GDC 09: Global Agenda Impressions

Back in February, I had a chance to talk to Michal Adam about Hi-Rez Studios and Global Agenda. At the Game Developer’s Conference, I had a chance to take Global Agenda for a hands-on test and the gameplay videos don’t lie, the game runs smooth.

Michal asked me if I wanted to start with the character customization screens or if I wanted to jump right in the action. I actually wanted to start playing the game, but took a quick tour of the customization screens in the beginning of the game. With the Unreal 3 engine, even in early builds, things look great. The character’s faces all looked different and there wasn’t any graphical glitches when rolling through all the options. I’m sure with a little time, players will be able to recreate themselves or anyone else they can image.

Once the physical customization is completed, the player can choose their class and small specialty bonuses related to their character class. It’s all based on a number system where there is a total number of allocated points and players choose the level of certain skills without going over the total points. There are a few levels of each bonus, and I haphazardly chose bonuses to get into the game.

The level Michal chose was first a capture the flag type map except the flag was a giant transport that had to be pushed along a track to your zone with other players to win on a snow covered level with outcroppings and ledges. I played the recon class with a rifle and nice melee sword, with a stealth bonus. The PvP aspect of the game is almost perfect. It plays like a first person shooter in a third person perspective, though you can zoom with certain weapons and still play that way.

Since I was mainly playing against bots, the challenge in this level wasn’t that high, but with about five bots on the opposing team and three on mine, I didn’t see any slowdown or problems in the combat. The combat is fun and challenging, and I can see where working with other players will be very important.

The second level I tried was a mining colony with a simple deathmatch approach. On this map though, the A.I. on the bots was deadly. Even trying to snipe a rocket launcher at a distance proved almost impossible. Along with trying to tactically move from cover to cover, with two people that level was a little too difficult. Even though I couldn’t finish the level with Michal’s help, I can see how the combat is going to push the gameplay in great directions.

The build of the game I played was still early, and a lot of smaller details are not in the game, but had placeholders. Global Agenda doesn’t have a definite release date yet, but everything the team needs to do is being done. With the PvP aspect of the game already solid, there’s not much to worry about.