Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

by Cody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor

There are few more fitting places to hold a demonstration of a spy game than in the penthouse suites of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Complete with all the grandeur and spectacle of a good secret agent movie,  Sony Online Entertainment had decked out an entire suite for press to view recent versions of all of their latest games. While the Ten Ton Hammer staff was attending the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, we were invited to view a brief demonstration of the latest build of The Agency. To say we were impressed would be an understatement.

In The Agency, it's all about living the life of an elite agent.

Developed by Sony Online Entertainment’s Seattle development studio, The Agency is a direct translation of some of the world’s most popular spy movies and television shows. “The inspiration of the game is really secret agents and espionage; titles like James Bond, the Bourne series, Alias, and all of the major spy shows that we’ve watched over the years,” said Matt Wilson, The Agency’s director of development. “You’ve probably seen a Bond or a Bourne movie, and you can probably tell me what your favorite movie or mission was. It’s a very commonly watched film genre.”

Unlike traditional massively multiplayer role-playing games, The Agency will be using a shooter-based combat system, where the players can switch between third- and first-person modes on the fly. According to Wilson, the Seattle-based development studio made a conscious decision to make the game more along the lines of an FPS than a traditional MMOG.

“Games like Halo, Team Fortress, and Goldeneye are what we’re drawing our mechanics from, so people should be able to jump into our game immediately without an incredibly difficult learning curve,” Wilson explained. “We’re creating a brand new IP, and we didn’t want people to struggle with [the combat system] on top of everything else. We wanted to hit something familiar that people could really understand.”

Although many of today’s traditional MMORPGs have you filling the shoes of the lowliest peon, the developers at SOE Seattle wanted to avoid that stigma at all costs. Instead of being a simple gun-toting thug, the SOE Seattle crew allows you to create a full-fledged super spy.

“When we start you off in the game, we really want you to immediately grasp the concept that you’re living life as an elite agent,” Wilson said. “That means we need to give you the lifestyles, intrigues, and actions that you’re used to in that space. That’s jet-setting, the martini lifestyle, awesome cars, and access to areas you’ve never been to before in the world. From an action standpoint, it’s over-the-top action. It’s not just run-and-gun; it’s driving jeeps into hovering helicopters. The intrigue perspective is all about stories that are fun. Tales of betrayal. Getting in with the other side and selling them out for whatever money you can get.”

To begin the game, players will start in one of two pre-made spy agencies, either Unite or Paragon. While the two agencies are both fighting against common causes, they both have their distinct differences. Wilson went on to explain the unique qualities of the two agencies.

The game makes you choose either between  the agencies, Unite or Paragon.

“Unite is our uptown spy agency. This is where James Bond would have started. It’s got your exotic cars and fancy gadgets. They’re really living the martini lifestyle,” Wilson said. “On the other side of the tracks you’ve got Paragon. The Paragon members love getting down and dirty. These guys are the mercs; the guns for hire. They drink Jack Daniels instead of vodka. They break doors down.

Once the player is established in either Paragon or Unite, they actually get to work their way through the ranks of their agency. You start off by working through some missions, but eventually you’ll break out and start your own agency with your own set of operatives.

However, it’s not as easy as it sounds. While advancing missions may be the objective of most MMOGs, you’ll also need to acquire a fair number of operatives before you can actually handle the struggles of a full-blown spy agency. “In The Agency, we start you off with your first operative,” Wilson explained. “Past MMOGs had you collecting pelts, swords, and shields to begin the game. In our game you’re collecting operatives. They’re what we refer to as ‘living loot.’ The simplest way to describe the operatives are like the sort of people that Moneypenny and Q were in James Bond. It’s someone that helps you out and really directs where you need to go.”

“Let’s say in your second mission, you save a scientist,” he continued “She might say, ‘Hey, I want to join your agency!’ Then you respond by asking them what they can do for you. They may tell you that they can build exotic cars, and it’s up to you to determine if you’re going to bring them onboard or not.”

According to Wilson, what these particular operatives do is provide you with goods and services throughout the game. Typical MMOGs feature a click-based crafting system (e.g. you click your mouse to craft and item). However, that’s not the case in The Agency. “All of our crafting is done in real-time,” Wilson said. “Agents don’t click to craft. If you want that cool car made, you go through your operative. It may take a week, but it happens no matter if you’re offline or online. Let’s say your doing some interviews, jet-setting around the world in your real life. Eventually you’ll receive an SMS from your operative saying, ‘Hey, you’re car is ready.’ Then you’ll head back into the game and try it out.”

This sort of offline gameplay actually allows you to earn experience and advance the story in the game as well. Wilson was quite excited about this particular portion of the gameplay, as it involves your operatives along with some interesting nuances concerning character personality. “Let’s say the story involves you investigating a particular drug lord in Central America and you send an operative out there to check it out,” Wilson stated. “Now you’re at a bar – in the real world mind you – and your cell phone goes off again. It’s your operative and he texts you, ‘Good news, I found him. Bad news, they have me.’ Then you’re presented with two options. You can either transfer a million dollars to the drug lord in Central America, or you can let him die. You either press 1 or 2 on your phone to make this happen.”

Action in The Agency is over-the-top, not just run-and-gun.

While that particular portion of the game sounds exciting, what about any experience that your operatives gain while out on a mission? We asked this question to Wilson, and he was very forthcoming with his answer. “One of the other things we found when we studied MMOGs is that there’s a very negative feeling associated with players outleveling you,” he said. “We really don’t want that. We want players to be able to gain experience all the time, albeit through their operatives. While we don’t want players gaining as much experience using their operatives as they get by simply playing their character, but we do want players – if they’re going to stay with us from month to month – to continue to advance in the game.”

Sending out operatives can even be a fun little experience in itself. According to Wilson, rather than making bland mission reports for you to read, the missions you send your operatives on will be hilarious escapades that you can later discover when you’re getting their briefing. “You send two operatives – a male and a female – off on an assignment,” Wilson said, barely containing his laughter. “Maybe they don’t come back right away. You later learn that it’s because they’re taking their own little ‘personal’ vacation. Or maybe it’ll be something like, ‘I’m never going to work with that guy again.’ And it turns out that they really can’t work together anymore. It’s these little nuances in the text that allows you to put some personality into the game.”