Sannom

It has the double potential of being boring and spoiler-y, so no thanks

Another site said they were screenshots and said that if they all looked all like that, they would be of a concept-art like quality. I don't know myself. The ones with a character are weird : the background really looks like a concept art, but the character doesn't fit in completely, it seems to be a 3D model, and that would indicate that it is indeed a screenshot.

By the way, are we sure Obsidian is using Onyx for this game?

My views on the mini-games : --- lock-picking : straight-forward, simple to understand, really the easiest there is. Main problem here is lack of time : either you can pick it, or you can't. --- hacking : it takes time to get used to the control, but in the end, except for the really hard ones, it's a matter of luck : sometimes I see the static bit of codes immediately, other times I don't. - alarms : no problems with those in the first hub. The ones in the second hub (Taipei, after Moscow) are horrible I can't win even one of those, even with a good Sabotage score! There are so many of those things that I have trouble finding the path AND finding in which section the next slot is.

Happened to me with tranquilizing rounds. Not an issue most of the times, because the damage over time kicks in and ends that silver of life. But it can be annoying when the target has an uncontrollable spasm of her finger before "dying", and pulls the trigger. Absolutely harmless, they're most likely to shoot in a wall or up in the ceiling, but everyone hears it! And alarm ensues!

Yeah, everyone says they are artworks. One website actually took SE's word for it and said they were screenshots, but said they looked a lot like concept art

People are talking as if the game was just started, but it has been in development even before New Vegas was announced, right? Rumors of a fantasy project on which Feargus was personally working were about for a long time, I would say at least a year! Combinations of factors, I suppose. Good timing, too. Square Enix is seeking to expand in the western market and seeks for deals with western publishers. They have a relatively well-known franchise at hand, and Obsidian must have sought them out for a project, either DS3 itself or something else. Square perhaps jumped on the occasion. And Obsidian isn't too touchy about the projects they are proposed, although I guessed there were a number on conditions for DS3, notably to use their own engine this time.

Oh. Then we disagree : I like some planning, but minimal. Planning for feats and skills is good in my book, but I dislike planning for attributes. I like it critical at the character creation, nudging your character in a specific direction, but after that, no worries about making it evolve. That's why I like AP's system but is sometimes exasperated by Dragon Age's system. Although AP does have a similar problem with weapons statistics, number that evolves slowly and whose impact is hard to figure out.

Trying to stealth though some levels without being detected or even hitting anyone reminded me of the puzzle-ness of Commandos, the first one. Except that its harder in AP because you don't have a whole view of your environment. I find the cover system really useful for a stealth character that uses a lot of pistols. With enough points in it, you can make critical hits from behind cover, which reduces your visibility.

I'm sure Nolan North must have had a blast voicing a character that is not your usual deadpan anti-hero He looked like a sad dog when I said "no killing", it's hilarious

One thing that absolutely needs to be solved is the "Load last checkpoint" bug When you take the time to manually go to your list of saves when you die instead of clicking "Load last chackpoint", there is never any problem. When you take "load last checkpoints", bugs are legions. Last one I saw is I remember that The Witcher was quite the offender on that one too : chosing to load the last save instead of going through the list could end up into machine freezes or ten minutes-long loadings.

How do you know? He saw an old screen, probably. I also clearly remember a tenth skill line instead of the nine we finally got.

Weird bug with the alarm hacking : at the beginning, I can use the A & D keys to move the thingie at the bottom of the screen, but once I activate the first path, they don't respond anymore and I have to go to the "normal" keys.

Someone told me of a really funny dialog about a rape by a polar bear, and I thought "They played Runaway 2!"

Shouldn't it be like that though, for an objective review? The guy may have loved the game and passed over the flaws, but as a journalist he feels like the game isn't as polished as it should be, and reflects it on the note. Seems fair to me. This is nonsense. They're reviewing it as a GAME, and as a game, it is fairly janky and frustrating a lot of the time because of bad AI, camera, weak gunplay, etc, regardless of how many points you have in a weapon skill or stealth. If they were reviewing just the RPG elements or the story, well no **** it would be getting more praise. Thankfully these reviewers don't believe that story>gameplay. Dialogues and story are part of the gameplay experience in Alpha Protocol. Beside that, ironcreed didn't talk about the story but about the gameplay.

I think this comment is true, at least on the management and direction side of things. Remember what Josh Sawyer says about Neverwinter Nights 2? That's about the same thing : too ambitious, trying to cram way too much features into it without polishing the ones they already have, poor management. I have hopes that AP may be the last of those poorly managed projects, at least in the short-term future. For New Vegas, Josh seems to be a really pragmatic and reasonable guy when it comes to these things. Bethesda backing, helping and checking should also help. About the secret project, the only thing Nathaniel Chapman has mentioned about it is the level of polish they brought in... curious to see that! And in general, the Onyx Engine should help with those problems I think...

Funny first impressions on a french board First comment, about one hour in : Second comment :

This could get in the technical part of the board, I think?

The guy who made the review for the french magazine Canard PC spoiled the score to us : 9 out of 10. The review won't be out before I get the game, so there is no more details, but still, that score is nice

I think I got the message : no hacking without investing heavily into Sabotage

I'm seriously starting to worry about the reviews here in France A guy who played it said that it really doesn't feel polished enough for someone who don't understand english and just read the subtitles : they pass too fast, you try to "link" them to the audio, you're distracted and "bam!", you "fail" at the DSS choice

I don't know if you have seen the twitter of the ex-Obsidian that Funcroc posted on the review thread, but he's clearly angry and making fun of the guy on that streaming thing

Just going to clarify those : That guy doesn't shoot. What he finds easy is the fact that he has managed to take down all his enemies with stealth take-downs without never being spotted. A tower. He talks about the usual : go through underground tunnels, main entrance, or the roofs... either from roof to roof or by taking a zip-line. I have the impression that this guy got into Alpha Protocol thinking "it's a stealth game", I don't think he even realize the Rambo play-style is viable. That sentence is impossible to get, even for me. And I'm french For the dialog system, part of his complaints stem from the fact that it's in english and not in french.

I can confirm : someone on another french board have already been able to get it Perhaps another proof, torrents have already begun to appear, and guess in which language does the uploader describe the game? Yes, french. And what annoys me is that it has happened only in Paris so far! Gah! No love for the province? Come on I'm in the south! Guess I will try again tomorrow... As for what the guy says : - he is quite harsh with the note, only 14/20. It seems graphics and AI are really important for him, as well as physics. - but he really praises the choices and construction of the levels, and enjoys his ride. So it seems that we shouldn't care about the note. He gives an interesting example of repercussions to your actions, too. Apparently, during the tutorial, you have an infiltration test. If you're really good at it, another character will propose you a mission to steal some documents later in the game, a proposal he won't make if you completely mess it up!

So the first project announcement wasn't "project X" then? And is it me or is it the first time they clearly state it's a RPG? And I swear we're going to be upset when it's revealed that Obsidian has nothing to do with it