The Agency preview

Looking to take part in spy games on a massive scale? Look no further than the upcoming MMOFPS The Agency.

MMOs are always a mixed bag for me; while I appreciate the depth of development and the lush worlds many of these games exhibit, I'm simply not a big MMO guy. That said, I was really drawn into the world of The Agency on a recent visit to SOE Seattle, and their spy-filled world could very well turn a few non-MMO fans onto the genre, myself included.

The Agency preview
Spy World

The Agency gives players the option of joining up with one of two different agencies at the start. The Unite agency, who utilize the most high-tech weaponry and gadgets have a more classic spy vibe to their overall look. The other option is becoming a member of the Paragon agency, who are more of a gruff, mercenary-looking group. Though each group has their own personality flair, how you dress your character defines their class, a la traditional MMO titles. Aside from their look, each Agency has a starting point in the game world; Unite agents begin on an airship near Venice, while Paragon agents begin on a dingy oil rig in South America. From central hubs players will be able to fly (yes, on planes) to different locales to take part in different instances. Though each agency will have different plot and mission elements, they will also be able to work together, as we discovered later on during the demo.

In addition to human players, there are 480 different operatives to utilize in The Agency. Operatives can be recruited and used for a variety of reasons to benefit one's agency, such as crafting. A cool feature SOE is planning for The Agency is the ability for operatives to text and call players in real life to keep them updated on their services and what they currently have available, even when players aren't logged on. The Agency utilizes a guild-like system like most MMOs, which are known as joint agencies. Joint agencies consist of human players and any operatives they've recruited. SOE lead designer Hal Milton also informed us that most PvE instances would consist of 4-person teams, but PvP challenges could go up as far as 32 on 32 teams.

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