Only a few months after it first appeared as a subscription-based MMO, Global Agenda pops up again in retail form and with free membership. This is a third-person MMO that throws you into a deep and intriguing mix of single player, co-op and deathmatch battles all geared to get you to a level where some of the game's more unique features kick in.
As with all MMOs, leveling up is your passport to better abilities, more features and more competitive battles, including the game's final combat mode, Agency Vs Agency. However, you start with a few single-player levels to familiarise yourself with the gameplay but also accumulate experience points that can be used in the online game.
Whichever mode you choose, you start by choosing from one of 4 character classes – Assault, Medic, Recon or Robotics – each with three distinct skills. Medics, for instance, are lightly armed but crucial to keeping rocket-launching Assault types at fighting fitness. Admittedly, strong team roles have been an FPS staple since Team Fortress, the game that laid down many of the ground rules that Global Agenda tries to evolve into MMO-form. But this game imposes a more RPG-rigor in how characters are developed and skills balanced.
Added to this is a massive choice of weapons, equipment or handheld devices to deploy and upgrade, making your character as customised as you want it to be and the interchange between team members more varied and unpredictable than most shoot-em-ups. However, there is a price for all this new-found freedom.
See, if you want to survive the frantic 10x10 Player vs Player Deathmatches, you'll need XP, which means continually slogging through the Player Vs Environment missions to level up. Here you play against human or AI opponents and bosses in one of several game types (such as "capture the flag") that crop up again and again in different settings. While neither these nor the storyline offer anything new, as the game has developed more adventurous elements are appearing. One recently added level, for instance, has you donning jetpacks with your team to undertake a truly vast desert terrain quest. However, the formulaic design of other levels, often set in look-alike bases and labs, make the recurrent PvE levels more of a chore than they should be.
One way out of this Catch 22 is a "boost pack", which doubles XP points and tokens, starting at £5.95 for 10 days. Remember, without sufficient XP, you'll be struggling for PvP competitiveness and largely deprived the game's most adventurous mode, AvA, which allows you to from larger alliances, control resources and invest in remote defenses, weapons and even droids. It's a turning point in the game but one that must be reached through hard cash or long hours of often aimless skirmishing.
Global Agenda still feels like an MMO finding its true direction, but the recent Sandstorm expansion (included in this release) shows the developers have the ability to take it in unexpected and exciting directions. There's also a free trial pack to give you a taste of the gameplay through the early levels, so why not see if it works for you.
