I’m not quite sure where to stand personally on Global Agenda. Everyone else around me seems fired up for it, but after sitting down to play it I have to wonder why. It certainly has a lot of good ideas in terms of a business model, but I’m having trouble finding the “massive” in this online multiplayer game.

The general gameplay is, well, generic. You pick your class, you choose a set of skills and equipment, go out into battle and attempt to win objectives. Instead of throwing hundreds of players against each other the maps are organized into smaller matches resembling your ordinary shooter. Take over all the control points or move several boxes of cargo from point A to point B, all of the game modes resemble something that’s already been done before.

That isn’t to say that Global Agenda does nothing differently. Players that are going to be more casual will be able to buy it and still play online without a monthly fee. They’ll just have a smaller level cap than subscribers. At any time players can also change classes and completely remap their skill tree instead of having to create a new character, though multiple slots will still be available. This keeps a player from having to suffer through a build that doesn’t match their play style without having to start from scratch.

When it comes to the MMO aspect, however, there is very little to offer. You can interact with other players in your agency in central hubs, sure, but you’re all just going to be getting equipment and looking for the next fight. The different battle maps are arranged in a hex-like grid, and if one battle is going well or becomes victorious all the adjacent battles gain bonuses to that agency’s side. It places a bit of overall strategy into the game, but that’s about it.

Global Agenda is bound to be a pretty decent game, no doubt about it, but I can’t see what’s worth getting excited for. It doesn’t actually provide an experience you can’t get elsewhere. Sure, they like to advertise that it’s an MMO without elves, but so are Planetside and EVE Online. Those games remain massive instead of limiting players to small-scale battles as well. If Global Agenda really wants to stand out, they’ll have to provide a bit more incentive than its setting.