Global Agenda

[Toro]

Was checking out steam the other day and found Global Agenda coming out Feb 1. I know a couple people have mentioned it, but here's the full shit.

As a primer, check this shot at WoW out [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLwUjyP-dkQ]No Elves[/ame] Thought it was pretty funny.

The best way to sum up the game is it, if WoW battles grounds and TF2 had a kid that gulid wars raised this would be it.

Overarching strategy seems like Planetside (Base capture on planets for resources, domination, etc.), yet it's broken down into instanced Unreal type fights. They're running it on the unreal engine. Agencies (Guilds) and Alliances (Multiple guilds) seem to be the primary source of drive for the combat, i.e taking bases in the name of the Agency/Alliance. Also, the actual PvP looks team oriented and not just run and gun shit. Seems KAAOS-conducive. Only catch is that the real multiplayer takes a monthly fee. Here's the gameplay facts gleaned from the forums:

Gameplay

Twitch gameplay with full body hitboxes.
No head hitboxes = no headshots (I personally like this, makes it a little less twitchy)
Infinite Ammo. Your weapons recharge/reload but no need to replenish ammo.
No friendly fire, but you can hurt yourself.
You take fall damage.
Friend or Foe player collision detection.
Shields will NOT have collision detection against players.
(There are vehicles from what I've seen in the videos)

Characters

Gameplay montage of the four different classes in PvP/PvE [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO8CXH225g0&fmt=22]Montage.[/ame]

4 archetypes or classes. Assault, Medic, Engineer (Robotic), Recon.
Each class has a jet pack.
Each class can have many unique variations: skills, stats, gear and achievements.
Leveling grants a greater diversity in weapons, items, etc.
You have one name, it transfers over to all your characters.

PvP

Player driven Agencies
PvP missions can be with one other player regardless of class.
PvP scrims or challenges that are up to 10 vs 10, Agency vs Agency battles.
PvP Alliance vs Alliance battles that are up to 60 vs 60, split up into 8-12 vs 8 -12 separate simultaneous battles. (These are base assaults)
Alliance Campaigns with 45 day competitions/seasons to gain territory, construct facilities, produce/steal resources, construct/protect an alliance complex, and destroy a rival complex. (Rewards for winning these are better gear, prestige, awards, the list was pretty extensive.)
Battles are instanced.
Non Agency players fight together as mercenaries.
Battles have one round and end when objective is met or timer runs out.
Death penalty is a respawn timer.

PvE/World

(Video (Commercial first) of Dome City here, where all players can meet. Skip to 1:10.)

Instanced PvE missions (Think that's what that big yellow robot in the video was.)
Allows up to 5 or more players of any class into PvE
Depending on mission death may cause you to restart a phase.
No heavy quest dialog.
Little exploration.
NPC Factions.
Multiple Cities.
No looting or grinding mobs.
Social areas, vendors, mission contacts.
No traveling for miles to get somewhere. "Globe hopping" with transition videos.

Communication

Voice communication in-game
TS3 (Teamspeak)
In-game text chat.

Customization

(Video of people changing loadouts at :52 here. Made me think of doing some sweet KAAOS colours.)

Clothing that does not affect gameplay.
Customizable Agency bases.


Anyways, looks promising, and definitely the type of game that KAAOS would rape the shit out of. It's open for pre-orders now, and pre-orders allow you to reserve Agency names, so I'll probably go ahead and put a hold on KAAOS in case of interest.

[Toro]

Beta's been open for a couple days now. Game is pretty fuckin sweet.

[Hicks64]

Open beta's for Preorders only?

Anyways, I'm getting bored so I might be up for getting that 4-pack on steam (~$35 each).

[Ezzenon]

I'd go in on that, Hicks.

Our beta guys spoke highly of this for a while, then everybody dropped it for various reasons. Anybody got a recent idea of what it's like?

[Hicks64]

ADD kicked in and I just bought it, but $35's a steal if you can get 4 people.

[Ezzenon]

Report back when you see how the game's shaping up, impatient asshole.

[Hedron]

Just pre-ordered. Installing the beta. Woot! Hope it's good!

[Xenomorph]

It good so far expect for the server going down faster than a prom dress. The best way to sum up the game is it, if WoW battles grounds and TF2 had a kid that gulid wars raised this would be it.

It has the instant queing system just added to WoW where you can get into a random pug and instantly transported into a PvE or PvP match once there are enough palyers. Everything is a instance and the have the Gulid Wars name system where all your chrs share the same name and friends list.

PvE is 4 player missions and PvP is 10v10 (except for conquest which I havent got to try yet because they are having problems with it. Conquest is the part of the game that you have to pay for. So if I like it in beta and enough palyers pick it up it'll be worth subing for.

PvP is fun but I can see if it was organized like the old PS days it would nasty.

[Toro]

Yeah what Xeno said.

Been playing with a couple guys in a semi-organized fashion, but we're only 4 out of the 10 man team we comprise. Even then, you rape shit up when you're on teamspeak and have a medic healing the tank and shit like that. Beautiful fucking game for a 10 on 10 organized match up.

Armor is purely for looks, and there are tons of dyes and shit to customize the hell out of it. Agencies have a tax rate on their players, and the credits that go in to the agency bank are used to buy facilities and mechs and drop ships and stuff for base assaults.
edit: found this link that has all the info on conquest. Tactical missiles, base shields, the whole 9 yards. Sounds like fuckin RISK.

Big differentiation from stuff like WoW and Planetside worth mentioning is that the skill trees don't have nearly as big of a role. They give you some minor passive bonuses (i.e %8 more melee dmg) and a few abilities, but you would never be able to tell how somebody is specced by looking at them.

[Ezzenon]

I'm reposting that link Toro just posted ten seconds ago, because it's something people need to read, and it's not like people actually click links he posts.

This has all the info on their territorial conquest/guild vs. guild sytems

If they actually get that system to work that way on servers that don't take a dive, as well as having their combat be at least mildly entertaining, this should be goddamn amazing. I'm going to hold off preordering for a few more days and see if anybody wants to go in on a 4-pack, but if we don't have 4 by next weekend I'll likely grab it.