The idea, then, is to allow a basic level of flexibility; you're never locked into a specific role for all that long, and in the game's more common no-fire areas, you'll actually get the chance to throw on a tux or evening dress and slink around a bit while socializing. In the first scenario we were shown, you'll actually have to head to the bar and nurse a drink (though SOE is staying coy about the full effects of in-game inebriation), which in turn allows you to sneak back into another area and employ the all-important, handy-dandy camera.

It's useful for recon, sure, but it'll also let you gather info on other agents and NPCs that are quest (sorry, sorry, mission) specific. Keeping up cover and carrying out investigations on the sly while maintaining stealth in your undercover alias is key. Think of it like an alter ego that has their own awareness attached; enemies are looking for the cute partygoer, not the gun-toting merc -- at least not until you head into an area where safeties are off.

It's here that the game attempts to strike a balance between being instanced (that is, a few groups of people can head into the same area, but they leave the general pool of most or all players on that server and instead get funneled into areas where more scripted actions and computer-driven enemies can appear) and keeping things open. Though player-vs-player combat is indeed in the cards, that part seems to be something SOE is trying to tinker with at the moment for obvious balance reasons (a headshot, however, is still a one-hit kill no matter one's level, though, so reaction times are key). The instanced missions are where the meat of the game can unfold, though, and where The Agency seems uniquely set up to do something different.

We already mentioned the idea of a massively multiplayer online first-person shooter in Planetside, but whereas that game was going for scale, The Agency is keeping firefights far more pared down. That means tightly scripted events that allow you and friends to tackle an objective with the usual kinds of trappings; walls that blow out, blaring klaxons, sniping opportunities, and, yes, some cover. Though the game can be played in both third- and first-person perspectives, the game certainly seems best suited to those that have always been good at plunking shots into the center masses of targets from the eyes of the in-game character.

We witnessed a blowout firefight outside a classy (and impressively ornate) chateau in Switzerland (one of the games many international locations) where the normal shooter conventions seemed to hold up nicely; one player donned their sniper garb, picked off some enemies and supported a heavier character with a big ass machine gun that was good for whittling down the enemies pouring in from a side entrance that was later hacked.

All of this was running not up in Seattle where the clients were operating out of (again, both PC and PS3), but down in San Diego where all of the game's testing is being done. International servers should ensure that lag is minimized there too, though obviously latency will become a factor in worldwide games. Still SOE is aiming to keep the game running smoothly across multiple systems and control setups (and yes, the PC game absolutely supports using a PS3 controller, and even includes PS3 button prompts if you have one hooked up).