Alpha Overhaul

[The Random One]

Susan's review of the game (which was the first to come out) actually saddenned me. I'd heard some things about this game, figured it was some lame shooter that was trying to fake out depth, and forgot about it. Before I read/watched her review I didn't care at all about it. After I read it, I was actually disappointed over its wasted potential.

And shouldn't Lionhead be in the first group? Last I checked, Fable 1 and 2 did have choices.

Oh man, there's that article Shamus wrote about Fable 2... it's hilarious, as long as you don't actually enjoy Fable 2.

 

[paragon1]

This is why I Hate Obsidian. If they just made bad games, they wouldn't make money and would eventually go away. Instead, they make sequels to great games that are weighed down by bugs and have confusing plots. We get stuck with games that could have been fantastic, but then end up being okay at best. Anyone who played Neverwinter Nights 2 (wait, so the guy who massacred my hometown TWICE and killed my prospective love interest isn't the main villain, or even working for him?) and KotOR 2 (never got through the Nar Shadaa level without the game crashing at least once) know exactly what I'm talking about. They should be able to make good games, but they consistently fail to deliver.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Fallout New vegas is going to really fix up this issue. Obsidian have stated many times that the choices in NV are going to greatly affect your gameplay, whether instantly or in the future. I'm really looking forward to NV, most likely if it's as good as Obsidian say it will be then we won't even need a Alpha Protocol 2.

 

[Scobie]

DELETED

 

[kementari]

I know the term "RPG" is an absolute mess, almost to the point of having no meaning at all. For the record, when I say "RPG" I'm talking about games from the likes of BioWare, Obsidian, and Bethesda and not Square Enix, Blizzard, or Lionhead. Someday I'd love to have terms that clearly differentiate between "leveling up" and "roleplaying". But today is not that day.

Have I mentioned your columns are my favorite part of this website?

 

[Georgie_Leech]

Well, you've sold me. If they ever release a patch or just a complete overhaul and remove the bugs (I couldn't care less about the graphics) I'm buying this game. I haven't had a game where choices mattered in... ages.

 

[RatRace123]

I completely agree, Alpha Protocol is a great game. Its successes easily add up more than the sum of its flaws. If they patched up those flaws, then you'd have an astounding game. More to the point, Alpha Protocol is one of the first games where I actually had to rely on my gut instinct to choose rather than how could this choice benefit me.

I actually really enjoyed that make-choice-NOW! type of desicion.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I stopped reading after the bit about Lionhead, Square and Blizzard. It really ruined the article for me. It was a pointless shot at what the author believes to be a RPG. Just because Soccer was the first form of football does not mean that American football can't be called football as well and the same with soccer. They are still RPGs they just focus on different things. Games like Final Fantasy and Fable are not about leveling. In fact I think you are more trivial choices in Fable than you did in Oblivion I mean in Fable 2 you could have several families. There are roleplaying in those game whether you like it or not they are RPGs. There is more to RPGs than making a character look like whatever you please and naming it whatever you please.

 

[DayDark]

Damn it, you know I wasn't gonna buy AP, but now I don't know...When the patch comes out, I'll check the feedback.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I agree wholeheartedly, on your points, the sequel and the patch, though a post hovering just above mine says that's a certainty.

 

[Loonerinoes]

This was pretty much my own experience of the game. Yes, it does have flaws and yes they aren't merely trivial ones and for me the biggest one is the fact that (as Yahtzee pointed out) the game is a bit unbalanced and the boss fights might indeed not have been that necessary in the end.

But the RPG mechanics are simply without comparison as of right now and that's precisely why I'm glad the game was finally made and why I'm still moreso glad I bought it than not. So yes, outside of RPG enthusiasts I can see how gamers might not be drawn to it. But really, if you are a sucker for RPGs then this still is a must-buy in my book, simply because it delivers something no other developer has thus far managed to - choices that truly matter.

 

[Woodsey]

"Although I hope they make a patch for Alpha Protocol 1 first."

They'll need to if they want me to buy it, along with many other people I'm sure.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Wow, that sounds like exactly the kind of Rpg elements I want in a game. In fact, it's the only Rpg elements I want in a game, and I'd want it in every game!
Maybe Obsidian working on New vegas isn't so bad after all. I mean, they're still using the same engine, maybe it won't be too buggy, and If this kind of system were in place it'd be fucking incredible.

 

[bjj hero]

But its a measurement of everything wrong with current game design. You don't earn anything. You don't accomplish anything. Everything must be easy enough for the average person to stumble through, else you run the risk of alienating your bread and butter, the LCD. "[They] play games to have fun! Punishments aren't fun!"

This is how I feel. I can remember when games had challenge. For another Bioware example look at Dragonage: Origins.

Have you read all of the pissing a whining? "The combats too hard", "I had to switch it to easy to beat X", "I dont like that I have to imput commands in combat" (read why wont the computer do it all for me?).

My first play through was on hard. There were times I got my ass handed to me, when I had to change my party to make it through certain areas, alter my tactics because it wasn't working, fights I had to dodge and come back later for and some choices I went with because the guy could kick my ass so I went with what he said.

Every area felt like a suicide mission, Ogres were engines of death, I regularly carried injuries and I always felt out numbered and out gunned. Exactly how the game is meant to be. You are meant to be a survivor on a near impossible mission against all odds. I got a massive sense of accomplishment when I finally beat the game. Also I didn't power game my charecter, I picked skills and stats that felt right.

My subsiquent play throughs have been on normal and combat has no challenge at all. This is the difficulty most people are complaining about. Obviously these people never played games in the 80s/90s when they were genuinely hard, everyone wants their hand held now.

OT: I like what AP tried to do, I'll get it but I'm waiting for a price drop. I do hope there is a more polished sequel.

 

[JEBWrench]

huh. took yahtzee, rebecca, and shamus to change the minds of people who were mislead by haters? huh.

Yeah, it took the opinions of people who actually played the game.

 

[Chilango2]

I know you didn't like the Witcher when you played it originally, Shamus, but its the other recent RPG I can think of that has a morality system just like the one your describing here, you basically choose between the various factions in the game and each faction responds appropriately. There are choices outside of the factional dispute that have complex and unpredictable consequences as well.

Even the director's cut has its fair share of problems, the story has huge gaping gaps, at points, pacing that is slightly off, and of course, the juvenile "sex cards" business, which is thankfully optional. Nonethless, it has dealt with most of the bugs, technical issues, some of the interface issues and other assorted dreck.

 

[Vet2501]

It's about time I found an article that agrees with my opinion of Alpha Protocol. The bugs are nowhere near as bad as people are making them out to be and the great writing and gameplay choices demand that you should play it several times (even if it's just to get your head around the story).

 

[Blayze]

What I want to see is a game so scripted that every single choice the player makes, every instance of action or inaction they perform, has an impact on the game.

Picture it this way: Bob's village is under attack, so he's trying to seek the Sword of Massive Violence in order to wail on the attackers. If the player does nothing or never talks to Bob in time before he leaves on his quest, there's a preset result -- maybe he finds the Sword, maybe not.

The player can help him find it, give him other magical equipment, help him kill the bandits without it, kill him and hunt for the Sword, kill him and ignore the Sword, or beat him there and either leave him to die or take the Sword before he gets there -- whether or not the player knew about the sidequest at all.

It sounds massively over-complicated, but I'm sure people more intelligent than me could find ways to make it work -- I thought about the game in question having a default plotline that happened if the player did nothing at all, but that would instantly devolve into a crazy flowchart of results for every single variance.

Something like "You helped me save my village! We'll help you against the Big Bad's army!" or "You left me to die, and you want me to help you? I'll kill you myself."

Or perhaps "Thank you for your help, but while you were away, bandits overran the village and killed everyone" if enough post-invasion random bandit spawns manage to defeat the defenders.

Argh. I'm not explaining this well at all...

 

[Doug]

Experienced Points: Alpha Overhaul

Here's hoping other developers are paying attention to Alpha Protocol.

O' Almight Shamus; as a player of RPGs (the Bioware sort and the Lionhead sort, though not the Square Enix sort), I would like do know if you would recommend I should get Alpha Protocol inspite of its awful bugs and the like? This idea of meaningful choices does sound very appealing.

And, if you are able to do so, I would be most happy if you could reply within about 2 hours as the Steam sale ends by then...cheers if you do, no worries if not.