ironcreed

That is what I assumed all along, despite thinking of Dungeon Siege 4 first. But I am suspecting that this is something else entirely now.

Been awhile since I have been here, but you have my attention. First guess is Dungeon Siege 4, which I am OK with. 3 was really fun. Something new would be even more welcome, though.

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. Nonsense my ass. Take the Gametrailers review for instance. They specifically said that "it's too bad that it does not play more like a shooter." They said it in the review, so it obviously contributed to them docking points for it. Also, other reviews have mentioned that pistols are unusable and stealth is broken, failing to take into consideration that it is an RPG and you have to invest points into a given skill for it to become more effective. The fact is, these skills DO work better as you level them up. As for bugs and glitches, those are fair enough points to knock the game for, but I was specifically talking about reviews mentioning RPG mechanics as being a negative when the game is in fact an RPG to begin with. So, don't give me this "nonesense" bull**** because the reviews speak for themselves and some of them have indeed knocked the game for this. I don't care what you say, it's ridiculous.

The reviews that are favorable seemed to understand that it is an RPG, while the ones that hated on it seemed to be frustrated that it does not play like Gears of War. Statements such as "stealth does not work" or "stay away from pistols" are hilarious because they obviously failed to realize that you have to invest points in a given skill for it to be effective. It is an RPG and they dock points because it is structured to be an RPG, lol.

So I have been hearing from many playing it. I should have my copy by Wednesday from Amazon. Been waiting too long on this one to bail out on it. Cannot wait to get it.

Ahh, how fast the time has flown since the delay. Been awhile since I posted here, as AP kind of fell off my radar after October, but now that it is finally just right around the corner I want it more than ever. Cannot wait to do a stealth run on my first play through. It will surely make up for my disappointment in how Splinter Cell: Conviction has turned out.

LOL, I would not be suprised.

Of course I would not want a game based on Schindler's List, as it does not lend itself to such an adaption, whereas the 9 circles of hell from The Inferno seems like quite the natural fit for 9 levels in a game, as loosely based as it is. As far as bringing the literature to a new audience, I think what they meant was that maybe playing this game will actually get individuals to read The Divine Comedy. Which of course would only be doing the work a service in that sense, and would serve as a tribute to the lasting and far reaching impact the work still has to this day.

Well, I am 32, have read the Divine Comedy and see no problem with it because I also happen to enjoy playing video games. The only way it is going to harm the literature is if you allow it to do so within your own mind. I personally find that the 9 circles of hell being made into 9 increasingly more horrific levels in a video game to be quite appealing. I love the source material and I also happen to love horror and action games as well. Not a bad fit, if you ask me. But again, whatever floats your boat, my friend.

Yeah, I am just going to wait until I go pick up Dragon Age on November 3rd before I cancel mine out. I was really anticipating this one as well, but what do you do? Luckily, there are still plenty of games I want this year and well into next as well.

Hey, to each their own, right? However, I bet it will fair far better than AP. In fact, I will bet money on it. Not to mention that at least I will get to play it before next summer. Yes, it borrows heavily from GOW, but I happen to find the premise very appealing. Despite the fact that it is loosely based on Inferno for a workable adaption that is befitting of a game, the 9 circles of hell as described by Dante Alighieri being made into actual levels in a video game is something that I think fits like a glove.

As the saying goes, I'll believe it when I see it in this case. Not sweating it, though. Uncharted 2, Brutal Legend, Dragon Age and Assassin's Creed 2 will do me this year. Next year kicks off with Darksiders and keeps on rolling with the likes of God of War III, Dante's Inferno, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Alan Wake and Mass Effect 2. Say what you will about any of those games, but at least they will all be out before Alpha Protocol ever sees the light of day.

I think this about sums up how this situation is being handled-

Even though number 1 on your list of possibilities is more than likely completely out of the question, I think it would be the most genius thing a publisher has ever done if such was in fact the case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5URYhXE55bo...feature=related

Indeed, lol. By the looks of things, one would think that the Three Stooges are the ones handling this whole mess.

What the hell? Yesterday Gamespot was showing the new release as Q2 2010, now they have moved it again to Q3 2010. http://www.gamespot.com/search.html?qs=Alpha+Protocol

New rumor control update from Gamespot. Nothing official, but they say it is most likely true and that, "Sega's silence speaks volumes." http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/rumor-c...ved-til-10.html

The longer Sega chooses to remain silent, the more criticism and doubt will arise. Certainly not helping Obsidian and Alpha Protocol in the end.

I would agree, though I am not quite as certain. A second 8-month delay indeed points to major troubles in the production process and/or in the developer-publisher relationship, although this diagnosis may be mitigated by the possibility that the original February date was never very set in stone and was a rough estimate, and delay from it did not really represent a 'real' delay. Of course, but surely nobody is stupid enough to actually believe this. Everyone I've seen here mentioning this has done so in jest. A troubled production process is of course worrying, but does that necessarily mean the game will be pants when it does come out? If AP turns out to be great and fun in June 2010, it may not be so good for Obsidian or Sega, but hell, it'll be perfectly fine for us. Nobody's complaining that Starcraft II's been delayed to 2010, for instance, and that game has surely had numerous internal delays that we have not known about. I mean, it is Blizzard, but still... Despite my skepticism now, I still fully intend to follow the game and will of course be hoping for the best. However, after weighing the variables at this point, I still am finding the situation with this game highly suspect and am not expecting it to make very much noise if/when it finally does drop. I cannot help but feel now that the odds are sadly quite stacked against this one. As you said, though, it very well could end up being a better game for us in the end and I truly hope such is the case, despite whatever it's success may end up being. However, looking at how the situation has unfolded with this game over time up until recently when everything pointed to an Autumn release, I am just not convinced that this sudden, last minute and silent 8 month push will be for the betterment of us or Obsidian and Sega. Until then, all we can do is watch and hope for the best. To be continued....

All good points, Tigranes. While I am not ready to say the game is going to be cancelled just yet, I do happen to already see AP as a catastrophe of sorts. If it is indeed nearly done as you suggest, is it not a giant red flag for this game to be quietly delayed at the last minute for another 8 months after it was already delayed back in Feb.? Besides that, an 8 month delay is not the kind of delay you would normally see for bug fixing and adding extra polish. Especially after all the extra time they have already had. With that, I do not think it is so unreasonable to question if Sega is really going to commit to paying for another 8 months of development overhaul here for what is supposedly a nearly finished product. Not saying such is the case, it just logically seems very unlikely from a business perspective. Something else that I just do not buy is that they are delaying the game merely as a marketing strategy. If such was the case, why were we led to believe up until this point that the game was an Autumn release? Not to mention the heavyweight competition next year and running the risk of looking very outdated in comparison to what else is releasing. I know that most of the heavy hitters are scheduled for Q1 right now, but don't be suprised if more than a couple of them get pushed to Q2 in order to loosen up a packed Q1. No way are all those games going to release together back to back. With the silent treatment and sudden 8 month pushback after it was already delayed at the first of the year, I personally am of the mind that either the game is just a complete and utter mess or that this is a controlled demolition of sorts. Either way, after all the time this game has been in the works, a last minute 8 month delay is not a good sign no matter how you look at it. As normally games that have delays like this end up being DOA....that is if they ever manage to get released in the first place. Just being a realist here.

It would be disheartening if they had planned on postponing this long without mentioning it to the buyers for weeks. I mean after all, we (the buyers) are their source of income. Normally I would have not put much stock into such a post, but beings it was posted on GAF, I think it is fairly credible.

LOL, check out this post over on GAF. Apparently the delay has been in the cards for awhile now. "Yeah, they had a AP-tricked-out bus outside the venue at the Metallica show a few weeks ago, and it said '2010'. So it's been delayed for a while, even if it wasn't official." http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php...5289&page=3 How nice of SEGA to inform everyone putting money down for the game, thinking it was coming in October. I especially feel bad for the folks who already paid for it on Steam, as they cannot get their money back from what I understand.

What hype? AP has had little publicity since it was announced, no one really knows about it. Sure they do, it was just being overshadowed by bigger blips on the radar for most. In any event, the game was due out back in Feb. Since that point, everything was indeed pointing to an October release. Then around the first of August all went pretty much silent....now this.

Look how packed Q1 2010 is right now. I would be willing to bet that there will be more delays on the way in order to loosen things up. In which case, Q2 of 2010 may be quite the dumb move in my opinion. Especially when you take into consideration the fact that AP was supposed to have released back in Feb, remember? Now after building up hype with everything pointing to an October release, they suddenly decide at the last minute that going silent and pushing the game back another 8 months would be a wise strategy? Sorry, I can't buy that. The only explanation I can see is that the game is just technically a mess....no matter how appealing the overall concepts and ideas at work may be on the surface.