Global Agenda: More Impressions

After just a few days in the Global Agenda ‘Head Start’ event, I can tell this game will be one I’ll be playing for a bit. Some things I noticed instantly were: A) How easy it was to get set up on Hi-Rez’s website and download the game via steam. (Not sure if I’ll have to re-download anything upon launch Monday, Feb 1st but I’m not worried about it either.) The second thing that stuck out after I was all loaded up and registered was the polish of the game. Once entering in the Character creation screen, the layout was very nice, ‘easy to read’ sort of feel.  Not too much character customization, but enough that I felt like this was ‘Kaldeem’ in GA style art.

First Impressions: The tutorial was easy enough and though I did die at least two times on each of the characters I made, it was still fun and cool to watch/play out. Once past the tutorial I had a decision to make. See I normally play the stealth ‘assassin’ class in a game, which would be the recon class in GA, but since I had been down that road, and done that. I opted out of playing the Assassin, to try the Assault class. Neither suited my taste in this MMOGFPS??RPG (lol w/e).

I’ve seen the ‘engineer’ class in TF2 and though they look fun, I’m not one to set down and build something in combat or even remember to do so when engaged. Which left me to go with “THE MEDIC” and I must say, so far I’m absolutely happy with my decision to play one.

In my first PVP mission I noticed a big difference in game play from what I’m used to. With the reckon and assault class I felt as if I didn’t have enough tools at the level (level 5 when you exit the tutorial, and reach ‘The Dome’ the games major hub) to find playing and leveling them much fun further down the road. In contrast with the medic I felt like they started out with a nice arsenal of heals and DPS to mix it up. Each character starts out with a melee weapon, then soon you get a generic rifle, your ‘main’ ranged weapon, two off-hand weapons/abilities a group buff (at level 8 I think) and of course your jet pack.

Unlike TF2’s ‘cartoonish’ feel to it and somewhat convoluted maps, Global Agenda so far in terms of the PVE missions and PVP maps have been great. The PVE missions are a bit streamlined in that they lead you right to the boss and there’s not much leeway on that. It’s nice for now since everyone is still kind of new and group mechanics are still being worked out by everyone. The streamline instances make for a quick and fun group PVE experience.

In PVP the maps are a bit bigger, with 5 different types of scenarios to queue from (all random as of now) you never really get bored with it. The buildings and structure of the maps/zones themselves are done really well. Key features like ladders and creates stacking alongside a wall or among other creates allow for strategic cover and sniping spots for recons and even medics to take cover and heal from.

As a medic I’ve really enjoyed doing both aspects of the game. I normally have found that my experiences with PVE in World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, and then Age of Conan at first were enjoyable, but soon tiring and ultimately repetitive after a few alts. I do not get this feeling from GA as of right now. Being able to PVP as soon as you’re done with the tutorial is a major bonus.

Final thoughts: I didn’t really follow this game in the year preceding its release, and didn’t do much homework before purchasing it. What really popped out at me, and pushed me over to the purchasing point was the: A) price of the game at 44.99$ it’s just a bit below what you’d normally pay for an MMO these days. B) It has a one-time purchase deal where you can play the game’s main features (PVE and PVP missions), but not the special goods it will offer upon launch; mainly the “Conquest” PVP scenarios. Lastly in why I decided to purchase Global Agenda is because it fills the void of an MMO and FPS in one shot.

But now I really don’t know what I’m going to do if/when I get bored, because I’ll be tired of the FPS and MMO scenes at the same time!

Edit- My only gripe is during the ‘Head Start’ there was no Xfire or Raptr support so I couldn’t take video or log my time in game other then on the official website.

Game On!

Kaldeem