KnackChap Posted August 8, 2007 Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 The Agency Developer:Sony Online Entertainment Publisher:Sony Genre:MMOFPS Players:Online Platform:PS3,PC Release:2008 Exploring new territory in massively-multiplayer online gaming, this project from Sony Online Entertainment focuses on spies and mercenaries in the modern world. Gamers all over the globe will be engaging in action and espionage in the treacherous underworld, using physical prowess, ingenious gadgets and unerring marksmanship to get out alive. The game is developed by SOE Seattle, a new branch for the company formed partly by members of Microsoft's ambitious but unfortunately cancelled Mythica project. IGN preview I'm ready for the MMO craze to be over. Seriously, I've killed enough wolves, I've returned enough of their pellets, and I've been accosted by more than enough citizens who are apparently incapable of leaving their own homes to do their own errands. While Sony's The Agency will have its fair share of fetch quests, the fresh espionage setting, a breath of fresh air from the hundreds of fantasy- and space-themed online games, sets the stage for a little something different. Missions can be done solo or with a partner, though the latter is being touted as the preferred method. Teammates can revive fallen comrades as well as provide much more reliable cover fire than their AI counterparts. Operatives, NPCs who craft items for player agents, aim to take some of the tedium out of typical MMO crafting systems. Agents can contact an operative specializing in automotive operations to design a cool custom car, then log off the game and wait to be notified of the car's completion via a real-life cell phone text message. Need to take a break to do real-life things like go to work or eat dinner? Just log off and wait for a notification. The convenience factor of notifications also manifests itself by way of not spamming the user with constant duplicates of, "Hey! The work is done!" Using the previous example, players can get their new vehicles when they're ready, not when the game says it's time. Another example stems from a hostage situation in which an operative who has been sent to gather reconnaissance gets himself captured by the enemy. Said villains will contact the player via a text message saying something akin to, "We've got your guy. Text '1' to pay the million dollar ransom fee; text '2' to let him die." Players can respond however they wish when it is convenient for them to do so. Good thing bad guys are so patient! Though I was more than impressed by what I saw of The Agency's gameplay mechanics, I found its visual style most appealing. Colorful cartoon-like animation adds fluidity and feeling to the game. One example sees an agent rappel down from a skylight to free a colleague bound to a chair. The hopeful rescuer braces herself against the floor as she lands, looks around carefully, eyes rising and narrowing as they glance from place to place, then glint cockily as she realizes the coast is clear--until they fly open like window shutters when a mammoth man wielding a chaingun bursts into the room. The situation took a humorous turn at this point, as the gunner sprayed the entire room with bullets for a good ten seconds. I watched incredulously, thinking the agents would surely be dead. As the gun wound down, the camera panned to the agents, who were just as surprised as I was to find the entire room peppered with bullet holes--but otherwise free of harm. The agents opened their eyes, blinked, looked around, felt their bodies, breathed collective sighs of relief, then engage the enemy. I was very disappointed to not receive any hands-on time with the game, but from what I saw, it's looking on right on track to be something different enough in the MMO genre to warrant a purchase. Screens Reviews IGN-Gamespot- 1UP- CVG- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hahaman Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 no one interested in this game its looking gud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karooo Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 MEEEEHHHH f**k you rockstar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersim Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 aah I got confused between this and The Agent. So this game s been shelved or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karooo Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 oh lol i thought it was agent hahahah f**k damnit simmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclops Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Sony closing The Agency dev today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Lol it's certainly an April fool joke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindoctor Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Lol it's certainly an April fool joke you don't make jokes about firing 200 people and shutting down 3 studios dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solitaire Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 you don't make jokes about firing 200 people and shutting down 3 studios dude. I'd find it to be in pretty bad taste if this does indeed turn out to be a joke, especially if I was one of those people working for them who were only told later that it was done in the spirit of April Fools day. f**k, I'd wanna tear the HR people a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentassassin Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 i dont think its a joke... The game is scrapped... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Boss Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 It was looking pathetic anyways. Also, who is going to buy a 2.5k game and then keep paying for playing. I mean I have not seen anyone here who got DC Universe Online and APB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapola Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Good decision, it looks atrocious anyway and already late by 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Django_3101 Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 Official confirmation, The Agency Cancelled Sony Online Entertainment has gone through a company-wide reorganization today, and in the process cancelled the long-developed massively multiplayer online project The Agency and closed studios in Denver, Colo., Seattle, Wash., and Tucson, Ariz. The reorganization, which will eliminate approximately 205 jobs, was done to "reduce costs and streamline its global workforce." The company also cancelled The Agency, first revealed in 2007, so it could "focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties." SOE claims this move will not affect its current portfolio of titles available now, such as DC Universe Online. Below is SOE's statement in full: As part of a strategic decision to reduce costs and streamline its global workforce, SOE announced today that it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios. As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games. All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern. This strategic decision will have no impact on SOE's current portfolio of live games; additionally SOE will transition development efforts for the Denver and Tucson studios' suite of products to its San Diego headquarters. This strategic alignment of development resources better positions SOE to remain a global leader in online gaming and deliver on its promise of creating entertaining games for players of all ages, and servicing the 20 million players that visited SOE servers in just the past year. Source Mods please lock this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solitaire Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 So much for an April Fools joke.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devil_angel Posted April 2, 2011 Report Share Posted April 2, 2011 In before the Lock BTW, I thought Crackdown 3 was named "The Agency." Ended up finding this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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