Fans of James Bond and the world of jet-setting super spies, take note: in Sony Online Entertainment’s newest Facebook game, you’ll be able to live the life of an elite agent navigating the world of international espionage. A project of the SOE Tucson development team, The Agency: Covert Ops also has the unique distinction of tying in to a forthcoming massively-multiplayer shooter title for the PlayStation 3 and PC, The Agency.
In the company’s first social media action game, you’ll find yourself running covert missions, building a network of operatives, customizing your character and your agency’s headquarters, mastering highly replayable mini-games, upgrading your agent with gadgets and weapons, and more. You can enlist a mix of stylish non-player characters and your real Facebook friends to engage in group missions, and share accomplishments and creative avatars and HQs on your Facebook wall.
Check out a trailer for the game below and read on for screenshots and more goodies from the development team behind the new title.
The Agency: Covert Ops Trailer
We had a chance to get a demo of the game and pick the brains of Dan Kopycienski, Director of Development at SOE Tucson and Chris Hill, Lead Flash Developer, about what to expect in the shadowy spy underworld of Covert Ops. One thing the team hopes to bring to the table is a higher production value than what is typically seen in casual Facebook games. The SOE Tucson team is also working closely with The Agency’s console development team in Seattle to carry over the stylized art design and world elements from the associated title.
With much emphasis on customization both for one’s avatar and Agency headquarters, the game gives players a ton of options for personal expression. From clothes and even tattoos for characters and a seemingly endless array of objects befitting a super swank spy pad (hint: you’ll have no shortage of hot tub options), players will be able to make the world their own well beyond simply selecting one of the five available character classes at the beginning of the game.
A strong storyline is complemented by a series of mini-games, giving players a lot to choose from in actual gameplay. A Black Market and your own personal high-tech research assistant — think of James Bond’s Q — help you acquire new gadgets, weapons, and components within the game. A set of upgradeable stats adds to the dimensions along which your character can grow as you play. A good analogy to the type of experience you might expect would be “playing through a Tom Clancy novel,” said Kopycienski.
In addition, the team plans to continually add new content to Covert Ops, from new missions and mini-games to new weapons, objects, and geographic regions within the game. And while the team can’t divulge too many details just yet about how exactly the Facebook-flavored counterpart of The Agency will tie back into the console and PC MMO still on the way, you should expect the advancements and achievements you make in Covert Ops to benefit your gameplay in the action title and vice versa.
Check out an overview of what to expect in the game from Dan and Chris in the video below along with a few more screenshots. Let us know what you think of the spy-themed Covert Ops and let us know if you plan to try out the game, live on Facebook to players now. For a limited time, new players will also start out with a bonus of 250 Station Cash virtual currency to help jump start character and HQ customization.
About The Agency: Covert Ops — Developer Interview
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Tags: casual games, Covert Ops, espionage, facebook, facebook games, FPS, MMO, pc, playstation 3, PS3, SOE, SOE tucson, sony, spies, The Agency, The Agency: Covert Ops, video games
