Alpha Protocol - RPS's impressions

[Vault Dweller]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06 ... eeping-up/

This was perhaps the most surprisingly mediocre presentation of the week. What we saw was two versions of the same scene, designed to show off the differences between two styles of play. On one screen someone was playing using stealth, on the other all-guns-out fireplay. The demonstration was designed to show how differently a scenario in the spy-based action RPG could be tackled.

That's an interesting angle for reviews. While players are often being assured that you can play a game in different ways, the question "what the fuck is the difference?" is rarely being raised.

The theory explained to us was far more interesting than what we were watching.

This is one of my concerns about AP.

At the beginning of the level there’s a conversation with a Germanic mercenary woman called Z. The conversation options are time-limited, forcing you to pick your approach in just a couple of seconds.

I probably hate this feature the most.

However, the key decision comes when she offers her support. Accept it and she’ll fight alongside you for the mission, clearly to your advantage. Refuse it and she’ll be furious with you, and storm off. So there’s your short-term.

Yay! You can accept or refuse help. Accept and you'll have an ass-kicking sidekick. Refuse and you won't! Deep.

Long-term consequences shape the future of your game. If you sided with her, we’re told there’s opportunities for romance further down the line. Refuse her and she’s a boss-fight-to-come.

The setup is disappointing. Basically, short-term - get an ally or fight alone; long term - hot video game sex or kill the bitch. Kinda weak. "Do you want to fight with me" isn't really an example of a meaningful choice, just like having to kill her just because I failed to impress her earlier isn't an example of a good conflict.

It’s an intriguing idea for Obsidian to be developing a game with no dice rolling anywhere, either in front of or behind the camera.

:facepalm:

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Mass Effect with spies? Woo-pee-doo.

 

[MetalCraze]

How in one instance you could slip your way through, those you killed never knowing you were coming, the rest never realising you’d been. And how in the other you could play it as a third-person shooter.

Great stealth right there. Either kill people or kill people. Thief is bursting with envy.

stealth tactics like briefly cloaking for sneak attacks

Awesome - become invisible in a plain sight and kill your enemy. This is what is considered stealth today, kids.

stealth tactics like[...]decoys, martial arts,

Martial arts = stealth tactics? Haha what

Basically, short-term - get an ally or fight alone; long term - hot video game sex or kill the bitch

Yeah if that's how C&C work in AP - that's pretty lame.

 

[DriacKin]

At the beginning of the level there’s a conversation with a Germanic mercenary woman called Z. The conversation options are time-limited, forcing you to pick your approach in just a couple of seconds.

I probably hate this feature the most.

My hope is that some sort of a fan-made mod will remove the dialogue time limit.

 

[racofer]

At the beginning of the level there’s a conversation with a Germanic mercenary woman called Z. The conversation options are time-limited, forcing you to pick your approach in just a couple of seconds.

I probably hate this feature the most.

My hope is that some sort of a fan-made mod will remove the dialogue time limit.

You're overreacting. A way to disable it will surely be included into the game, otherwise consoletard's bawing would cause a wound in the Profitz that would echo from afar.

 

[M_I_C_K_E_Y_M_O_U_S_E]

Skyway, there is more than one true way to make games.

 

[Jasede]

How in one instance you could slip your way through, those you killed never knowing you were coming, the rest never realising you’d been. And how in the other you could play it as a third-person shooter.

Great stealth right there. Either kill people or kill people. Thief is bursting with envy.

stealth tactics like briefly cloaking for sneak attacks

Awesome - become invisible in a plain sight and kill your enemy. This is what is considered stealth today, kids.

stealth tactics like[...]decoys, martial arts,

Martial arts = stealth tactics? Haha what

Basically, short-term - get an ally or fight alone; long term - hot video game sex or kill the bitch

Yeah if that's how C&C work in AP - that's pretty lame.

Quoting this, one of your most spot on posts.

 

[Chefe]

This entire game - from the spy setting to the name (both of the game and the characters) - is dull and average beyond comprehension. Why did Obsidian decide to make this? Why did Sega decide to fund it? I thought Aliens RPG sounded stupid but at least the setting was infinitely better than this mediocrity. It's nice to hear that 'accept quest / refuse quest' and 'have sex / don't have sex' is the leading philosophy behind AP's C&C system. That's always refreshing. Quick time reflex dialog is just icing on the shit cake.

I look forward to any Obsidian game based on their superb track record

I don't get it.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

At the beginning of the level there’s a conversation with a Germanic mercenary woman called Z. The conversation options are time-limited, forcing you to pick your approach in just a couple of seconds.

I probably hate this feature the most.

It's pretty much moronic and gimmicky to the max. I don't know why Obsidian stuck with it. It does nothing for enhancing the player's experience and only serves as a pain in the ass. Untimed dialogue is a nice abstraction that lets a player better make that connection with their character. You don't have total control, and your responses are limited to developer choices, so the unlimited time is sort of an abstraction to make the player as familiar as the character would be. We instantly know what we're going to say in reality...that's how the human mind works.

Alpha Protocol's system is a gimmicky minigame essentially, where you have to read all the keyphrases in time, and decide which one is the "best" on a timer. Yes, it's visceral, and fast-paced, but it makes no sense. It feels far more unreal than the typical Fallout-style dialogue tree. And it's a pain in the ass to boot.

The setup is disappointing. Basically, short-term - get an ally or fight alone; long term - hot video game sex or kill the bitch. Kinda weak. "Do you want to fight with me" isn't really an example of a meaningful choice, just like having to kill her just because I failed to impress her earlier isn't an example of a good conflict.

Bingo. Let's just hope they're hyping the weaker parts of the game.

It’s an intriguing idea for Obsidian to be developing a game with no dice rolling anywhere, either in front of or behind the camera.

:facepalm:

In context, I guess it is pretty dumb...though I wouldn't be opposed to an RPG with no dice-rolls. One where all skill checks have ranges of success rather than a binary pass/fail, influenced heavily by a random number generator. Dice rolls are far from an inherently good thing.

 

[Sovy Kurosei]

I didn't like the timer for dialogue in Fahrenheit and I don't see how I would like it now.

 

[skyway]

Lestat is a comin

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

And here I am, only to give a promise. I will not be posting in Alpha Protocol threads until the game is released. Ciao.

 

[Double Ogre]

Obsidian is making another half-assed game? News at 11.

 

[Rosh]

AHAHAHAHAHA....

At the beginning of the level there’s a conversation with a Germanic mercenary woman called Z. The conversation options are time-limited, forcing you to pick your approach in just a couple of seconds.

Now they can hype it as "pulse-racing dialog"!

I wonder how long until Sega and others pull funding due to the industry being in deep shit while Obsidian does this moronic crap.

 

[Kos_Koa]

Though many design decisions sound dumb, such as the dialogue time limit, the game itself seems to be designed to be taken lightly especially considering the campy over-the-top spy setting. A deep rpg it is not, but I have a feeling that it may be a fun game considering.

And the Z scenario dissected alone shows little meaningful choices, but Obsidian stated that this event and her involvement is minor in regards to other choices you can make in the game. I'm not holding my breath for anything special, but I still think it may turn out decent.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/globa ... 8?type=flv

Here is a walkthrough video of the same scenario described above.

 

[MetalCraze]

Some comments as I watch this video.

The writing is just bad. Really really bad. Bioware-level cheese. Z is a huge cliche, also nice non-generic outfit, especially in winter. Just another proof that Avellone is overrated.
The camera "work" is also bad. I remember someone said that computer games is a place for failed directors - looks like it's a place for failed operators too - just why the fuck somebody thinks that a shoulder covering half of the screen is "cinematic"? It's annoying.

The combat is simply shit. Which is not unexpected considering that this is Obsidian. The enemies just stand in one place, not using a cover at all while you just shoot at them from behind a box. Typical retarded cover system.

The character screen interface is clearly stolen from Mass Effect - much like other things. Not that it was unknown.

"Martial Arts" look awful too. One hit and the guy is down? Fun.

The hacking minigame is an abomination. Did Obsidian want to put as much stupid shit in one game as possible and beat Beth and Bio records?

The enemies also seem to totally lack any reaction. It's like they are waiting for PC to shoot them and end their miserable existence.

Ahaha looks like retarded "red barrels(tm)" that blow up buildings also made it into this game.

They even included the famous "punishment-for-completing-objective" with incredibly cheesy opening doors and enemies stepping through them to stand there and get killed. Avellone goes max-retardo.

And a typical Biowarian "lol I'll kill you now" dialogue choice is there too. Mini-boss fight is just terrible and looks like a yet another minigame - sit behind the box, pop up to fire at a chick and her crew, repeat repeat.

And of course then it ends (after chick received 100 bullets) with retarded japanese "ah you have beaten me - but I'll return moahaha".

Congratulations, Obsidian - in 14 minutes you managed to put so much retarded stuff in that you'll put Bioware to shame.
"OMG It's liek deus ex lol!".
This game is just shit.

 

[bhlaab]

And the Z scenario dissected alone shows little meaningful choices, but Obsidian stated that this event and her involvement is minor in regards to other choices you can make in the game. I'm not holding my breath for anything special, but I still think it may turn out decent.

Well why'd they hold it up as a representation of their game at E3?

 

[ARZ]

Though many design decisions sound dumb, such as the dialogue time limit, the game itself seems to be designed to be taken lightly especially considering the campy over-the-top spy setting.

Precisely why I don't plan on buying it, and why I'm wondering about all the coverage this game gets on the Codex. It's an ARPG, in every meaning of the word.

From Obsidian I am waiting for New Vegas, not this relatively mundane game.

 

[bhlaab]

I don't know. Either this could end up just being a generic third person shooter with BS rpg elements

or it could end up being brilliant and misunderstood like vampire bloodlines

 

[MetalCraze]

The video clearly shows that it will be the former.
And no sorry it isn't a generic third-person shooter. It's a bad third-person shooter. In generic TPS enemies at least shoot back and try to show at least some intelligence, like not standing in one place waiting for tasty bullets.

What I don't understand is why do you even need hacking skill? The stupid mini-game is so simple that even a 10 year old diagnosed retard can complete it without any problem - considering that whether you have skill or not you still play it.

New Vegas will be just as bad as this shit. Especially considering what Sawyer said.

 

[Fat Dragon]

Precisely why I don't plan on buying it, and why I'm wondering about all the coverage this game gets on the Codex. It's an ARPG, in every meaning of the word.

Nothing wrong with action RPGs, Bloodlines and System shock 2 are very enjoyable for example, and the Diablos are just fucking fun as hell. The problem is that AP is just a half-assed game full of gimmicks, plain and simple.

From Obsidian I am waiting for New Vegas

It amazes me that there are still people that have faith in Obsidian. The state that their games are always released in is just fucking ridiculous and unacceptable, and I'm not expecting any better from NV.

 

[Korgan]

Skyway has been applied correctly. +2 to Codex's Wisdom and Perception.

 

[Chefe]

From Obsidian I am waiting for New Vegas

It amazes me that there are still people that have faith in Obsidian. The state that their games are always released in is just fucking ridiculous and unacceptable, and I'm not expecting any better from NV.

Todd: Obsidian just gave us the release candidate for New Vegas. I'm excited to see what they have done.
Emil: Yea, especially after we spent eight years fixing up that engine. Fallout 3 was our least buggy game to date.
Todd: Except for the DLC! Haha!
Emil: Haha! Indeed. Well, have fun.

*Two hours later*

Todd:

 

[M_I_C_K_E_Y_M_O_U_S_E]

Skyway: Remember that time you were complaining at the enemy soldiers running around not shooting at anything in the OFP2 demo? I pretty much stopped caring about what you had to say at that point.

 

[MetalCraze]

Why do you reply with lies about something I never said then(not that OFP2 is any less shit)? Quite a contrary thing to "I stopped caring baawww" you know.
Now - care to say something on topic, besides concentrating attention on me which is boring?