Cl_Flushentityhero

Heh, more than that? I think the "more than that" comes in the form of stealth, CQC, hacking, and flexible storyline. I certainly don't expect AP to out-action pure action games.

Well, I can answer at least a few of your (Zoma's) questions based on preview/forum materials. Yes there is a cover system, and no there isn't regenerating health. Although I can't confirm this, I seriously doubt there will be endlessly respawning bad guys. Combat is supposed to be a viable path through the game, whereas MGS was kind of designed to punish the player until he went stealthy again.

Nice. Similar to a lot of the other previews, but it's something to read. So, alpha . . . is it really still March? Or are we talking April/May?

Well, I think it would be first the first Western RPG based on Eastern anime. Maybe there's an untapped market there.

I'm hoping for the best. It certainly has the potential to be Obsidian's magnum opus in terms of multiple approaches and sophisticated yet flexible narrative. What remains to be seen in my view is whether any and all of the possible approaches are fun, and whether the player's interaction with the narrative is significant enough to set a new standard. AP is one of those games where, even if the reviews suck, I'll buy it because it's the sort of concept I'd have to experience firsthand, even if the execution fails. If it's good, I'll want to play it for obvious reasons. If it's bad, I'll want to play it just to see how they could have possibly messed up the premise.

Eh, I wouldn't hold your breath for an anime-themed game from Obs.

But what about the "Lethal close combat techniques"? False advertising I say!

Honestly, there are so many guns based on the 1911 that it would take careful research to include a 0.45 ACP pistol not based on it. Supposedly the weapons are not actual weapons, but patterned after RL manufacturers. This might be to do with trademark issues. I definitely saw some H&K-inspired stuff in the screenshots. But, I'm with you in that all weapon types and calibers should be effective. I just went through 30 hours of firing rubber bullets in Far Cry 2

I'm going to argue that grinding is any repetitive action nonessential to the main plot that you have to perform to gain something necessary to proceed in the main plot. If there is no main plot, it's done for its own sake or for PvP advantage. IMO, this sort of definition is more useful for talking about games because it doesn't have a viewpoint built into it. As such, it's more versatile and allows you to describe the way a game is designed concisely without the subtext that the game is also bad. If you see no use for that sort of terminology . . . *shrug* I doubt I'll convince you otherwise.

Anybody who says good RPGs don't involve grinding has pretty high standards. I don't usually like it, but I can appreciate games despite it. My impression is that the emphasis will be on the plot missions and their optional secondary objectives, but we don't have too much to go on either way at this point.

I'm pretty sure the safehouse is a condensed version of all the typical between-mission faffing about. My impression is that you might be able to take side-missions from there and be transported directly to the site. That said, I've only really heard side-missions mentioned secondhand in early previews.

AP isn't a free roaming game, and I seriously doubt you can perform sidequests other than the secondary objectives in each mission. Does that help?

Where did you you hear all this stuff about factions?

I don't think the question was about rocket launchers specifically so much as the carry system in general.

You can persuade him if you have the diplomacy skill, but if you don't you need to threaten him.

He didn't, and you did.

Not really. It's probably safe to assume we have a few skills points to spread around, but I don't know what other customization options you'll start with.

Seriously? I liked most of the intimidate options that I saw. For example the "Shepard fan" who wants to join you but obviously isn't cut out for it. Intimidate: *draw your gun* I'm a bad guy, now stop me from killing you. I guess maybe that falls under the colossal wanker category, but I thought it was fun. Maybe I just happen to use intimidate at the right times. I haven't done a playthrough where I just go around trying to intimidate everyone.

Whoa, hold on. How did Mass Effect have a deep story? Unless I missed something, the entire plot premise is a race of machines that wipes out all organic life because . . . well . . . it creates an excuse for the player to shoot them.

*insert censorship and/or pr0n joke here*

I'm hoping for an "Obama vs. McCain" meter. Perhaps based on the number of times Thornton emphatically says "I'm not popular with . . ." or prefaces a statement with "Look, . . ."

Huh?

It's confirmed you will be able to bluff/hide in plain sight at least some of the time. E.g. if you are dressed like a civilian in the embassy Marines will question you, but they won't shoot you on sight.

Keep in mind that, for all intents and purposes, a true James Bond/Bourne experience *is* a new thing to gaming. The closest thing so far was Everything or Nothing, which was mostly a shooter but also let you do all kinds of other "Bond" things like use gadgets, hand to hand, rappel, stealth, skydive without a parachute, and (good, thankfully) driving sequences. Other similar games either: A) Did not try to really do anything more than combat (Quantum of Solace) B) Ranged from fail to epic fail in their other gameplay mechanics (Bourne Conspiracy driving level). Apparently, no other developers had thought to come at it from a RPG angle, which by its very nature incorporates different approaches idiomatic to the spy genre. Nobody has a smooth-talking mechanic in a shooter, but it's almost expected of decent CRPGs. So yeah, not only does AP address the spy genre in a new way, but IMO pretty much the only reasonable way that conventions of various genres allow currently.

Oh . . . *sullen*. Any chance of recasting?