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The Agency: CES Update on The Agency
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
Carolyn Koh, who traveled last week to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show has returned and today files this report on SOE's upcoming spy-based MMORPG, The Agency.
Designer Hal Milton, Studio Manager Matt Wilson and Art Director Corey Dangel were all present in Vegas and showing off The Agency, but Hal was doing all the talking. He was on a caffeine high (I understood they actually let him have a double latte) and the other guys were letting him talk. Nineteen to the dozen, spewing out facts faster than machine gun fire, his passion for The Agency evident in every wave of his hands, he talked while we watched the trailer and took disjointed notes as quickly as we could write.
James Bond, Modesty Blaise, Man from Uncle, Mission Impossible, those are the worlds that The Agency epitomizes. Suave sophistication, high espionage mixed up with fast action, high-risk missions. It’s about cool gadgetry and plain old fire power. You choose your style. Do you prefer the suave, sophisticated Bruce Wayne, silent, utility-belt-nifty method of gaining entrance into a locked facility? Then you would probably join U.N.I.T.E. (United Nations Intelligence and Tactical Experts). If you identify with the down and dirty Frank Castle fire-power jeep and bazooka method of entry, you might prefer ParaGON, the Paramilitary Global Operations Network.
We listened to the main Agency theme as the trailer rolled and Hal talked, praising the composition by Tom Salta – the composer for music for games such as Red Steel, Ghost Recon2 and for NBC’s 2006 Winter Olympics. “It really gets you going! You think you know the theme. It’s so familiar you feel like you know it,” and it is. The main theme is Get Smart, Mission Impossible and James Bond, but it’s not – and yet, that will give readers an idea of the excitement the music elicits in listeners.
;)
Read all about it here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
This game looks great! I wonder if this will be a 2009 release?
I've seen the Fraps demo, and... I can't believe I'm saying this about an SOE product... this actually looks fantastic. Favourite touch so far? The in-game arcade machines with Sony-licenced titles from days of yore (QBert anyone?), which despite being sidegames are supposed to have some effect on the gameworld. It looks like the best attempt at a modern-day setting MMO yet.
Looks promising. I hope this gets all the support that a unique genre / theme and a new IP should get so we can show encouragement for the industry to be daring and to continue to explore non-dragon related game ideas.
To err is human....to play is divine
Indeed, I've been interested in an online Spy oriented game since I played Danger International (pencil and paper) waaay back in the early 90's.
Now if Microsoft would let some real developer have the shadowrun and battletech licenses... Microsoft keeps shafting the MMO's for these two IP's.
Definitly looks very fun, will have to see what becomes of this one for sure.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
this game looks like a yesterday-generation game and why should I pay 15 bucks each month to play a team-fortress2 clone ?
the graphics looks crap and noway is this game a mmorpg...
I would try this game, but you know Sony Online Entertainment is on top of my "nono-list" so, SOE you screwed up, give it up its over...
"You must be either retarded or a fanboi..."
this game looks like a yesterday-generation game and why should I pay 15 bucks each month to play a team-fortress2 clone ?
the graphics looks crap and noway is this game a mmorpg...
I would try this game, but you know Sony Online Entertainment is on top of my "nono-list" so, SOE you screwed up, give it up its over...
lol thats what I was thinkin.
I got no problems with SOE, but this game looks like a TFC2 copy to me, it really doesnt impress me at all.
plus the bad reputation of SOE gives me another reason no to play this game.
SOE and NGE-Star Wars Galalaxies:
Raph Koster: "It's like dumping the girlfriend who has always been patient and loving to chase after the supermodel who probably won't love you back."
this game looks like a yesterday-generation game and why should I pay 15 bucks each month to play a team-fortress2 clone ?
the graphics looks crap and noway is this game a mmorpg...
I would try this game, but you know Sony Online Entertainment is on top of my "nono-list" so, SOE you screwed up, give it up its over...
I have to agree , This looks to much like TFC2. Just as well SOE is on top no it is the Nono-list.Unaware of the Jestor?
http://about.me/JestorRodo/
Friends enjoy his classic Vblog - https://www.facebook.com/GoodOldReliableNathan
Smith & Tinker
http://www.smithandtinker.com/news/
And the best part of their acquisition of these franchises is that Jordan Weisman is the founder of Smith & Tinker........He also is the founder of FASA.
There will be big things comming from this company I'm sure of it.
From the gameplay video, it looks a bit...cartoony, like Team Fortress 2 cartoony.
Smith & Tinker
http://www.smithandtinker.com/news/
And the best part of their acquisition of these franchises is that Jordan Weisman is the founder of Smith & Tinker........He also is the founder of FASA.
There will be big things comming from this company I'm sure of it.
Well I hope Microsoft has left them for good... there was a MMO being developed at one point called Battletech 3025 and then there was the recently shelved Shadowrun game (now its developer is trying to keep it alive but under a different name: www.sixthworldgames.com).
Both IP's are just supremely fertile grounds for MMO's.
OMG Sony sucks and I'll never... play another... wow... that looks cool... game from... huh... can't wait to see more... die in a fire Sony... umm... any mention of beta?
Carolyn, great use of Comic book references! Very nice article.
I keep seeing everyone referring to TF2...yet, I dont get that...
Is it the class structure?
The visuals?
I can see how the look may be close to TF2 due to the models coloring styles...well, I mean, it has a cartoonish comic book look...but, TF2 uses over exaggerated character models...and the comic book colors have been used in the past...like WoW?
The fact is...most genres have peaked, and something has been made that will match something else to an extent...the main bit is...will it be FUN...
So far ...2007 proved to be the year of UN-FUN..
LOTRO...Boring as all get out
Tabula Rasa - Where is the teamwork?....snooze
Hellgate - "Hey, haven't I been here before? These dungeons all look the same....."
Vanguard - Well...maybe this game will be good in 2009...
From the setup, mission styles, and visual quality (the animations I have seen in ALL videos has been quite realistic)...maybe the game will also have that something that most of this genre has lost
FUN!
Later
I have to admit that this one looks very nice indeed. A new genre, backed up by a company with a great deal of MMORPG experience.
Rather than the usual, "ooh i hope they do this", or "I hope they DON'T do that", etc - lets just keep our fingers crossed and watch as the game unfolds into a fantastic new opportunity to play online.
The game looks great, then I remember...
This is the same company that has Vanguard and The Matrix Online so my hopes are then set to nothing. No matter how good it looks, I am sure they will make it suck. Vanguard with guns; no thanks.
SOE is the anti-FUN company. They believe work is fun. It isn't.
this game looks like a yesterday-generation game and why should I pay 15 bucks each month to play a team-fortress2 clone ?
the graphics looks crap and noway is this game a mmorpg...
I would try this game, but you know Sony Online Entertainment is on top of my "nono-list" so, SOE you screwed up, give it up its over...
Has there been something said somewhere that this is going to Pay to Play? Last I read about that was it would be a Free to Play but some options would have to be bought. I don't much like such models but will have to wait and see.
It's great idea. I have wondered why companies haven't added in more in game games like hearts which allow people to socialize and play. This is looking interesting....
I kinda like the almost cartoony looks. I played Crysis on high setting, watched CoD4, Assasins Creed and Uncharted on PS3... All of them look great, they realy do. Enviroment is truly beautiful and immersive, but when we come to the character you are playing, or in case of FPSs, characters you are shooting at immersion get's headshoted.
It's the thing with artificial characters, the closer they are to real world graphics the more you are aware they are in fact 3D models.
It's also one of the reasons WoW works so well, not because it's most beautiful, but because you spend very litle time watching how realistic it looks, you accept it's a game and go with the flow... true to life avatars only end up looking creepy anyway, not beautiful.
Nice to hear about other stuff in game, after the first trailers it looked boring and unimaginative, now it's starting to look like it could actualy be very fun to jump in occasionaly and do some MMOing from my La-Z-Boy.
What strikes me most about The Agency is the developers appear to actually be trying to make a MMOwith different mechanics to all the others. I love the idea of gaining XP in proportion to how well I play a mission. In the example given in the story, it sounds like you get more XP, or at least cash, for saving all four pillars than for just one. So better players can actually level and grow faster than people who just have a lot of time on their hands to grind.
The idea of extending the game outside the PC environment also seems to be being developed. Some dude whose name I forget, was on Major Nelson's podcast recently talking about doing things like this. I love the idea that I could be getting emails or texts in RL from the game. Perhaps bad for careers or school grades, but surely the next step in MMO immersion. Imagine it - you stay up till 2am to complete a mission and gather a piece of top secret software. You log off for a few hours sleep before heading to work. At 10am your phone buzzes - in-game intelligence has decoded what you brought in last night and has your next target. 'Er, excuse me everyone', you say to your colleagues, 'I have to pop out for a minute'. And then you're racing off to the nearest Starbucks to get online and find out what's next at The Agency. Could be very cool, very addictive.
Second, don't talk about things you don't know anything about. Vamguard; to be completely honest with you I was a developer in this game. And our team started out with Microsoft, and when they were about to ditch a million or so dollar project becasue making a MMo is not easy ... SOE took it from the grave. If you want to blame anyone for the shitty quality of Vanguard blame Microsoft. Secon its SOE thats repairing the game themeselves, last I checked they are doing a complete over hall of the game and it looks good. They are fixing the memory leaks, and blue screen crashes Microsoft can't seem to fix. The only thing SOE did wrong was when it came to Star Wars Galaxies with the NGE crap, but most of all thats not really that suprising considering they added a new team and fired all the other ones on the original project.
Third, Do not start trolling around because you spread lies and rumors of thing you don't kow anything about. Sorry you have no world out side of the World of Warcraft, which is probably the least invative game out, though I can't complete dis it becasue I play it every now and then. Just because most of you have no experience in new age inivation, doesnt give you a right to complain about things you have no clue about.
Sorry just can't stand trolls on forums.
O and for those who want to Beta Up on this game go to the flash website, and click on the Bullet next to the Agency title.
With all the doubts I have about any new game, I have to say that every time I see more information on The Agency, the more excited I get. I suppose I won't know until it ends up on my computer. MMOs evolve so maybe it'll just keep getting better. So excited... and really excited that I didn't have to buy a PS3 for it like I thought I would when I first heard about it.
I have to say I really like the idea of operatives. The entire game sounds like so much to do. It sounds overwhelming at first but definitely sounds like it'll have more staying power.