ZAM gives you all the information you need to know about Zipper Interactive's ground-breaking 256-player first person shooter, and why it may just be the next step towards a full-scale MMORPG FPS hybrid.

Throughout this week, we've been bringing you some of the very finest in media advancements, and it's no small secret that video games have been evolving just as quickly as the hardware that runs them. Take Zipper Interactive's ultra-evolved first-person shooter, aptly named MAG, for Massive Action Game. Originally announced at Sony's E3 2008 press conference, MAG promises to be the next big step in first person shooters, as Zipper Interactive hopes to deliver incredible 256-player maps, where players can shoot it out across vast, objective-filled landscapes.

Now, while most MMO players may shrug MAG off as just another Halo-esque shooter, it's important to see that this really isn't the case. MAG promises some of the most extensive character customization to be seen thus far in a first person shooter, giving players the ability to change their character's facial features, voice and armor, in addition to the standard customizable weapons and kits they can bring into combat. Of course, a few shooters have utilized some aspects of classic MMO character progression, like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2, where players can unlock 'perks' and weapons as they play, but MAG will be the first first-person-shooter to also promise a somewhat persistent political setting. This game is sounding more and more like an MMORPG!

To quickly lay down some background information before we keep going, MAG is being developed by FPS veterans Zipper Interactive, the same guys who produced the incredibly popular SOCOM shooters on the PS2. At that time, SOCOM did have a fairly active online community on the PS2, and with the PS3's buffed online capabilities, Zipper Interactive decided that they needed to up the ante once more.

MAG takes place in the year 2025, where world peace has been somewhat established with the "Millennium Accord," a treaty stating that no country's military can leave its borders. Because of this, most countries reduced their army sizes to minimal levels and they looked to Private Military Corporations (PMCs) for any fighting to be done outside of their borders. The end result of this odd development is the rise of three dominant PMCs; the Seryi Volk Executive Response (S.V.E.R.), Raven Industries and the Valor Company. Following their rise to power, these three private military units individually decide to take control of the war market by… blowing up their opponents. In this way, players can join one of the three private military units, where they can then participate in giant gunfights against the two other opposing PMCs, all in the name of capitalism.

It is here that the persistent political setting of MAG comes into play, as these skirmishes ultimately influence the "Shadow War" (the name given to the war being waged by these three PMCs), and games won and lost in MAG will translate into cool shwag for the winning faction's players. Tony Iuppa, the Production Director of Zipper Interactive, notes here that while "Each game mode is an individual tournament, with winners being declared on a regular basis . . . winning a contract isn't just for bragging rights, as with the contract come rewards for the victorious team ranging from experience bonuses to upgraded gear, weapons and vehicles."

Of course, with 256 players running amok on a single map, you're bound to run into some kind of tactical problem, so the game splits players up into squads of eight players, and then assigns four of these squads to a platoon, with four platoons finally making up a company. In other words, while there will be 256 players in a single game of MAG, these squads will be split up enough so that players don't feel they're swimming in a sea of bodies.

In the end, however, what does MAG really mean for an MMO player? Well, for fans of SOE's Planetside, it really is important to see that MAG is one of the closest things we'll get to revisiting the epic game play that Planetside offered to its players. In fact, while MAG does promise to focus on players getting into the action, rather than finding the action, the sheer size and scope of the game definitely promises an immersive experience, filled with some intriguing war tactics and meaningful combat that contributes to an overarching objective (beyond the classic FPS motive of "blow everything up!").

If you consider it, MAG is definitely closer to an MMOFPS than any other FPS game, and it will certainly be the first massively multiplayer game to offer awesome FPS controls that many other MMOFPSs seem to lack. In previous articles, we've noted that games like Borderlands really pushed the MMOFPS genre forward with its fusion of first person action with RPG style loot and number-based combat. MAG will certainly push the potential of an MMOFPS with its incredible scope, persistent character progression and customization and its overarching story. Let's hope that an MMOFPS with a truly persistent world is next!