The Reviews

[fastpunk]

Well well, look at all these good reviews! Seems we spoke too soon with the negativity. Though I expect at least one of the big ones (Gamespot, Gamespy, or IGN) to slam it. For stuff they overlooked when it came to games like ME or FO3, of course.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Big reviews will probably be lukewarm or outright negative though, not to mention that for some people a score under 85% is already a negative itself.

Also, negative comments are surfacing pretty much everywhere, so I'm wondering how polished is the game exactly.. hope it's better than Bloodlines from that point of view.

[PoetAndMadman]

Hey dudes

The first polish review is up at Gram.pl the score is 8.4.

The reviewer liked the game very much, but he says that A.I. i sometimes embarassing.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Hey dudes

The first polish review is up at Gram.pl the score is 8.4.

The reviewer liked the game very much, but he says that A.I. i sometimes embarassing.

 

Completely off-topic but has your nickname anything to do with Savatage?

[Malcador]

Completely off-topic but has your nickname anything to do with Savatage?

 

 

More off topic. Savatage!

 

Will try to read/translate/ask some German guy to summarize that EG review when I'm off work, but glad to see the score wasn't too low.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Malcador

[funcroc]

Eurogamer - 7/10

 

Not bad.

Edited May 28, 2010 by funcroc

[funcroc]

Videogamer.com - 6/10

GamesMaster review is up at C&VG - 8.4

Edited May 28, 2010 by funcroc

[WorstUsernameEver]

Looks like my negativity was pretty well-justified.

[Bendu]

GamePro (Germany): 87 %

[Malcador]

Range of scores seems to be widening.

[Toe Tagger Joe]

Looks like my negativity was pretty well-justified.

 

Yeah, two fairly low scores from major review mags, the game is going to tank.

 

Sarcasm aside, game spot's user score has increased and they took down the 6 they gave it. One user even gave it a 9.5, I have no idea how good the review is, but at least not everyone hates it.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Yeah, two fairly low scores from major review mags, the game is going to tank.

 

Looking at the comments of some sites (I'm talking about sites like RPGWatch, not casual sites), some comments about the technical polish and bugs here, plus some fairly major gaming sites and mags slamming the game could hurt the game.

Also, to be pretty honest, three unpolished games in a row (at least they finished this though, but it took 4 years) it's not a good track record and reduces a lot my expectations for new Obsidian projects. Sad but true.

[Kaiser Wilson]

CVG - 8.4

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=248379

[Toe Tagger Joe]

Yeah, two fairly low scores from major review mags, the game is going to tank.

 

Looking at the comments of some sites (I'm talking about sites like RPGWatch, not casual sites), some comments about the technical polish and bugs here, plus some fairly major gaming sites and mags slamming the game could hurt the game.

Also, to be pretty honest, three unpolished games in a row (at least they finished this though, but it took 4 years) it's not a good track record and reduces a lot my expectations for new Obsidian projects. Sad but true.

 

Every game has bugs and glitches. Have you seen some of the ones posted on here in that topic about Red Dead Redemption (The donkey lady and cougar man)? Hell I have a friend who said the game was freezing on him every time he tried to shoot someone he needed to, in order to advance the story. Somehow I doubt ME2 or FO3 were without glitches (even one of my favorite games, Perfect Dark was riddled with them). In fact I know ME2 did 'cause I ran into a few them. Hell one of the most popular games ever, Halo 2 released with like 500 glitches. They fixed 3 or 4 via patches. Talk about unfinished. I remember someone having like 100-200 videos of glitches from Halo and Halo 2. They were hired to be a beta tester for Bungie... Just sayin'.

I'll have to take your word on Obs lack of polish, as I haven't played anything from them aside from KotOR II. However scores overall haven't been that bad... I think the average is around 80, which for a small development firm is a respectable score imo. If they can hit that 85% threshold, even better.

[PoetAndMadman]

Hey dudes

The first polish review is up at Gram.pl the score is 8.4.

The reviewer liked the game very much, but he says that A.I. i sometimes embarassing.

 

Completely off-topic but has your nickname anything to do with Savatage?

 

[Offtopic]Wow good catch! Of course it does I'm fanboy of their music, I also love Jon Oliva's Pain, the band created by the main guy behind 'Tage.[/Oftopic]

 

OnTopic: Wow it seems the game is receiving quite good reviews, I'm probably gonna buy it soon. It's a shame that BitTech's reviewer is probably an idiot.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Every game has bugs and glitches. Have you seen some of the ones posted on here in that topic about Red Dead Redemption (The donkey lady and cougar man)? Hell I have a friend who said the game was freezing on him every time he tried to shoot someone he needed to, in order to advance the story. Somehow I doubt ME2 or FO3 were without glitches (even one of my favorite games, Perfect Dark was riddled with them). In fact I know ME2 did 'cause I ran into a few them. Hell one of the most popular games ever, Halo 2 released with like 500 glitches. They fixed 3 or 4 via patches. Talk about unfinished. I remember someone having like 100-200 videos of glitches from Halo and Halo 2. They were hired to be a beta tester for Bungie... Just sayin'.

I'll have to take your word on Obs lack of polish, as I haven't played anything from them aside from KotOR II. However scores overall haven't been that bad... I think the average is around 80, which for a small development firm is a respectable score imo. If they can hit that 85% threshold, even better.

 

Sorry, I didn't explain myself clearly at all.

Polish is basically a multi-faceted word and tackles almost every component of the game. Granted, glitches are always present in a game, other area in which Alpha Protocol apparently feels unpolished are graphics, gameplay (wonky balance, bad AI and bad minigames design), camera controls, and apparently, if the Bit-tech review is to be believed, area design/layout.

Also, Obsidian has a reputation of buggy games (the unfinished KOTOR2, Neverwinter Nights 2 which was far too ambitious for Obsidian's possibilities and came out full of bugs with a couple of nasty gamebreaking bugs too) which colors the perception of the game. Many people will probably be unconsciously be looking for bugs when they play and trust me, they will remember them.

There's also the matter that some feel the game 'trick them' and don't like the stat-driven shooting mechanics because they stretch too much their suspension of disbelief and the fact that the writing and choices & consequences has been almost ignored by the reviews (with a couple of exceptions) so far.

 

I also want to add that I'm actually looking forward to my Alpha Protocol's playthrough. It's not about the game itself that I'm worried (though I hope I don't encounter issues eheh) but rather about its reception and what influence this will have on the future of Obsidian and western rpgs.

[edgarcuk]

Every game has bugs and glitches. Have you seen some of the ones posted on here in that topic about Red Dead Redemption (The donkey lady and cougar man)? Hell I have a friend who said the game was freezing on him every time he tried to shoot someone he needed to, in order to advance the story. Somehow I doubt ME2 or FO3 were without glitches (even one of my favorite games, Perfect Dark was riddled with them). In fact I know ME2 did 'cause I ran into a few them. Hell one of the most popular games ever, Halo 2 released with like 500 glitches. They fixed 3 or 4 via patches. Talk about unfinished. I remember someone having like 100-200 videos of glitches from Halo and Halo 2. They were hired to be a beta tester for Bungie... Just sayin'.

I'll have to take your word on Obs lack of polish, as I haven't played anything from them aside from KotOR II. However scores overall haven't been that bad... I think the average is around 80, which for a small development firm is a respectable score imo. If they can hit that 85% threshold, even better.

 

Sorry, I didn't explain myself clearly at all.

Polish is basically a multi-faceted word and tackles almost every component of the game. Granted, glitches are always present in a game, other area in which Alpha Protocol apparently feels unpolished are graphics, gameplay (wonky balance, bad AI and bad minigames design), camera controls, and apparently, if the Bit-tech review is to be believed, area design/layout.

Also, Obsidian has a reputation of buggy games (the unfinished KOTOR2, Neverwinter Nights 2 which was far too ambitious for Obsidian's possibilities and came out full of bugs with a couple of nasty gamebreaking bugs too) which colors the perception of the game. Many people will probably be unconsciously be looking for bugs when they play and trust me, they will remember them.

There's also the matter that some feel the game 'trick them' and don't like the stat-driven shooting mechanics because they stretch too much their suspension of disbelief and the fact that the writing and choices & consequences has been almost ignored by the reviews (with a couple of exceptions) so far.

 

I also want to add that I'm actually looking forward to my Alpha Protocol's playthrough. It's not about the game itself that I'm worried (though I hope I don't encounter issues eheh) but rather about its reception and what influence this will have on the future of Obsidian and western rpgs.

 

 

As I mentioned in another post, according to the reviews it seems that Obsidian is exceptional in creating the depth, content and mechanics of a true RPG, but at the time of the presentation, it is not good... as getting a new car with the latest Mercedes engine but inside a Ford Fiesta... it's like the engine is there, but due to the car model or the implementation (in this case) you cannot really use the full potential, and since many people buy by the looks or the marketing...

 

An ideal product could be a combination of AP with ME2, taking the AI, graphics and combat of ME2 with the depth, dialog and character development of AP...

 

I think Obsidian have done the hardest part but they need to make a great presentation... if it is a Mercedes engine, put it in a Mercedes model.

[Toe Tagger Joe]

Every game has bugs and glitches. Have you seen some of the ones posted on here in that topic about Red Dead Redemption (The donkey lady and cougar man)? Hell I have a friend who said the game was freezing on him every time he tried to shoot someone he needed to, in order to advance the story. Somehow I doubt ME2 or FO3 were without glitches (even one of my favorite games, Perfect Dark was riddled with them). In fact I know ME2 did 'cause I ran into a few them. Hell one of the most popular games ever, Halo 2 released with like 500 glitches. They fixed 3 or 4 via patches. Talk about unfinished. I remember someone having like 100-200 videos of glitches from Halo and Halo 2. They were hired to be a beta tester for Bungie... Just sayin'.

I'll have to take your word on Obs lack of polish, as I haven't played anything from them aside from KotOR II. However scores overall haven't been that bad... I think the average is around 80, which for a small development firm is a respectable score imo. If they can hit that 85% threshold, even better.

 

Sorry, I didn't explain myself clearly at all.

Polish is basically a multi-faceted word and tackles almost every component of the game. Granted, glitches are always present in a game, other area in which Alpha Protocol apparently feels unpolished are graphics, gameplay (wonky balance, bad AI and bad minigames design), camera controls, and apparently, if the Bit-tech review is to be believed, area design/layout.

Also, Obsidian has a reputation of buggy games (the unfinished KOTOR2, Neverwinter Nights 2 which was far too ambitious for Obsidian's possibilities and came out full of bugs with a couple of nasty gamebreaking bugs too) which colors the perception of the game. Many people will probably be unconsciously be looking for bugs when they play and trust me, they will remember them.

There's also the matter that some feel the game 'trick them' and don't like the stat-driven shooting mechanics because they stretch too much their suspension of disbelief and the fact that the writing and choices & consequences has been almost ignored by the reviews (with a couple of exceptions) so far.

 

I also want to add that I'm actually looking forward to my Alpha Protocol's playthrough. It's not about the game itself that I'm worried (though I hope I don't encounter issues eheh) but rather about its reception and what influence this will have on the future of Obsidian and western rpgs.

 

No, I know what you meant by polish. However bugs have been another major point of yours and I wanted to address that. My point was that if a developer/publisher is popular enough people tend to overlook game breakers and lack of polish simply because of that developer/publisher's reputation. I think that may come back to haunt AP, which is too bad. However that doesn't necessarily mean it won't see a sequel. Red Faction: Guerrilla didn't have the best sales (or reviews, I think it's average is like 82-85), but THQ has announced a sequel. <3

I really don't know how to address being "tricked". I'd have to read that myself. I know what you're getting at though, you're afraid the few negative comments you're seeing will negatively reflect the game. I wouldn't worry that much about it, MW2 is another unpolished game (it was so bad Game Informer a few months back actually wrote about all the bugs, glitches and short comings and it's a pretty large list. However, they said that because the game was so popular it was to be expected.). Yet it sold a **** load of copies and people continually buy the DLC despite it being the biggest swindle in gaming history. I doubt the 3 CoD games (not including the CoD MMO iirc) they'll be releasing in 1 year will all be polished, yet they'll still sell a ****load of copies 'cause of Activision and Treyarch's rep (some other devs are doing the other games, but my point still stands they'll sell 'cause of Activision's rep).

 

I guess, I'm just wondering how much of the unpolished/bug complaints are legitimate and how many are just simply because of Obs past and the fact they aren't as well known as bigger companies.

[Bendu]

Joystiq Review.

[HoonDing]

 

No, really

Edited May 28, 2010 by virumor

[WorstUsernameEver]

Joystiq Review.

 

An 'unfinished' game? That's pretty hard.

[funcroc]

Joystiq Review

 

I have something of a reputation on staff for being the guy who takes in strays, the one who falls for the games that, while they may have a lot going for them, are in some way flawed. It's a fair representation and, considering it allows me to enjoy games that others may instantly write off, it's not something I'm necessarily ashamed of.

 

Now, thanks to Alpha Protocol, I've learned that I have my limits...

 

Alpha Protocol is structurally flawed, but, perhaps most damning -- considering the thing was apparently done six months ago -- it's a technical nightmare. Textures take forever to pop-in (and sometimes even pop back out!); enemies hover 10 feet above platforms; there are frequent, seemingly random load times that can range from 3 to 15 seconds, and even occur right in the middle of dialog. Trust me, I could go on.

 

As a reviewer, I can understand how a company can release a game with structural issues. Sometimes that stuff is just too deeply ingrained to fix, or maybe you really believe it's the right design choice. I'm going to call you out on that stuff, but there's a chance I'll be able to get past it. But to release a game that's just plain not finished and to expect people -- to expect your fans -- to pay the full $60 for it? That's where you lose me.

 

Oh, crap.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Assuming that's true, I may have to think very carefully about giving my money to Obsidian again.

This time they had 4 years, there are simply no excuses.

[funcroc]

NowGamer - 8.1/10 Edited May 28, 2010 by funcroc

[WorstUsernameEver]

The sense of intrigue is so empowering it