Comments on: Obsidian’s Next Game: Alpha Protocol

By: dhex

dhex — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:29:42 +0000

bioware’s patented “the good, the bad and the neutral” approach to storytelling?

it’s starting to get old.

By: Volrath

Volrath — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:59:02 +0000

Chris Avellone (Torment) and Brian Mitsoda (Bloodlines) are doing the dialogue. How the fuck can this not be awesome?

By: Ozzie

Ozzie — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:35:12 +0000

Obsidian doing something original sounds good to me.
I wasn’t interested in their sequels of games I wasn’t interested in in the first place.

And Chris Avellone is designing it! I’m already full of anticipation!!

By: hellboy

hellboy — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:24:57 +0000

If there were an aspect of Mass Effect you didn’t want to emulate, it would be the combat

I must be the only one, but I quite liked the combat in Mass Effect. Except for the bits driving around in the buggy.

By: Pidesco

Pidesco — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:31:50 +0000

I really haven’t seen the “action” part in an action RPG ever done well, and I’d really like to see Obsidian pull it off. Torment like dialogue options and storyline accompanied by, say, NOLF like combat options is what I’m thinking of.

Or, if it wasn’t a spy game, a deep RPG with a Ninja Gaiden style combat system would be nice to see.

By: Sucram

Sucram — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:19:29 +0000

>:”Welcome, you come seeking the truth about the One spy that the Sneakographon speaks of in legend, he who infiltrated the great underground lair of old through a milkshake straw; who defeated an army of evil henchmen with a peanut shell; who stole the plans of weapon forged to create much dooms and who smited the overlord who was his boss but actually a triple double agent?”

>’Yes’

>:”He who was the result of secret secretives, who seduced all on his exit, who monologued himself out of the trap of much escapability and who never needed a comic relief sidekick?”

>’Yes’

>:”Fine, click on the four statues in the next room, they have some riddles for you.”

By: InsertNameHere

InsertNameHere — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:55:41 +0000

I finally got round to playing KOTOR2 earlier this year and I was blown away by the story, it was truly excellent. Sure, the execution was somewhat flawed in places but the first chapter on the mining planet was brilliant.

I still haven’t played NWN2, but I very much look forwards to this new game.

By: Xaero

Xaero — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:43:33 +0000

I agree with UncleLou. KOTOR 2 was done in 13 months if iirc, and considering that time frame, Obsidian did an excellent job. The game featured better writing, and at least the storyline wasn’t the typical “save the universe” crap like KOTOR 1. Sure, the end felt rushed and incomplete but that has to do with Lucas Arts pressuring Obsidian to ship it. NWN2 had a far better OC than NWN1 and while I agree that the MP was broken & buggy, that also has to do with the limited development time. Their most recent game was the NWN2 expansion, Mask of the Betrayer and that was even a bigger improvement over the original NWN2. It was one of the best RPGs last year.

You guys need to stop hating on Obsidian. They’ve had bad luck with their publishers. This new game sounds interesting but I’m not convinced yet.

By: UncleLou

UncleLou — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:21:31 +0000

Obsidian has trashed everything they’ve touched IMHO. KotOR2? NWN2?

I can’t trust them to deliver anything but heartbreak.

And both games were far superior to their predecessors, made by Bioware. Kotor 2 obviously suffered from serious time restraints, and iirc, NWN2 was done in record time, too, as demanded by the publisher, so that explains a few of the flaws, but the writing, characters is far better than anything I’ve seen from Bioware in years (caveat: I haven’t played Mass Effect).

By: Optimaximal

Optimaximal — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:03:19 +0000

If you are still after KGB, Home of the Underdogs has got it for free:

http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=586

Ideally, you’ll want to try and find the CD version on Ebay or something – it’s called Conspiracy (as mentioned on The Underdogs) and features Donald Sutherland providing hints in mid-90′s FMV.

By: Electric Dragon

Electric Dragon — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:26:17 +0000

Bond+Bauer+Bourne = you get to use implausible but snazzy gadgets in pursuit of a madman who wants to take over the world while torturing anyone who might have even the most remotely useful scrap of information (and finding out that the real plot was hatched by your own father/son/boss/president), all rendered in gloriously nauseating Shaky-Handheld-O-Vision.

Also:

It seems a shame that the people who’ve consistently delivered the ability to play male or female and have romances based on this during the game, should shut off one side.

– That’s actually shutting off three sides (Guy Burgess?). And as an added bonus the idea of queer spies might cause Fox News to burst an aneurysm.

And Spycraft sounds interesting.

By: Kieron Gillen

Kieron Gillen — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:23:22 +0000

Pretty much any time we talk about an old game, we link to Home of the Underdogs. So not explicitly talked about ‘em, but certainly pointed people in their direction. Not that they need it, being The Daddy.