WorstUsernameEver

As I've already said : brand recognition.

AvP is a well known and well loved franchise, both in video games and other media. I guess that since the project was already in development, they decided to put all their (limited, since they had financial problems, which forced them to cancel games in the first place) resources just on that rather safe bet. The project didn't turn out as good as they hope, it appears.

He's right that the overarching plot is unoriginal and the subplots are difficult to follow in just one playthrough. Whether that's bad or good depends on who plays the game, and I think in the end, was a conscious decision on Obsidian's part. ... buggy AI on the other hand wasn't

In a sense it's interesting though. You really don't influence Mike's personality during the game, but rather, his motivation and his actions (after all, is the dialogue really what Mike thinks? a manipulation?). They could have chosen someone less.. uhm... well... smug for the role, though.

Indeed.. at least a couple of screenshots would have been nice. Hopefully the first barrage will be released soon-ish but that's... just wishful thinking, really.

I'm hoping this means much more variety in puzzles. Portal almost felt like a tech demo at times... this can be the real deal.

It would be pretty nice, yes, but again, not if this takes out focus from other more important areas of the game. There's still time to release the toolset after release, though.

Hopefully there will be a Darth Nuke class. Bores enemies to death by discussing Star Wars canon.

Not only that, but considering his standards he didn't even make the game sound that bad.

May be, but we don't even know what view they're using (though top down seems a given, you're right) and there was a mention of slick texture. Also the lighting doesn't necessarily look better when top down, just look at Dragon Age.

Those were good fun (or if you prefer 'HAHA! Good fun!'). 'You hit rats in the eyes for 102938102938 damage causing sever blindness.. as if there ever was any other kind.'

Pretty much. But really.. hearing praise for graphics in an Obsidian's game is pretty strange. Reaaaaallly strange. Have you guys done it this time? Will this be the polished slicked game that will make Obsidian respected? I certainly hope so, even if the game turns out uninteresting, that would mean Obsidian's going to be in a better position to do more niche games. Then again, YOU BETTER MAKE THIS ONE INTERESTING. Got it Chapman?

Anthony Davis' codex post Wow, you're fast. Anyway, I can see Obsidian using the engine in their next projects too, if it's really that good looking.

Considering Yahtzee, it almost sounded positive to me. And by the way, it was hilarious.

Actually, wasn't Onyx engine developed for Aliens : Crucible? By the way, it seems that the lighting on the game is stunning according to that preview. Now, I'm actually curious. Graphics won't influence my stance on the game much, but they'll influence someone else's so... having top-notch production values will help.

I'd actually do. What I found really brilliant about Deus Ex was the world building and atmosphere, the story felt a bit disjointed at times. But don't worry I still love you Krez. But, examples aside, I agree on your point. The basis of a story doesn't have to be 'walls of text'. It obviously worked well on some games, but I think another approach can work as well. Focus on the environment, on the details, on the subtleties and make just the little player need to understand the story mandatory. That way you can keep the pace fast and satisfying, and still give story-driven players a meaty game for their tastes.

Not as much dialogue isn't necessarily so bad considering that : a) Fallout : New Vegas is open ended, so a lot of dialogue is in the side quests anyway; b) There are other ways to tell a good story. I don't think Alpha Protocol has as much dialogue as Planescape : Torment, even counting the permutations and yet.. the story is told really well. I don't know how I feel about Chris Taylor going 'that doesn't feel like Dungeon Siege'. Well that was his IP after all, so I can't really complain, but considering what his last 'Siege' game was..

Ah.. I can't really comment on that. It is possible, but honestly, considering how many NPCs there are in a sandbox game like this, I can forgive one or two 'deformed' NPCs (I'm not talking about ugly, I'm talking about faces that don't look human, like pretty much every face in Fallout 3 except the important characters... and even there...). What I won't accept is to see a 'Moira' again. Seriously.. maybe the longest side quest in the game, one of the first merchant you encounter in the game, probably the one that you'll see more if you make Megaton your base of operations and..... you make her deformed? Seriously, she looks like a grey alien. I understand the radiation and all that stuff, and I can put up with some cartoony face design (see Aradesh and Maxson in Fallout) but... that was disturbing.

For some, this may sound ironical but Bethesda successfully made quite a huge fan base who want encore and it would help the sales for Obsidian. I rather fear bug-bug-buggy scenario but, if Obsidian gnome ghoul units are struggling with severe bug-fixes, the release date sounds really bold One of the screenshots released by Bethesda I posted was called 'FNVBeta' or something like that so... let's hope that's really an indication of the game being already in beta and not just wishful thinking on my part. After all 5 months for polishing (not just bug squashing but fine tuning animations, graphics and such) seems like a decent time, especially considering the tech is already known by Bethesda (so they hopefully helped Obsidian when it comes to implementation and bug fixing).

Hey, gotta leave stuff for the sequel. "-You're a dicey player Mr Thorton. -Oh, you don't know how I roll. -You crack horrible jokes Mr Thorton. -Would you be happier if I cracked your safe? *stare*" And so forth with crappy casino jokes. That sounds Thorton 100% suave. Bad (and sometimes sexist) puns and jokes, and a tendency to be a smartass. I found professional Thorton for now my favorite.. he still throws a couple of sarcastic remarks here and there, and yet they somehow fit the character, but when he's on mission he's perfectly concentrated on that. Well.. except when he has to manipulate someone.

Mmmh.. you're talking about the character creation sliders, right? I think they've added the age slider and maybe a couple of others (previews mentioned that Obsidian added 'a couple of sliders more' but never mentioned anything else than the age slider..) but I doubt much work has been done on that front. They would probably need to rework the base models I think, and they probably opted to place their artistic resources elsewhere. We can only hope... only hope...

Oh and... lootable guns. Really. You can even keep the 'two weapons at a time' system and just let us drop one for picking one but really, let us pick our enemies' gun. Really Obsidian, if you ever manage to do a sequel to this game, do it.

From Bethesda's Forums clarification on strength requirements :

Yume stands for 'dream' as far as I remember or 'sleep'.. something related at least. And I can't play that damn game.. it's just so damn open-ended and mind screw-y...

Then again, neither was Planescape: Torment. Planescape : Torment.. I must confess, I have a feeling that the combat wasn't that good but I don't really remember fighting much.. just a couple of times in all the game. The rest? Making lives better for people left and right and dispensing wisdom for everyone.