Alpha Protocol - Review Mini Roundup

[redman5427]

I'm not ready to render final judgment, but given my tastes and love for mechanics and character development (which seems to inspire a lot of replayability - as well) - I would give this game 8/10 at the moment.

8 of ten? Really? Thanks, you just made that a must buy for me

 

[DArtagnan]

I am very surprised you don't like the writing.

Perhaps its just the begging that is awkward ???

Yeah, that's possible. I'm also "difficult" to please, especially when the material is trying to be plausible and realistic.

I'll have to wait and see, and as I said - I have a feeling most people will think it's ok writing - or even good stuff.

I DESPISE and LOATHE the writing in, say, 24 with Jack Bauer, and that show is apparently very popular, so there's no accounting for taste

 

[WorstUsernameEver]

I actually value quite a bit Dartagnan's opinion, since, even when I disagreed with him, he always has explained quite clearly what his position on the subject is, and how he formed that opinion.

On another subject, the review spread is ridiculously huge : we go from a 9 from Canard PC to a 2 from Destructoid.
Now, granted, europe always seems more favorable to this non-AAA/more niche products, especially RPGs, but did they even play the same game?
In my vision it should be virtually impossible for two reviewers that are reviewing the same thing to have so different opinions on the subject...

 

[DPB]

I have no idea about the quality of the game, but isn't Destructoid basically a troll site? The type that adopts controversial opinions and exaggerates to generate hits. At least that's the impression I'd got from reading some of their past reviews and articles.

 

[WorstUsernameEver]

Even taking that into account, the Joystiq review doesn't even give a score because the game it's apparently technically flawed beyond repair, and there's quite a few review that give the game a mediocre score.

 

[Twotricks]

I DESPISE and LOATHE the writing in, say, 24 with Jack Bauer, and that show is apparently very popular, so there's no accounting for taste

Finally another person that thinks 24 is totally retarded

Anyway Eurogamer review is in 7/10

Not so shabby.
Eurogamer is usually good uncorupted review site. But they tend to have no understanding of RPGs.

 

[Daroou]

Don't forget there are gameplay vids on youtube. Just sort your search by date. The fact that the console gamers don't like it is maybe promising. And yes, I don't like 24 either. Watched two shows, and it came across to me as a nazi show where government thugs are always in-the-right and their extreme fear and violence is always justified.

 

[LuckyCarbon]

Hmm, I've been waiting for this one for a while and I was worried about this happening. I guess I'll need to sit down and read through all the reviews to try and figure out what " technically flawed beyond repair" actually means. Mechanics? Buggy?

I'm sure I'll end up buying this one sooner rather than later but I may wait for a patch or two. If nothing else I want to support Obsidian (unless the game really is crap, then the may not deserve the support). I'm looking forward to more Watcher's opinions, I trust you guys way more than any review site.

 

[Maylander]

Finally managed to get my hands on it after work today. Installing it now. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

 

[redman5427]

I forgot to ask, how do you people have it already? my steam page is not being real informative at the moment

 

[WorstUsernameEver]

The game is already out in Europe and Australia.
I'm still waiting my copy from Play.com though.

 

[DArtagnan]

I got it from gamersgate.co.uk. I think it was meant to be a pre-order thing, but they gave me the link for download and a key for unlocking it. I don't know if it's available to every country - but it worked for me. I'm in Denmark, by the way.

 

[EvilKoala]

The reactions to the game really sadden me. It would be so frustrating if they actually succeeded in their gameplay goals but ruined it by bugs.

On the other hands, the 360 ports of Div II and Risen (which everyone claimed were unplayable, with IGN giving Div II 360 a 4.9) and those were some of the most enjoyable experiences I had last year (I didn't even notice more than 2 or 3 bugs in Div II). So I'll probably pick it up as soon as I can.

It just makes me a little worried about New Vegas...

 

[Aditya]

The Gamspot PC review is now up. Score 6/10 (Fair)

They heavily praise the C&C aspect of the game:

Many of the plot essentials are more or less static, but how you discover them and the people that join you on the journey can differ from one play-through to the next. Few games can truly make you feel as if you are having an impact on the story, but this is the one area in which Alpha Protocol delivers—and extraordinarily so.

However, they pan almost everything else, cover system, AI, weapon imbalance, stealth mechanics, graphics, animation, art and more. *sigh*

I had high hopes from this title but like almost all Obsidian games right from the beginning, the incompetent programming and horrible QA are game killers once again. If Obsidian's strength is limited to story, dialogue n characters, guys like MCA should resign and join BioWare or something and benefit RPG players who won’t need to suffer unplayable mess of Obsidian games just to experience some good branching story and interesting characters.

 

[WorstUsernameEver]

In the 1up review comments there is actually a pretty interesting post from, apparently, a disgruntled ex Obsidian dev.
Apparently, he felt that the project should have been canceled, and that instead, Aliens should have gone on since it was a much stronger project.
Reason cited : - Chris Parker (one of Obsidian's founder and a key figure in the development of the game) is apparently a douche and didn't want to admit that some of his design ideas were bad, so most producers left the project and work on the game became unfocused;
- SEGA continuously changed design requests for the project, which resulted in much needles work to tailor the game to their expectations;
- Fallout New Vegas is still going well though, and he seems to think that the unannounced project Obsidian is working for will be the game 'AP should have been';

It's an anonymous source, so take it with a grain of salt, BUT the story is rather believable and fits pretty well everything we know about the work of the game (scrapped story iterations, people leaving the project, the constant delays).

It sucks that what I'm gathering about the game so far seems to point to a Bloodlines =/ fun but unpolished, great atmosphere but downright awful technical design and balance.

 

[bemushroomed]

Here's what a "hardcore" RPG'er has to say about AP;

Just finished and it was fucking AWESOME! Sorry about you guys having PC technical shit, you know what Obsidian is like Rolling Eyes I don't think they have EVER released a bug free title, but at least the 360 was consistent and I had no crashes or stuttering shit Smile I'ma gonna write up a proper review shortly, but for now;

Amazing game, technically flawed but the premise, gameplay, audio, dialogue, interaction *and* consequences combine to make a magnificent experience. If Deus Ex is a 10/10, Vampire Bloodlines is an 8/10 and Deus Ex IW is 6/10, then this is easily 8.5 or 9. Overlook the technical shit, stop thinking of it as a fucking shooter that relies solely on how well you point your gun, and instead think of it as a MUCH smaller modern-day Deus Ex clone ... and you'll not go far wrong. Strongly recommend it to everyone who has PATIENCE (and isn't a ritalin-doped Gears of Bore fagboy) to deal with some minor technical issues.


I often read Sabin's reviews of RPG's and i usually agree..

 

[Starwars]

I recommend reading and watching the 1up review, balanced and brings up important points.

I and my friend finished the first playthrough today, I would give the game an 8/10 (which is really good in my book, far better than most games). It really needs replaying to properly analyze it though.

The writing along with the choices in particular are *dead-on*. It's stylized, hard-boiled action dialogue but it flows incredibly well and is often very witty. It's extremely impressive how they managed to weave in the reactivity to your past actions into the dialogue, and still make them feel smooth and natural.

 

[WorstUsernameEver]

This is the post I was referring by the way: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/28/alpha-protocol-game-review/comments/28270583/

 

[JDR13]

I guess it's also pretty short then....

 

[Dasale]

Play the game before making statements about it, from rumors or other weird stuff.