Global Agenda

[Divinism]

I haven't seen much discussion about this surprisingly excellent game, so I decided to start one myself.

Global Agenda is a scifi game published and created by Hi-Rez Studios, and the game's genre is generally considered as MMOFPS, since it has elements from both FPS and MMO gaming (primarily shooting / warfare elements from FPS, crafting, auction house and item qualities from MMO). The game kind of resembles TF2 at least for me, this visible in the classes at least.

A video probably tells a more than the wall of text below, so I would recommend watching this before reading.

Before I start with the general information, I will answer the most commonly asked questions first that would occur to your minds.

F.A.Q

1. Is there a level cap?
Yes, the level is capped at 50. Though, you will unlock all skill (talent) points at 30, so only differences between 30 and 50 level players is the level 30+ equipment (referred commonly as Conquest gear), but generally level matters a little, since it's possible to a level 30 to easily kill level 50 players.

2. Does the game have a subscription?
Not anymore, after you buy the game, you can enjoy as much content as everyone else. Although, there is a booster pack system that can be comparable to a subscription, since they cost about the same and last a month. The booster pack increases XP, credit (money) and token (currency to buy gear) gained from missions by 100%, it also grants one extra item gained from mission rewards.

3. What kind of community does the game have?
The community consists of both EU and US players, the global chat includes trolling (inside jokes such as, wow was the first MMO, which has given form to many other "X was the first X" jokes, alienware was the first computer, etc. There are more different jokes like this exclusive to this game, but I don't get them. :P). The good thing about this that if you are a late night player, there are still bunch of people, even though the europeans are asleep, or vice versa.

4. What is endgame like?
This might sound discouraging, but content pretty much stays the same 1-50. This means, you will always be doing either PvE or PvP missions. There are few additions at higher level though, as example, starting from level 30 you can perform a 10-man raid every 72 minutes, which takes about 15 minutes. I will tell more about this later in this post.

5. Are there any addons or UI customization?
As far as I know, nope. The only customization is done by the game's own interface options.

6. Character Customization
When creating character, you can customize your character quite well, you can change your hair, face, skin color, face shape, so it's the usual stuff, the height of character is something you cannot customize, since there is a set height for each class. When talking about armor, there is no visible armor that gives stats, the armor you see people wearing is only for the looks. A naked player can have more stats than the humanized Deathwing with molting steel armor.

7. Movement
You use your jetpack as a primary movement method. A normal jetpack needs to be chosen from the action bar by keybind, and then holding mouse 1 will causeyou to fly. There is a combat and hands free version of the same jet pack, only that you don't need to choose it from action bars to fly, but rather holding space. Combat jetpack allows shooting while flying in addition to hands free trait.

8. The game cost
Currently the game costs 22.5 euros (I don't know the USD value, sorry), but with discount code it costs 50% less, reducing the total price down to 11.25 euros. I have 7 of these codes, if someone needs it I am glad to give them away.

This is everything I can think at the moment, if there shall be more questions, feel free to ask in this thread.

I will start off with the classes. There are 4 of them, and each of them are useful somehow to the team. And I don't see any severe balance issues between them.

Classes

Assault
Assaults are the front-line combat class, they have the largest variety of weaponry, these include rocket launchers, grenade launchers with auto or manual detonate, miniguns and 2h melee weapon (may resemble demoman / soldier / heavy from TF2). Assaults' main role, as the most durable class, is to capture the points and objectives. Assaults can specialize in either Tank, which is based on defense and running minigun primarily, while Explosives focuses on grenade / rocket launcher, generally improving their DPS. In PvE they are capable of tanking, and highly needed.

My own notes: I have an assault at level 22, the fact that I have so many weapon choices makes the class interesting, sadly that's it, especially playing solo assault isn't that fun. Maybe because I am more of a support guy in the backlines.

Recon
Perhaps the most played class in the game, every time you queue, the most people queuing are recons. They resemble Sniper or Spy from TF2, which means they have high ranged utility, sniping and high melee utility. In addition to that, they have stealth and can jump up to 50 meters, granting them ridiculously easy escape methods. Other tools they have is a decoy as example, it creates an exact copy of yourself, which attacks mechanical targets (robotics buildings). Normally people won't fall to this anymore, since they don't do much harm, except for taunting the turrets. I still sometimes see half of the team meleeing the decoy.

What makes it popular, is maybe people always pick the rogue, regardless of the game, or the fact that a skilled sniper can two or three shot people. Yes, this is possible, but to perform this you need at least a morale boost and damage buffs (from other classes too), and also implying that your both shots will not miss, since the rifles are not hitscan, but a projectile instead, so prediction is needed. Recon is arguably the most hardest class to master, due to this.

Recon's main role in PvP is to take critical threats down, such as medics and turrets, while in PvE they are just DPS. Recons can specialize in Marksman, which is obviously the sniper spec and Infiltration, which increases their mobility, survivability and melee damage. Due to overpopulation, their spots in PvE tend to get filled quickly. But still they are necessary, since they are handy at taking targets down at distance.

My own notes: I have a recon as my lowest level character, I don't like it at all. I have tried the sniper playstyle, but it makes it hard to me since I am not used to projectile-based precision weapons, unlike hitscan weapons. I tried the melee spec, which proved to be more success for me, but I tend to be too vulnerable since it's too often in the heart of combat.

Medic
Medic would be something you would expect as a healer class, as usual. Medics are sadly the least played class, therefore the demand of them is great. Medics primarily heal with their medigun, which they have different kind of. One is that places a HoT on target, some increase health, even though there are choices, the best one will be the one you will get first, since it has constant heal, and it additionally heals yourself.

Medic's primary role is to heal naturally, but you can make the community hate yourself by speccing in to Poison and become a battle-medic. Ridiculous, you might think, but actually battle medics kill people. They put DoTs on you and there is nothing you can do about it, you will die.

My own notes: This is my second highest level character, I play it as a healer and I like it pretty much, since I like being useful to the team. If I decide to, I will never die, since I have strong self heals. Teaming up with an assault can turn a tide of the battleground.

Robotics
Robotics is almost exactly like Engineer from TF2. Meaning they can deploy various turrets (sentries), stations (comparable to dispenser, but not exactly the same. There are different stations, one that restores health, one that restores power and one that senses enemies and provides +15% damage buff) and drones, which are sort of small mobile turrets that have a duration. They are handy for defending your buildings or supporting combat-engineer play. Robotic's reputation in the community is described with the word "easymode."

Robotic's role in PvP is to defend objectives and capture points. Although, in zergs, your turrets will be targeted first, which can be frustating. In PvE, they are there for support, in other words to provide stations, though they can provide little tanking utility. But, they are needed in raids since they can heal mechanicals (I will elaborate later) and buildings with their robotic arm.

My own notes: This is the class I play as my main, I enjoy it a lot. The idea of turrets doing all the work might sound overpowered, but I don't think it really is. Since most of the turrets fire at 90* or 180* angle, meaning that they can be destroyed from behind, the only 360* turret is the flame turret, but it has very low range compared to others. This can be helped by protecting or have your turret protected by another turret.


Content
When starting a character, you will be a level 5 by completing tutorial (might be outdated, since I made all my characters the same day it released). You will need level 5 to queue for PvE and level 10 for PvP missions, but I would suggest leveling in the game's only quest hub (Sonoran Desert) which lasts up to 20 or so.

This is how mission window looks like.

Special Ops, in other words PvE missions
They are the basic 5-man dungeons, or in this game 4-man. As you can see in the screenshot, there are 4 difficulties, Medium being the easiest and Ultra-Max being the hardest + Double Agent which is a little different. These missions usually follow a pattern of clearing all the mobs until the last boss, if you complete the instance within the time limit and without deaths, you will get a bonus, more tokens, XP and credits, and possibly better items as reward. It is recommended to get at least Medic in your group, and an Assault to ensure your victory. Though almost any setup works, except 4 recons, don't do that.

If you like playing alone, you can complete these same instances as Solo, as you can see from the right corner of the screenshot. Doing solo might be easier and harder for some classes, I personally find medic the best for soloing, because of dahts dahts dahts and hials.

Double Agent is somewhat interesting, because you queue with 6 people, and 2 of them will get chosen as double agents. This means, the other 4 will try to complete the instance normally, but the double agents can interfere, team up with the mobs / boss and kill the whole team.


Mercenary, in other words PvP missions
The most common form of PvP. When you queue, you will end up in a team of 10 (or was it 8) and a random map + game mode. The game modes include

Scramble - Basically a king of hill, a random capture point will spawn somewhere in the map, and both teams needs to capture it asap, and fight for it. he first team to capture 3 points will win the game, which you just lost.

Control - Basic control point mode, there will be 3 control points in the map, and holding at least 2 points will award capture points to the team. First team to get 800 points will win.

Breach - Similiar to Control, but it is pre-set who will attack and defend. There are 3 control points, which 2 of them are locked. By capturing the first point will unlock the second, and so on. If defenders manage to defend the control points until time runs out, they win. If attackers manage to capture all 3 points, they win.

Payload - This game mode seems familiar from the another game we know, in fact it's exactly like it. There is a cart with nukes that needs to be delivered to enemy base. You can move the cart forward by being near it as attacker, and as defender standing nearby will cause it to move back to attacker base. Again if defenders survive until the time runs out, they win. If attackers manage to deliver payload, they win.

Demolition - It's kind of reverse capture the flag, because in soviet futuristic FPS game, YOU deliver the FLAG to enemy base. Or in this case, robots. A player can mount a robot, and deliver it to enemy base and award 1 capture point. The robot carrier can be healed by robotics and medics. Remember to prevent the enemy getting in your base, and don't get near it because its melee hits deal huge damage.


Raids.
Every 72 minutes a queue will open for a 10 man raid, it is recommended to gather a group for greater success. The raid's objective is the same in each map, there is a power reactor core that needs to be protected from 4 waves of mobs, which get harder and more intense each wave, the last wave including the boss. The raid setups consists mostly of assaults and robotics with the few recon and medic.

The reasoning for this is because robotics is the only class that can heal the power core, should it take damage. Assaults are there because of their tanking utility. Recons and Medics aren't totally useless either, medics can provide useful buffs to the team, and recons bring their morale boost (shatter bomb) that effectively clears mobs and causes a noticable nick in the boss' health, not to mention that they can take targets in the distance, or flying in the air.

Completing the raid will award you more XP, tokens and credits than in usual special ops, and always 1 purple item, or 2 with booster pack.


Arena 4v4
I am not that familiar with this mode, but it is exactly what it sounds. You will go 4v4 with a random team against another random team. Since it's timed I would assume the mission rewards are better than usual.


AvA (Agency vs Agency)
This is the highest form of PvP, to perform it, you will need an agency (guild). You challenge other agencies for a battle for control points (hexes) on AvA map. At the end of season (which last 5 days each), the agency with most hexes will get rewarded, with shitloads of tokens and possibly hologram armor. But not only them get rewarded, everyone who took a part in AvA season will get at least tokens.

And lastly, the screenshot of the UI with brief descriptions. Please forgive the horrible quality.

I hope you didn't get bored reading, I planned to post more but I didn't want to waste all your day. If you have any questions regarding to the game, feel free to ask, I will try to answer. And if you want the -50% discount key, you can either ask in here or PM me. Thank you for your time. :P


EDIT:
Here are some trailers
Cinematic trailer
Official trailer - This was apparently from pre-beta phase, since some things were scrapped from the release (the dragonfly robot flying thing for example), and UI looks much different.
"No Elves" Trailer
"No Elves" Trailer 2

More videos

[Deleted]

I played it for a week or so when it got released. Got boring really fast. Got pissed at the skillzor kids playing easy mode recons (rogue-sniper).

[Drexxil]

I play it off and on, but there isn't really a pull to the game that makes me want to sink any copious amounts of time into it. It really shouldn't have had a subscription fee, though.

[Stixxz]

I play it off and on, but there isn't really a pull to the game that makes me want to sink any copious amounts of time into it. It really shouldn't have had a subscription fee, though.

Doesn't have a subscription, buy once which is £5 and can play forever...

[Drexxil]

Doesn't have a subscription, buy once which is £5 and can play forever...

Reread, I stated "have had", past tense. I am glad they got rid of the subscription, but I don't think it should have been there in the first place. When the game was launched, it was great until that free month was over, and it was time to pay up.

[Noumenon]

Yea I play it on and off as well. I have something like a 48 medic, 36 tank, 32 robo. Its definitely a potentially VERY fun game but I find myself all too often in a rage from being killed in Mercenary with no backup on a losing team and then having some dipshit try to tell me how to play my class on the game voice, haha. I think if they had something in between the max 2 player teams to enter Merc matches, and a full AvA, it would be a lot more enjoyable. If 5 or even 10 people could queue as a team for Merc matches without all the dropships, hexes, and 5 day AvA stuff it would be perfect. I havent tried the 4v4 arena yet though.

There isn't a whole lot of challenge to the PvE maps but if you have a fun guild to play with they are fun to clear while having some beers and joking about stuff, a nice change of pace from the Merc frustatrations. The double agent game is cool too.

But I love the game design. Tanks with chain guns, jetpacks!, ghostbuster medics, damage boost cooldowns, and giant robots.

Heres a decent action video

[psir]

I bought it, I played it... I even played in an active guild who did AwA.

But for some reason they messed up the lagg, so every EU player had like 400ms, and it took around 30minutes to get into a "battleground", so I quit. That's 4months ago, is it fixed now? (Europe)

[Divinism]

I never felt having such issues, it might be country related. But at least in here (Finland) there is no lag, and I would assume that there is neither in Scandinavia too.