On the heels of a successful weekend which saw the debut of ladder competition in Mission Against Terror (M.A.T.), Wicked Interactive, a leading North American MMO publisher, has announced that World Online Gaming League (WOGL) will extend competitive gameplay for its popular free-to-play online shooter  through the end of October. The competition, celebrating the third explosive week of the game’s open beta, begins today, Friday, October 1 and runs through Sunday of every weekend through October 31, Halloween.

"Last weekend was about getting players comfortable with the new ladder system," said Stephen Tucker, CEO, World Online Gaming League. "Now we have teams in place as we add more and more players each weekend throughout the competition."

"The WOGL community continues to provide us with invaluable feedback on improving the game," said Sam Ho, Director, Wicked Interactive. " We are extremely serious about fostering a competitive gameplay environment for gamers. Based on feedback we have gathered thus far, we have provided our developers with prioritized changes for the next patch as we advance toward Clan Mode at the end of the month." 

For more thoughts from Sam, read his interview with WOGL where he answers questions from the WOGL community: http://www.wogl.org/content/showentry.php?e=75

The Competition

• Format: 5v5
• Mode: Bomb Mode
• The Payoff: Points rewards to winning teams + other in-game surprises
• Ladder: http://www.wogl.org/index.php?page=mathome

Official M.A.T. site: http://mat.subagames.com

The highlight of the open beta patch is the debut of one of MAT’s most popular game modes, the Phantom Mode. Phantom Mode is a spin-off of the highly popular Bomb Mode.  In Phantom Mode, one team plays as the ghosts who are highly translucent figures that are difficult to see but are restricted to melee attacks only, and they’re out to bomb key locations around the world. The other team is identical to that of Bomb Mode--soldiers with anti-Phantom training who are out to drive the ghosts back and save these locations from being bombed. 

Along with Phantom Mode are two brand new maps to keep the white-knuckled action of MAT fresh for the Closed Beta veterans. Black Mountain Institute is the first of the two, taking place in a research institute filled with highly confidential information about their origins that the ghosts want to destroy.

Tableland Base is the second new map, consisting of a tactical training facility for elite soldiers at a secret location somewhere in the Antarctic where soldiers are given special anti-Phantom training. The stakes couldn’t be higher as the ghosts are out to keep their origin a mystery and prevent the training of new soldiers in the fight against them. 

Complementing Phantom Mode and the new maps are brand-new items. These include various clothing options that will be available in the item shop. Players can also look forward to a handy C4 Tool Clamp that will speed up the act of diffusing the bomb. Weapon aficionados will love the new weapons to test out on the battlefield as well. The P90, the M249, a Flying Tigers edition MP5, an engraved XM1014, and the lethal Broadsword make their debut for open beta.

M.A.T. is set in a fictional time not far from our own, pitting two teams against each other all around the world. From the male civilian with a vengeance to a war-torn female soldier with something to prove, characters from all walks of life come together to fight for a common goal. 

Gamers looking for a serious shooter will be glad to know that M.A.T. was the only first-person shooter game good enough to be sanctioned for tournament play in 2009 by the China Electrical Gaming Committee, a nationwide online gaming tournament organizer that is part of the All-China Sports Federation.

To enlist in the open beta, players must download the client from the game’s official site or via the links provided by the game’s affiliate partners: http://mat.subagames.com