Archive for the ‘Media Coverage’ Category

Check out Mogazine’s Anthony Spezzano’s review of Global Agenda including his thoughts on class balance, Sandstorm and the open-world PvE  (“a massive open-world PvE area called the Sonoran Desert, frequently characterized by the statement; “it takes about 15 minutes to jetpack across the area””).

One of the best things about Global Agenda is its class balance. Some class/spec combinations may be more annoying then others but there is no doubt that the balance between classes is by far one of the best in the genre. Even the comparison of the “Common” (white) loot and the “Epic” (purple) loot is very minimal. Bottom line, if you’re sick of unbalanced classes and games where gear conquers skill, Global Agenda is an excellent choice.

Read the whole article here.

It’s hard to believe the way I discovered Global Agenda.  As I was stomping through PAX 2009 (that’d be PAX “Prime”) I heard a man shooting something about “No elves.”  Mildly interested, I turned to see a booth lined with computers.  Computers with people huddled over playing a game I had never seen.  Turns out, I knew exactly what the game was.  This was the game responsible for shooting an elven mage in the head while he was casting.

I sat down, played a few rounds, and found myself very interested…

To celebrate the six-month accomplishment of Global Agenda I decided to harass Hi-Rez with some questions.  Executive Producer Todd Harris was kind enough to indulge me. The answers are only a click away.

LoreHound.com: First and foremost, congratulations on making it to a healthy six months.  Not many games manage to get this far with the community and hype still behind them.

Todd Harris: Thanks!  Our dev team is thrilled to see Global Agenda thriving and growing, and we definitely see the community as a big reason for this.

Hi-Rez Studios had some pretty clear cut ideas for the Global Agenda when it launched.  The title was positioned to be its own beast, not an iteration from staple MMOG features.  Yet, the community begged for some of these, of which the open world was one of them.  Was its introduction a difficult design decision to recapitulate on?  Were many meetings and discussions held surrounding its decision?  Any fistfights?

Read more at LoreHound.com

MMORPG.com’s Bill Murphy recently provided his impressions of Global Agenda’s latest free content expansion, Sandstorm Phase 2, calling Global Agenda “one of the most intriguing games to watch in the genre.”

A key excerpt is below. Click here to read the full article.

The studio seems intent on making their first and only child as compelling and fleshed out as possible, and at incredible value to their customers. The subscription method initially planned at launch has been scrapped, and yet the game keeps growing at breakneck speed. It’s gone from a very fun, but somewhat shallow shooter at launch just a few months ago, to one of the most intriguing games to watch in the genre. Down the road Hi-Rez plans on retooling the Conquest portion of the game as well, in which competing alliances vie for control of territory. If the way in which they’ve been listening and responding to their customers remains the same, the future is looking bright for Global Agenda. If you’ve yet to try out this young studio’s freshman offering, now might be just the right time to check it out.

Developer gives first look at new Quest-Driven Open Zone gameplay

LOS ANGELES - June 13, 2010 - Hi-Rez Studios, independent developer of the award-winning Action-MMO Global Agenda unveils the game’s first expansion, called Sandstorm, at the 2010 Elecronic Entertainment Expo this week.  Sandstorm introduces new player weapons and armor, additional character customization, larger PvE Raids, ability to play PvE solo, new PvP and PvE content, updated User Interface, and enhanced Agency vs. Agency campaigns.
One of the more anticipated items being demonstrated is the Quest-Driven Open Zone gameplay.
“Sandstorm introduces players to two new NPC factions, new Bosses, new instanced missions, and story-driven quest lines within the Sonoran Desert outside Dome City”, says Executive Producer Todd Harris, “This expansion preserves our intense, shooter combat but adds story and immersion elements that we think players will really appreciate”

Hi-Rez Studios offers a unique pricing model for Global Agenda allowing players to experience much of the game’s content after a one-time purchase, without a recurring monthly fee. Players who choose to subscribe will receive the benefits of ongoing free expansions, additional game modes, the power to form agencies, and access to Agency vs. Agency gameplay on a persistent single-world map.

Sandstorm covers a large set of new features, content, and devices that will be added to Global Agenda throughout the summer of 2010 - all available at no extra cost to Global Agenda subscribers.

Hi-Rez Studios will be exhibiting Global Agenda: Sandstorm at the E3 Expo from June 15 - 17, 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center’s south hall in booth 747.

To make an appointment with the Hi-Rez team at the E3 Expo contact press@hirezstudios.com. For more information, please visit www.globalagendagame.com

Media Kit: www.globalagendagame.com/mediakit

Media Contact:  Michal Adam  |  Hi-Rez Studios Inc.  |  madam@hirezstudios.com

Seraphina Brennan over at Massively.com wrote a couple of great articles about Global Agenda last week

First, his thoughts on Global Agenda: Conquest:

Global Agenda: Conquest mode is the game’s take on a real-time strategy game versus an FPS. Your alliance of agencies can take ownership of the Global Agenda world and lay claim to valuable resources to build agent modifications, weapons of mass destruction, and even more fun little tools. But you must guard your territory carefully, as other alliances will have the option to siege your land, forcing you into battles for domination of the map.

Read the whole article here!

Also, his take on how Global Agenda’s squad-based combat still creates a massive experience when you overlay the game’s unique framework for territory control:

Why is there so much ado about the nature of an MMO? Why are so many fixated on the 10 vs 10 nature of Global Agenda and not the bigger picture of what the game has to offer? Why do we scoff at the idea of 100 person instances when it was designed to give the player more flexibility?

Today, I want to play the devil’s advocate, as I do in so many of my opinion columns. I want to take on the defense of Global Agenda as an MMO title, and I think I have enough evidence to prove that it’s massive — just not in the way you normally consider MMOs to be massive. And, personally, I think this is only good news for the industry at large.

Check out Brennan’s full take on it here.

Check out the latest Global Agenda trailer!

GamesRadar talks about what makes Global Agenda a different kind of MMO.

At first sight it plays like an MMO. You pick your character class (Assault, Medic, Recon, Robotics), choose a look, and then make your first picks from the skill trees. The interface continues the theme: a traditional MMO tray of icons, health and power bars and unlimited ammo. So then you try the first PvE mission – perhaps you’re a sniping Recon, attempting to take out an evil robot, and you’re dying. Many times. Until the moment it clicks, your perspective zooms out, and you realize this is actually a third-person action game you’re playing. You need to run, dodge, hide, cloak, throw bombs and dive for cover.

Read the full article here

Time Magazine featured the lovely gals of Global Agenda in their Techland blog:

Since both men and women are available as player-characters shooting guns, the developers thought it was silly to have cleavage-baring ladies with no protection. “It’s a little easier in fantasy games as it could be explained away with magic, or her ability to finesse around the other characters,” explained lead character artist Sean McBride. “It’s a little different when you put guns into the mix and think about someone not wearing body armor around their heart.”

Read more here!

TenTonHammer talked to Todd and got some details about PvP gameplay.

“The promise of Global Agenda is an MMOG that has both the story and comfort level to convert shooter-averse MMORPG fans into territory conquering PvPers, yet has enough grit to appeal to hardcore shooter fans. While the maps mission types may seem familiar, interesting twists such as jetpacks and movable, destructible… respawn beacons may change the contours of now conventional online shooter gameplay. That Global Agenda ties all this and more into a full, persistent, large-scale PvP oriented package makes this title one to watch in early 2010.”

Read the whole article here

If you can imagine a world in which World of Warcraft and Team Fortress 2 had a baby (though WoW always wondered if Planetside had actually been the father instead) and then they slapped a jetpack on that baby’s back, then you’ve clearly got an overactive imagination - but you’ve also got something similar to the ambitious Global Agenda.