Alpha Protocol - Sells 700k

Davion · August 1, 2010

coyote said:
If it is true, I am certain that I will not buy Alpha Protocol, though, as I would never willingly support a company with such blatant disregard for their customers and lack of commitment to their products. Their loss, and it's not exactly helping their reputation, either.

Sega has nothing to lose concerning their reputation in that field for already quite some time.

Dhruin · August 1, 2010

Aditya said:
We can call them separate entities. Torment is not known for its gameplay but story and dialogue mainly. On the other hand, ARPGs are all about gameplay. I am also sucker for good stories but AP doesn't shine even there, which is strange considering MCA involvement.

I'm including the entire narrative as "story", not just the "terrorists and government conspiracy" basic plot outline. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and, on a second playthrough, was quite surprised by the changes and some of the twists I'd missed; the branching complexity is virtually unmatched and I appreciate that.

For an open-ended sandbox RPG, Morrowind presented a beautiful n strange world right off the bat. Combat wasn't good, but questing and exploration was immensely fun. The point of bringing Morrowind on the discussion table was mainly to illustrate how it enticed me to play further right after I stepped out of Sellus Gravius' office. I wasn't required to trudge for some some more hours to see how the game magically becomes 'good' later on.

I'm not out to put down Morrowind (I can understand the attraction) but my point is I did trudge for hours, until it finally became tolerable when I'd cast enough fireballs against a hill to ameliorate the combat, so I could focus more on the exploration. Getting away from that, the first dungeon in BG2 is snore-inducing, the first dungeon in Div Div is likewise ridiculous and PS:T was slow until I met Pharod. Yet, I loved them in the end.

All that said, I can respect your position - I've certainly given games away that might have gotten better "later".

By the way, since you aren't a fanboy, I am interested to know your views on combat n stealth mechanics of AP.

I found the combat serviceable; it's clearly well short of the best standard - but none of the those games offer the branching that AP does. In spite of the flaws, the skill progressions work fairly well and my favoured combination - stealth + pistol - was reasonably satisfying. Bear in mind, I'm not much of an action gamer, so perhaps my standards aren't the same.

Stealth just isn't light based - it's hiding behind an object to block the line of sight. It's a simple model but once you get over the fact that it isn't a sophisticated light/shadow simulation system, it works fine. The magic invisibility skills are less creative than I would have liked, but again, they provide a reasonable RPG progression.

For me, this combination was more varied and interesting than the more polished but repetitive snipe-from-cover-wackamole using dull weapons of ME2.

Aditya · August 1, 2010

Thanks for sharing your views. However, combat in ME2 can be made more varied using different biotic powers, AI hacks, heavy weapons etc. You don't *have* to snipe everyone from cover!

srabuseen · August 1, 2010

Completed the game 3 times, and I'm expecting a 4th rundown sometime later. The writing is superb, and the choices and consequences are unmatched in today's gaming. I liked ME 2, but for me that game is mainly a shooter with some minor RPG elements, although a damn good one. Too bad the market is so tiny for this kind of game, I'd love to get some DLCs and sequels for AP.

Maylander · August 1, 2010

Aditya said:
1) I *asked* if hacking mini-game is optional, to which you say:

You also asked whether or not there were enough EMP charges to make it optional. There is. Since - as I said - very few are actually mandatory. It is no problem at all to blow through the mandatory ones using EMP charges.

Aditya said:
So since at no point you are ever *required* to mine for minerals, it is optional. If your ship gets badly burned due to not upgrading it, then its an appropriate consequence, no?

It is still harder to avoid, considering:

Your main character will actually die at the end if you are not prepared before going through the relay. Not exactly a satisfying end, unless you really hate Commander Shepard I suppose.

Aditya said:
He asked why I think the graphics are sub-par to which I answered by means of giving examples of other Unreal Engine games, some of which are in the same vein of AP [ME2, Bioshock etc].

Also, what RPG elements of AP are you talking about? You invest points in weapon skills and such and you get better at it…which is a bare min of an RPG. How that should prevent from AP having good graphics and presentation? Not to mention generally studios have separate department to work on visual aspects and AP had a ready made engine to work with. They have somehow succeeded in making AP look like one generation behind.

RPG elements is not the same as character development. Only hardcore Diablo players believe that. No, AP is heavier due to all the variety in the game - as several have mentioned, it is unparallelled in terms of choices and consequences. That takes a ton of resources to develop - every choice has a serious impact, everything you do can lead to a different outcome. You'd have to complete AP half a dozen times just to see all the content and how all the choices can affect the story and the people you meet.

That's why you can't compare it to games that are streamlined - they only have one path to focus on during development, which means only one path to pour all their resources into.

Aditya · August 1, 2010

An RPG which boasts of good C&C but falters on everything else can be considered a good game? Not for me. C&C is but *one* aspect of an RPG and even then implementation of C&C in AP is debatable. From what I read, the choices only affect the narrative, not the missions or gameplay.

Consider this: You get to choose between A and B. If you choose A, it leads to fight with C and if you choose B, it leads fighting with D. Just presenting a choice is not fun when the actual fighting mechanism is tedious and clunky and fighting is mainly what you do in AP’s missions.

Now, when you have to play these missions in poorly designed levels with strictly pre-defined paths, have to bear clunky controls, have to withstand unreliable cover system, have to deal with sometimes brain dead and other times ultra-sensitive AI, etc, I really don't care whether I get to fight party C or D. If you like conversation simulators and consider story / narrative as the most important aspect of an RPG, then I guess you will tend to forgive significant gameplay flaws. If they wasted resources only on narrative, sacrificing everything else, they are clearly paying the price now.

Terry · August 1, 2010

Aditya said:
I 'demoed' it and played some initial levels and found it pathetic in almost every sense.

Cool how you "DEMOED" (Pirated) the game and then have the balls to bitch that is a pile of garbage.
I searched the web for a demo I could DL and try and other than torrent sites offering a "complete" demo I found none.
Reminds me of the Titan Quest "DEMOS" (pirated) that were so bad yet those of us who actually bought the game thought it was great.
So as you can't accuse me of fanboyism I haven't played AP yet, I might or I might not but to have a pirate rip in to a game just makes me pissed off enough to put my 2 cents in.

Aditya · August 1, 2010

And who are you to lecture me about morals and piracy? I did what I had to for some reasons and had balls to admit it such on previous posts. So deal with it.

And no, this isn't even a bit similar to Titan Quest case. Do proper research.

Also, use proper punctuation next time if you care to post more.

Terry · August 1, 2010

Aditya said:
And who are you to lecture me about morals and piracy? I did what I had to for some reasons and had balls to admit it such on previous posts. So deal with it.

And no, this isn't even a bit similar to Titan Quest case. Do proper research.

Also, use proper punctuation next time if you care to post more.

So you are not only a thief but one with taste, so good to know.

Boo Hoo I'm a poor boy from a poor family I have to steal my entertainment, but by God it had better be good because if it not I will rant and rave on its shortcomings.
If you do not pay you have no right to bitch. It is one thing to feel short changed after buying a product but to feel ripped off when you steal it is just beyond belief.

Aditya · August 1, 2010

And you are a troll with language problem so bad to know.

JDR13 · August 1, 2010

Gorath said:
Different market. Maybe the situation was more rosy in the US.

I remember I was quite surprised AP was on sale everywhere and still was out of the top 3 after 1 week or so.

A little ironic eh? Iirc, didn't AP generally get better reviews in Europe?

Zygo · August 2, 2010

Aditya said:
And no, this isn't even a bit similar to Titan Quest case. Do proper research.

As someone who has done some proper research...

There's at least one bug that was caused by cracking the DRM.

Lemonhead · August 2, 2010

Bitching about something you stole is pretty low.

Aditya · August 2, 2010

Zygo said:
As someone who has done some proper research…

There's at least one bug that was caused by cracking the DRM.

Please elaborate.

Lemonhead said:
Bitching about something you stole is pretty low.

Attacking others off-topic assuming a high moral stand is petty and is usually done to make oneself feel better. In no way you can prove you haven't done any sort of piracy in your life, so step down from your holy alter already..

GothicGothicness · August 2, 2010

God, this is pathetic, how do you think anyone could make a good game out there as long as people like you exist?

Aditya · August 2, 2010

You are as stupid as your nickname to link these things. Since you do not have anything relevant to add to ongoing discussion ABOUT THE GAME, I assume you simply like to derail threads using personal attacks.

I hope mods are taking notice of these people's behavior.

Maylander · August 2, 2010

Aditya said:
An RPG which boasts of good C&C but falters on everything else can be considered a good game? Not for me. C&C is but *one* aspect of an RPG and even then implementation of C&C in AP is debatable. From what I read, the choices only affect the narrative, not the missions or gameplay.

Consider this: You get to choose between A and B. If you choose A, it leads to fight with C and if you choose B, it leads fighting with D. Just presenting a choice is not fun when the actual fighting mechanism is tedious and clunky and fighting is mainly what you do in AP’s missions.

Now, when you have to play these missions in poorly designed levels with strictly pre-defined paths, have to bear clunky controls, have to withstand unreliable cover system, have to deal with sometimes brain dead and other times ultra-sensitive AI, etc, I really don't care whether I get to fight party C or D. If you like conversation simulators and consider story / narrative as the most important aspect of an RPG, then I guess you will tend to forgive significant gameplay flaws. If they wasted resources only on narrative, sacrificing everything else, they are clearly paying the price now.

I don't consider the game bad, I was merely explaining why you can't compare the graphics to games that are streamlined. I had a lot of fun with the gameplay itself, I feel it works out exactly the way it should consider it's an RPG - you start out being fairly poor at everything, but get better as you put points into stuff. You're pretty much useless at anything you haven't invested points into. Sounds good to me.

The problem is that people expect an action game because it looks like one.

fatBastard() · August 2, 2010

Aditya said:
Please elaborate.

The leaked/early torrent version of Titan's Quest contained a deliberate bug that made the game crash when you reached a certain point in the game (I'm not sure whether it was when reaching a certain amount of exp/level or when arriving at a certain point in the gaming world), thus anyone complaining about this particular and easily recognizable bug was in fact wearing a hug neon sign above their head flashing "Pirate Prick". Unfortunately they didn't handle this very well publicly so instead of being a wake up call to the general public and pirates alike, it back fired and gave the game a bad rep due to the many bug complains. A shame really. I would have loved to see this technique being used by many other companies.

Aditya said:
Attacking others off-topic assuming a high moral stand is petty and is usually done to make oneself feel better. In no way you can prove you haven't done any sort of piracy in your life, so step down from your holy alter already..

Personally I've given up on trying to explain to the numerous pirate idiots out there why they are only helping making matters worse, so I'm not going to try with you either. However, you continue to comment on a game in its entirety even though you've already admitted that you haven't played more than the first 10-20% of the game and THAT makes your comments more or less invalid in my book. I don't give a flying hoot for what people are saying on forums. Unless you've tried it yourself, your "experience" with the game doesn't really matter much to anyone.

What's more I do believe you're complaining to the wrong people. Some of the most popular games here at the Watch look and feel like they were created 15-20 years ago, so complaints about animation and graphics are mostly going to fall on deaf ears.

GothicGothicness · August 2, 2010

Aditya said:
You are as stupid as your nickname to link these things. Since you do not have anything relevant to add to ongoing discussion ABOUT THE GAME, I assume you simply like to derail threads using personal attacks.

I hope mods are taking notice of these people's behavior.

I do hope so as we don't discuss pirated games here.

And about your opinions if you had actually bought the game, maybe someone would care.

Aditya · August 2, 2010

GothicGothicness said:
I do hope so as we don't discuss pirated games here.

I have been discussing a pirated game with Dhruin, who is a moderator here, and he would know better what to discuss and what not better than you I think.

That’s because, I have been discussing the GAME and not ways to pirate it or how to apply crack etc. Learn to know the difference, you numbhead.

GothicGothicness said:
And about your opinions if you had actually bought the game, maybe someone would care.

You *do* seem to care enough to read my posts and reply to them KNOWING that I have not bought the game..why? May be because you just like to goad people into arguments and blabber irrelevant stuff?

Alpha Protocol - Sells 700k

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