MAG Enters Beta 4, Boasts Over 6000 Changes

MAG, Zipper Interactive's upcoming 256-player online shooter for the PS3, entered its fourth beta phase yesterday, according to a post on the official Playstation Blog. More than "6000 changes" were made over the previous beta.

A couple of the changes stand out from the rest. "Proximity chat," lets players overhear the voice communications of opposing team members as they draw closer, or provide foes with a few choice words down the barrel of a gun.

Another big change involves Shadow War Bonuses. "Depending on which Private Military Contractors (PMC's) are leading in the number of contracts owned, the entire PMC team will earn different bonuses based on gametype. Leading in Sabotage adds experience points, leading in Acquisition increases leadership aura distance, and leading in Domination decreases tactical strike cooldown time."

Other fixes in Beta 4 include an improved ranking system, skill tree, and experience curve, as well as an increase of the player level cap from 40 to 60. Improvements to character hit detection, skill tuning, and "refined Leadership abilities and experience points," have also been leveraged.

The MAG Beta remains exclusive to those who've preordered from GameStop, and ends on November 20. MAG is set to release on January 26, 2010, exclusively on the PS3.

Check out our previous MAG coverage here.