MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy gives his impressions of the recently launched Sandstorm Phase 1 update to Global Agenda.

I’ve been spending a bit of time lately with the newly revamped Global Agenda and like any other of the game’s players can tell you… things have changed.  A lot.  As previously reported Hi-Rez Studios has been spending the past several months since launch polishing and expanding their game.  When it premiered, Global Agenda was a fully-featured competitive shooter with MMO tendencies, but Sandstorm (set to be delivered in several phases) aims to bring the shooter-hybrid closer to a more persistent world feel.  But Phase 1 is just the tip of the iceberg, and already it looks as though Global Agenda’s first major update is giving the game a very welcome overhaul.

First thing folks with the capabilities will notice is the addition of DX10 to the client.  Little touches that come along with the added graphical oomph from DX are all over the place.  Smoke wisps, dust clouds, and lots of other little atmospheric details add greatly to the overall feel of the universe Hi-Rez has created.  Sure DX 11 is now out and about, but just like DX9 before it, DX 10 will likely remain the more used version of the API package and GA looks mighty pretty running in DX10.  Everything just looks better.

Read Sandstorm Phase 1 Impressions.