Global Agenda

Global Agenda is an online team-based game by Hi-Rez Studios developed using Unreal Engine 3. The game went live on February 1, 2010. April, 2011, Global Agenda was re-released as a free-to-play game, introducing Elite and Free Agents in addition to an in-game cash shop featuring Agenda Points.

Subscription information

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 multi-player, hub-based shooter and a larger-scale persistent world online shooter MMO. Pricing was initially planned to include an optional "Global Agenda: Conquest" subscription package.

As of June 25, 2010, Global Agenda announced that it was going subscription-free and all content that previously required a monthly subscription fee is now available to all players who have simply purchased the game. Trial accounts still 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 the upcoming update would bring the games's subscription model to free-to-play.

Expansion: Sandstorm

In the Summer of 2010, Hi-Rez released a Global Agenda expansion entitled Sandstorm to add new content to Global Agenda. 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. 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.

Expansion: Free Agent

April 2011, Hi-Rez released Global Agenda: Free Agent highlighting a move to free-to-play, balance changes and the introduction of new end-game raid content, Dome Defense. Patch 1.4, Free Agent, included the overhaul of skill trees to encourage role specialization. The Dome Defense raid pits 10 man player teams against a new, more powerful threat to the Dome.

Open beta

Open beta was scheduled to start at 10 am PST on January 7, 2010, but was delayed due to network issues. Some players were able to connect to the server for the first 10 minutes but were then kicked from the server and were unable to reconnect. Players trying to get onto the game forums were also unable to connect.

The open beta was later delayed until 3 pm PST, January 7, 2010. The network issues continued to cause delays after 3 pm further delaying open beta. By 6 pm on the same day, the servers were put online and players were able to join. After this small delay the game has been running normally since.

As of January 13, the Non-disclosure agreement for players of the beta was lifted, allowing Beta testers to share information regarding the game.

Reception

Global Agenda achieved a 70% average from critics and 82% from players on Metacritic, with comments ranging from IGN's mentioning 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.”, to EuroGamer's “a shooter without eloquence or crunch, an MMO without content or personality, and as an experimental combination of the two it's missing ambition.

Synopsis

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

The game is set on 22nd-century Earth in the wake of severe global disaster. 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.

The developer 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 and Post-Commonwealth.