First off, I would like to point out to all people complaining about the monthly fee, that AvA 12.99$/mo content is OPTIONAL. You can buy the game and play unlimited coop and multiplayer, WITH whatever updates Hirez throws at GA, for FREE. The 13$ a month is for the main Alliance vs Alliance content. In essence, most of the MMO part is a monthly fee, the FPS part is the price.

Secondly, this is not a "Counter Strike Online warcraft 3 mod". For those who have played more than just Counter Strike, this is obvious and you may as well skip reading this. This is brought up alot, though, because the masses that come looking for a change from WoW see only the three letters "MMO" in this game's genre. Since they obviously have little skill in the FPS genre, they overlook the differences and compare it with the first FPS game (and likely the only one they know of) that comes to their mind: Counter Strike. I am being prejudicial to WoW players, but not without reason. If this is not true about you, you won't likely go ranting about this anyway. At least not without knowing what you're talking about. In essence, if you don't like FPS's, don't tell us that, go play an RPG.

Lastly, talking about how this game is instanced automatically makes it shit. Once again I'm going to point out that This-Is-Not-WoW, and a game doesn't have to be open world to be good. Would travelling for 2/3 hours in a hovercar looking at scenery that's only half done due time and money, only to get to a 20 minutes Agency skirmish be fun? This is meant to be an FPS, not an open world adventure RPG. This is about gameplay and tactics, not exploration and walking. Essentially, the world is there, and a territory's location is relative to that around it, its all functional in that sense, it's just that in the days on the 22nd century walking is obsolete, and boring.

The Dome cities and social areas are also more than just lobbies. You could compare it to hanging out in Stormwind or Ironforge until you have a quest or something to do. Difference being, once again, when you walk out the gates, there is no travelling; you're there. As a former WoW player, I can attest to this being a GREAT feature for the likes of an MMOFPS. There honestly isn't much land to traverse, anyway. The setting of Global Agenda is smartly placed in a post-nuclear war Earth, where there is not much land still untainted by radiation. You couldn't walk if you wanted to in GA, unless you want to die. In essence: every MMO has fast travel, and we all use it. If we don't see everything in between, then why have it.

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Now that that is layed out, and taken care of, I have come to notice another trend in reviews. This touches all games to a certain extent: People writing bad reviews about a game they've never played, have only at a friend's for 10 minutes, or simply because the game is competing with another game they play.

So I wrote a small overview of what the game's like. It's a quickie, but it's short and easy to read, and will hopefully inform would-be posters a little bit more about the game.

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If there is a single game I could compare this too gameplay-wise, it would definitely be TF2. But that really doesn't do it any justice at all. This is more of a TF2, BF, Tribes, and Planetside, mashed together with functional MMO community features beyond a simple level and guild system.

There are 4 classes, Assault, Robotics, Recon, and Medic. Each class has 2 or more skill trees.

Medic, for example, can be combat oriented - lol battle medic - although surprisingly they're not at all useless. A great arsenal of poisons and different grenades make sure he is never defenseless. The standard heal gun works like that of TF2, although it can be swapped out for one that group heals (but obviously less at a time). Heal grenades are great for a big cluster team boost.

Assault, I haven't played much of yet. Works alot in the way a heavy does in TF2, but is not limited to a minigun. Alot of explosives with this class as well.

Robotics I spent most of my time on. You can throw down bots for quick helpers when taking a point, or build a turret for defense. One of the more useful specs are shields, which only your team can shoot through, for excellent cover. Robotics, unlike the TF2 engie, is useful for offense and defense, as with every other class.

Of course, each one of these classes also have jetpacks which allow for superb mobility and dynamic gameplay, taking place even on rooftops.

Alliance vs Alliance mechanics are great for large scale wars. Territories start out as Commonwealth (the NPC faction) controlled, and can be attacked by other alliances only during a certain time of day. Territories reset at their own times, and you have to retake them from the commonwealth if you've dominated them unchallenged for a month or so. Defenses among other things are customizable for strategic defensive advantages.

Coop is -very- fun. It's like those instances in WoW, except you rely on your skill, instead of a level 80 escort. Various bosses and mini bosses, mobs that take thinking to beat, give the coop feature more substance beyond grinding for economic benefits.

Agency (guild) headquarters, I haven't seen yet, although one can assume the obvious advantage of having your own place to hang out. Dome cities and social areas are all but functional for their purpose, though they can get slightly laggy with a lot of people. Luckily, these are instanced to keep the population down.

That's about as much as I can say, as l am writing this on release day. I was in closed beta, although I didn't end up playing much more than 2 testing periods. I sent my computer to a relative for a month, and UPS managed to drop it a couple times.

 It is $12.99 per month. ;)

Originally posted by JedricTX

 It is $12.99 per month. ;)

Fixt. Thanks.