Alpha Protocol preview at IGN

[Hümmelgümpf]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/988/988435p1.html

Set for an October release on PC, PS3 and X360, Alpha Protocol promises to offer up some very different gaming experiences from one player to the next. If what developer Obsidian Entertainment is saying holds true throughout Alpha Protocol, the decisions you make will greatly alter what occurs. It's all about choice, but it's not about good and evil. Just accept that you can't be a very successful spy if you're truly trying to be a good guy. Instead of affecting a moral barometer, your choices in the game involve who to trust and who to betray.

Obsidian has created a massive spy network in Alpha Protocol, with multiple agencies that have their own agendas. Within these agencies are operatives, each with their own personas and personal goals. The decisions you make on each mission will impact the organizations differently and can also affect specific people in different ways. There are always choices – do you destroy the weapon cargo or ship it to your contact who offered you some serious cash for just such a thing prior to your mission? Destroy it and you are going to please some people, maybe even people you've yet to meet, but might upset your contact. Sell it, and the same thing is true in the opposite direction.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Instead of affecting a moral barometer, your choices in the game involve who to trust and who to betray.

fun

To break up the combat, there are opportunities to hack into computers and secured doors. The minigame shows a circuit board with several different nodes that need to be lit up. To light the nodes you need to scan the complex circuitry and pinpoint the correct electrical path to each node. Light all the nodes in time and you've hacked successfully. Fail and an alarm goes off and more goons come a-running.

This sounds dangerously a lot like Bioshock though...

 

[MetalCraze]

Obsidian has created a massive spy network in Alpha Protocol, with multiple agencies that have their own agendas. Within these agencies are operatives, each with their own personas and personal goals

In hypespeak it translates to "there are like 3 agencies with the goal to be "teh bestest powah" and you will meet one stereotypical guy per agency"

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

'Cause writing cliched characters is what Avellone is most known for.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Sounds good, but I'm not sure I like this part

But before you ever get to that choice, you'll have to fight your way through this level. Things kick off when you meet Sie outside the station. She's part of the VCI organization and can best be described as a cougar. As the conversation begins, options pop up on the screen. Similar to Mass Effect, you won't choose direct answers, but instead your general thought. For Sie, you have four choices: aggressive, honest, bluff or attack. And yes, attack means just that, you stop the conversation and fire at her.

Sie wants you to team up with her to get to the weapons as there's another group trying to reach them first. Agree to team up with her and you and her men will fight side by side. At any time, you are free to turn on them. It's your choice. Ultimately, the mission ends with a standoff between you and Sie. Again you can play nice and be seduced by her accent or you can attack. In most situations, you have the option to execute when you defeat someone like Sie, but because she is across the tracks, you can't reach her even if you defeat her. She takes off in a chopper, but don't worry, she likes it rough -- expect to hear from her again.

Or this....

Of course, there's a lot that happens between these moments. The gameplay is, to be honest, a little underwhelming on first viewing. This is a fairly standard looking third-person cover shooter. The main hook is that you have gadgets and perks that assist along the way. The Fury perk, for example, temporarily turns you into a raging badass, able to crush enemies in hand-to-hand combat. Use your gun or really do anything but beat people to a pulp and you instantly exit Fury mode. So keep your rage on by punching every enemy in sight, or load up your shotgun with phosphorous rounds and set enemies ablaze.

To break up the combat, there are opportunities to hack into computers and secured doors. The minigame shows a circuit board with several different nodes that need to be lit up. To light the nodes you need to scan the complex circuitry and pinpoint the correct electrical path to each node. Light all the nodes in time and you've hacked successfully. Fail and an alarm goes off and more goons come a-running.

Still...it definitely has raised on my interest level, and it's way ahead of Dragon Age now. Worth at least a rental, and hopefully it will be worth a buy. Not holding my breath though.

 

[MetalCraze]

'Cause writing cliched characters is what Avellone is most known for.

"So whatcha gonna do? Shoot me? It won't bring your missiles back"

also BG:DA.

Also Mike Thorton. An EXTREME guy shooting people point-blank in the face, beating them up in cutscenes so hard that it makes Shepard look like even a bigger pussy, threatening to kill them in the EXTREME ways. And noone other than your precious Avellone is responsible for this dumb shit.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

Cheesy, but fits the campy atmosphere they seem to be going after. Where does it say that a good RPG has to be supah srs?

Also, Kaelyn the Dove.

EDIT:

Also Mike Thorton. An EXTREME guy shooting people point-blank in the face, beating them up in cutscenes so hard that it makes Shepard look like even a bigger pussy, threatening to kill them in the EXTREME ways. And noone other than your precious Avellone is responsible for this dumb shit.

PS: T had its share of EXTREME options for high STR/DEX characters. They only made the game better. The problem with ME is that EXTREMEness was the only way to handle problems. At least, the only way that was fun.

 

[MetalCraze]

RPG. Wait a second... What does RPG have to do with a twitchy shooter with built-in wall-hack cheats?

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

RPG. Wait a second... What does RPG have to do with a twitchy shooter with built-in wall-hack cheats?

1/10.

 

[Satori (original)]

RPG. Wait a second... What does RPG have to do with a twitchy shooter with built-in wall-hack cheats?

RPG is just a buzzword nowadays, quit gettin' yer panties in a twist, everything's been bastardised nowadays either accept it or do something to change it, don't just bitch.

 

[Fat Dragon]

RPG. Wait a second... What does RPG have to do with a twitchy shooter with built-in wall-hack cheats?

Lol nice counter-argument, skyway.

On topic, game sounds like it could be good, still a little skeptical on some things though. We'll see.

 

[Jaesun]

How many RPG's can you SLAM A GUYS FACE INTO TABLE!!!11!

I'm SOLD on AP.

 

[Dionysus]

I am getting the feeling that they are having a marketing problem with this game. It seems to be flying under the radar on general gaming sites, and I'm not sure why. The media went crazy for Mass Effect and Fallout 3. I think it might be the modern day setting, but people seem to like Splinter Cell.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

I am getting the feeling that they are having a marketing problem with this game. It seems to be flying under the radar on general gaming sites, and I'm not sure why. The media went crazy for Mass Effect and Fallout 3. I think it might be the modern day setting, but people seem to like Splinter Cell.

I think the reason is lack of hype. Previews of games developed by Bethesda or BioWare boil down to "Holy shit, this game is gonna be awesome! Can I touch your penis, Dgaider/Pete/Todd?". AP previews are more... reserved. As if Sega wasn't paying for them.

 

[Dionysus]

I think the reason is lack of hype. Previews of games developed by Bethesda or BioWare boil down to "Holy shit, this game is gonna be awesome! Can I touch your penis, Dgaider/Pete/Todd?". AP previews are more... reserved. As if Sega wasn't paying for them.

I'm wondering why there's a lack of hype, both in the media and among the multiplatform crowd. SEGA actually handled this trailer, and in my limited experience it isn't garnering much more buzz than any of their other preview videos. Hopefully, they'll get some eyeballs with their E3 demo, but I'm afraid that they will get buried this Holiday season. Maybe they'll get some help from the crazy SEGA fanboys, if there are any left.

 

[DriacKin]

There's not enough bloom in the trailers