June 11, 2007

SOE Announces Free Realms and The Agency
By Michael Lafferty

MMOs join impressive stable of online games, offer new takes on the genre

Time to let the word out. Way back on May 3, at the Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, the Sony Online Entertainment team held a Gamers’ Day event in which it showed several of the titles that it runs.

Two titles were listed in that illustrious group - which also includes EverQuest II, Gods and Heroes, Star Wars Galaxies, Vanguard, EverQuest and a host of others – but embargo dates and such prohibited the media from talking about them. Well, time’s up.

Coming soon, to PCs and PS3s near you, Free Realms and The Agency.

Free Realms is more of a whimsical massively multiplayer title, and will be free to play. SOE officials introducing the title stated that players should be able to go from install to actually playing the game in about “30 seconds.”

The way the game will remain free is through advertising connected to the user interface, and micro transactions. Of course, if a player would rather get there game without seeing advertising, they can upgrade to a fee-based premium service.

“We want to change the way MMOs interact with us,” it was stated. To further that notion, Free Realms will throw out some conventions, like have a class-based system, and explore new ideas within the MMO space.

But, by far, the class announcement concerned The Agency. The team behind The Agency is SOE-Seattle. This is a team with a solid pedigree. Once a core group working for Microsoft and developing the cancelled title Mythica, it was – temporarily – flying under the banner of Fire Ant Studios … until SOE entered the picture and made the team an offer it could not refuse.

So what is The Agency? A shooter, a spy-versus-spy game with over-the-top humor, a terrific graphic design using the Unreal 3 engine, and a solid storyline that involves two competing spy organizations know as ParaGON and Unite.

Players leap into the world, run a series of missions, acquire cooler vehicles and weaponry, and work through exotic locations. And get this, well not all the cards were revealed, it may be that the game is looking to launch on both the PC and PS3 platforms. The difference between the two agencies highlights play styles for gamers. Unite is more of the covert established, polished organization, while ParaGON is a group of Rambo-esque mercenaries that go in shooting and … well … go in shooting.

In fact, there is a very humorous trailer that shows the female Unite operative rescuing a hostage when the ParaGON brute busts in, guns blazing. By the time he runs out of bullets, the room looks like Swiss cheese and the target of the rescue slumps over, dead.

Expect there to be a bit of player-versus-player in the game as well.

The Agency is gearing up for a Winter 2007 release, while Free Realms will hit beta in 2007 but is not slated to go live until 2008.

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