Sony Online Entertainment is no stranger to the MMO market having launched EverQuest, EverQuest II, Planetside, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Star Wars Galaxies, The Matrix Online and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. But not since the first EverQuest has SOE had a runaway hit. They continue to launch titles unabated spreading across the genre spectrum and providing variety to the MMO space. And If they're showing at E3 is any indication they've no intention of slowing down. SOE featured three new MMOs at their booth this year - The Agency, Free Realms and DC Universe Online - and these games introduce some interesting new trends that could shake up what many see as a stagnant game model.

The Agency is a modern-day, spy-and-espionage, shooter MMO. You play a secret agent from one of two agencies: United Nations Intelligence and Tactical Experts (U.N.I.T.E.) or the Paramilitary Global Operations Network (ParaGON). Visually the game looks a bit like Team Fortress 2 but with a persistent game world and varying mission objectives. It plays like a shooter as well with no hidden dice rolls or percentages running the combat. A headshot is a headshot. The developers told us they wanted to keep the game skill-based - meaning the player's skill not the character's attributes - but also have the "time spent = money" component popular with MMO players.

Borrowing from successful online shooters like Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty 4, The Agency doesn't lock the player into a class for the duration of the character. Players can switch classes just be changing the outfit they are wearing. The more you play a class the better equipment you can get but since the game is still a shooter the gear will only take you so far. Similar to the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer you also gain experience per weapon allowing another level of rank outside the class system. Like any MMO that aspires to keep the mice in the running wheel there will be loot but it comes in the form of operatives.

Operatives are NPCs that specialize in particular tasks useful both in missions and out. For instance, you may have an operative that can plant an explosive during a mission or one that can craft guns. These operatives are collectable, tradable and they level up the more you use them. As your operatives climb in rank they are bestowed random enhancements which will further differentiate operatives of the same type. Characters will only have so many slots available for operatives and it won't be possible to collect them all.

The Agency from Sony Online Entertainment mixes shooter gameplay with MMO persistence.

We were able to watch the developers run through an instanced mission and The Agency definitely looks more shooter than MMO. The enemies were numerous and dispatched quickly but the party wasn't forced to stick together. Rather than forcing players to coordinate attacks on single targets and control enemies, the game encourages tactics like finding bottlenecks and flanking maneuvers. The missions have tiered objectives with rewards that scale up for groups. Someone soloing a mission will be able to complete it but may only be awarded bronze or silver level rewards. In order to get the gold level rewards you'll need a party.

In addition to the familiar shooter gameplay, The Agency features a series of mini-games playable at casinos. Keeping with the cartoon-spy milieu players can play casino games for in-game money and they may even become mission objectives, such as beating an enemy at cards a la "Casino Royale" or getting the attention of a new NPC that gives out missions.

A subscription model for The Agency has not been finalized but SOE is considering everything that's available including pay-per-month, microtransactions, offering premiere content, and an ad-driven system. Their objective is to lower the barrier of entry for console players who may not be familiar with a straight pay-per-month game.

What's disheartening about The Agency - for PC gamers anyway - is that the game is being designed primarily for the PS3 with console controls in mind. The console dictates how the UI will look and function and it won't be changed much for the PC. 90% of the interface will be platform independent. If this were an MMO in the classic sense I'd have written it off already but since this is more-or-less a shooter it may not be the deal breaker PC gamers expect. From the brief look we were given into The Agency it appears that SOE has successfully melded the shooter and the MMO into something that works much better than Planetside did.

A game that I had very little interest in right up until I saw it was Free Realms. On paper the game sounds like a marketing executive's fever dream mixing elements of World of Warcraft, the Sims, Pokémon, Bejeweled and Facebook into a cohesive massively-multiplayer world. It sounds like a perfect product that will make a fortune in sales. The thing about it is that Free Realms is completely free. If you're like me than you expect free games to skimp on production values but the team behind Free Realms is dedicated to making this game a contender.

The first thing you need to know is that Free Realms isn't for us. When I say "us" I mean the older, jaded gamers who leap on MMOs with their claws out intent on eviscerating them at every turn. You know the type because we are the type. Free Realms isn't aimed at us but rather at the 9 to 14 year-olds. It's for our kids. Many gamers are getting to the age now where they have kids and they'd like to be able to share this past time with them. For gamers who are also parents, who know these games in an out, throwing a nine year-old into the depths of World of Warcraft or Age of Conan unsupervised is not a welcome proposition. Free Realms provides exposure to the constructs of an MMO with parental controls and kid-safe content, like limited chat functions for anyone under 13. Think of it as training for future MMOs.

Follow our ongoing coverage of E3 2008.

Join our discussion on this topic