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The Agency: E3 Progress Report
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
When MMORPG.com writer Carolyn Koh attended this year's E3, one of the "must-see" games had to be The Agency from Sony Online Entertanment. A first in the genre, The Agency will put players into the world of super spies and mercenaries. Today, Carolyn files this report.
"It's a spy adventure. You go into it for the action, the lust, the adventure, the intrigue, the romance! Think of James Bond. Espionage. The Bourne Identity," enthused Corey Dangel, Art Director for The Agency. The Agency by Sony Online Entertainment was announced just weeks earlier at their Gamer Day. Set in the modern age, it will be their AAA spy thriller MMOG. Players can approach the world of espionage in two different ways. Join U.N.I.T.E or ParaGON. I asked Corey what the attractions of each faction were.
"Well," he answered, "U.N.I.T.E. is the 'official' agency. They project a suave, sophisticated image. Think of the James Bond type. ParaGON, on the other hand, will evoke images of the freelance bounty hunter types." He continued telling me of the variances in gameplay between the two. The U.N.I.T.E. agent might use sophisticated methods of getting through to an old booby-trapped warehouse to gain an objective, such as obtaining the codes to the security system or disarming it somehow, sleeping the guards with gas; while the ParaGON agent might just storm the gates with a truck and bazooka, tossing a few grenades along the way. Hmm... somewhat like Bruce Wayne in comparison to Frank Castle? I asked this question, comparing two famous comic book vigilantes. Corey admitted to not being familiar with Frank Castle (The Punisher), but told me that they were working on the creating the two agencies' recruitment videos which would be part of the game and show what the two groups are about.
;)
Read the whole report here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Sounds cool. Will have to wait to hear more and see where it goes. Sounds like it could be fun but have to see something that makes me think it is not going to be something like Planetside.
Yes I played SWG, yes I was burned but not as much as SOE themselves. Love the idea of this game and will be following closely, I think its a great, 'original' platform to bring to an mmo and one that I persoannly think will lend itself very well if done right.
I must admit, at this stage I dont have much faith, but I have much hope.
-----
The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
It's built for the PS3 so wonder how it'll turn out.
So it wont be for PC? This sounds great but, as usual with most MMOs, I hope the hype does not set up a false hope in players.
""But Coyote, you could learn! You only prefer keyboard and mouse because that's all you've ever known!" You might say right before you hug a rainforest and walk in sandals to your drum circle where you're trying to raise group consciousness of ladybugs or whatever it is you dirty goddamn hippies do when you're not busy smoking pot and smelling bad."
Coyote's Howling: Death of the Computer
This is weird...
I look at this game...and I feel exhausted. I guess I am getting old. Or delusionned toward SoE.
I guess I will try to understand and figure this game later, now is just not a good moment I guess.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
So it wont be for PC? This sounds great but, as usual with most MMOs, I hope the hype does not set up a false hope in players.
It will be built for both platforms.
Notice: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of MMORPG.com or its management.
So it wont be for PC? This sounds great but, as usual with most MMOs, I hope the hype does not set up a false hope in players.
It will be built for both platforms.
So it will essentially be a PS3 port like the game Final Fantasy was a PS2 port
Wonderfull.
"Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god."
-- Jean Rostand
This game has my attention. I hope it can keep it.
Total time played: 9125 Days, 21 Hours, 29 Minutes, 27 Seconds
Time played this level: 39 Days, 1 Hour, 24 Minutes, 5 Seconds
I think this game will be a Very tough sell, unless they can come up with some major hook. Just saying it's an espionage game "like James Bond" is way too vague to be compelling. Also comparing it to movies is hazardous since the feeling of Suspense and Drama created by a film doesn't translate very well to an open ended mmog, unless maybe it's heavily instanced. I dunno maybe they'll pull it off but at first glance it just feels like 'flop in the making'
Looks like a Shooter MMO like ww2 online. Hard to believe they can capture the feel of James Bond, maybe Mack Bolan. The picture indicate this.
I don't like the comment on PvP scenarios. Battlegrounds can be fun, but open PvP is generally a lot more fun. The game had originally appeared to be more PvP and community based but now it looks too PvE. In anycase it would be fun to play on a nice flat screen with a PS3.
ROFL
I was reading real fast and at first when I can across this:
...such as obtaining the codes to the security system or disarming it somehow, sleeping the guards with gas; while the ParaGON...
I thought I read "sleeping with the guards... with gas"
For just a second I thought... why do you need to tell me that the guards I distract by sleeping with them have gas?
I'm intrigued. They need some unique futures for this game to succeed.
Looks nice so far! , hope it will be a succes
This looks like it will be a true third generation MMO. I like the integration of text messages to portable devices, and the fps approach. I think SOE will be able to do a good job on it. I think they have learned from past mistakes... IE SWG.
Seems like a good sell for a console but a bad sell for the experienced mmo crowd that are PC gamers. This kind of idea would have to be heavily instanced to be truly enjoyable and it probably will be. Imagine an open world of spies with 20 agents around each corner, sneaking around has never been harder :P
I was thinking the exact same thing.
I'm looking for a good MMO that offers player housing, player cities, and a strong community built on interdependancy. I cannot see that happening in this game, but I can see it being successful for the console market.
Aw hell.....I was all stoked for this game.....
1. it's produces by sony...-100 out of 100 points
2. It's being made for console as well....another -100 points.
This game has been dumbed down to be a simple Spy vs Spy WoW clone imho and is no longer worth keeping tabs of.
SOE has more than 1 failure, ever heard of Matrix Online, Vanguard ?
Being made for the PS3 eh. Oh goody, a console port. Allow me to express my interest at playing an MMO that's been dumbed down:
::yawn::
Matrix Online was developed by Warner Brothers, not SOE. It was bought by SOE for the sake of doing so, nothing more.
Vanguard was Sigil's failure, SOE is currently in the process of fixing it.
As for this, have to agree with most, it just seems like it would be a 'cool, i'll play this, but I really wouldn't spend money on it' kind of concept. It's neat, but it doesn't look like there will be much depth to it, which makes it not a long-lasting experience.
You mean the Matrix Online produced by Warner Brothers game studios and acquired by SOE in the deal for the rights to make the DC Comics MMO?
And do you mean Vanguard Saga Of Heroes originally produced by Sigil Entertainment and Microsoft Game Studios? You know, two totally entities completely separate from SOE? SOE took over as publisher of Vanguard about 5 months before the game launched, and when then later purchased the game outright from Sigil.
Like the man said, just admit you don't have one clue what you are talking about, and that you just don't like SOE.
They are SOEs failures now. Also I have nothing against SOE, I'm more into developer hatred :P I dislike Turbine for example and Mythic. :P
How do you define failure? People still play all of the SOE games, so they failed because they do not have 9 million users like WoW? Asherons call 2 failed because it is no longer available, it failed but I don't think any of SOEs game can be called failures. Not as successful as other games maybe.
I think it looks pretty cool. I like the idea of the text message to my cell phone idea when important things that affect my character happen. but as was said already, the idea of 20 spies walking around a city would make me not feel like a spy at all. Maybe if there were distinguishing stats that I could acquire to make me the "best" spy... but still I'm not sure. Also they said about the console thing; I tried to think about all the past mmo's I've played and wondered how those would turn out if they were made into a console game and I couldn't see how it could be done. Though I suppose consoles can be hooked up to the internet now so I imagine it would be like xbox's halo 2 or oblivion only with more people. It could work. I'll wait till I try it in beta b4 I completely condem it though. Looks cool and will follow for future updates.