Also, please confirm that the presentation was edited for GDC. Because knocking the lieutenant off the bridge onto incoming traffic as the only outcome of his defeat is extremely lame, and goes against the philosophy of being able to get through the game without killing anyone (and if stealth is the only way to do that, doubly lame).

Updated impressions at GamesRadar

Whilst agreeing with your description of the Gametrailers userbase, I still think that the comments and video ratings there can be interpreted as something of a "hype meter". Of course, it is of little value if one is to follow proper methodology, but it does give you a pointer as to how the general public's expectations to the game are at this moment in time. The newest video has a rating of 7.9, which is substantially lower than the videos released earlier.

 

This isn't that surprising - the game has failed to gather hype thus far, why should it suddenly become popular overnight? I think there is something about this game that clearly puts off the "hardcore" gamer. It's possible that because it looks so much like an action game, people are judging its graphics against other action games rather than RPGs. (Although personally, I think it looks pretty good. Certainly better than I expected.) It's also possible that the "spy movie" setting isn't as immediately grabbing as a fantasy or sci-fi setting would be. (Watching videos of Mass Effect are immediately distinctive because of the ways certain aliens, ships, etc., look. Similarly, Final Fantasy has a very specific J-Pop-ish look. Alpha Protocol, being set on present-day Earth, looks...like present day Earth.) Whatever the reason, it's probably too late to fix at this point.

 

Oh well! I'm still just as excited to play this game. It seems destined to become something that is loved a lot by a very specific niche. I just want to play it already!

Whilst agreeing with your description of the Gametrailers userbase, I still think that the comments and video ratings there can be interpreted as something of a "hype meter". Of course, it is of little value if one is to follow proper methodology, but it does give you a pointer as to how the general public's expectations to the game are at this moment in time. The newest video has a rating of 7.9, which is substantially lower than the videos released earlier.

 

This isn't that surprising - the game has failed to gather hype thus far, why should it suddenly become popular overnight? I think there is something about this game that clearly puts off the "hardcore" gamer. It's possible that because it looks so much like an action game, people are judging its graphics against other action games rather than RPGs. (Although personally, I think it looks pretty good. Certainly better than I expected.) It's also possible that the "spy movie" setting isn't as immediately grabbing as a fantasy or sci-fi setting would be. (Watching videos of Mass Effect are immediately distinctive because of the ways certain aliens, ships, etc., look. Similarly, Final Fantasy has a very specific J-Pop-ish look. Alpha Protocol, being set on present-day Earth, looks...like present day Earth.) Whatever the reason, it's probably too late to fix at this point.

 

Oh well! I'm still just as excited to play this game. It seems destined to become something that is loved a lot by a very specific niche. I just want to play it already!

 

The graphics are not cutting-edge, thus the game will not be popular among all the kiddies. It's not a particularly flashy game.

 

I do love all the people complaining about how the gameplay "sucks," even though it's more or less impossible to judge gameplay quality through a video.

So true.

I liked the gameplay when I actually got to play it. Now that I'm thinking about that it makes me mad that Sega delayed the game. Why must they do these things?

When did you play the game, awsomeness?

 

Matthew Hickman is interviewed about the game :

 

http://g4tv.com/videos/44739/GDC-2010-Alph...iew/?quality=hd

 

I swear I'm going to associate this guy with the game about as much as I associate the Obsidian crew

Edited March 13, 201015 yr by Sannom

Nice little interview, it's good to see some stuff airing about the game. Even if the mainstream (speaking generally) is a bit lukewarm on the game, letting people know that this game is out there and what it is is a good move.

I like that they say that it's very hard to go through as a non-lethal martial artist. Completely how it should be.

 

Also, was watching that cam video again. Love the kick-ass music that comes in after Mike throat-chops the miniboss guy.

Also, was watching that cam video again. Love the kick-ass music that comes in after Mike throat-chops the miniboss guy.

 

About that : I'm not the only one who thinks that the guy falling to his death is not directly after the throat-chop, right? His position isn't right for the transition...

Edited March 13, 201015 yr by Sannom

Also, was watching that cam video again. Love the kick-ass music that comes in after Mike throat-chops the miniboss guy.

 

About that : I'm not the only one who thinks that the guy falling to his death is not directly after the throat-chop, right? His position isn't right for the transition...

Some previews mention that a chat with the guy was possibly cut too.

There is no way we "have" to kill him, at any rate I wonder what would happen in that mission if you go the stealthy route, do you think the fight against the stryker could change accordingly?

 

Another thing, do you think Mr Hickman actually played the full-martial arts, stealthy, non-lethal road? The way he describes it, its like he was talking from experience when he said that it was really difficult.

Maybe he watched some of the more bored playtesters messing around.

When did you play the game, awsomeness?

 

Last year at PAX. At that time I didn't think I'd be waiting another nine months to play the game.

And you're still under NDA, right? That sucks

 

And it's not stopping! How many interviews this week does this make??? Three? Four? Still, the two Matts, MacLean and Rorie (they should throw Hickman in the mix sometime, if only to give a headache to the interviewer ) answer question over at Hooked! Gamers, and I think we learn some new and interesting things, especially on gadget use, stealth, story construction :

 

http://www.hookedgamers.com/features/2010/...protocol-2.html

 

Kudos to Matt (MacLean) for his jokes about "so it's okay in the end", they made me smile

I always thought science boy, diplomacy boy etc were kinda cute names, but Sneaky MacThorton, Punchy von Thorton and Sociopathorton take the cake.

 

BTW, Sannom linked to the second page, in case someone didn't notice.

Edited March 13, 201015 yr by Oner

And you're still under NDA, right? That sucks

 

And it's not stopping! How many interviews this week does this make??? Three? Four? Still, the two Matts, MacLean and Rorie (they should throw Hickman in the mix sometime, if only to give a headache to the interviewer ) answer question over at Hooked! Gamers, and I think we learn some new and interesting things, especially on gadget use, stealth, story construction :

 

http://www.hookedgamers.com/features/2010/...protocol-2.html

 

Kudos to Matt (MacLean) for his jokes about "so it's okay in the end", they made me smile

 

Chris Avellone, a cyborg? Suddenly, it all makes sense...

 

Great interview.

Everything is context sensitive (being Aggressive in an interrogation doesn't necessarily lead to the same words and actions as being Aggressive in a love scene (usually))

 

I lol'd.

 

Nice interview!

Always good to see a few more interviews and get teased on what the games like..

Also, was watching that cam video again. Love the kick-ass music that comes in after Mike throat-chops the miniboss guy.

 

About that : I'm not the only one who thinks that the guy falling to his death is not directly after the throat-chop, right? His position isn't right for the transition...

When you watch the walkthrough, the SEGA guy is talking about the AR's auto-aim feature and his voice gets audibly clipped in the transition from combat to killin' the guy. So we can assume the transition was not in game, but was edited in.

And you're still under NDA, right? That sucks

 

And it's not stopping! How many interviews this week does this make??? Three? Four? Still, the two Matts, MacLean and Rorie (they should throw Hickman in the mix sometime, if only to give a headache to the interviewer ) answer question over at Hooked! Gamers, and I think we learn some new and interesting things, especially on gadget use, stealth, story construction :

 

http://www.hookedgamers.com/features/2010/...protocol-2.html

 

Kudos to Matt (MacLean) for his jokes about "so it's okay in the end", they made me smile

Ah i can't believe this! I used to write for HG! Man, i would've loved to get to talk to Obsidian

 

Anyways, i think the problem with Alpha Protocol (and actually, Mass Effect too) is that their games look too much like GeoW and so they raise shooter expectancy and then dissapoint a lot of people. Worst case scenario for me would be Mass Effect 2, that simply ditched 50% of their RPG elements just so they could compete for most uninteresting TPS ever with Kane & Lynch I think that Obsidian's being pretty smart in actually balancing RPG with TPS/stealth instead of just putting some shooting in between conversations like ME2.

 

Woot.

Chris Avellone, a cyborg? Suddenly, it all makes sense...

 

Crap, the word is out.

Chris Avellone, a cyborg? Suddenly, it all makes sense...

Crap, the word is out.

At least they don't know that you're a vampire ye-..oops.

What, he glitters in sunlight?

He melts into **** chocolate.

He melts into **** chocolate.

That's a bad thing, right?