Global Agenda

Last updated
Global Agenda
Global Agenda logo.jpg
Developer(s) Hi-Rez Studios [1]
Publisher(s) Hi-Rez Studios [1]
Designer(s) Scott Zier
Programmer(s) Chris Larson
John Dew
Artist(s) Charles Vinson
Daniel Lilleberg
Writer(s) Nathan Knaack
Composer(s) Chris Rickwood
Engine Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
ReleaseFebruary 1, 2010
Genre(s) Massively multiplayer online, third-person shooter, action role-playing
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Global Agenda is a class-based shooter online team-based game by Hi-Rez Studios developed using Unreal Engine 3. Global Agenda was started in 2005 as the studio's first project. [2] The game went live on February 1, 2010. [3] In April 2011, Global Agenda was re-released as a free-to-play game. The game's servers were shut down in 2018 and reopened in 2022. [4] [5]

Contents

Gameplay

The game features a third-person camera view, although some weapons allow scoping in a first-person view using a mouse action. Characters have jetpacks, as well as various weapon types, including melee. [6] Global Agenda features a large degree of variability in player appearance with unique achievement-based flair items; almost all player items can be re-colored using dyes for additional personalization.

Global Agenda's lore and gameplay center around Dome City, which acts as an open world lobby. Players can explore and shop, and boosted players can use their jetpacks, but weapons and skills are disabled. Most of the game revolves around mercenary matches (PvP) or instances (PvE). There are two playable open world zones, the Sonoran Desert and North Sonora. Players can also take part in Agency vs Agency (AvA) which is Global Agenda's guild-centric competitive mode.

The game features four classes: Assault, [7] Recon, [8] Medic, [9] and Robotics. [10] All have customizable skill trees and their own weapons. Players can reset their skills at any time and at no cost while in Dome City. As a result, in order to have access to every specialization of every class, a player needs four characters, one for each class.

Global Agenda includes almost no randomness; the same hit from the same weapon under the same circumstances always does the same damage. All weapons with innate inaccuracy are fast firing, minimizing the impact of random bullet trajectory on gameplay. There are no critical hits and no headshots, not even with sniper rifles.

Mercenary Mode

For more casual games, players can enter the Mercenary queue. The game attempts to make two 10-player, skill-balanced teams based on each player's star rating. Players are then entered into a match whose mode is determined by that player's filters, if they have any. Global Agenda supports the following modes:

Special Ops

For cooperative games, players can queue for Special Ops. Teams of 1-4 players can attempt to clear instances of enemy non-player characters. Players have 20 minutes to reach the instance boss, and then get at least four minutes to defeat it. There are four difficulties:

Agency vs Agency

In Agency vs Agency (AvA), agencies compete for terrain on hex-based zones. There are three geographic regions supported, North America (NA), Europe (EU), and Pacific (PAC). Each geographic region has two zones, one for a weekday season and one for a weekend season. Weekday seasons have ten total days in the season, whereas weekend seasons have four. AvA is open in a zone during that geographic region's primetime hours.

Facilities can be bought or produced by agencies to be put onto each hex. Labs produce blueprints which are consumed when they are used. Mines produce materials needed by blueprints. Factories combine materials and blueprints to make usable items. Whenever something is produced, an agency gains Networth. After two weeks, the agency with the highest Networth wins the season. Agencies in the top three positions get rewards on top of what was produced during the season, such as the Black Lance Vandal and Dark Steel Vindicator. Players also receive holographic armor and dyes for coming in the top three or first for several seasons.

Plot

Global Agenda mixes a science fiction setting with a secret agent backdrop, leading the developers to refer to the game genre as spy-fi. [11]

The game is set in 2155, in the wake of a severe global disaster. [12] An Orwellian government called the Commonwealth tyrannically rules Earth with an army of artificially intelligent drones. Earth's population is under one billion people and suffers from a shortage of habitable land. Advanced technology allows limited regions of Earth to be environmentally cleansed and habitable. As land becomes available there is intense competition to colonize the area and control that region's technology. This competition sets the stage for much of the game's campaign action. [13]

The Recursive Colony update expanded on a threat of self-replicating machines called Recursives. Through exploration and investigation in the new North Sonoran desert zone, players learn of a massing of Recursive forces. The quest line leads into the hourly raids where Recursives attempt to break into and capture Dome City. The final mission allows as many players as desired to take part in an attempt to simultaneously destroy four objectives, thus disrupting the Recursive colony and (temporarily, at least), ending the Recursive threat.

Hi-Rez has released several pieces of fiction to establish the back-story as well as a timeline for what occurred in the Global Agenda universe before the game begins: Pre-Commonwealth [14] and Post-Commonwealth. [15]

Development and release

Promotion at E3 2010 E3 2010 . . (4704900897).jpg
Promotion at E3 2010

Pricing for the North American version of Global Agenda was announced on October 20, 2009. The pricing model was said to reflect the games' positioning as a hybrid between a multiplayer, hub-based shooter and a larger-scale persistent world online shooter MMO. [16] Pricing was initially planned to include an optional "Global Agenda: Conquest" subscription package.

As of June 25, 2010, Global Agenda announced [17] that it was going subscription-free [18] and all content that previously required a monthly subscription fee is available to all players who have purchased the game. Trial accounts do not receive these benefits. Global Agenda's trial accounts are for an unlimited amount of time but can only advance to a limited level.

On April 7, 2011, Hi-Rez Studios stated that the upcoming update would bring the game's subscription model to free-to-play. [19]

Expansions

Sandstorm

In Q2 2010, Hi-Rez released a Global Agenda expansion entitled Sandstorm. [20] [21] Sandstorm was released in two major phases: Phase One (1.3) included changes to weapons and armor, loot drops and an HA overhauled crafting system. [21] and Phase Two (1.35) included the introduction of a new "Sonoran Desert" Open Zone, additional mission styles, including 10-person defense raids and Special Ops missions, Consumables and Salvage and an overhaul to the in-game credit and token system. [22]

Free Agent

In April 2011, Hi-Rez released Free Agent highlighting a move to free-to-play, balance changes and the introduction of new end-game raid content, Dome Defense. Free Agent included the overhaul of skill trees to encourage role specialization. The Dome Defense raid pits teams of ten players against a more powerful threat to the Dome.

Reception

Global Agenda achieved a 70% average from critics on Metacritic. IGN's said that the game "hits the top notes in many areas. The crisp graphics and fast paced, high intensity team-based combat are definitely the game's strongest points" while also noting that players are best off finding an Agency (guild) to "suit your play style and personality, as it's all about teamwork and the people you play with". [23] Eurogamer was more critical and said "a shooter without eloquence or crunch, an MMO without content or personality, and as an experimental combination of the two it's missing ambition". [24]

Sequel

On October 2, 2012, Hi-Rez announced on its forums that development had started on Global Agenda 2. According to the post, the sequel will focus more on PvP and use a lot of assets from the original Global Agenda. It will add maps, game modes, class weapons, and be built on Hi-Rez's newest platform. Beta testing was expected to begin in mid-2013. [25]

In an interview with Joystiq, Hi-Rez COO Todd Harris said of Global Agenda 2, "No open world elements planned", and "No plan for hex-maps or facility building". He mentioned that players of the original Global Agenda and other Hi-Rez games will be given priority beta access. [26]

In a response to an open letter to Hi-Rez, Harris said that as of July 2013, Hi-Rez planned to focus on Smite for the next six months, before focusing on Global Agenda 2. [27]

Related Research Articles

Tribes is a series of five science fiction first-person shooter video games released between 1998 and 2012. The game plot is set in the far future. The series includes Starsiege: Tribes, Tribes 2, Tribes: Aerial Assault, Tribes: Vengeance, and Tribes: Ascend. Tribes is a spin-off series from the mecha simulation series Metaltech.

<i>Tribes: Vengeance</i> 2004 video game

Tribes: Vengeance is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and released by Vivendi Universal Games in October 2004. It was built on an enhanced version of the Unreal Engine 2/2.5, which Irrational Games called the Vengeance engine. Part of the Tribes series, in addition to its multiplayer network maps, Vengeance includes a complete single-player campaign.

Guild Wars is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. The games were critically well received and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), and Best Game. Guild Wars was noted for being the "first major MMO to adopt a business model not based on monthly subscription fees", its instanced approach to gameplay, and the quality of the graphics and play for computers with low specifications. In April 2009, NCSoft announced that 6 million units of games in the Guild Wars series had been sold. The sequel and fourth major entry into the series, Guild Wars 2, was announced in March 2007 and released on August 28, 2012. It features updated graphics and gameplay mechanics, and continues the original Guild Wars tradition of no subscription fees. The Guild Wars series had sold 11.5 million copies by August 2015

<i>Tribes: Aerial Assault</i> 2002 video game

Tribes: Aerial Assault is an online first-person shooter video game released for PlayStation 2 in 2002 by Sierra Entertainment. It was one of the first PlayStation 2 titles designed almost exclusively for online play and was the first online PlayStation 2 shooter that supports both modem and broadband connections. It was announced in tandem with Sony's online strategy for the PlayStation 2 at E3 2001.

<i>Team Fortress 2</i> 2007 video game

Team Fortress 2 is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 Team Fortress mod for Quake and its 1999 remake, Team Fortress Classic. The game was released in October 2007 as part of The Orange Box for Windows and the Xbox 360, and ported to the PlayStation 3 in December 2007. It was released as a standalone game for Windows in April 2008, and updated to support Mac OS X in June 2010 and Linux in February 2013. It is distributed online through Valve's digital retailer Steam, with Electronic Arts managing retail and console editions.

<i>Metaltech: Earthsiege</i> 1994 video game

Metaltech: Earthsiege is a mecha-style simulation video game developed by Dynamix and released in 1994. Earthsiege is the first in a long line of video games in the Metaltech universe, which contains Earthsiege 2 (1996) and Metaltech: Battledrome (1994), as well as the strategy games MissionForce: CyberStorm (1996) and Cyberstorm 2: Corporate Wars (1998), direct sequel mecha-simulation Starsiege (1999), and first-person shooters Starsiege: Tribes (1998), Tribes 2 (2001), Tribes: Aerial Assault (2002) Tribes: Vengeance (2004) and Tribes: Ascend (2012).

<i>Exteel</i> 2007 video game

Exteel was a third-person shooter game published by NCSOFT, a Korean game company, and was developed by NCSOFT's E & G Studios. Players controlled giant vehicles called Mechanaughts ("mecha") and fought against the computer, or against other online players, in a variety of gameplay modes. The Mechanaughts were customizable. The game was free to download and play, but players could buy "NCcoins" with real money, through the NCcoin micropayment system. NCcoins could be used to purchase exclusive in-game weapons, skills, and parts.

InstantAction

InstantAction was a web gaming site and digital distributor featuring 3D, browser-based games.

<i>CrimeCraft</i> 2009 video game

CrimeCraft was a free-to-play online Persistent World Next-generation Shooter dubbed "PWNS" by Ukrainian developer Vogster Entertainment and published at retail by THQ. The game is set in the near future where the world lies in anarchy and gangs have replaced governments.

<i>Age of Empires Online</i> 2011 video game

Age of Empires Online is a multiplayer online real-time strategy game developed by Robot Entertainment and Gas Powered Games, which released on August 16, 2011. Based upon the gameplay of the Age of Empires series, it was originally developed by Robot Entertainment, but on February 24, 2011, Gas Powered Games, took over production. The game was published by Microsoft.

<i>Interstellar Marines</i> 2013 video game

Interstellar Marines is a science fiction first-person shooter video game being developed by indie studio Zero Point Software. It was added to Steam Greenlight on September 3, 2012 and later released on Steam Early Access on July 2, 2013.

Tribes: Ascend is a free-to-play first-person shooter developed and published by Hi-Rez Studios for Microsoft Windows, as part of the Tribes series. Aspects from previous Tribes games such as jetpacks and skiing are featured in the game. The game was released on April 12, 2012. In February 2013, Hi-Rez released a Game of the Year Edition, which unlocked all classes, weapons, equipment, and perks in a single package. In July 2013, Hi-Rez halted further development on Tribes: Ascend to focus on other titles, though a small team resumed development in August 2015. In December 2015, Hi-Rez Studios announced a patch for the game which introduced major changes. Due to the nature of the patch, the company reverted all previous in-game purchases.

Hi-Rez Studios is an independent, privately held American video game company. The company was established in 2005 by Erez Goren and Todd Harris. Hi-Rez Studios' games include the squad-based shooter Global Agenda, the critically acclaimed Tribes: Ascend, the third-person MOBA Smite, the hero shooter Paladins, and the third-person shooter Rogue Company. In 2012, Hi-Rez Studios was recognized as a Top 30 Video-Game Developer by Game Developer Magazine and Gamasutra. Hi-Rez are the current owners of the Metaltech license, including Battledrome, Earthsiege, Starsiege, the CyberStorm series, and the Tribes series. With the exception of Battledrome and CyberStorm, the games were released as freeware by Hi-Rez on October 30, 2015.

Smite is a 2014 free-to-play, third-person multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Hi-Rez Studios for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, and Amazon Luna. In Smite, players control a god, goddess or other mythological figure and take part in team-based combat, using their abilities and tactics against other player-controlled gods and non-player-controlled minions.

Pocket Fleet is a space themed MOBA game developed by Turkish studio 'Overdose Caffeine Games'. The Android version was released in September 2012. followed by iOS and Flash versions. An Ouya port was also planned initially but abandoned due to porting difficulties. The game features arena type PvP and PvE game play using Asteroids-like game mechanics.

Robocraft is an online vehicular combat game developed and published by Freejam Games. The game is set on different planets, with players constructing robots to fight with and against others in battle. The game features contained garage bays in which players can build various functional vehicles with basic block-based parts, such as cubes and wheels, along with weapons that can be used for combat. The initial alpha build was released in March 2013, and gained over 300,000 players by the following year. It officially released out of beta on August 24, 2017.

<i>Crossout</i> 2017 vehicular combat Video Game

Crossout is a free-to-play vehicular combat video game developed by Targem Games and is published by Gaijin Entertainment for Android, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. As of 2021, PlayPark, a part of AsiaSoft acquired the game's server of Asian territories.

<i>Shadowgun Legends</i> 2018 video game

Shadowgun Legends is a free mobile first-person shooter video game developed and published by Madfinger Games for Android and iOS devices. It is the third primary installment of the Shadowgun series, and a sequel to the original Shadowgun and Shadowgun Deadzone, both multiple award-winning games from 2011 and 2012, respectively. It was released on March 22, 2018. It appeared on the Google Play Store on March 21, 2018. A release for the Nintendo Switch was announced in June of 2018 but never came to fruition.

<i>Paladins</i> (video game) 2018 video game

Paladins: Champions of the Realm is a 2018 free-to-play online hero shooter video game by Hi-Rez. The game was developed by Evil Mojo, an internal studio of Hi-Rez and was released on May 8, 2018 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, followed by a Nintendo Switch version released on June 12, 2018.

<i>Valorant</i> 2020 video game

Valorant is a free-to-play first-person hero shooter developed and published by Riot Games, for Microsoft Windows. First teased under the codename Project A in October 2019, the game began a closed beta period with limited access on April 7, 2020, followed by an official release on June 2, 2020. The development of the game started in 2014. Valorant takes inspiration from the Counter-Strike series of tactical shooters, borrowing several mechanics such as the buy menu, spray patterns, and inaccuracy while moving.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hi-Rez Studios The Official Website".
  2. ↑ "r/Paladins - A Brief History of Paladins - as response to 'copy/clone' allegations". reddit. 21 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Global Agenda on Steam Store Archived 2014-03-26 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Hi-Rez co-founder Todd Harris on Twitter
  5. ↑ Royce, Bree. "Global Agenda is back from the dead at least temporarily, Hi-Rez confirms | Massively Overpowered" . Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  6. ↑ "Global Agenda Answer Center (Answer #69)". Archived from the original on 2013-01-10.
  7. ↑ "Global Agenda Assault Class Q&A". www.tentonhammer.com. 4 November 2009.
  8. ↑ "Global Agenda - Recon PvP Guide". www.tentonhammer.com. 26 March 2010.
  9. ↑ "Global Agenda Class Q&A: The Medic". www.tentonhammer.com. 17 November 2009.
  10. ↑ "Global Agenda Class Overview - The Robotics". www.tentonhammer.com. 28 January 2010.
  11. ↑ Rossignol, Jim (14 April 2009). ""Spy-Fi": Global Agenda Footage". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  12. ↑ "Official Game Website". Archived from the original on 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  13. ↑ "502 Bad Gateway nginx openresty". www.hexagenda.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-28. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
  14. ↑ "Pre-Commonwealth Fiction". Archived from the original on 2010-07-26. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  15. ↑ "Post-Commonwealth Fiction". Archived from the original on 2010-08-13. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  16. ↑ "Yahoo!". www.massively.com.
  17. ↑ "Global Agenda Blog: Now Subscription-Free". Archived from the original on 2010-06-26. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  18. ↑ "Yahoo!". www.massively.com.
  19. ↑ "HZ-Global Agenda to Adopt Free-to-Play Model". Archived from the original on 2011-04-11. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  20. ↑ "Global Agenda Sandstorm Page". Archived from the original on 2010-08-04. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  21. 1 2 "Yahoo!". www.massively.com.
  22. ↑ "Welcome to Fanbyte - Home to 35 million gamers". Fanbyte. Archived from the original on 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
  23. ↑ Koh, Carolyn (12 March 2010). "Global Agenda Review".
  24. ↑ Smith, Quintin (11 February 2010). "Global Agenda". Eurogamer .
  25. ↑ "GA and where it's going". Archived from the original on 2012-10-06. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  26. ↑ "Yahoo!". massively.joystiq.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  27. ↑ "r/Tribes - Open Letter To Hi-Rez - Response". reddit. 12 July 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.