Review Reviewing Alpha Protocol

[Phelot]

It seems as if Obsidian tried to mix RPG combat with real-time shooting action, and it doesn't really work (what a surprise!). All it means is that sometimes the guns will miss even if the reticule is dead on target. You can stay still and watch the reticule close in an enemy for a critical shot, but the opponents are running around like the aforementioned decapitated poultry, so good luck with that. Steadying one's aim is next to impossible with the insane characters who are either running towards you, running in circles, or running nowhere, with Thorton stuck in the middle of this chimp's tea party surrounded by grenade spam and broken cover systems.

Now this is frustrating...

OK, the AI sounds bad, but the guy is actually complaining that he can't hit things that run around and that he can't steady his aim because enemies shoot at him. Who knew?

Redundant game mechanics are redundant. If it would be a normal FPS, bullets would fly where he aims his rifle. If it would be a normal cRPG, he wouldn't have to chase running characters with his cursor.
Either way, that problem wouldn't exist.

Yes, but didn't ME1 do this? It wasn't a problem then...

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Bioware probably had more ads on their site or something like that, so they couldn't be as honest.

 

[SuicideBunny]

heh?
the only weapon that has this problem is the pistol, and it is supposed to be a stealth/ambush weapon only... even then the skill you get with it at rank 3 lets you nearly freeze time and leisurely align two (and later three) headshots in the middle of the most frantic firefight.

 

[Kos_Koa]

A bit disappointed to hear the reviews, being that it was Obsidian's chance to finally show that they can do their own thing. I still want to try it out for myself if I can, the c&c and story seem decent enough.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

I worked on this game (a fact of which I am not proud). I'm not here to defend it; I agree with all these reviews.

First, a comment for the guy at Cheesecake Factory - Most devs eat in the office most days, if they do go out they tend to grab something at the food court and head back. I know the execs take long lunches, but they often use them for informal meetings as well. Most of the programmers and designers very rarely ate outside the office during the time I was on this project.

There was a ton of work put into this game. The problem is that is was a ton of undirected work, or work on things that were just stupid. The Executive Producer for the game, Chris Parker (also an owner of the company), seemed to think he was the world's greatest designer ever, and created all these absolutely shitty systems and wouldn't listen to any of the real designers or devs about things that just didn't work. And you can't exactly argue with one of the owners of the company when he doesn't want to listen. He basically took over the game and dictated exactly how everything would work (or not work, as the case may be). The other producers realized this early on and just gave up, leaving Parker to micromanage all the designers and programmers directly.

Sega also was a factor, because they kept changing the design requirements (yes they had heavy influence there), which never gave the producers and designers time to actually decide on one set of features to make and polish. The blame is still mostly Obsidian's because the execution was absolutely terrible, and it was obvious 2 years ago that this game should have been scrapped. Instead, though, they focused on adding still more features and never fixed the ones they already had. That is a recipe for tons of bugs and no polish... as is obvious.

This game was just an absolute failure of production, and it's no wonder that so many of the developers left the company, even after the 40% staff layoffs. I am still happy about some of Obsidian's other current projects, New Vegas included, because they are going pretty well. Their big unannounced project is looking great and is already much better than AP ever was, and that may end up being the game that everyone was looking for with AP.

Sega should have canceled AP instead of Aliens...

Who wrote this?

Sure explains a lot and actually gives me hope for their future projects.

 

[Jaesun]

wow. Just like Warden, Apparently Obsidian raped Brother None and his family.

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=54977

 

[Lexx]

I am playing since 5+ hours now and I still like the game, except the horrible flaws like the minigames or the unneeded annoying menu controls.

It's cool how i can influence later missions in earlier missions. At least I think so, as it's still my first playthrough.

 

[Grunker]

Video review from our favourites over at GameSpot: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/alphapro ... deo-review

Basically says: Incredible C&C, mediocre story and characters, extremely ambitious, falls short in other categories.

 

[HanoverF]

Video Review:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/revie ... col/100742

WTF is with that sneaking animation? That is just... wow.

 

[Jaesun]

Video Review:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/revie ... col/100742

WTF is with that sneaking animation? That is just... wow.

<Mad_Max_RW> "Thorton's sneak animation is comical too, and appears as if he's wandering around trying to conceal an erection."

 

[AlaCarcuss]

I actually feel quite sorry for Obsidien. They're trying to mix it with the big boys and they clearly just don't have the resources.

They should stick to less ambitious projects - in fact if they started making more Trokia style games like ToEE (for example), where they don't have to worry about cutting-edge graphics and cover systems, they might actually be good at it.

Imagine KoTC done by Obsidien - could be awesome (or not).

 

[Sulimo]

Okay Codexians, get ready to hate me, but I'm going go right ahead here and say something shocking.

Been playing the game for about 10 hours now, and it's the closest thing to bloodlines I've played since... well, Bloodlines.

"Bloodlines? Gasp! He didn't just say that!"

Well, yes, take away the vampires, replace em with spies, and you've got something of a bloodlines-vibe going.

Also, Codex, I am the disappoint, since when do we listen to mainstream reviews? Decline, if you ask me.

 

[Elzair]

Jim Sterling may be a dick, but he was spot-on about Dragon Age: Origins.

 

[SuicideBunny]

Jim Sterling may be a dick, but he was spot-on about Dragon Age: Origins.

Is Dragon Age a good game? Yes, it most assuredly is

that is miles off from the spot.

 

[Jaesun]

Jim Sterling may be a dick, but he was spot-on about Dragon Age: Origins.

It has a great story, high production values, and one of the most immersive worlds ever created in a videogame. Score: 7.5 -- Good

 

[Wilco]

After reading all the reviews linked so far, AP sounds exactly like every game Troika has released:

- Ambitious goals

- Terrible programming

- Unpolished and/or Unfinished upon release

Fixed.

This really does sound like a Troika game, something which is actually exciting in this era of 'high-production value' games that wow you out at first then after a half hour become incredibly shit. I think I'll be buying this if the experience is similar to Bloodlines as Sulimo pointed out earlier.

 

[SerratedBiz]

Jim Sterling may be a dick, but he was spot-on about Dragon Age: Origins.

 

[CraigCWB]

Ouch! Those are pretty much the review I would have given "Deus Ex", and I think every one of these reviewers said they LIKED Deus Ex and this game is much < Deus Ex.

I think I'm gonna pass. Deus Ex had about the most gimped AI I've ever seen and they all trashed the AI in this game. Not for me.

 

[CraigCWB]

I actually feel quite sorry for Obsidien. They're trying to mix it with the big boys and they clearly just don't have the resources.

I feel a little bad for them too, but I'd advise them to stick to making RPGs instead of trying to one-up the flavor of the month titles. Lots of big companies with plenty of resources try that and fail. Small companies should stick to what they are good at.

 

[Fomorian]

The opening of the game is terrible, overlong and delivered by a cast of characters that really test the limits of being dry and uninteresting.

Yeah man Vault 101 was one of the worst forced openings to a game I've ever had to suffer through.

Oh. Wait.

Your father's escape naturally throws a spanner into the day to day workings of the vault and, in true Bethesda tradition, the introduction sequences to the game are both tutorial and an exercise in interactive storytelling.

It's like the opening to Oblivion, except not as linear. There are mini-sidequests and choices to make here which can effect the relationships your character will have later, impact your skills and decide who lives and dies for the rest of the game. Unlike in Oblivion where the Emperor and his men are all protected too, you can slaughter a lot of vault dwellers if you want – though certain characters will get knocked out instead of dying.

Y'know I don't even like Alpha Protocol but it's pretty clear these reviewers have no clue what they're talking about. They just go along with the trend.

 

[Arcanoix]

That Destructoid review is written by the resident "tough guy" of that site. HE DONT TAKE CRAP FROM NO 1

Jim Sterling is a moron who loves Fallout 3 and have even written an article how stupid the old Fallout fans are http://www.destructoid.com/videogame-fans-need-to-shut-up-about-everything-164476.phtml

He loved FO3. Fuck him. He is nobody.

 

[sirfink]

Obsidian. Obsidian never changes.

If you're trying to appeal to the console crowd, then why don't you hire some competent programmers and make a polished product for once?

Honestly? I don't think they can afford them.

 

[Angthoron]

based off of what he knows.

Which is what, exactly?

The one that doesn't want to get sued. If the guy didn't leave his name and if he actually is from Obsidian, then he probably has a very good reason not to do so. Of course, that's something pretty low to do, in a sense, but if the guy both has a bunch of kids to feed and feels they did a shit job thanks to a certain person, what's a man to do. Not like we the Codex heroes disclose our names.


A bit of a shame about this game, though. It's obviously a Yet Another Obsidian Game quality-wise, and even if we totally ignore the mainstream media or say "Oh yeah, but they loved Fallout 3, so they should be fair", you still have to keep in mind that the reviews are glaring. Yeah, glaring from consoletard popamolist points of view, but if everyone says "broken gameplay" and you think of Obsidian games prior to this, does that sound unlikely to you?

Hopefully they manage to patch it up to a decent shape soon - C&C sounds good there; although it's from mainstream review series where even Failout 3 had amazing C&C.

 

[Turok]

 

[Grunker]

Okay Codexians, get ready to hate me, but I'm going go right ahead here and say something shocking.

Been playing the game for about 10 hours now, and it's the closest thing to bloodlines I've played since... well, Bloodlines.

"Bloodlines? Gasp! He didn't just say that!"

Well, yes, take away the vampires, replace em with spies, and you've got something of a bloodlines-vibe going.

Indeed? Oh lawd, let it be so.