I gave the Beta about 2 mins... 2 mins of walking to a destination and then getting shot by someone i never saw.    It felt clunky compared to MW2.
 But then i discovered the BF Bad Company 2 beta.... it was much the same but the actual "Team gameplay" (a rarity in MW2) compelled me to see past the lack of tightness in the controlls.
 
So i just watched Giant Bomb "Mag Thing" feature and I'm compelled now by team based game play.... if i drop $50 on MAG will i be disappointed having been a long time CoD player?

It really depends if your open to playing a far more team-play-oriented game. It absolutely REQUIRES that you stick with your team, communicate, follow orders, and don't play the "lone-wolf" role. If you can do that, yeah you can get into it. 
 
I liked the game, and I played a fair amount of MW2 (neared prestige lvl.2 before I got frustrated with the ridiculous balancing issues and glitching), so it's definitely possible.  

i was a cod4/mw2 player and MAG to me is a lot better. i dont think you would be disappointed but its a shame that you didnt give the beta that much of a shot cause that would have answered your question..

" I gave the Beta about 2 mins... 2 mins of walking to a destination and then getting shot by someone i never saw.    It felt clunky compared to MW2.  But then i discovered the BF Bad Company 2 beta.... it was much the same but the actual "Team gameplay" (a rarity in MW2) compelled me to see past the lack of tightness in the controlls.  So i just watched Giant Bomb "Mag Thing" feature and I'm compelled now by team based game play.... if i drop $50 on MAG will i be disappointed having been a long time CoD player? "

" i was a cod4/mw2 player and MAG to me is a lot better. i dont think you would be disappointed but its a shame that you didnt give the beta that much of a shot cause that would have answered your question.. "

" @shadows_kill said:

" i was a cod4/mw2 player and MAG to me is a lot better. i dont think you would be disappointed but its a shame that you didnt give the beta that much of a shot cause that would have answered your question.. "

Yeah i admit that i was fairly narrow-minded and in my mind if it wasn't CoD it wasn't worth the effort. "

its hard to get much worse than mw2. 

Well to answer my own question.  Yes.  I bought it and it's great.  Confusing as heck though.... some more fleshed out tutorials would help. 

Dude.  
 
Bad Company 2. 

yes you can, and Really don't listen to others that say you can't play the lone wolf role, a good 70% of engagements of attack depend solely upon a single guy sneaking behind enemy lines to take out mortar, sensory, and such so as to draw people away from the front lines and hamper the enemies ability to defend them selves.

You totally can, just make sure you give it a fair chance, and have a bit of patience. But yes, absolutely.

I didnt like it, but I think yes though.

I got to 4th prestige in MW2. Since buying MAG I haven't even looked at COD.  
 
I also bought AC2 and Bioshock 2 and still haven't even opened then yet.  Also there are a few people that purchased the game and did exactly what you did during the beta. I have seen a few "MAG Played once not my type of game" ads on craigslist. So check there too. Also before going into it remember that until about level 10 you will most likely be completely lost. Stick with your squad.

i think bad company 2 would be a better choice personally.  
Destructibility>No Destructibility

Just finally played an amazing game,  43 kills.... seems Recoil and Sights are a big deal to the assault rifle....
 
Thought it odd that i couldn't spend my points afterwards..... oh whats that?  Server maintenance... OK no prob... be back after a few (awesome) rounds of BFBC2....  I'm sure you know where this is going..... i get back... hey i'm level 3 again... i was level 5.
 
MAG... screw you... i tried.  If you had squad spawning I'd forgive you.
 
I guess gamestop won't take it back just coz i don't like it.

Ok.... i have had a love hate relationship with this game.  I almost traded it in but decided to stick it out to level 10.   Glad i did.... currently it's in the awesome zone again.
A BIG tip for the developers though.... i had to turn sensitivity from 30 something to 71 in order to enjoy this game. Tweak that and the obnoxious recoil (i fixed with upgrades) and newcomers will stick with your game.
 
Also i just read a post on Sony Blog where the developer says that newcomers love choosing the running fast into action role..... we don't LOVE it... we paid $60 to play a game, not a "walk to the action and get shot" simulator... we have no choice, the spawns are too far away.
 
Anyways maybe they know all this and it's a system to sort the wheat from the chaff.... only the truly dedicated will reap the rewards.

No.  The less people not knowing what there doing or acting like it is COD the better.

" Ok.... i have had a love hate relationship with this game.  I almost traded it in but decided to stick it out to level 10.   Glad i did.... currently it's in the awesome zone again. A BIG tip for the developers though.... i had to turn sensitivity from 30 something to 71 in order to enjoy this game. Tweak that and the obnoxious recoil (i fixed with upgrades) and newcomers will stick with your game.  Also i just read a post on Sony Blog where the developer says that newcomers love choosing the running fast into action role..... we don't LOVE it... we paid $60 to play a game, not a "walk to the action and get shot" simulator... we have no choice, the spawns are too far away.  Anyways maybe they know all this and it's a system to sort the wheat from the chaff.... only the truly dedicated will reap the rewards. "

Recoil in this game is not fine.... if it was fine i would not have complained about it.  This isn't the first shooter i ever played. When you start Sabotage you have to run a fair distance (especially defending) and APC's are not in that game mode.  So there ya go... As for APC'S.... on man... I've just about abandoned that concept, almost consistently after i have parked it in a tactical spawn position some idiot decides to drive it into the battle-zone.