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Alpha Protocol |OT| Bourne, Avellone, Denton, and the Agency's Sagacious Secrets

Sullen

Member
One random person posts impressions and people want to cancel pre-orders, really? :lol It always amazes me how much the average gamer wants someone else to form their opinion for them.
 

tokkun

Member
Stallion Free said:
That justintv feed looks pretty nice. I'm still intrigued and very tempted to purchase.

I'm watching the feed right now, and the dude is fighting a boss. He shot the guy in the head like 8 consecutive times and did basically no damage because his pistol skill is low.

Edit: Then the game crashed and he had to reboot his 360.
 

Peff

Member
Sullen said:
One random person posts impressions and people want to cancel pre-orders, really? :lol It always amazes me how much the average gamer wants someone else to form their opinion for them.

It's sarcasm.

I do wonder how well this will run on PC. I'd really like to get it this week, especially since Sega is releasing it at a budget (well, not full) price here, but I don't know if my graphic card will handle it. dxdiag says it's a X1300/X15500 series, one of them is supported, the other isn't :lol Should it be OK if it could run Dragon Age?
 

Cep

Banned
Am I the only one already prepping the way I am going to play solely around what looks stupid/broken?

So far, stealth is out and so is dual wielding.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
Cep said:
Am I the only one already prepping the way I am going to play solely around what looks stupid/broken?

So far, stealth is out and so is dual wielding.

Doing stealth looks rather hilarious based on the feed.
 
Awful animation is about par for the Unreal Engine. I didn't expect the A.I. to be this awful though. :lol

I'm still gonna stealth/gadget my way through the game.
 
TheVisualizer said:
that is true, all I'm saying is don't put a whole lot of stock in a 1 sentence review of an RPG from a junior with a Dipset avatar. Maybe if our friend with the great taste in music could expand on his review I would be more inclined to take him seriously.

Point take, totally agree with you. As I mentioned every video I've seen of the game left me with some questions but I will no doubt give the game a chance and form my own opinion. However, I won't buy it full price. I think that is pushing it.

Kagari said:
Doing stealth looks rather hilarious based on the feed.

I've been thinking the same. I've been dying over here. The AI should make for some very interesting situations
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
I'm not watching this footage and almost not reading comments to remain spoiler-free but as I understand stealth, animation and AI stand out like not good.

I play a lot of Deus Ex these days and you know what? AI is HORRIBLE, he just stands there when you shoot him! And lol at animations, these are not real people, just some robopuppets. And goddam, stealth is AWFUL. The guy sometimes can't see me even if I'm right beside him or even in front of him. It is A TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE GAME.

/smh
 
WrikaWrek said:
Really? Unreal Engine.

I guess it has nothing to do with the animators.

Oh, I don't doubt the animators did a poor job. But I just notice the animation from Unreal Engine games tend to be stiff and the blending between animations is much too abrupt for me.

I don't care too much because the graphics is the last thing that makes this game appealing to me.
 

White Man

Member
EviLore said:
WTF guys, I was really looking forward to Planescape: Torment, but I just played it for a few hours and...OMG. You can't even die, it's like Prince of Persia 2008 all over again. The combat's terrible, you don't even get any armor for your character and just end up spamming healing items until you win. I could've dealt with all that, but the plot is all in mounds and mounds of text paired with low res 2d graphics. No immersion at all.

Biggest gaming disappointment of all time.


I'm surprised, Evilore. As a PC gamer, you should be preparing yourself for the worst. Obsidian makes promising, but flawed games. Heck, I'm half-prepared to not put faith in New Vegas. They're like Troika 2.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
Why did Aussies get this so early anyway? Aren't you guys supposed to get screwed?

This 7 day wait is killing me.
 

Gestahl

Member
White Man said:
I'm surprised, Evilore. As a PC gamer, you should be preparing yourself for the worst. Obsidian makes promising, but flawed games. Heck, I'm half-prepared to not put faith in New Vegas. They're like Troika 2.

Shit, this could be another Bloodlines!?

Dark ahead, folks. Dark days ahead...
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
White Man said:
I'm surprised, Evilore. As a PC gamer, you should be preparing yourself for the worst. Obsidian makes promising, but flawed games. Heck, I'm half-prepared to not put faith in New Vegas. They're like Troika 2.

My expectations couldn't be more realistic. I'm not foaming at the mouth in anticipation. I'm not hyped up (nor could I be, since the marketing has been terrible). I'm just looking forward to playing another Obsidian game.

KotOR 2, NWN2, MotB, SoZ, they all have substantial shortcomings (calling a videogame "flawed" as a drawback is pretty ridiculous), some addressed with time or community involvement, some not, but in each case I'm very glad these games exist.

KotOR 2's unfinished, buggy, overly derivative of KotOR 1, and still very well trapped in the confines of Lucasarts oversight, but manages to make Bioware's light side/dark side meter look absurd (while at the same time using it, of course), in particular through the fantastically nuanced Kreia.

NWN2 was borderline unplayable at launch and arguably barely playable four years and dozens of updates later, with its atrocious interface and poorly hacked in full party control. Act 1, which is probably 15+ hours long, is almost completely devoid of merit. But Act 2 breaks away and comes into its own with a Suikoden-on-steroids stronghold system that makes it all worthwhile.

NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer is the best written video game since Torment. Nevermind that, the FLAWS!

NWN2: Storm of Zehir, obviously made by a small secondary team, still manages to be wildly ambitious. JRPG-style overworld, full party dialogue choices, elaborate redone crafting system that's an insane money sink, and the ability to construct a massive trading empire to fund that money sink. So the exp system is totally borked, there's only one dungeon in the entire game, no story to speak of, and everything's wildly unbalanced. There's so much creativity here, even half-realized.


And, seriously, Troika 2? Bugs aside, that's a hell of a compliment as far as I'm concerned.
 

Chrange

Banned
Basileus777 said:
It's not out yet. It's just been leaked onto the internet.
Out in some places - Walmart here put it out in the morning and then pulled it at some point in the afternoon.
 
Thought I would post a few more extended impressions from my experiences with this game so far...

First of all, it has to be said that a lot of people will be immediately turned off by some aspects of this game. As has already been discussed, the graphics are dated and the animations are anything but stellar. The controls take a little getting used to, especially (for me) using the directional pad to choose gadgets/weapons/abilities. The frame rate seems ok in general although during conversations there is a fair amount of tearing/weird frame rate stuff going on.

This game definitely has its flaws.

Having said that, I am seriously enjoying this game so far (I have completed about 4 missions, and reached level 4.)

I have had some trouble when taking the stealth approach, although to be honest when I started using my abilities more wisely I had a lot more success. All missions have resulted in firefights for my character, however since putting points into my various skills these shootouts have become more enjoyable. The game doesn't punish you for doing things "your way" ie just shooting everyone, and I can see the potential to approach future missions more strategically by using my stealth skills better.

I was about halfway through my most recent mission when the game just "clicked" for me. I leveled up and put some more points into my martial arts and pistol skills, and immediately started to feel that sense of RPG character building satisfaction. My Michael Thorton can do some serious damage wielding a pistol or an assault rifle, and can kung fu the shit out of anyone should they get close enough.

I am at work now, and can't stop thinking about getting home and doing the next mission.

Its far from perfect, and I can see why many people may not enjoy it, but I really think this game is a flawed gem that a lot of people will enjoy should they put the time into it.

Having said all this, I am only really just at the start of the game, and therefore can't really judge on its overall quality. But so far, so good. In my opinion anyway, I'm sure plenty will disagree with me.
 

Ducarmel

Member
I'm still getting the game but I'm confused started watching the stream during gameplay he has a beard but during cut scenes no beard!

edit: now he has a beard again during a cut scene, is it a fake beard?
 

Vamphuntr

Member
I'm confused about character creation. Do you get to customize your Michael face, hair and so on. From what I have read you can't customize the face, there are like 4 hairstyles and a bunch of accesories? Is that true. Seems to be shallow a bit.
 
Ducarmel said:
I'm still getting the game but I'm confused started watching the stream during gameplay he has a beard but during cut scenes no beard!

edit: now he has a beard again during a cut scene, is it a fake beard?

It doesn't show the beard in flashbacks, but I'm not sure if that accounts for all of it.
 

mujun

Member
BanShunsaku said:
Thought I would post a few more extended impressions from my experiences with this game so far...

First of all, it has to be said that a lot of people will be immediately turned off by some aspects of this game. As has already been discussed, the graphics are dated and the animations are anything but stellar. The controls take a little getting used to, especially (for me) using the directional pad to choose gadgets/weapons/abilities. The frame rate seems ok in general although during conversations there is a fair amount of tearing/weird frame rate stuff going on.

This game definitely has its flaws.

Having said that, I am seriously enjoying this game so far (I have completed about 4 missions, and reached level 4.)

I have had some trouble when taking the stealth approach, although to be honest when I started using my abilities more wisely I had a lot more success. All missions have resulted in firefights for my character, however since putting points into my various skills these shootouts have become more enjoyable. The game doesn't punish you for doing things "your way" ie just shooting everyone, and I can see the potential to approach future missions more strategically by using my stealth skills better.

I was about halfway through my most recent mission when the game just "clicked" for me. I leveled up and put some more points into my martial arts and pistol skills, and immediately started to feel that sense of RPG character building satisfaction. My Michael Thorton can do some serious damage wielding a pistol or an assault rifle, and can kung fu the shit out of anyone should they get close enough.

I am at work now, and can't stop thinking about getting home and doing the next mission.

Its far from perfect, and I can see why many people may not enjoy it, but I really think this game is a flawed gem that a lot of people will enjoy should they put the time into it.

Having said all this, I am only really just at the start of the game, and therefore can't really judge on its overall quality. But so far, so good. In my opinion anyway, I'm sure plenty will disagree with me.

Is there an overworld? How do you choose missions and navigate between bases and that kind of stuff?

Thanks in advance.
 
in the comments the guy said it took him 11 hours. if the choice is as reactive as they say then hopefully that wont be as bad as it sounds.
 

Blackace

if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
EviLore said:
And, seriously, Troika 2? Bugs aside, that's a hell of a compliment as far as I'm concerned.

One of my favorite companies of all time...

But they had to close shop and could she them follow Troika down that path as well
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
JustHadToJoin said:
in the comments the guy said it took him 11 hours. if the choice is as reactive as they say then hopefully that wont be as bad as it sounds.
11 hours... seems short.
 

mujun

Member
JustHadToJoin said:
in the comments the guy said it took him 11 hours. if the choice is as reactive as they say then hopefully that wont be as bad as it sounds.

This is an RPG though so I hope I can get at least 20-30 hours out of it if I do a bunch of side quests and stuff.

Mass Effect is my benchmark and my first run through of ME2 was around 35-40 hours.
 
mujun said:
Is there an overworld? How do you choose missions and navigate between bases and that kind of stuff?

Thanks in advance.

I'm only early in the game, so I only have one "base" which is in (very mild spoiler)
Saudi Arabia
.

You use the base to check emails, manage/purchase weapons and upgrades, and select missions. Once you select a mission from your intel you are sometimes given a briefing by your handler for that mission and then hit a button to be transported to the mission destination. You can also access missions by walking through the front door, which brings up the mission selection screen.
 

_Bro

Banned
Kagari said:
Short for a RPG.
Well, if it's a multi-path/branching story then that's actually pretty long. It's not a JRPG for jebes sake!

Then again, I haven't played The Witcher so I don't know what the Quality WRPG standard is at. I have played Oblivion and Fallout, though! So I guess I have an idea of things being stretched.

Either way, 11 hours sounds long enough for me.
 

Vamphuntr

Member
_Bro said:
Well, if it's a multi-path/branching story then that's actually pretty long. It's not a JRPG for jebes sake!

Then again, I haven't played The Witcher so I don't know what the Quality WRPG standard is at. I have played Oblivion and Fallout, though! So I guess I have an idea of things being stretched.

Either way, 11 hours sounds long enough for me.

Dragon Age Origins had multiples branches and was quite long. If you do most side quests it can last for 40 hours.

11 hours is a bit disappointing if you add the technical shortcomings and what seems to be broken gunplay and stealth system.

I'm still somewhat excited for it.
 

Nemesis_

Member
I have had some trouble when taking the stealth approach, although to be honest when I started using my abilities more wisely I had a lot more success. All missions have resulted in firefights for my character, however since putting points into my various skills these shootouts have become more enjoyable. The game doesn't punish you for doing things "your way" ie just shooting everyone, and I can see the potential to approach future missions more strategically by using my stealth skills better.

I still find Stealth really hard to approach in any manner namely because of a lack of real, well, feedback as to what enemies are doing and where they are looking/moving.

Still, as you've said, investing some skill points into more weapons and such has made the fire fights a bit more enjoyable, though it's still a bit frustrating to line up a shot and then fire only to miss because your stats aren't high enough. Kind of ridiculous.

But yeah, it's still one of those games that I can't wait to pick up and play while at work, or at uni, or working on an assignment. And not THAT many games do that for me these days.

I think I was a bit harsh early on, though I still stand by my statement that I am fairly certain NOTHING was done in the delay from October till now besides designing a few box arts and putting together some trailers. =/
 

Tokubetsu

Member
_Bro said:
Well, if it's a multi-path/branching story then that's actually pretty long. It's not a JRPG for jebes sake!

Then again, I haven't played The Witcher so I don't know what the Quality WRPG standard is at. I have played Oblivion and Fallout, though! So I guess I have an idea of things being stretched.

Either way, 11 hours sounds long enough for me.

The Witcher is around 40 hours minimum. 30 of which are spent in a swamp in Act 2.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
_Bro said:
Well, if it's a multi-path/branching story then that's actually pretty long. It's not a JRPG for jebes sake!

Then again, I haven't played The Witcher so I don't know what the Quality WRPG standard is at. I have played Oblivion and Fallout, though! So I guess I have an idea of things being stretched.

Either way, 11 hours sounds long enough for me.

Most WRPGs are longer than that.
 
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