clans. We have been syncing our deployments on the battlefield and it is paying off.

The new supergroup has also helped level the playing field against larger clan deployments. Better teamwork prevails when you can get 16 players in a group working together. How amazing it is to see half a platoon moving in sync to take down a couple of bunkers?

We have seen defensive lines hold back greater numbers of Clan Deployments. We have also seen epic battles that are so close that your heart is racing the whole match. The playing field has also greatly improved with less randoms.

2.10 Upgrade Patch

There have been many changes to the game play and character set-up since the early days. If you are just coming back, a new skill tree in version 2.0 has replaced the old weapons and skills interface. The player's weapons no longer drop when you respec a character. The supply depot was added for you to purchase weapons and gear to add to your player in the Armory. This separation is a major plus. Now you can hone your player according to your game play style.

Recently, the 2.10 patch upgrade launched with improvements and some features being patched in and battle tested by the people playing the game.The most prominent improvement is the multiqueue system. This has replaced Directives and is a major improvement. Players can select multiple modes at once. The first mode available launches. If a player in the group doesn't have Interdiction and/or Escalation, these game modes will appear locked and unavailable to select. Multiqueue is not available for clan deploy.

Clan Deploy also needs some work. It will freeze some players when clan deploy totals are higher. This occurs mostly on Domination, but has also happened on other modes of play. Everyone is hoping the new improvements keep coming but fixing the lag and freezing issues should be the main focus.

That could explain the supergroup nugget that opened up last Friday night. You can add up to 16 players without using the supergroup invite hack. Only eight players appear on the group screen. The others will show in the game lobby before the match starts. That is, of course if the two squads are in the same platoon. You can attempt a roll-call with all of the mic chatter, but their is an easier solution. Check the player card to see if the group invite button is locked will let you know they are in your group.

The extended knife is no more. As a result, there aren't as many combat melee ribbons being handed out. Because of this, knifing has been slightly adjusted in 2.10 to improve the arc on the swing. The jury is still out on this one. I have to play around with knife frequency and knife damage some more.

There are also adjustments to point percentages for blah blah blah. Medkilts cost less.

Last but not least is the screen shot. You can save game pics to your PS3 via the XMB. My only problem is scrolling through the XMB to save a screenshot. Too slow and clunky. It could work better as a quick select from the d-pad. Add this to the next upgrade as well.

PS3 Greatest Hit

Expect more level 5 players and new faces this holiday season. Sony announced MAG as a greatest hits title for the PS3. That means if you don't have it, GET IT NOW. It's only 25 bones.