Wait, what?

Argosy · Post by **Argosy** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:42 pm

I've sooo never heard of this game. =-(

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:12 pm

Argosy wrote:I've sooo never heard of this game. =-(

that's because it's only a rumour, about a game that may come out sometime next year. It's supposed to be an action/rpg (so this thread's already in the wrong forum!!), and there's terrible news regarding the possible game. It's supposed to be being made by Obsidian, the people who screwed up KOTOR 2, and NWN 2. I will so not be buying this game, or anything else by Obsidian.

Faust · Post by **Faust** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:22 pm

It's a bit more than a rumor. Gamebanshee News linked a press release on it yesterday. It's apparently Obsidian's next major project, a spy themed action rpg. Check it [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/gamebanshee-news-73/alpha-protocol-press-release-97413.html"]out[/url].

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:26 pm

I already did on IGN's site, and it's still just maybe next spring, which usually means sometime in 2010 if past racord is anything to go by. And whatever, being Obsidian it wont even be close to being finished when it gets released, those guys have a terrible track record.

Curry · Post by **Curry** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:11 am

"Screwed up Kotor 2" ?? What, Kotor 2 was way better than 1

AvatarOfLight · Post by **AvatarOfLight** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:39 am

Curry wrote:"Screwed up Kotor 2" ?? What, Kotor 2 was way better than 1

Subjective, and furthermore... A LIE

DesR85 · Post by **DesR85** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:16 pm

AvatarOfLight wrote:Subjective, and furthermore... A LIE

Some people will say it's good, some will say it's bad. I fall in the latter. As for Alpha Protocol, I'm very sceptical about how Obsidian will pull this off until I see some gameplay demonstrations.

swcarter · Post by **swcarter** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:21 am

I'm not sure why there's all this pessimism here. I liked KOTOR better than KOTOR 2, but it's not like KOTOR 2 was a fiasco or anything, and NWN 2 is a perfectly good game. I'm way more optimistic about a game from Obsidian than I am a game from, oh, Bethesda or Heuristic Park. Would there be as much angst about Fallout 3 if Obsidian was developing it?

I'm also always intrigued when role-playing games move away from the standard settings and try something new, so I don't have any problem thinking that Alpha Protocol might be some fun.

SWC

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 3:13 am

Curry wrote:"Screwed up Kotor 2" ?? What, Kotor 2 was way better than 1

You can't deny that KotOR II was hardly passed beta-stage at some points. (And some significant points at that.)

I do agree with SWCarter, though, that it's refreshing to see an RPG explore a new setting.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 5:15 am

galraen wrote: It's supposed to be being made by Obsidian, the people who screwed up KOTOR 2, and NWN 2. I will so not be buying this game, or anything else by Obsidian.

That being said, you can't blame Obsidian for obeying to Lucas Art's demands to tighten the development schedule. KOTOR 2 had a storyline that was leaps and bounds beyond KOTOR 1's loose copying of past Star Wars franchise and Neverwinter Nights games. Especially with the latter similarities between companions and mission objectives were painfully obvious. KOTOR 2 is in my eyes a game that more or less tries to stand on its own. Its differing D20 implementation makes combat and character development make more sense, and the storyline and at least some of the characters have become quite engaging to experience.

I'll vouch for the game that tried to be original but failed over the cunningly marketed rehash any day.

DesR85 · Post by **DesR85** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 5:38 am

GawainBS wrote:I do agree with SWCarter, though, that it's refreshing to see an RPG explore a new setting.

I also agree, but with no screenshots or videos, how are we supposed to know what the game looks and plays like?

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 6:26 am

Tricky wrote:That being said, you can't blame Obsidian for obeying to Lucas Art's demands to tighten the development schedule. KOTOR 2 had a storyline that was leaps and bounds beyond KOTOR 1's loose copying of past Star Wars franchise and Neverwinter Nights games. Especially with the latter similarities between companions and mission objectives were painfully obvious. KOTOR 2 is in my eyes a game that more or less tries to stand on its own. Its differing D20 implementation makes combat and character development make more sense, and the storyline and at least some of the characters have become quite engaging to experience.

I'll vouch for the game that tried to be original but failed over the cunningly marketed rehash any day.

But what's the point of telling a great story if the storytelling is bashed up, mugged, raped and left to rot in a backally? KotOR I was a finished product with a solid story. The ideas in KotOR II were superior, but all in all the game left a bitter taste because of its lack of polish. (And basecoat for that matter too.)

DesRes, without screenshots, we can only judge on the the description of the game's setting, which at least *sounds* original.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 7:12 am

GawainBS wrote:But what's the point of telling a great story if the storytelling is bashed up, mugged, raped and left to rot in a backally?

Darwinism, obviously.

And, my apologies - I initially quotes the wrong post. Don't know if anyone noticed.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 7:56 am

Tricky wrote:That being said, you can't blame Obsidian for obeying to Lucas Art's demands to tighten the development schedule.

I can and I do Tricky. They knew the schedule when they accepted the contract, then tried to point the finger at Lucas when they realised they couldn't hit the deadline. It's not as if they had to build an engine or editor, they already existed, they were also already familiar with both, having sprung from Bioware. They simply blew the gig, and left the game unfinished and full of bugs and effectively released a beta version of the game, and made no attempt to fix the problems they'd created post launch.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:02 am

Hm, so it wasn't LucasArts? Hmm. Still, like 90% of all projects cash in on the time extension. If LA didn't grant them that it was kind of balls of them. But you could say the same for Obsidian for poor project planning, I guess. Still, any idiot should have been able to figure out that a working game would've received better scores, and sold better? All LA had to do was to approve. It's not like they are tight on money or anything.

DesR85 · Post by **DesR85** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:11 pm

GawainBS wrote:DesRes, without screenshots, we can only judge on the the description of the game's setting, which at least *sounds* original.

And that's about it. A mere name and a vague description isn't enough to get me interested in the game, unless they can show some screens or videos to back it up.

Lady Dragonfly · Post by **Lady Dragonfly** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:05 am

I've never heard of this project up until this moment. A spy-thriller? Sounds nice but for some reason my brain conjures images of brainless Jason Bourne... Or was that James Bond? And everything is in black and grey and bloody red. A truckload of guns. Casual sex with everything that moves. Medpacks and ammo behind ashtrays and urinals. Bad guys with funny accents. World domination.
I'll bet my best fake ID it's gonna be the Game of the Year.

Why do you guys hate KOTOR2? Both were kinda kiddie games, but at least KOTOR2 appeared less kiddie than the original KOTOR, with a better story and better NPCs (Kreia). Not my favorite games, but worth playing once (and only once).

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:10 am

Lady Dragonfly wrote:I've never heard of this project up until this moment. A spy-thriller? Sounds nice but for some reason my brain conjures images of brainless Jason Bourne... Or was that James Bond? And everything is in black and grey and bloody red. A truckload of guns. Casual sex with everything that moves. Medpacks and ammo behind ashtrays and urinals. Bad guys with funny accents. World domination.
I'll bet my best fake ID it's gonna be the Game of the Year.

Why do you guys hate KOTOR2? Both were kinda kiddie games, but at least KOTOR2 appeared less kiddie than the original KOTOR, with a better story and better NPCs (Kreia). Not my favorite games, but worth playing once (and only once).

I don't KotOR II, not even by a stretch. I just feel cheated when I see the glaring bugs and unfinished contents in what could have been an excellent, tremendously good game. Now it's solid, but it could have been so much more.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:03 am

Lady Dragonfly wrote:<snip>
Why do you guys hate KOTOR2? Both were kinda kiddie games, but at least KOTOR2 appeared less kiddie than the original KOTOR, with a better story and better NPCs (Kreia). Not my favorite games, but worth playing once (and only once).

I agree pretty much. KOTOR2 was for me much better game then KOTOR1, despite the bugs. KOTOR was way too predictable, too ... well, yeah "kiddie" and console like.
As for NwN versus NwN2 then NwN2 was a way better game then the original NwN was. It wasn't until the third expansion pack that NwN actually became a quality game. I have no issues with Obsidian as they've provided good games. Their main issue does indeed look to be with "polish", and that is a minor thing compared to so many other areas where problems could be located.

Will be interesting to see what this game could end up in, but alas, information is needed

Lady Dragonfly · Post by **Lady Dragonfly** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:01 pm

From GB News (today):

-"There is running and gunning…"

-Skills will go from trained agent level to "comic book style near-superhuman" as described in the magazine. They then reference Bond, Bauer and Bourne to make it seem less bat**** crazy.

Hey, looks like I could make a fortune on fortune-telling.

@GawainBS

I don't KotOR II, not even by a stretch. I just feel cheated when I see the glaring bugs and unfinished contents in what could have been an excellent, tremendously good game. Now it's solid, but it could have been so much more.

The ultimate irony: unfinished and bugged, yet better than its more polished predecessor. Not that I approve of sloppy job.