Global Agenda – Swapping my Staff for a Jetpack.

This week I have been trying out Global Agenda. It is a futuristic third person shooter MMO that I spent some time exploring. I played two classes, the first was a medic, which as you guessed it, is a healer class. The second was the assault class which I played as more of a tank but is also a heavy hitter and has some nice secondary weapons to choose from (mini guns, rocket launchers etc).

Trading my staff for a rifle

I will admit that I only managed to get to level 12 (on both characters) and have played some battlegrounds and several instances. Both are approximately 15 minutes long and have timers which limit the time you can take before failing the missions (or highest score wins in the PvP battlegrounds).

The game does not have a subscription fee so sits in the same category as Guild Wars (GW), and its focus on small instanced battles reminded me of the way GW worked. It has some snazzy little touches, like the jet-pack which adds an element of fun and difference when darting around, or jumping great chasms to reach the boss of a PvE instance. It also added an element of strategy as the jet-pack draws from the same power as your weapons. So burning all your power on shooting at a boss won't help in the long run if your unable to fly to safety from a retaliatory attack.

That said, I have found my gaming session do not last very long. The game doesn't grab me and it doesn't feel like something I can put time into to expand or grow my character and thus enjoyment and want to invest time into. I think that my excitement and anticipation for other titles such as Earthrise (which should be in the post) is altering my experience at the moment. Perhaps that will change in the future.

Does anyone know any recruitment agencies?

One key element I have found lacking is the social tools of the game. An example of this, is when I have been looking to join an agency (guild) but of my time in game I have met next to no one I would say I had a proper conversation with. I had played several hours on each character and explored the desert I was in yet found either it was very sparsely populated, or that there was nothing to bring me into contact with others. I could pretty much solo all content I was given up to that point without a single quest that made the think of grouping with others.

Even the Battlegrounds and instances I visited seemed anti-social, rarely would anyone speak and I was reminded very much so of the Looking for Group tool they introduced to World of Warcraft (WoW) back in the Wrath of the Lich king expansion. It removed the talking, co-operation and commitment needed to defeat the dungeon bosses. I can join a mission and be gone in 15 minutes never see or speak to those agents (players) I worked along side with, ever again.

I am not saying that there is no way to join an agency, only that in my experience it seemed that for my level I was not encouraged to join one or even had any mention of one. At higher levels I am certain it would allow me to access endgame content but it was not something I have had the resolve to strive for yet.

I have also experienced some rather disturbing lag issues, ones that would make the game difficult to enjoy and was a definite mood killers. I found myself having to log in and out of the client just to keep it tracking my characters movements. That and at times it would just be unable to connect to the server (all of which I tested to ensure there was no connection problem my end as far as I could tell).

Worth a shot!

I got Global Agenda for £5 (as it was on sale on Steam) which I think is fair for the game. I am glad its got no subscription so I can pick it up and put it down as I please, it has that kind of appeal for me. That said the game does make some nice battlegrounds and there are some nice tools at your agents disposal. I recommend you give it a go if you fancy blasting away at robots or others people with futuristic guns. Oh and don't forget flying around on your jet-pack!