The Agency

This week in the Way Back Machine, MMORPG.com's own Drew Wood takes a look back at Dana Massey's preview of SOE's ill-fated game, The Agency from 2009's E3.

The Agency was one I wanted to see blow the fringe-MMO competition away. As a life-long James Bond movie fan, the super-spy world was one I always wanted to tinker around in, and in all honesty, from what we had seen of the Agency, it looked like they might actually effectively pull it off. Of course… we hadn't seen all that much, had we?

Read the whole thing here.

Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley recently was interviewed by the good folks over at Eurogamer. Editors asked Smedley about several of SOE's titles including The Agency. During the course of the interview, Smedley was asked about recent revelations that The Agency would not be released until late this year. Smedley confirmed the time line and indicated that the game would be released in the latter half of 2011.

"We're not giving out a specific date yet because we don't know it," he adds.

"One thing that we've learned over our company's history is that it takes time to make great games. And we're not trying to make cookie-cutter MMOs. There's some stuff coming out in the next two or three months, MMO-wise, and a lot of it is generic copycats of other games. That's not what we want to do. We want to make new experiences for people. So The Agency is a new kind of MMO so we want to make sure it's as good as it can be."

Source: Eurogamer.

At this year's SOE Fan Faire in Las Vegas, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood had the chance to sit in on a discussion about The Agency. Remember that game? Very little has been heard about it or from SOE in the past two years. This year, however, devs are ready to talk. Jon has a report on the panel and a hands-on preview of a PvP demo he played.

It was announced in July of 2007, the developers made a small push to talk about the game and to let the media know what they were planning. Since then, information has become more and more difficult to come by as the devs went all but dark throughout most of 2008 and 2009. Fast forward to 2010 and they seem more than ready to talk about the game, with a playable PvP demo even popping up at this year’s E3.

Read more of The Agency preview.

MMORPG.com writer Alan Smithee had some hands-on time with SOE's spy-based MMORPG, The Agency at their booth at E3.

At E3, we were able to get a new look at SOE's upcoming shooter MMO The Agency. The regular PvE experience was not on display; instead we got to see and play PvP multiplayer for the first time. The demo takes place in the Black Abbey, a three-point assault map, set in a monastery in Venice. Each of the three main areas (a courtyard, library, and a submarine drydock) are captureable and serve as respawn points. One side's goal is to detonate the sub (it's rigged with explosives) and "sink" the monastery; the other side tries to protect it.

Combat is fluid and fast and better than I expected – there was no noticeable lag, even when the screen was filled with multiple players and particle effects. The game feels indistinguishable from a regular shooter, with very few MMO conventions in evidence. Headshots are automatic crits. Players use WASD and a mouse to move and shoot, and Ctrl to get into cover… and that's about it. The cover system is handled very well, allowing players to duck and hide behind objects when under More >

We took in the best the super-spy MMO from SOE Seattle has to offer at E3. Designer Kevin O’Hara ran us through the key features in our on camera interview, and we learned enough to offer you a brand new preview of the title.

One new system they showed off at E3 is the Camera System. Every spy movie has that point where the hero has to gather some evidence. In The Agency, this is replicated. Characters will need to hunt down clues in the world. During the demo, Cassie – the iconic female U.N.I.T.E. spy – wandered around a high class party, covertly snapping photographs of key people and locations within the party.

She was, of course, undercover. This plays into their “you are what you wear” system. It’s a phrase they say often, but it is truly new to MMOs. In each situation, the traditional role or “class” of a character is determined by the equipment they bring. Dressed in a party dress, Cassie was clearly undercover. Equip her with a machine gun and a more athletic outfit, and she’s ready to run into action.

Read the preview here.

And check out the video interview here.