Agents Under Fire

With Sony Online's spy game The Agency, you won't just be playing Spy vs. Spy.
12/27/2007 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 3 of 5

Crispy Gamer: Can you only change when you start playing or can you change before you start a mission?

Milton: You can actually decide whenever you're somewhere that allows you to change outfits, which will mainly be when you're in your field office before you start a mission. Odds are, if you're in the middle of a mission, you won't be able to change, though there will be some missions where we've put in a changing area.

Wilson: One good thing is that if you've just finished a mission, and your medic has to leave for some reason, you can then switch over and play as the medic -- which is really good for the hardcore players, who are going to want to build up every aspect of their character.

Crispy Gamer: How long will each mission be?

Milton: We're building three kinds of missions. The most common will probably be about a 10-minute encounter, but there will also be bigger missions, which will be 15 to 30 minutes long, as well as our big signature missions, which can last anywhere from 30 minutes to more than an hour.

Wilson: There will also be little diversions you can do while you're in the public space. For example, if you're waiting for a friend to log on, you'll be able to do little things like play cards.

Milton: Yeah, you can't have secret agents without card games.

Crispy Gamer: By the way, does it matter whether you decide to be a male spy or a female spy?

Wilson: No. It's not like if you chose to be a woman that you'll have a limited lifting ability or if you're a guy you won't be as smart.

Crispy Gamer: Now a big part of spying, at least in the movies, is being able to seduce people. Will you be able to do that in the game?

Milton: We are developing some mechanics for that kind of stuff. To go back to what I was saying about the moments we wanted to have in the game, one of them was that we wanted people to have a whirlwind affair with an agent who's marked for death, so one of the things we're working on now is our conversation system, into which we're incorporating persuasion and intimidation. Some people will respond better to persuasion, some will respond better to intimidation, and some people will only respond to blackmail.

Crispy Gamer: Are you going to allow for same-sex seduction?

Milton: We haven't worked that out, yet.

Wilson: I think it will all depend on what Artificial Intelligence (AI) you're trying to persuade.

Milton: Yeah, there may be some AI that responds more favorably to one gender vs. the other.

Crispy Gamer: And you're also going to be able to recruit people, right?

Milton: Yes, you will be able to collect NPCs who will be able to provide you with goods and services, even when you're not playing. For example, I can task an operative with making me a vehicle, which will take him a while. And I can actually get e-mail or text messages and they will tell me how it's going.

Crispy Gamer: Do you mean a text message in the real world, or that my character in the game gets a text message?