Company News Obsidian to make Super Spy CRPG

[fastpunk]

This project will never see the light of day. It will be canned. Mark my words.

Oh sweet Moses! Well ain't you a real live Nostradamus...

 

[ghostdog]

The only game that managed to do something like that is Deus Ex and it's a game that just has RPG elements. I agree that it's going to be very difficult to finish this kind of project, let's hope Obsidian's other RPG's fare well in the market, I assume this is scheduled to be published after Aliens.

IIRC Warren Spector went through hell to finally make DX and let's not forget that DX does not take place in the present and It's full of bionically enhanced commandos and mutated monsters... will Obsidian leave it to human beings with gadgets , or will they also include robots, mutants and superhumans?

 

[NiM82]

Well them 4 eyed freaks surely can't be human?

 

[Vault Dweller]

A non-fantasy RPG? This concept is so crazy, it just might work. I'll buy a copy just to support Obsidian.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

The jury is still in deliberation as far as I go on this game. Would I love to see an intelligent game with some really interesting options as far as completing objectives and solving problems complemented by some decent writing? Of course. Would it necessarily happen? Not exactly. It could be a steaming pile of consolized crap where you merely shoot stuff and maybe sneak little, rendering it nothing more than a poor Hitman clone.

Hell, I wouldn't even mind an Austin Powers style spoof of the super spy genre/action-RPG genre at all either.

 

[Rhett Butler]

I hope one day someone will make the spy game I want. One where you, y'know, spy on people instead of just shooting them.

You should try that old game... Floor 13 was the name? Pretty cool. You may love it.

I looked it up, and it sounds awesome. Ordinarily I won't go for anything I can't run natively under 98 or XP, as I am a little computarded, but this may be the game that makes me learn DOS Box.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

http://forums.obsidianent.com/index.php ... 0&start=30

Epic win.

 

[deuxhero]

Sigh, this looks to be one of those things that was a good idea, but gets horribly executed.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

Sigh, this looks to be one of those things that was a good idea, but gets horribly executed.

How can you know it? Several bullet points posted by a guy who has read the magazine are all we have now.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

Sigh, this looks to be one of those things that was a good idea, but gets horribly executed.

Or the opposite.

 

[kris]

Like I said in the other thread I do find this a interesting concept and quite fresh. While I may not agree on how good all the things outlined is, I sure will check this one out.

 

[Andhaira]

If they implement the stupid dialogue ( you know, when the main pc has low intelligence) it will suck.

 

[OSK]

If they implement the stupid dialogue ( you know, when the main pc has low intelligence) it will suck.

Is that because you feel that playing as yourself in a game isn't true roleplaying?

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

So... Anyone going to grab a copy of the magazine to see the article for himself and share the impressions with us? Not everyone lives in the US.

 

[Arem]

Some AP banners from the Gameinformer site

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

Sexy.

The face looks like it was covered with olive oil, I hope it will get fixed.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

The face looks like it was covered with olive oil, I hope it will get fixed.

Spies are so busy, they don't have time to use forks when they eat salads.

 

[ghostdog]

So, it's Keanu Reeves who's going to play the superspy?

 

[deuxhero]

Sigh, this looks to be one of those things that was a good idea, but gets horribly executed.

How can you know it? Several bullet points posted by a guy who has read the magazine are all we have now.

Given the track record of the company makeing it...

 

[tunguska]

This is the best news I have heard in a while. I wonder if this is the one MCA is working on. I too have played Top Secret. Unfortunately, the friend who bought the game lost interest in playing it almost immediately. So I only played it once. But it was great. I remember how cool it was just choosing which pistol (a Berreta?) to carry. And what languages to speak. I think I chose 'Romance Languages' or something like that. I was always disappointed that no one ever tried to convert that game into something like this. Gamma World was also a really cool game that my friend bought at the same time. Unfortunately I never got to play that even once. It was so cool though. I really wanted to play it. I guess Fallout could be considered the computer version of Gamma World.

I disagree with some of you pessimists. This is one of those few times when something seems to go our way and some of you are moaning about it. The best CRPG development house consisting of many of the people responsible for the greatest CRPG ever made, PS:T, is doing a title completely on their own. An original setting no less. No licensing to worry about. No one breathing down their neck forcing them to tone it down for the kiddies (won't someone please think of the children!). To me, this sounds like some kind of a dream. I want to pinch myself.

If anyone can pull this off it is MCA and Feargus. Finally I have a CRPG that I can look forward to. And here I was thinking that CRPGs were dead. :D

 

[kris]

There is almost some kind of plant quality to that post tunguska. you are clearly weighting up the "pessimists without a cause".

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

Coolest Western RPG idea since Mass Effect?

I got the newest Game Informer in and they have a ten page article on what could possibly be the coolest idea for a WRPG I've heard of since Mass Effect. It is called Alpha Protocol by Obsidian Entertainment. What is the idea behind this RPG that has me ranting?

You are a modern super-spy. You are James Bond. You are Jack Bauer. You are Jason Borune. You are John Clark.

(What is with badass spies and short, four-five letter first names starting with "J?")

Not in the literal sense, but you get the idea. You play as rookie CIA field agent Micheal Thorton, who screws up on his first mission and gets framed in the process. He knows that something big is going down and has to figure out what, without the CIA's support. You have a list of names belonging to people all over the world as clues leading to the bigger conspiracy. The game consists of traveling around the world, tracking these people down while conversing with informants and taking on various side-operations connected to the main story that provide clues and other things to help you along your way.

In terms of combat, it will be much like Mass Effect. That is to say, it will be a third-person shooter. However, the game wants you to craft your own kick-ass super-spy. There are a number of different skills that you put points into to improve that particular area, like becoming better with pistols or hand-to-hand combat techniques. The developers said they want you to have freedom to develop Thorton how you want, while making sure that you can't just max all the skills and get a spy that enjoys the best of all worlds by the end of the game. You can go the Solid Snake or Sam Fisher way and lay low while enemies go past, relying on stealth. Or you can take the Jack Bauer approach and just start shooting things with your pistol.

When it comes to conversations, they are taking an approach that is like Mass Effect, but different at the same time. When starting a conversation you choose your "tone," but not what you actually say. That is determined by which tone you take. There are three tones: Smooth (And when it comes to the ladies, flirtatious), professional, and brash. This is much like Mass Effect's Paragon, Neutral, and Renegade system.

However, unlike Mass Effect, the conversations are more like cutscenes. You choose your tone and watch it play out just like a conversation in a cutscene or movie. You also have a limited amount of time while the NPC is talking to change your tone when Thorton talks next, resulting in different responses or just because you want to change your own reactions. This means the conversations are supposed to be more natural, and you won't run into times where, like in many RPGs, you get the same response no matter what you say. Also, once have had a conversation, it's over. You can't just go back to the NPC and redo the whole thing.

The game also deals with morality, but not in a typical "Light Side vs Dark Side" ordeal. Instead, Obsidian is aiming for more the morally blurred path than outright good and evil to reflect the real world of espionage. Sometimes you have to do dirty things as a spy, which the game promises to reflect.

I bet you are all asking "Well Raven, this is a James Bond-like spy RPG...Where are the hot Bond Babes?" Don't worry, Obsidian is promising numerous hotties that you can develop relationships with, be it romantic or purely sexual. Yes, you heard me right, you can go all James Bond and, apparently, bed every one of these ladies if you work it right.

This is a highly condensed form of a ten page article, so I'm leaving a lot out. I'd suggest reading up on this game. Alpha Protocol promises to be a great RPG, blending a unique setting for the realm of RPG games with what is basically evolutions of concepts we have already seen in Mass Effect. This looks to be an action-heavy espionage thriller of an RPG for everyone sick of more fantasy or sci-fi settings (Not that there is anything wrong with that).

Sounds interesting. I'm still not sure about the conversation system, but if it helps to get rid of fake dialogue options, do it. And seems like the article is ungodly huge, so please, guys, get a magazine and post some scans.

 

[kris]

I'd say my biggest complaint this far is that you play a set character instead of making one on your own. do they want a set name for the voice overs? Or is it really that important for the story? I somehow doubt the second since you can develop the character as you see fit.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Set name and then character voice for the voice overs works better than having your guy "not saying anything" or "standing there and looking dumb" while everyone else has a conversation around him. GTA learned that.

"Alpha Protocol" as a name sounds a bit lame but eh, it'll do. I'm gonna be mutha-fucking Jack Bauer bitches!

 

[Shoelip]

Is that a pair of pistols in your shirt or... do... you... just have really pointy breasts? ...

Flirtation roll, critical failure.