Character Vignettes

[Sannom]

Ah, the question of how much are spoilers, and how much is just pure tease...

 

Conrad is definitely a spoiler! I didn't even know that guy existed! I assumed he was Alan Parker when we saw him in the videos!

[Oblarg]

Conrad & Mina

 

Conrad looks awesome.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Conrad & Mina

 

Conrad looks awesome.

 

He really fits the genre I think, he's scary in a believable kind of way, so to me, he's actually more scary than characters like Sie (it's a codename, right? never thought about it, but as a name it wouldn't make sense) or Brayko.

[Starwars]

I think a lot of people (myself included) are having some problems in seeing how the characters and story will work. On some levels you have characters like Leland and Shaheed that, while they may be slightly over-the-top in some ways, still feel pretty serious. The overall tone for the game in trailers and so forth is also pretty serious, kinda like Bourne I suppose.

But then you get characters like Brayko and SIE that are just completely out there, more Kill Bill-esque (I think some developer mentioned Kill Bill as an inspiration somewhere).

 

It's hard to see how it will all mesh together. I hope they manage to hit a good note in terms of the tone and presentation of the game, so that it doesn't feel like it's pulling away in two different directions.

[Oner]

I'm more concerned about the DSS actually.

[Pop]

People like Brayko actually exist. It's just that in AP, the link between American popular culture and foreign mob culture is made even more explicit. Gangsters the world over play at Scarface and The Godfather every day.

[Sannom]

Same as Pop : I have actually no problem to believe in Brayko's character, despite how over-the-top, hammy and out-there he seems to be. The whole "crime boss so deep in drugs he barely feels pain" might help, since it has already been done before. It's also the fact that the weirdest part about him is his obsession about the 80s, that's believable, even if the scale to which he takes it is not. I've also already read a story with a character very similar, young, axe-crazy mob boss in Russia with an obsession of his own.

 

I've more problems for Sie though, she reminds me of the female adversary in Goldeneye, and I wasn't a big fan of that character. She has a professionalism behind the craziness, and the mix makes her less appealing and believable than Brayko. The later is crazy and uncontrollable, but he seems to act on impulse and be deep in drugs, while Sie is a mercenary, who should be less prone to the kind of crazy that Brayko does.

 

It's funny how the developers have talked about how the characters are over-the-top, but there were only two characters on the seven presented that really stroke me as "out there". But we weren't introduced to the character voiced by Nolan North yet, this one should be weird too. Sis too could be a contender for weirdness...

Edited April 24, 2010 by Sannom

[Enoch]

People like Brayko actually exist. It's just that in AP, the link between American popular culture and foreign mob culture is made even more explicit. Gangsters the world over play at Scarface and The Godfather every day.

And, furthermore, in societies lacking in effective rule-of-law, the power tends to rest with whoever is most ruthless. A psychopath who is able to round up a sufficient army of sociopaths tends to get whatever he wants. (See, e.g., a substantial majority of post-colonial African governments.)

 

 

The Conrad Marburg video was the best one.

 

Facial animations for Mina in particular still look real choppy.

[WorstUsernameEver]

I dunno, I wasn't sayin' that Brayko is an unbelievable character per se, just that I found Conrad much more intimidating.

As for Sie, as long as she teases me, she can honestly be as unbelievable as she wants.

[Sannom]

I think that Conrad too is more intimidating, you can feel the seasonned soldier in him, and his organization seems well informed and everything.

Brayko is probably... scarier, because of the knife thing, that is linked to pain, and the fact that he is uncontrollable, you can't really read him. His reactions can't be guessed, and that makes him dangerous.

Just like, in a bank robbery, the employees are more afraid of the little punk who just needs some money than of the organized group who knows what they need and how to get it. The later are more intimidating, you know better than to resist, but you also know that everything will be alright if you let them do their thing. The former? Not so much!

[Oblarg]

If all the characters were like Conrad, it would be boring. Obsidian did the right thing by mixing it up.

 

They did say that they tried a bunch of serious characters in suits, and it felt stale. Yes, characters like Conrad are very good when done right, but you can't make a very interesting setting with nothing but them. I personally love the contrast between Conrad and, for example, Sie.

[Gorth]

I've more problems for Sie though, she reminds me of the female adversary in Goldeneye, and I wasn't a big fan of that character. She has a professionalism behind the craziness, and the mix makes her less appealing and believable than Brayko. The later is crazy and uncontrollable, but he seems to act on impulse and be deep in drugs, while Sie is a mercenary, who should be less prone to the kind of crazy that Brayko does.

The first movie character I thought of when watching the video clip was Simon Gruber (yes, different gender, I know)

[Starwars]

Here's a trailer for Mike himself, seems to be in the same series of trailers as the DSS trailer:

 

Could only find it with german subtitles, it's brand new so I guess a subless version will show up soon.

 

Not much new for me there and I definitely don't think it will woo the mainstream audiences.

[Oner]

Animated box art was cool.

[Enoch]

Here's a trailer for Mike himself, seems to be in the same series of trailers as the DSS trailer:

Ugh. Check at 0:08-- "Nullus Can Insisto" is back. Hopefully that's older footage and the Latin has been corrected by now.

[Starwars]

What was that about? I can't remember at the moment. Bad Latin?

 

Here's the unsubbed version of the video:

[WorstUsernameEver]

I didn't even notice the 'Nullus can insisto'. The trailer is good though.

[Enoch]

What was that about? I can't remember at the moment. Bad Latin?

See this thread.

 

The eventual conclusion was that the proper Latin for what they were trying to say was "Quo nemo sequi potest."

 

Maybe that didn't fit well enough on the logo...

[Starwars]

Damn, I even posted in that thread.

 

Looks like they were going to fix it judging from what Sawyer says in that thread. Maybe a developer can clarify if they see this.

[WorstUsernameEver]

What was that about? I can't remember at the moment. Bad Latin?

See this thread.

 

The eventual conclusion was that the proper Latin for what they were trying to say was "Quo nemo sequi potest."

 

Maybe that didn't fit well enough on the logo...

 

I think we actually saw the corrected version in one of the dossier's screenshots.

So it's either old footage or they didn't correct the texture of the floor.

[Sannom]

I think we actually saw the corrected version in one of the dossier's screenshots.

 

Yep, here :

 

http://www.obsidian.net/images/APBlog/blog6/image002.jpg

[Starwars]

http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3178959

 

Here's a countdown for anyone interested in counting down the seconds until the game is released, it seems like a good way of spending your time.