MAG

No, MAG really doesn't stand for Massive Awesome Gamble, but it describes it pretty well.
The gamble here was that Sony took Zipper (makers of the very popular and very awesome SOCOM series on PS2) out of their comfort zone, and got them to start working on MAG (Massive Action Game). 
If someone had come up to me and said "Zipper won't make SOCOM, they are working on a 256 players shooter on a console", I would have probably had them shot.
 Not because of the risk involving technical aspect alone but because of design.  And design is where MAG really shines.
 
This is far away from anything you have ever player before, no longer do you rely on 15 other team mates on a 32 player objective game, and no, you don't rely on 127 other people in a 256 player game either, you rely on just 7 others. 
The design choice to have squads of 8 tightly knitted to each other was a great idea to keep the huge battles under control but I hear you cry "no-one gives a crap about squads! They'll all go and do their own thing!"
Sure they could, IF THEY WANT TO GET SHOT IN THE FACE!
MAG keeps the squads together by first of all, giving you Double XP, every time you are near the objective. So if your squad leader sets the objectivs to defend the bunker, stay around that bunker and earn yourself some awesome double XP. There is no need to go off looking for kills, as you can simply stay around the bunker to heal team-mates or repair the turret (on top of the bunker) and bank yourself double XP for each action. 
These are referred to as FRAGO points and I can tell you that in my end match results, nine times out of ten, the FRAGO points are of the highest of all other stats (heal points/ kills etc)
 
Another benefit of staying around the squad is bonuses.
If you are in the area of the squad leader, you get faster reloading, or slower bleed-outs (more time for a medic to resuscitate you) and other fun benefits. 
This again ensures that you stick together!
 
However, what if you have a clueless squad leader?
Well, first of all, people can't apply for leadership roles until they are of certain level. Squad leaders have to be at least Level 15 and 2 other leadership positions (where you lead a platoon and then the whole team) are of a much higher level.
This is a good design choice and ensures that they at least played the game quite a bit but however, this does not mean they have read the manual or looked at the tutorials so they may still not know how to do anything but kill.
This is where the "Kick from squad" option comes in and the leader is not protected from this. So if your leader sucks and sets no objectives or doesn't use his air strikes, just kick him out and another leader will be elected. 
 
So we understand the squad mechanic is very tightly designed and we have squads doing their own thing to achieve the greater goal and what is the greater goal you ask? Well, let me tell you.
 
The Shadow War. The Shadow War is designed like an actual war with each PMC fighting for contracts. These contracts are not imaginary, they actually give you bonuses in the games like +5% XP points or -5% Cooldown time for airstrikes and so on. There are specific contracts for each game type (which I will elaborate later) and the more you win of each game time, the higher your score rises for that PMC and thus you gain contracts.

This not only is a great touch, it also ensures that if you lose a battle, you really feel like you have let your PMC down which adds to the immersion of defeat but also adds another layer of sweet victory.

This again shows excellent design. 
 
The Shadow War feeling is enhanced with each PMC having a set defending maps so every time you defend in each game mode, you defend in the same map which helps you familiarise yourself with the territory and much like real life, have an advantage over the attackers.

Game modes.

You start with Suppression and Sabotage open which are very simple game modes.

Suppression does not affect the Shadow War, it is a simple ‘training exercise’ that you do against your own PMC. No pressure, no objectives, a simple “drain the HP of other teams by getting kills to win. 64 players.

Sabotage is also 64 players and requires some form of team-work.

Attackers have to Capture A and B at the same time to unlock C. Once they plant a Bomb and destroy C, they win.

Defenders can take back all the points though, so if attackers have only A, defenders can get that back before attackers get a chance to get B.

Same with C, just because attacker planted does not mean they have won, they now have to defend.

This is a great game mode as you will find yourself both attacking and defending.

The attacking squad leaders have to make sure they have a microphone in this mode though, as often once attackers get A, they don’t know defenders can capture back so they all rush to B, making the defender’s reacquisition of A very easy so make sure to scream at your squad to defend the acquired positions.

Acquisition – 128 players.

This is where squads and platoons and all that good stuff becomes very important.

This is also where Zipper shows they have one hell of a design team.

Attackers need to capture 2 vehicles and safely import them back to their base. Defenders have to defend the vehicles obviously but if a vehicle gets stolen, they have a chance to destroy it and stop it from getting into enemy hands.

The maps are designed so the defenders have bunkers in front lines where they can spawn and defend the incoming waves of enemy attacks with turrets. There are also obstacles like Road Blocks and bridges that can be repaired/ destroyed to slow the attackers down.

There are also objects in the game like Mortar batteries (allows for bombardments), Anti-airgun artillery (stops incoming planes and bomb attacks) and radars (UAVs etc).

So a good attacking team will communicate and discharge a few squads to deal with the bunkers (so they break attacker’s first line of defence), maybe a couple will go to Mortar batteries (so they can attack without being pummelled with bombs) and the rest might chose to try and get the vehicle and destroy road blocks or repair bridges on the way. 

This creates for a dynamic and exciting battle assuming at least half the people have a clue what they are doing, and luckily, most do.

There will be hot battles near bridges while defenders try to plant a bomb and destroy it and attackers are trying to sop that or are trying to repair it….There might be a squad leader obsessed with calling in air strikes so he constantly wants his team to repair the mortars while on the other team there may be a squad leader who hates air strikes and constantly pushes his quad to destroy it while other squad leaders may only care about objectives and so on.

There are so many possibilities that every battle feels frantic yet controlled, crazy and huge yet concentrated and this is where MAG succeeds.

The feeling of a battle is just superb. You know while you are trying to get a job done, other squads are trying to do the same, all for the victory of the battle.

It is a unique feeling and it is a VERY satisfying feeling and is by far the biggest draw of MAG.

I know I’ve missed out Domination but what I’ve described above really highlights why MAG is special and Domination is just a greater feel of that with full 256 players.

Huge kudos to Sony for the gamble and huge kudos to Zipper for making that an Massive Awesome Gamble.