Global Agenda Preview (beta)

In the past I have been lucky enough to participate in the beta testing for City of Villains and Auto Assault.  So when I got a chance to try out the beta of Global Agenda I jumped at it.  What I find great about the whole beta testing process is getting a glimpse into a game before the final version gets released to the public.   Even thought the game is already out, I haven’t had a chance to go get it yet, so this is my Global Agenda preview of the beta.

The game is set in a futuristic world where you have a choice of 4 archetypes to play with in recon, assault, medic and robotics.  Each caters to different types of game play and has their own advantages and disadvantages.  Missions are gained from a hub where you join a team of players to either complete a PvE or PvP mission.  I was disappointed that there did not seem to be any solo play options.  Character customization is initially limited to just changing the look of the face and hair, unlike games like City of Heroes or Villains which offer a wider range of appearance options.  Any further changes in appearance comes at a price, from changing the paint color and armor upgrades that can be purchased later.

The archetype you choose to play really depends on your game style.  With Assault you get a fair amount of weapon power with a chain gun, heightened armor and health regeneration abilities.  While it was fun to blast away at your opponents I found it limiting and nothing that I have not played before.  The only time I found the type truly effective was having a medic nearby to keep healing me as I dealt out the damage.

With a medic you are essentially the healer of the party, throwing off heal bombs and firing a gelatinous heal ray at your teammates.  Low on offense power, this is great for anyone who likes to be the support member of the party.  I found that if the medic is doing his/her job in the mission the chances of keeping a good tight team from constantly having to re-spawn members goes up considerably.   Even though every player gets a jetpack, having to make your way back through the mission map to your team can be tiresome.

The recon class uses steath and speed to make it’s mark in the game.  Essentially functioning  as a scout you can use invisibility mode which looks great on screen but to me was not very useful when I used it.  I am sure if I were to get into that type of game play it might be more interesting in later levels,  but early on it did not catch my interest.

Of all of the classes I found robotics the most interesting.  It offers the most variety of the four classes, offering both offensive and defensive abilities to the team.  The ablity to create a shield or auto turret on the fly were fun and gave me something more to do than just shooting the heck out of enemy robots.   It is definately a class I would be tempted to play more and see what could be done in higher levels.

Overall the key to playing this game seems to be teamwork.  As long as you keep your party in a tight group and each class/archetype does their job the survival rate really remains high.  Most times by playing this way you can finish in time with very little re-spawning.  While you will do most of your fighting with range weapons,  there are melee weapons for each class that seem to be more useful in the Player VS. Player Environment.

In addition to Player Vs. Environment play I also got a chance to try out Player Vs Player mode.  In this mode it is basically a free for all in an arena where you just shoot at the enemy color and try and survive.  For the most part I kept getting punked by the opposition as soon as I entered the zone. Playing the assault class I found the only way to survive was to find someone else on the same side to team up with on the fly, preferably a medic.  While PVP mode has never been my favorite aspect of any MMO, I can see where this part of the game would appeal to some people.

So after trying the beta will I be tempted to pay to play the game, the answer is more than likely yes.  Despite some flaws such as getting stuck in the tutorial with a non-functioning jet-pack (which you can skip through thankfully) and very awkward looking leg movements, which I am sure will be solved in the final product.  The game works great as a futuristic third-person shooter with some interesting RPG elements and plenty to keep you coming back to it.