Global Agenda - Now Subscription less, GW model.

[Ghambit]

My take on GA:  the best small, indy studio usage of UE3 in "MMO" format.  Plain and simple.  Just a bunch of guys with an Unreal license who wanted to make a game... and for what they had, they did a pretty good job imo.  I guess the proper comparison is to Huxley or Crimecraft...  this game is better than both of those.  Their dev. cycle was more refined and controlled and their vision overall more concise.  They also were targeting a slightly more hardcore sim. FPS crowd; I know this from testing with them... they said this on day 1.  Soooo, people who dont like getting their hands dirty with learning the ins/outs prob. wont like GA.  And you definitely wont like it if these smallish Huxley/Crimecraft type games irk you.  It's the best of the 3 but it's still in the same shelfspace.

Nice little game.  Do I think it's worth what they're asking?  No.  Do I have time to play it right now?  Heck no.  And therein lies the gaming-problem these days... too many games, too much competition, not enough monies or time.  We be growing picky this season.

And we alllll still wait for the FPS-MMO nirvana that'll probably never come.

[Kageru]

.... Syndicate would be cooler. Trench coats, cybernetics and mini-gun's for the win. This is super high tech so all the guns are pew pew light-shows and the armor makes everyone look like robots. Apparently the people of the future are also into really big empty corridors.

I almost do hope Blizzard are doing a MMO-FPS for their next title, would be fascinating to see what they came out with.

[Mrbloodworth]

Global Agenda: Conquest Overview Dev Blog Video

[statisticalfool]

That has got to be the worst playing I have seen, they are incredibly confused by most of the basic FPS things, and totally lost when it comes this this titles specifics...

It's clearly better than Crimecraft, but regardless whether Jeff Gerstmann knows how to play video games or not, the combat looked all sorts of detached. Spray a bunch of blue laser beams in the vague direction of somebody else, run around in big clump of confused 3rd graders playing tag because it takes too long to kill anybody, and pop a pally bubble. There's nothing about the combat that seems to actually feel (especially that godawful bland PvE mission they showed). Shoot enemies, red numbers come out, shoot friends with your med gun, green numbers come out.

And hey, as already mentioned, don't take this out on giant bomb: look at this high security PvE mission (or don't, it really should hit most people's boredom thresholds): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmk_znZqEIg which appears to be played by some decent players. You uhh..peek around the corner and shoot things, until your health gets too low, and then you wait till the medic heals you. Repeat for 9 minutes, ending with a super-boring boss fight in which you pop some cooldowns.

That's some thrilling shit there. Come on, show me some clips which look anywhere near as exciting and varied as one game of the original Tribes was. Heck, I'll pit it against random Borderlands clips, piece of shit buggy game that it is.

It may well be satisfying and hit the progression/carrot/shoot things and numbers come out nerve for you, and by all means, have fun, but raging at people because they look at this and see a shooter that would have been mediocre several years ago is kind of unwarranted.

ps: anybody who makes it through that entire youtube link gets a free puppy!

[Mrbloodworth]

Why would you post a PvE video, then ask for clips that show "action like tribes", when tribes was mostly PvP? Perhaps you should be looking at the PvP videos?

Let me put it this way, I gave my experiences from playing the game, I even waited to do so so I had a good feel for it, nothing I said was outrageous (unlike that review vid), feel free to read my original post on my opinions.

Better yet, play the game, then come back and comment. Because watching a video only gets you so far. I have no want to repeat myself.

[Lantyssa]

Better yet, play the game, then come back and comment. Because watching a video only gets you so far. I have no want to repeat myself.

Do they have a free trial?

[Mrbloodworth]

Better yet, play the game, then come back and comment. Because watching a video only gets you so far. I have no want to repeat myself.

Do they have a free trial?

Not yet I don't think, and yes I realize to try it right now would be an investment. But I think that most here who have bought it, played it, and shared opinions would most likely agree: Its fun. YMMV.

[Lantyssa]

I think those who've bought it are predisposed to find the game fun.  It's kind of a self-selecting demographic.

[Mrbloodworth]

More conquest info.


Source

[01101010]

More conquest info.


Source

Ummm... the fuck did I just read? That is an assload of conditions that must be met for anything to happen... I could say its a tad convoluted but I will refrain for now. Its interesting, but a tad overwhelming to the point of paralyzing a player. Not really sure what else to make of it without rereading this tower of text again tonight.

[Kageru]

The essential gameplay looks fairly basic once you cut through the detail. The idea of splitting the world into timezones so that your conquests are only vulnerable in a timezone of your choice is not a bad idea. A bit artificial but neatly solves the problem of logging in and finding all your stuff trashed. The idea of being able to build force fields so that you are not required to defend your entire territory at once is reasonably neat and they've included a counter.

At the end of the day though it's still a pretty thin layer over a bunch of 10x10 battlegrounds.

[Mrbloodworth]

More conquest info.


Source

Ummm... the fuck did I just read? That is an assload of conditions that must be met for anything to happen... I could say its a tad convoluted but I will refrain for now. Its interesting, but a tad overwhelming to the point of paralyzing a player. Not really sure what else to make of it without rereading this tower of text again tonight.

The overview of conquest mode. "A player" should not be concerned with it really, only agency leaders and alliance leaders and officers. Its complexity was akin to top level play of Eve in someways. Its all the territory control and logistics stuff for capturing/defending ETC..

At the end of the day though it's still a pretty thin layer over a bunch of 10x10 battlegrounds.

Match sizes are REALLY not a problem. Really. And it doesn't look to thin to me, in fact it looks like a good ground work, I look forward to see how they expand it.

[Morfiend]

In a moment of weakwillidness I bought it. Anyone have a clan for me to join? Going to be playing mostly Medic and/or Recon.

[Mrbloodworth]

In a moment of weakwillidness I bought it. Anyone have a clan for me to join? Going to be playing mostly Medic and/or Recon.

I have an agency, we are shopping ourselves out for an alliance though.

SafetyTech is the name. Click the link to apply, and we will get you in. (that should work I think) They have a rather awesome web page that has a ton of data, and seems to have some decent agency management tools right on it.
 
Also: The Escapist Presents: Global Agenda Interview

And: “Spy-Fi”: Global Agenda Footage

[01101010]

As long as someone is not yelling in my ear to take my wraith to rehack Bomazi - I'll be ok. That said, the more I reread the 5 tons of text, the more it makes sense... except the bidding part which is a nice mechanic, but bidding on a place to fight just sounds silly.

[Mrbloodworth]

As long as someone is not yelling in my ear to take my wraith to rehack Bomazi - I'll be ok.

You will be ok.

[LK]

This seems like a system that works. Making credits leading to persistant resources or having a large money sink in the form of bidding on territories.

Mining?

[Morfiend]

After playing for a while, one thing really stands out to me as being left out.

They should start everyone in some kind of new player agency. Like EVE does. This way people could get a taste of what Conquest is like. I enjoy the game, but I honestly think it should have been $29 instead of $49. It just doesnt feel like there is enough here to justify a $49 price tag.

[Mrbloodworth]

Apparently, you can play with a 360 controller if you would like.

http://hi-rez.custhelp.com/app/answers/ndaforum/a_id/28

Also, There are 50 maps in the game currently (PvP, PvE, AvA) not including tutorial so they say. I put its value with out subscription on par with that of my original TF2 purchase. Perhaps that doesn't help that it was part of the orange box, the RPG portions of the game offset this for me though.

[LK]

It's getting kinda funny because my skills in a 360 controller are starting to exceed my mouse skills just because I keep playing console FPS.

[Nonentity]

There ARE a lot of damn maps, I'll give them that much. The PvE ones have a few decent setpieces, but are pretty empty for the most part. I suppose it follows suit with the PvP level design, but still - I kind of expected more.

The PvP maps are fairly well laid out, and symmetrical for the most part.

[Mrbloodworth]

First Impressions: Global Agenda

[Kageru]

One of the responses is quite detailed. I've corrected the post to correct his level (he got called on being level 30), a typo and him screwing up the conclusion.

Apparently there are no AvA zones open in Australian-pacific timezones and no Australian servers (though they have expressed an intention) so it's proving a very easy game to let slide. If / when they launch a demo I'll give it a try then.

[Mrbloodworth]

I think, given the very open, and ever changing definition of "MMO", its a bit retarded to try to use "Its not a MMO" as a way to discredit it. "What is an MMO" is an ongoing, endless debate, and doesn't matter anymore, and as more and more titles come out, that also confuse this line, its going to more and more irrelevant. Personal opinion on if something is worth your money, is a different story. Some will not find it worth it, but that can be said about any game. Making the claim that something is "Failed" when it is still in operation, and most likely making a profit (they are adding more euro capacity due to "better than expected sales") is, to use the term, Fail. Also, who ever wrote the above, left out the part where every hex is linked and the capture or loss of one, directly affects the other in very tangible ways.

I dont claim that its perfect, or that it isn't lacking some things I would enjoy, but for what it is, its a dam solid offering and a hell of a lot of fun if you are into this sort of thing. The battles we had just last night, were epic.

[Lantyssa]

Well, I think people have been thinking MMO must mean EQ as being incorrect for a very long time.  Unfortunately, the suits also think labeling something MMO means it needs a high subscription price is equally incorrect, and far more damaging to these games.

They need to focus on making a cool game first and then worry about whether it deserves labeling MMO and if it should have some crazy sub price.  I'm getting much less tolerant of subscribing to anything if it isn't a good game first and foremost.

[Mrbloodworth]

I feel that.

Hence why I tried to describe this game as best I could in my requested review. IMO, its is a good game first, it is a solid action shooter, that other than players, no one has tried to say it was anything but an action shooter. It don't think you will find anyone saying this is a ultramodern, ultra realistic per-pixel hit detection military simulation. There is also the point, that this game was intended to be fully subscription based, they changed to the current pricing due to feedback, is that so unreasonable? I would never have touched it if they had not. Thankfully, they have not taken any subscription money, and will not until after the first content patch (that also, included new modes, mobs, game play types, maps and things for the "box price" game). I think the only downside to its development is that they put to much into the combat (and it shows, this isn't a bad thing) rather than "content", in fact I know things were held back from the launch version due to it not being up to snuff (This included DX10 features).

As to if I will be subscribing, the jury is out on that, it does depend on this next update, I like the appeal of the conquest mode, but I have been happy with this as a 40$ shooter. But your point about making a good game first, I think they are at that point, the combat is rock solid, so are the connections and all the "shooter" bits, now its time to add to it.

My group has been getting into more of the AvA stuff, and I can tell you right now, its a completely different level of play. I would consider the "box" game training only.

[Nonentity]

I agree with what Bloodworth is saying for the most part - as just a shooter, I've gotten my money's worth. The core gameplay is solid enough to keep me coming back to it. I haven't done any of the AvA, but from all I hear, it's not worth paying for at the moment.

The one thing I appreciate is that they released it as a shooter, but claim they are planning on supporting it like an MMO. If they can do that, I'll throw them my monthly fee.

[Morfiend]

I think they need to do a bit of balance tweaking on the core gameplay. Turrets seem a bit to powerful for how quickly and easily they are set up.

Also, I have noticed that a teams win loss ratio seems to be directly related to how many Recons are you your team in relation to ether Assault or Robos.

[Malakili]

The one thing I appreciate is that they released it as a shooter, but claim they are planning on supporting it like an MMO. If they can do that, I'll throw them my monthly fee.

I remember when they were just planning on releasing it as an MMO and a lot of people were very skeptical about it, and saying maybe if it was just a shooter with no monthly fee it might be more worth it.  The surprise of course if that they actually listened to people saying that.  To me, thats a better sign than any other thing.  The fact that they were willing to do something as dramatic as changing their structure like that makes me hopeful.

[Mrbloodworth]

I think they need to do a bit of balance tweaking on the core gameplay. Turrets seem a bit to powerful for how quickly and easily they are set up.

Also, I have noticed that a teams win loss ratio seems to be directly related to how many Recons are you your team in relation to ether Assault or Robos.

I know a few Robos that would debate you to death about the set up time of a turret :)

As for recons, to many seem to think the game is about kill count. F'em.  Medics/robos have a direct counter to those dam recons. (Poison AOE, and Robos have...the eye)

Over all, IMO balance is polished as it can be. I have no complaints, at least nothing thats beyond my momentary rage of death.

Why are you people not in my agency? 

[Nonentity]

Recons are great at sneaking behind turrets and taking them out, and picking off people on a spawn point from a distance with sniper rifles. Too often, I see recons just get into these heated Recon Vs. Recon battles out in the middle of fuck-all-ville, nowhere near the objective point.

Turrets do a LOT of fucking damage. The real problem with them is that nobody picks them off when they're setup, or make no effort to take them out. Doing an EMP grenade/nade launcher combo on my Assault, I can usually take them out before they're built, but any decent Robotic can put a turret in the most obnoxious position possible on capture points.

[Morfiend]

I guess whats frustrating to me is that there is no "ramp up" time for turrets like in TF2 (From my limited experience). If I accedently walk in to ones frame of fire, I usually have no chance to even back pedal before being deaded.

[caladein]

I'm not saying I like it: but the PvE, especially when it comes to environmental hazards, is a lot more complex than any MMO I've played.

The traps, alarm sweeps, and "Hey, don't be an idiot and blindly run around a corner!" keep things interesting; even at Medium difficulty.

[Mrbloodworth]

Some personal screen shots. Awesome AvA turrets and siege equipment.

I posted that a bit late last night. I had meant to add a bit of a story to it, but I was sleepy.

Last night was our first REAL push in AvA, we did three missions to grab three hexes in the zone. The first, no defenders showed up, so that was easy. The second, while capping the third and finial point for that facility, two defenders entered the match, just in time for us to cap it :)

The third attack we attempted, we met with a strong opposition, however we pulled it off, the first point with in the match we took with 40 seconds left on the clock, moving to the second point in the facility (the timer resets to 10 after every sub point cap) the opposition seemed to get very angry that this band of scrubs was making any progress, little did they know our previous attempt at capturing a hex earlier in the week was full of shame as the defending force put us back in our drop ship, no joke it was that bad, forcing us to just Waite out the clock. But this mission, at the second point, the defenders busted out a mech (same type found in the PvP matches) the machine is easily about 4 players in power and loves to slap about attackers that clump up (Unblockable melee that seems to have a sweeping range ahead of it, ouch!). After messing with this guy for about three minutes, we finialy defeated the mech, this is a rather stinging loss for an agency, not just a map attempt, those things are expensive. With the fall of the mech, it seemed moral dropped starkly on the defending side, we easily pushed them out of the second point (or perhaps they decided to take the loss and set up at the third). The third point, was a fight to the death, we had taken 2 hexes from them already uncontested as they defended/attacked other hexes, however this hex, contained of of the defending agencies ore mines. We fought back and forth in very intense battles, both sides really shaped up and started to really work as a team, made for one of the most fun battles I have played in a LONG time in any FPS (I get very bored of the mindless zerg, "Every man for his self", and K/D soloists of series like BF/quake/Halo ETC...). We eventually got the goal with less than 20 seconds on the clock, but not with out a knockdown drag out fight.

Later, after having successfully claimed 3 hexes for our agency, the real fun began. When a zone is open it is open for about three hours a day, same time, every day. In that zone any hex is fair game to attack (well, the ones with out shields and other logistic conditions). The counter attack had begun. Goon agenda did not take kindly to the thrashing we gave them, nor in taking two of the hexes they owned with no opposition. We awoke a lion! They attacked us in three hexes at the same time, we, due to lack of manpower could only repeal one. Once again, each point was a struggle to defend (fair struggle, good balanced fun), our untrained ragtag group was giving everything we had to defend our newly won factory. However the teamwork and coordination of the attacking force of the GoonAgenda won the day, and sent us home. Meanwhile, uncontested the other two hexes were retaken.

But to punish us it seems, they decided that other agencies in our alliance did not require the hexes they had in the time zone eather. Alarms started firing off as our alliance was attacked, thankfully others int he alliance had begun to come online, and two strike teams were able to be filled out. Alarms of being attacked started poping up on every member who was online screen. To shorten this up, the end of the night was a series of close calls and epic struggles in opposition of a clearly more practiced force.

However it came down to our sister agency HQ, as seen in the first screen shot above, they has a bit of an arsenal of AvA equipment stockpiled up, including a exo-suit and some very heavy rocket turrets. But, the goons put pressure on us, they force fired door shields, pressed on our support classes, and using fluctuating stick and move coordinated attacks, won the day.... At the last point, with 10 seconds to spare.

/shakefist

We ended the night with being taken off the map, alliance wide. But, it was some of the most fun I have had in a very long time.

Please excuse my typing. Also, consider this a request for more bodies.

[01101010]

Love to pick up the game, but my car just shot me and my bank account in the ass. It'll be a bit before I have any disposable income.