[-] What Testing is All About [-]

Before any gamer geeks out there start panting hard and fogging up their screens while they think (with all too much enthusiasm) on the possibility of playing a new game before many else gets to, realize that it won’t be what you’ve experienced before. I’m not making reference to the various features Global Agenda offers in contrast with other games, as I will elaborate on later while attempting to not repeat statements in my previous GA article, I’m referencing to that fact that beta testing GA is just that: beta testing.

All too often, a select few, anxious gaming enthusiasts are given the opportunity to join in beta testing of a game that has not yet been released. Nine out of ten times, this experience has nothing at all whatsoever to do with actual testing, but is, instead, all about you experiencing a polished and finished game before anyone else and then telling the rest of the world all about it.

If anyone out there actually thinks that they were making major contributions to games like Aion or will make a difference in SWTOR’s beta testing, think again. Most people who played Aion beta payed for the privilege, and BioWare stated before opening beta sign-ups (in an interview that I can’t find, now) that studios don’t learn anything new from beta testing. So, most studios don’t expect anyone invited to beta test to actually test anything at all. Hi-Rez Studios, however, thinks much differently.

They make sure to issue an email about one week before every not-on-site test, explaining what they want players to look for and be aware of. They also make sure to include a snippet to motivate beta participants to test, not just play. A real tester is going to find bugs, write them down, report them, and try to duplicate the bug until the studio fixes it.

[-] My Experiences [-]

GRAPHICS

I rank the graphics as one of the highest in quality for an MMORPG, which shows through even better when I play from my gaming rig at home. It takes a few seconds at the login screen for the graphics to really kick in, but I have absolutely no performance problems in-game. I’m not so big on the smooth lighting textures that Hi-Rez chose to use for character, items and environment, but it’s not a deal breaker, either. It kind of reminds me of Doom 3.

SOUND

The music and sound quality are great. I really am glad I invested in those 5.1 surround sound force feedback headphones because games like Global Agenda are definitely making use of it. Whenever you’re involved in PvP combat against other players, every queue an enemy can give you to let you know they’re attacking is worth watching and listening for. Precision gaming audio equipment will give you that much more of an edge, making the difference between number one and second best.

USER INTERFACE & ITEMS

As for the user interface, I have mixed feelings. I really like the helpful info stations that a player can query to find specific locations, such as the armor store, and it generates a three-dimensional path hovering above the ground for the player to follow. As for equipment and talent windows, they’re not quite there, yet.

It was very confusing for me to figure out how to have any equipment or abilities at all. Most players are used to filling up their skill trees, dragging combat ability buttons from a menu to a hot bar and then equipping weapons to a character slot from the inventory. Not in Global Agenda. Fill up the trees, select the abilities you want to use, and then select your weapon designated by how you set up your tree. In short, weapons aren’t items in an inventory that you need to buy or find, but are given to you after setting talent tree points.

Don’t worry, you can still upgrade your weapon, armor and more above another player’s through the use of special mod items. These mod items are supposed to have something to do with nanotechnology, but they’re used the same way as gems in WoW.

The controls and interface are a bit different than any MMO you’ve probably played before, it doesn’t take long to figure out. In fact, the only hindrance to playing the game most intuitively is not moving around the map, but using the hot bar to initiate attacks and special abilities as you run around in the same manner you would in an FPS (first person shooter).

GAMEPLAY

The game runs smoothly. I have no complaints, there. I have not yet been able to test the orientation portions of the game, including any missions that grant experience. I’ve only been able to test PvP, so far, and while it is definitely pretty good on the PvP side (that’s the part Hi-Rez wants to focus on), I really, really want to get in on some PvE.

The PvP has a few different maps and modes. There’s a capture-the-flag type map, with three flags to capture/defend until time runs out. There’s a sort of escort mission that doesn’t use an MVP, but instead forces one team to move an object from one side of the map to the other, while the opposing forces try to stop it’s movement. The object cannot be reset or reversed and moves sort of slow. The only other PvP map I played besides those two looked to be a different version of capture the flag, but my team was getting pwn’ed so hardcore, I can’t tell you what it’s about.

COMMUNITY

In general, I like Global Agenda’s community. The dev’s all have characters and play the game, though it’s usually for testing, and they’re all super nice and/or helpful in game … even while they’re stomping you into the ground in PvP. Though almost every last one of the players in beta testing, right now, are high schoolers, they’re not entirely unruly. My chat box is not constantly overfilled with cursing and derogatory comments, which is nice.

I asked a lot of newb questions when I logged in on the beta, and while most of the testers who could read me didn’t respond, there were a few that actually answered my questions, were super helpful, and even offered me in-game currency to buy equipment that was, at that point, purely aesthetic.

ISSUES

The only issues I experienced had to do with things on the game coding side. I couldn’t participate in the first beta because there was some sort of issue that prevented me and several other players from being able to run the program. That issue, however, was fixed before the second beta, during which I ran around trying to learn the classes and how to play them in the short amount of time I had. During the second test the only issues I had were (1) the game was unstable in windowed mode and would freeze or crash regularly, and (2) after leaving an instance based mission, the game would either crash or freeze.

The reason for the score? Any issue that keep me from and discourages me from playing the game is a big issue.

During the second test I had developer David Tyler in chat the entire time, so I was very well taken care of on the support side of things. Thanks, David!

[-] OVERALL [-]

It must be known by all that this game is still in development, and since every bug I’ve ever experienced or reporting has been fixed, I forgive them any problems I have had. All other aspects of the game, including, to a lesser extent, graphics, and to a larger extent, things like user interface and class abilities, are constantly being updated. Hi-Rez Studios is making sure they get class balancing and intuitive in-game controls as fine-tuned as possible before releasing their baby for the whole world to play. For that, I will delay most of my opinions concerning most any aspect of the game, until the game is released.

When is the launch date? No one knows, yet. How can you get into the closed beta? Create an account and request to join. Will you be playing Global Agenda when it is released? As long as I’m not bogged down with SWTOR or FFXIV (because I have extreme lust issues for anything Star Wars and/or Final Fantasy), I will most likely be playing Global Agenda.

It was a typical overcast and rainy day. The kind that always makes me think that, at any moment, I’m sure to run into some zombies and, finally, have the opportunity to beat them back with my fists and giant forehead or just run away from them, get to a nearby truck with a few shotguns and chainsaws in it (though, I don’t have one, this is Georgia, yall) and get to hackin zombits.

I was a bit put off by the waiting lobby. The emails I received told me that I could dress casually, and though I was wearing jeans and black, steel-toed work boots, I was glad I at least had on a button-up because the secretary looked like one of those women who are half professional desk jokey and half professional killer. I definitely didn’t want to go anywhere without her permission, but I finally broke down and asked to use the potty. To which she replied, “Go urinate in the street with the rest of the scum.” So, I did.

I was relieved (haha… ah… ‘relieved’… because I was just talking about… *ahem*) to see Michal Adam, PR Specialist and Associate Producer for Hi-Rez Studios, walking to the lobby from the other side of the glass doors. Relieved, partly because I didn’t have to keep my back to a wall to ensure some sort of safety from secretary-caused bodily harm, but mostly because she wasn’t some big, serious, mean looking professional businessman starring me down and assessing the worth of my soul. In fact, she was a short, attractive, long-haired woman with good humor and huge tracks of land.

Very casual-professional, Michal invited me with her to the break room so that I could start pelting her with questions and so she could inform me about the origin and goals of Hi-Rez Studios and Global Agenda.

——————–

[-] The Origin of Hi-Rez Studios [-]

Hi-Rez was founded by Erez Goren, who is, apparently, some kind of crazy-mutant mixture of software coding intelligent and business wise. He co-founded Radiant Systems, a company specializing in providing Point of Sale systems for places like Taco Hell & grew their revenues about one hundred and thirty percent in seven years. He was then so bold and ballsy as to build his own company for developing enterprise software and sold that company after a few years. It now has products in some twenty five thousand sites world-wide. That’s some kind of evil genius rated distribution, right there, I tell you wut.

I guess by this time Erez was thinking to himself in a sort of British hunting enthusiast sort-of aristocrat kind of voice (because as much as he loves baseball and giant-sized, greasy cheeseburgers, he’s too awesome to not be British… even if he is, in fact, not British), “Well, old bean, I seem to have conquered and utterly demolished every goal I’ve set out for. Time for some fun!” Erez promptly started another company, lowered his sword against its shoulders as it kneeled and dubbed it “Hi-Rez Studios.”

As their website boasts, Hi-Rez is the largest independent video game development studio in the state of Georgia. What this means, as Michal pointed out to me, is that Hi-Rez doesn’t have to deal with the pressures of having a crazy, blood-thirsty monkey on their back (publishers). Even so, Erez needed some good talent to help him out with his new endeavor. He called up Todd Harris, who worked with him at BlueCube, and Todd, using his knowledge of how the frack to manage huge projects and help make software awesome, presumably spoke like Tommy Chong when he said to Erez, “Hey, bro. I’ll totally help your gaming business thing, man.” Then Erez and Todd laughed and started making, what they were sure would be, a pwntastic gaming company.

——————–

[-] The Origin of Global Agenda [-]

Now that Erez had his own video game development studio, he decided he should, probably, make a game or two. But, what should he make his first one about?! Turns out that Erez is way more into the “pew-pew” and possible realities of the future than the fantastical versions of an Earth-like past.

Now, tell me the secrets of Global Agenda or you'll never leave that glass!

Apparently, Erez is one of those guys, like me, who reads articles from Cracked.com about man-made, flesh eating robots (that are really vegetarians) and possible ways based on biological evolution and engineering that humanity may eventually turn into zombies, and has to take breaks to call, email, text and twitter as many people as possible about humanity’s impending doom. Considering that there’s a growing fan base wanting to read and even be a part of such information, but not too many MMORPGs that focus on the future of shiny, metallic armor humans might have to wear to protect themselves from the harsh conditions of Earth after world-wide devastations ravage its resources, Erez decided to merrily skip and trod down the road less travelled.

——————–

[-] The Lore [-]

While there are other ways to get information concerning the lore of Global Agenda than harassing Associate Producers (here and here, for example), I prefer my information disconnected a little fuzzy not all that accurate beaten out of something from a second-hand source. So, here it is:

The most common wiping impliment of your not-so-distant future.

It’s set in the 22nd century. For those readers of mine who don’t know what the 22nd century is, the events in this game unfold a very long time after your death that involved counting to twenty, a highway, and the most horrifying ending to a game of hide-n-seek, ever. There’s been some kind of disaster that’s affected most of, if not all of the world, very much limiting the abundance of habitable locations. Pretty much all of these places are controlled by a government called the “Common Wealth”. You have decided that you don’t like this Common Wealth thing very much and want to live your life without Big Brother always stabbing you with cattle prods and telling you what to do, so you’re going to fight against them in an effort to retire to a nice, isolated beach on the coast of a large and very radioactive body of water.

Since there are, as mentioned not one paragraph ago, few habitable locations left on the planet, you’re going to have to fight not only the Common Wealth for your little piece of plutonium-laced pie, but you’ll also have to convince other rebelling factions that this particular piece is yours, dammit. They’re going to have to either join you or, mayhaps, get involved with a little negotiation… negotiation between their face and your ass! Yeah! There’s sure to be a lot of unpleasantries going along with that, considering all of the toilet paper factories were (wait for it) wiped out, long ago.

——————–

[-] The Game [-]

Like this, but more evil.

Chatting with Michal, I found out that the game has been in a playable, interactive form for almost 3 years, now, but that it just wasn’t as polished back then as it is now. Currently, Hi-Rez comes out with a new build for the game every single day. The process involves some sort of super intelligent computing system (that will eventually be the fall of man once it becomes self-aware) to test the builds overnight that are fabricated by the teams creating the designs.

The entire studio of about 40 developers is working only on Global Agenda. Animators, designers and programmers all coming together to make one solid, fine-tuned, awesome piece of video gaming, soul robbing, mad science for me and you to drool over.

[-] Classes [-]

Players control one character, which can be one of four classes: Assault, Recon, Robotic or Medic.

Assault focuses on wearing heavy armor and/or putting out lots of damage with big, heavy weaponry. I like to think of it as a commando. Recon has the ability to attack from long range with sniper rifles or to sneak in close to enemies, cloaked, and attack with melee or small arms fire. Robotic I like to think of as an engineer that can create an array of robotic mobs including static turrets. Last, but not least is the medic class that’s able to, of course, heal itself and nearby allies while putting out its own dose of fire power.

Every class has options on how to interact in combat based on the way they stack their stats, what type of armor & weapons they use, and which ability tree they put points into. The ability to control stats and choose trees allows every class the option of being a sort of survivalist, a specialist, or a mixture of talents. Also, being able to swap out weapons and armor during a combat situation is pretty nice. There is also a crafting system that allows for enhancement, health recovery and other items to be used by the character, but I’ve yet to explore that aspect of the game.

[-] Game play [-]

Characters are referred to as ‘agents’ and may set up ‘agencies’ with other players. This is a key component of the story-line and of Global Agenda game play.

Agencies may recruit players and compete with rival agencies in multi-instance based combat where agencies are split up into groups, thrown into different areas of the devastated world, and fight each other for those positions. Global Agenda isn’t all about PvP, however.

The player versus enemy system works in a similar way. There’s a city and a place to go, a task to complete and an instance to enter that involves combating something you don’t much care for and would like better if it were a big pile of burning corpses. The mobs you encounter have AI akin to something you might encounter in a first person shooter meaning that fights aren’t going to always be like, “Okay, everyone. Let’s all start wailing on this one, now. NO! STEVE! WTF ARE YOU DOING, GDI, STEEEEEEVE!!!!” There will, however, be boss-like mobs that you run into and, may I say, they look a bit intimidating. There will also be situations where it is crucial to have at least one of each class on your team.

GDI STEEEEVE!!!

Anyway, the persistent world feeling left by claiming areas with agencies, the automatic thrill that accompanies playing PvP, the hard-core I’m-gonna-beat-your-ass looking mobs and the playability of a first person shooter all combine to make a pretty big adrenaline rush, whether out of fear or excitement.

Oh, yeah, I totally forgot to mention that everyone will also have jet packs (fuck yeah!). I know, some of you are going “huh…?” others “WOOT!” and still others “well, that ruined it for me…” but I assure you that from what I’ve seen from the combat situation, it does not make players OP in PvP and does not take away from the overall game play. In fact, it adds another level to the game, allowing you to experience combat and the environment in a way that was previously unavailable in other games.

Also, you may be wondering about how to upgrade weaponry and armor. Is there a loot system and are the upgrades dependant solely on crafting? From what I can tell, pretty much all upgrades will come from trading in a form of in-game currency to NPCs. I did ask more questions about how the economy will work, but I don’t think that aspect of Global Agenda is much developed beyond having a public auction house, just yet.

[-] Graphics [-]

As of right now, the game’s development is focused on playability for PC’s. This means that there will be some control over the level and quality of graphics available to each player. So, I don’t want to be playing with anyone and hear “Oh, man… I just can’t do this, guys. My FPS is, like, .004” anymore than I want to hear some bastard say “Mine runs fine with the graphics turned all the way up. I’m running on a [insert loads of statistics about some sort of ultimate gaming rig that I’m not lucky or rich enough to own].”

I want this so bad...

Much of the motions you will see characters make in the game will be based on motion captures that have been fine-tuned and edited by the dev teams focused on character systems. I like this because it means I’m going to see real motion in this game instead of computerized renderings of what some animator only thought a person would look like if they were hit by a missile. Oh, wait… they wouldn’t motion capture people being hit by missiles, would they…?

The character graphics are based mostly on the graphics of the armor and weaponry the character will be carrying, and I’ve got to say that it looks shiny and nice. The details designed into the textures and colors of the various armor pieces bring the game closer to reality. The fact that they thought far enough ahead to include armor dye kits, also makes me very happy, unlike many other MMOs. What really brings the game to our world, however, are the environments.

The environment design team, I think, did a good job with their creations. From what I saw in the Beta Testing Room, the environments are detailed to the point that I want to explore them. I want to read every strip of every sign and hump every wall with my character’s body because, you know, since this is our future and all, I want to know news before it happens and if there are invisible holes in walls that I can jump through. Most of the environment design I was able to look at was of the futuristic, metallic & cement gray design, complete with stairs, elevators, and bio-particle-transmition devices like you see in… dammit… what was that show with that pointy eared guy?

I feel like I'm really there, scared out of my balls!

Anyway, I’m very anxious to see what the destroyed portions of the planet look like and how my character reacts to them. Pretty much, the zombie-seeking side of me wants to experience the edge of the world, and I’m looking forward to how pretty it’s going to be!

——————–

[-] Overall Impressions and Expectations [-]

I really do want to play this game. In fact, after leaving the studio I tried to play the latest Aion Closed Beta weekend, but I just couldn’t get into it. I was too distracted by the future and all its carnage to spend time questing and advancing my crafting abilities. I expect that when I finally get to play Global Agenda that I will be exploring every facet of the world, until leveling and questing scales into taking up too much time and I must reserve more time for other things than play.

As you can see, nearly 7/4 of my day will be spent playing games. Don't ask, just accept it!

[-] Comparative Analysis (A.K.A. What other games it’s like) [-]

The instance based encounters, armor and weapons remind me a bit of Hellgate: London, which is a game I miss being able to play online. In fact, I was considering developing a networking system and/or setting up a server for it, but now that Global Agenda is coming, I won’t need to. GA not anywhere near as dark, gloomy and dirty as Hellgate, and I’m not sure how I feel about that, except to say, like with any comparative statement, GA is its own game.

The plot line reminds me of Red Faction. I can’t help thinking about my character in a space-suit with weapons fighting against a totalitarian government without imagining a giant red fist in the background and government police agents running away screaming because there’s a sticky, remote-detonated mine on their face.

The PvE combat reminds me of Halo, but in third person, and the PvP combat reminds me a bit of Half Life 2’s online PvP. It’s not quite as fast paced as Half Life PvP is and the gamer isn’t rushed through objectives like in Halo, but the overall feel is similar, especially considering that the way the AI reacts is so much like that of an FPS.

In Soviet Russia... games don't exist. Only deviations on torture methos related to doing something while being cold.

The ability trees, stat mods, armor & gun options and combat style remind me of pretty much any MMO, F2P or not, made in the last 10 years. Let’s face it, as gaming has evolved, there are certain aspects that are universally considered to be necessary parts of the game. Most MMO’s (pretty much all MMO’s, honestly) base their overall systems of level, ability, equipment and character development on Dungeons and Dragons. There are ways to get around having ability trees, but, in the end, it allows the player to immerse themselves into the game, connect with their character more, and, bottom line, play the game longer than they would had they not customized aspects of the virtual personification of themselves.

What game do I think it’s most like, overall? Futuristic, third person, melee and ranged, heavy armor commandos, combat medics, robot making engineers, able-to-cloak class, capture-the-flag style PvP, instance based, totalitarian government, agencies against agencies… it’s pretty much a mixture between Hellgate: London and Star Wars Galaxies, I’d say, but with more intuitive AI and better graphics.

In the end, Global Agenda is original in that it is its own game and did not steel concepts from any other MMORPG, but evolved in development along a similar path as many other games which makes it the interesting and very playable mix of unique, but familiar. The most exciting thing about it, from the viewpoint of the PC gamer (who is tired of the dwindling numbers of worthy-to-play MMO’s out there), is that it’s something new!