Anarchosyn

Umm.. Never mind the excellent point preceding my post, Mass Effect had three sex scenes, at least (Ashley, Kaiden and Liara if memory serves). I heard, if you played a male Shepard and you hung around Citadel station's various bars long enough, you could induce a sex scene with Wrex.. but try as I might I've never been able to pull it off..

Dragon Age is the only major RPG coming out that will be vying with Alpha Protocol's user base. Risen, Venetica and Divine Divinity 2 - all German based RPGs slated for release on the Xbox 360 in 2009 - claim to be RPGs but they aren't really in the same league (for better or worse) with Obsidian/Bioware products. They'll all probably be very buggy as well (Risen is from the Gothic people, Venetica looks pretty cool and Divine Divinity 2 is a "monty haul" title like Diablo).

Has it really? At best I think you can say their hasn't been a correlation between positive reviews and a game's success. However, even this is questionable since there may have been other factors at work here. One could easily claim there was evidence of negative reviews impacting the success of a title, but - again - other factors could easily mess up your data. I certainly wouldn't want to take on that study.. Anyhow, my point is you can't really say that definitely. *eDit: Oh, and the influence of a media source is a function of its size and readership (perhaps even the educational levels of its readership, but we can ignore that one for now). IGN panning AP would certainly effect sales more than Game's Radar or The RPG Codex. *eDit #2: Ok, upon a five second reflection I'm of the opinion mediated opinions certainly have an effect. The only question is how large this effect is, not whether it is present at all.

I live in Portland, Oregon (just a bit south of Seattle). Our Gamestops have PC games too.. Certainly there are more console titles lining the walls but I wouldn't say the PC sections were insignificant.

On one hand, as a consumer, I'm fond of hearing counter points to commodities I praise. It helps me keep a balanced perspective (depending on the complaints). On the other hand, speaking as one who wants Alpha Protocol to succeed despite any inherent limitations of the design, I worry what negative press will do to this title's reception given Sega's meager advertising campaign and stiff competition. Oh well..

You seem sincere so I'll be nice (RPG lovers can be notoriously unfriendly at times*) As you've been made aware, this game is not a third person shooter with RPG elements but rather a RPG with shooter elements. RPGs are, traditionally speaking, far more strategic affairs than action titles (though this is not to claim the action/adventure genre doesn't call on tactical thinking from time to time). Until VERY recently RPGs were primarily turn-based and focused more on probabilistic models of the character's, opposed to the player's, skill. Certainly this was partially a result of technological limitations but ultimately RPGs were merely a different breed of gaming experience, no more inferior to generating "fun" than, for example, chess. They weren't attempting to stroke the same passions that reflex based "twitch" titles, like Doom or Super Mario Brothers, did. Running with my previous example, though chess' theme sits squarely on the battlefields of ancient India and Europe (depending on your version), it certainly takes an abstract approach to simulating combat. For some this is fun, for other it's a bore.. however, the emergence of battlefield simulators like Call of Duty 4 haven't stopped people from playing chess. One is not really attempting to be the other or stimulate the same kind of response in the brain. So, if you accept that different breeds of games exist to scratch different itches and that Alpha Protocol's pedigree sits in the RPG camp then you can probably appreciate that Alpha Protocol actually looks pretty damn good (from a twitch players perspective). At least for a genre which traditionally looked like this: or Heh, honestly I'd be happy if Alpha Protocol was an isometric turn-based RPG based solely on skill percentages. Be happy the definition of what constitutes a RPG has veered so close to the twitch kind of games you seem to enjoy.. So, as a simple summery, the third person action of Alpha Protocol, when judged by the standards of a traditional third person action title, might look a bit undercooked. However, compared to what passes for "action" in the RPG universe, you're looking at a wondrously fluid and dynamic experience. Certainly more intense than Deus Ex. Certainly better than Morrowind or Oblivion. Way more fluid than Fallout 3 and - I hope - way less wonky than Mass Effect. * - You might want to permanently avoid a little place called the "RPG Codex" and their forum. ps: I anticipate my Deus Ex slam might ruffle the feathers of my brethren. Let me assure you I'm *solely* equating the combat, not the overall play experience, scope or mechanics.

I like you.. I like you a lot. Though, not to be overly pedantic, it's anarcHo syndicalism (like me name). Hail Eris, and all that rot.

But the dialogue is separated from other aspects of gameplay. Talking professional doesn't force me to play a (literal) sneaking backstabber, I can go shotgun blazing or grenade lobbing if I'm so inclined. I guess it all really depends on one's definition of "play style." This isn't a class based game, of course, so selecting the "Bourne" approach doesn't mean you're forced to use stealth and martial arts. However, the game goes constrain your approach to problem resolution through the limitations of its code. You effectively have three conversational play styles and two, perhaps three, game play style (stealth, tech and assault - though I hesitate to call "tech" its own approach as it may just augment one of the other two). One could argue that these still represent Bourne, Bond and Bauer in their non-conversational contexts. So yes, it's true you can be Bond in conversation and Bauer in combat... but I don't think my phrasing precluded this conclusion. It's sort of implied by the classless nature of the game (and the lack of conversation skills). Matthew Rorie - Thanks for the Facebook shout out. Glad you guys enjoyed.

Does AP use Mass Effect's auto loot system? Must be if the bodies disappear as quickly as the OP is complaining they do. I really disliked Mass Effect's approach to looting... Finger's crossed.

I don't believe an explicit counter is being referenced here. I believe the OP is merely asking for a idea for how much optional content exists in the game. The greater the percentage of optional content (and, conversely, the smaller % complete value necessary for completing the game) the greater the flexibility in one's approach, and ultimately their experience, in this game.

Thank you all for the kind words. Oner - Corrections made, though I wouldn't say "play styles" is objectively wrong. I hesitate to marginalize the dialog from other aspects of game play, especially with this title.

Since nothing substantial exists here in regards to a game feature summery, I figured I'd share a little data collection I posted on another forum. My apologies if such redirects are considered bad form; my intention is merely to share. http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=627981 In post number two I listed my sources, for the most part, but much was gathered from this forum (including developer commentaries where I could find them). Not to criticize Sega but Alpha Protocol is already flying a little lower on the radar then I feel comfortable with. This TXB post was merely my tiny part in helping Alpha Protocol get the attention it deserves. With luck this won't be another Arcanum, Psychonauts or Beyond Good and Evil. *eDit: That thread also acts as a sociological experiment of sorts. One can use the response and length of time it stays on the main page as a sort of litmus of how the general xbox community (culled from a sample of 143,717 registered users) views this title. 'Course, the sample size is thrown off since not all of the registered users are active, nor are all the viewers registered. Still, it's galling how little attention was being lavished on AP prior to that post (as reflected by a few commentaries).

Woah... does this mean that none of the skills will be related to diplomacy and coercion? No skill checks will be made against X for success in dialog? I had assumed that the artificial dichotomy between success and failure had been changed to a "success / greater success" scale.. not abandoned 100%. Any word on what is in the skill tree (or whether it even is a tree)? *eDit: Never mind, I found the full skill list..