New preview

[Oblarg]

Alpha Protocol Daily Demo video at Gamespot

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/alphap...l/video/6258764

 

Those graphics look fine. I don't see how anyone can complain about them - the clip of the gameplay looks compressed, but I doubt that's how it'll look in the game judging by the other clips I've seen. Great lighting when he's walking through the house with the gun out. Only criticism I have is that the animations look a wee bit stiff.

 

I love the way the criticals work, and apparantly each weapon works in a different way, which is pretty cool.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

The dialogue is very fast, but my main problem is that the subtitles look awful. It's just small parts of a big sentence quickly flashing by and that's just not very handy.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Those graphics look fine. I don't see how anyone can complain about them - the clip of the gameplay looks compressed, but I doubt that's how it'll look in the game judging by the other clips I've seen. Great lighting when he's walking through the house with the gun out. Only criticism I have is that the animations look a wee bit stiff.

 

Well there are some problems like not-too-smooth animations and some lo-res textures (I believe the lo-res textures are just for the console versions however) but they're mostly good. I also don't remember all this criticism for other AAA games that ran on Unreal Engine 3 even when they had all this problems (I remember lo-res textures in Arkham Asylum too for example, and yeah, facial animations weren't particularly good either).

I also believe we now know why guards didn't react to the stealth killing : subsonic rounds.

All considered, it's looking good for me. Not perfect, a little too over-the-top with the abilities and not enough shiny graphically to attract the kiddies these days and the AI still looks a bit stupid, but the pros seem to outside the cons, really, awesome C&C in the character development too, diverse gameplay, differents levels look like they have a different 'personality' meaning that the game won't feel like you're playing the same area again and again and again (Mass Effect I'm looking at you ).

So yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

[Oner]

I also believe we now know why guards didn't react to the stealth killing : subsonic rounds.

We knew it all along.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I also believe we now know why guards didn't react to the stealth killing : subsonic rounds.

We knew it all along.

 

Well, ok, I didn't.

I also remember more than one comment complaining about the fact that the guards didn't hear the shots.

[Oner]

In the earlier Saudi Arabia walkthrough you could see the player (Matt Hickman?) change ammo to subsonic, so..

Dunno how so many people managed to miss it (there were a lot of complaints about this on Gametrailers too).

[WorstUsernameEver]

In the earlier Saudi Arabia walkthrough you could see the player (Matt Hickman?) change ammo to subsonic, so..

Dunno how so many people managed to miss it (there were a lot of complaints about this on Gametrailers too).

 

Well I dunno how but I missed it. I remember subsonic ammo being mentioned in subsequent preview but I just don't remember

noticing it in the walkthrough video.

Edited April 18, 2010 by WorstUsernameEver

[WorstUsernameEver]

New incredibly positive preview.

I'd have been more prudent if I were in the previewer's shoes but it's nice to hear that I'm not the only one that's excited about this game.

 

Edit : Just to clarify, it's not a preview of some private demo or a hands-on, but a collection of the writer's impressions. Sorry if I was a bit misleading.

Edited April 18, 2010 by WorstUsernameEver

[mrmumbles]

In the earlier Saudi Arabia walkthrough you could see the player (Matt Hickman?) change ammo to subsonic, so..

Dunno how so many people managed to miss it (there were a lot of complaints about this on Gametrailers too).

 

Well I dunno how but I missed it. I remember subsonic ammo being mentioned in subsequent preview but I just don't remember

noticing it in the walkthrough video.

 

It was also show when they released the pre-order bonus information. One of the stealth pack bonuses is subsonic ammo.

 

Edit: The subsonic ammo is on the attack(?) pack at Gamestop. The ammo types supplied seem to depend on what weapons are in the pack, and subsonic appears to be only assault rifle. Stealth gets hollow-points and tranquilizers. This, along with a comment made by in a preview, makes me positive the ammo becomes available. The comment was about making arms dealer contacts and the ammo being able to be purchased after a point.

Edited April 19, 2010 by mrmumbles

[Raithe]

It was also show when they released the pre-order bonus information. One of the stealth pack bonuses is subsonic ammo.

 

Wait, is that subsonic ammo only being available if you have the stealth pack pre-order bonus, or that the ammo type is in the game regardless of your copy but you get to start of with some as the bonus rather then having to wait and buy it via your safe houses later in the game?

 

Subsonic ammo would seem a very important aspect of playing a stealth route in the game, and would kind of suck if you could only get access through a specific pre-order that's only available in the states..

[Enoch]

Wait, is that subsonic ammo only being available if you have the stealth pack pre-order bonus, or that the ammo type is in the game regardless of your copy but you get to start of with some as the bonus rather then having to wait and buy it via your safe houses later in the game?

 

Subsonic ammo would seem a very important aspect of playing a stealth route in the game, and would kind of suck if you could only get access through a specific pre-order that's only available in the states..

It has to be the latter. We've seen the sub-son ammo used in gameplay videos-- they're not going to show off features in their PR that aren't in the base game.

 

Which makes it kind of a lame bonus, but IMO, all of these little retailer pot-sweeteners are pretty lame. They're nearly always add-ons thrown together after the game is done. The playtesting, balancing, etc., was all done without them, and sometimes it shows.

[Pop]

Meet Grigori and Sie.

[Oner]

Meet Grigori and Sie.

applause.gif Edited April 19, 2010 by Oner

[Oblarg]

Meet Grigori and Sie.

 

Looks great.

[Zoraptor]

It was also show when they released the pre-order bonus information. One of the stealth pack bonuses is subsonic ammo.

..

Subsonic ammo would seem a very important aspect of playing a stealth route in the game, and would kind of suck if you could only get access through a specific pre-order that's only available in the states.. ermm.gif

Stealth pack is international as well- though apparently not if you're buying on PC (don't know if it is available at all on PC).

Edited April 19, 2010 by Zoraptor

[WorstUsernameEver]

Meet Grigori and Sie.

 

Po... po.. positive comments? That's incredibly refreshing.

 

P.S. : Also, the soundtrack seems good. I mean, it perfectly suits the mood and the more track I listen the more it seems varied and with personality. That's good.

Edited April 20, 2010 by WorstUsernameEver

[mr insomniac]

Meet Grigori and Sie.

This is totally unrelated to the videos I've quoted, the thought just kinda popped into my head, but for me one of the best parts will be not taking a squad along on missions.

 

This game will be badass, and the Grigori and Sie vids just confirm it even more.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Other two new previews :

 

Telegraph

NowGamer

 

Apparently the Telegraph thinks that dialogue sucks. Ouch.

 

P.S. : Be mindful of the spoilers in the NowGamer preview.

Edited April 28, 2010 by WorstUsernameEver

[Sannom]

Yeah, some big spoilers in that one Although you're safe if you stay clear of the three last paragraphs.

 

There is a french magazine who also made a preview of the game in their latest issue. Apart from the confirmation that there will be a french translation (at least for subtitles and lines from the DSS) they were really interested in the story mechanics, notably that feeling that we could be double-crossed at any moment, and found that the different play-styles were really different from one another. They had some worries about the viability of some of them and found the action element to be rather lackluster, so they reserve their judgment on that one... with some luck, the full review will be there in the next issue, one week before the release of the game here...

[Oner]

Yeah, some big spoilers in that one Although you're safe if you stay clear of the three last paragraphs.

Last 6. Thanks for the misinfo.

[Starwars]

Another preview, pretty positive with some negative as well. http://g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/62110/alpha...nds-on-preview/

 

Feels the voiceacting goes up and down and that the story is "vanilla". On the other hand, it really likes the choices and feels that the game does a good job of making the player feel like he's playing a spy.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I don't know, I haven't played the game, so I can't make any comment on how vanilla the story is, but as long as there isn't a reveal of a cybernetic incredibly ancient menace that wants to destroy all that lives for the lulz I'm fine.

[Sannom]

Feels the voiceacting goes up and down and that the story is "vanilla". On the other hand, it really likes the choices and feels that the game does a good job of making the player feel like he's playing a spy.

 

Well, the voice-acting complaint is focused mostly on Michael, and it must have been quite the hard task to balance all the different stances. And he stills says some of it is really good (what's "vocal interruption" by the way?).

 

I would say that this preview is mostly positive, and the few criticisms can be overlooked and or put on the fact that it is only a preview (the story especially...). Nothing to really worry about, but still look out for them in reviews.

[Raithe]

Hm, I get the feeling that this is going to be one of those games where it'll be best to ignore the reviews and actually play the game yourself to get a feel for it.

Gameplay, story, and the whole deal with the dialogue system and potential for consequences all seem to be geared towards being something thats really going to shift on your own point of view...

[Pidesco]

Hm, I get the feeling that this is going to be one of those games where it'll be best to ignore the reviews and actually play the game yourself to get a feel for it.

 

So it will be one of those games like every other game?