fastpunk

Ah, this was a good read, though it sucks that it's been posted like this (I mean in three parts). I'm looking forward to Alpha Protocol, to see how the cinematics team handled the show-don't-tell part. Also, about Kreia: it's surprising to see Chris say that he wanted her to be a sympathetic Sith Lord, considering her personality. But at the end of the game, agree or not with her cause or her methods, I still felt she deserved respect. And that's pretty special if you ask me. She's definitely among my absolute favorite NPCs.

Well, using Kismet to create custom 'missions' (maybe even full blown campaigns?) would be beyond awesome. But to be perfectly honest, I really don't see the editor shipping with the game. Hope I'm wrong.

I'm curious how the action part feels, but the guy who wrote the article doesn't have an opinion on the matter, or so it seems. Anyway, I liked the perks/achievements idea, I hope Obsidian will include a healthy number of them. It might be fun to discover these perks by experimenting with different tactics and weapons. What I'm worried about is the character system and how it relays the feeling of character growth throughout the game. Thorton seemed pretty powerful right from the get go, at least that's what the preview suggested. I really hope AP doesn't turn out to be a cakewalk or something. Btw, has there been any word about the existence of a difficulty setting? Also, the screens included with the preview look interesting, it's a shame higher res versions are not avaulable though. Anyway, I'm pretty excited about AP, can't wait to play it. :D

This is great news indeed. MotB is one of my all time favorites. I can't wait to see what he'll be working on. Sucks that Alex Brandon left though. I guess with every good news there's gotta be a bad one to go with it.

Both ATI and NV have a fair share of driver issues. That said, ATI is most certainly not rubbish, their drivers have matured a lot in the last years. Anyway, about this new GTX 295: this review came as a surprise to me. I was expecting the GTX 295 to take this one. But considering the performance numbers and prices, this new NV offering doesn't really make sense. So NV is still in a pretty bad position. If you ask me, they should focus more on the mainstream and performance segments, as their current line-up is getting badly bruised by ATI offerings where it counts. This dual-GPU stuff is just marketing fluff.

Hopefully, what it lacks in customization (although 10 skills and an array of visual 'upgrades' that also benefit gameplay isn't bad) it will make up in play styles: going about missions in different ways, taking different stances during dialogs that actually lead to different outcomes etc. In the end, this might be worth more than any initial customization options.

Well that's that. As long as the game is polished. Maybe they'll work on the graphics too, the trailer showcased some lovely, vividly colored environments, maybe they can bring the actual game closer to that.

Crusoe Takes a Trip by Red Snapper

The graphics look good, but I'm sure they're not in-game. Graphics aside though, I liked the tone of the trailer. It felt pretty spot-on for a spy-themed game.

Apart from Obsidian's two upcoming titles, I'm really looking forward to Tomb Raider: Underworld and Quake Live, they both should be out later this year.

Well well, look who got his just deserts.

I'm listening to Thievery Corporation's new album, Radio Retaliation.

I'm playing good old Thief: The Dark Project. It didn't age a bit and it's been 11 years since it was released. Plus, the atmosphere is thick enough to cut with a knife. Mucho respect to Looking Glass for their groundbreaking work.

The list is pretty long, so we can expect many characters. Yay for that! A lot of the people on the list are experienced voice actors too, so the quality should be top notch. Good to see Grey DeLisle on board btw, haven't heard her voice since Tomb Raider Anniversary.

Obsidian always had good tastes for music. KotOR2 and MotB were quite impressive from this point of view. Looking forward to some samples.

Didn't mean powerful in that sense of the word. You don't need to be filled with rage to make powerful music.

Never played FEAR so I can't say. As for Far Cry, it had good AI, but a little over the top sometimes. Those pricks could spot you from a mile away. But lets be honest here, Oblivion had the best AI ever. And Fallout 3 will be even better. There's no AI like Radiant AI.

Depeche Mode - In Your Room (the mellow version; the original album version is way too powerful for casual play)

Yes! And speaking of SS series, so did their spiritual successor, Bioshock. Well, somewhat. Enemies run for cover, retreat to heal if they're hurt, they search for water if they're on fire etc. True, they become predictable after a while but I honestly can't remember any new games with better AI. Though I might be forgetting something... I just have that feeling. Anyway, back to AP. These two articles were pretty good but kind of short. I certainly liked what I read... but on the other hand, gaming journalists these days are a tad easy to impress. I really can't wait for the first gameplay videos though, to see for myself.

Oh. So it's not for sure that he's still with OE... I hope he is.

+1 Actually, +100 ! :D

Mitsoda is still with Obsidian? That's a relief. Also, to be perfectly honest, I don't care specifically who wrote what. As long as I know Mitsoda and Avellone worked on AP, it's all good! Mitsoda did story and dialog for Bloodlines (which excelled in both) while Avellone wrote a lot of stuff for both PS:T and KotOR2. That's all I need to know.

Micatone - That's the way it goes

I haven't played a Sega game since the Megadrive days, but it's good to hear they don't use overly restrictive copy protection systems.