Review Reviewing Alpha Protocol

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There games would probably actually be released in better states if they didn't have so many ongoing projects. They were working on AP, NV, and some unannounced game all at once, Feargus is spreading them out too thinly.

Wasn't referring to the canceled ARPG. Obsidian has a new RPG currently in development but no details have been released about it other than some rumors that Squaresoft is the publisher. They are also doing the programming (lol) for that Wheel of Time game. So that's 4 projects, 3 now that AP is done. Way too much for a small studio like Obs.

If AP is bad in the action and good in C&C, then i don't see what's wrong with it.

Except if game has A LOT of action.

I mean Arcanum was bad in the "action" parts, no?

And they said in AP you can beat the game without shooting, so again what's the problem?

But maybe now(if they don't bankrupt), they will realize they suck at action stuff and go back to turn-based poin&click combat.

I just don't get what they're trying to do. A small studio, four projects, and they all want them to be mainstream triple A titles? And on top of that, they're actually much more ambitious than the standard mainstream triple A titles due to integrating more gameplay styles, C&C which requires shitloads of programming and QA to work properly, etc. A child can see this is a bad idea. It just boggles my mind how developers with this much experience fail to even get the basics drilled into their heads.

Not only that, they keep making the same fucking mistakes over and over. With the corpses of devs with suspiciously similar problems (Troika) in their wake. What the fuck, seriously. I WANT to like Obsidian and I'll probably end up buying AP and the mainstream reviews are wrong and blah blah. Fact remains that this is just some utterly terrible project management.

What's so ambitious about NWN2, KOTOR, and AP? LMFAO

BIO has been more ambitious than Troika and Obsidian put together.

Neither was there a shit load of 'ambition' when it came to ARC, TOEE, or BL.

FFS

Couple of things:

For one thing, at least the PS3 version isn't TERRIBLY unpolished, I've only encountered one in-action slowdown and that was in the train station in Russia at one particular spot if you run. Other than that, only some slowdowns during the cutscenes in the tutorial when in the medical ward. As for bugs, the only actually noticiable ones are crashes that I've had twice, after nearly six hours in both games. I get more crashes out of Paradox games. It's very solid work, considering the ambition (new Codex buzzword?) of the game.

Actually, the gameplay also seems to work out very well compared to other ARPGs, with the stealth element being genuinely above most of today and the golden age, along with a good for what it is combat (doesn't blow your mind, but doesn't blow either, just completely and utterly average).

A particular thing I'd point out is that you can't run during Shadow Operative (invisibility), since you still make sound. That Gametrailers clip was done on Easy and with a fully stealth-optimized armor. In fact, I for one have had many moments of gratefulness to invisibility, but far more to the one that removes movement noise.

As for the much debated dialogue system, it works well in action. Sure, it doesn't give you a damn clue of the final line, EXCEPT a very vital one: It's intended tone and purpose. This is very good, since you have the delightful opportunity to read up on NPCs before encountering them (sometimes), where it helps to know what kind of tone and actions they hate and like. That way, you can't have a sudden unexpected ninja result because you interpreted a dialogue choice different than the designer.

Also, CnC up the butt. Still investigating further on whether or not the story decisions carry actual weight and difference, or are primarily flavour. At the very least, it seems a lot of kill/not kill decisions and relationships with NPCs have far-reaching consequences, along with more immediate ones.

Oh yea, the writing is p. cool too. Not MotB, but then again it doesn't deal with such a scope and style as MotB where you can have monologues like Gann's fake birth story.

The more I read the more I am becoming convinced this is a decent game, perhaps I will not wait to purchase it.

I havn't played it, but thought about getting it. From what I've seen. It looks like it'd be mass effect only without the vague ass dialogue wheel.

EDIT: Ok, so apparently it does have the vague ass dialogue wheel. Then it's just mass effect WITH SPIEZ!!!


What I hope for...


What I expect...

AP is like a mix between DX and ME. Some of the good and bad bits from both. It isn't very polished, but it is very interactive in the non-linear part. Depending on which missions you do first it actually changes some enemy placements, weapons etc.

Spiez is actually a nice cartoon.

Goof Troop is nice, too.

So since everyone hates it, can we say it's the best game ever? Maybe even add it to our list of favorites.