The Reviews

[Oner]

"....and in times long past the Great Protocol was brought before the people and revealed the gaps between them, bringing differences, debates, insults, schism, war and finally... oblivion.

Since then have the Obsians(sic) roamed the wastelands of the world, ever fleeing from the revenge of the people..."

 

 

Alternatively, there may have been too much true stuff in that game, so the US government swiped the master disk, replaced it with an early beta build then forced US reviewers to slander the game..

Edited May 28, 2010 by Oner

[Raithe]

So far the only things I've noticed are a few graphical twitches now and then.. Nothing game breaking. Oh, and the checkpoints can be a bit irritating. Quite often you complete an objective but that isn't a checkpoint to save.. And I've just had one annoying thing where I finished Saudi, but real life interupted and had to quit out..but the game won't allow that until you get through all the dialogue sequences....and then it keeps autosaving during those without letting you quit. I was stuck having to "skip" through it all rather then play it so I could quit.

 

Dammit. Now I've got to reload from an earlier save , redo that final mission and then I can actually "play" that sequence and make actual choices..

 

Ah well.

Apart from that, I'm finding it fairly brilliant in that good game way. Enjoyable, interesting, and drawing you in to find out what happens next...

[Ausir]

The US reviewers focus on TPS aspects, while EU ones focus on RPG ones.

[Oblarg]

The US reviewers focus on TPS aspects, while EU ones focus on RPG ones.

 

Funny, they didn't do that for Mass Effect.

 

Perhaps the US box is missing the "The Espionage RPG" subtitle?

[Bendu]

4players.de (Germany): 80 %

 

That's not bad. 4players is probably the most importent German online magazin. They rated ME2 with 82 and the latest Splinter Cell with 73 %.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Bendu

[Oblarg]

4players.de (Germany): 80 %

 

That's not bad. 4players is probably the most importent German online magazin. They rated ME2 with 82 and the latest Splinter Cell with 70 %.

 

That's pretty much right in the same vein as the rest of the European reviews.

[Paraclete]

Really, it can't only be bugs. The insanely low American reviews all call the writing stale and uninteresting, yet the European reviews almost unanimously praise the depth of the characters and the quality of the dialogue, even in the not-so-good ones.

 

I don't see how these can be people reviewing the same game. If I were to only look at the European reviews, it would be believable, but the gap is just too ****ing big. This doesn't make any sense.

I think it has more to do with where American interests in games are. Most Americans(trust me, I know as I am one) can't sit through a movie if there isn't a crazy action scene, so asking them to play through a game that might take some understanding of the dialogue...

 

If I had to guess, I would say the game will probably end up with a 74% on Metacritic

Edited May 28, 2010 by Paraclete

[Jaesun]

It's almost as if the Destructoid reviewer missed a deadline, and then quickly copy-pasted a Rogue Warrior review and changed the names.

 

Story by Jim Sterling

 

People actually take him seriously?

 

Exactly. When he can't grasp the simple concept that weapons are skillbased, and that reading is boring. His review is more like, I don't understand the simple mechanics of an RPG so it sucks!

[Oblarg]

Really, it can't only be bugs. The insanely low American reviews all call the writing stale and uninteresting, yet the European reviews almost unanimously praise the depth of the characters and the quality of the dialogue, even in the not-so-good ones.

 

I don't see how these can be people reviewing the same game. If I were to only look at the European reviews, it would be believable, but the gap is just too ****ing big. This doesn't make any sense.

I think it has more to do with where American interests in games are. Most Americans(trust me, I know as I am one) can't sit through a movie if there isn't a crazy action scene, so asking them to play through a game that might take some understanding of the dialogue...

 

As nice as it may be to blame our simplistic minds and our lack of capacity for complexity, I don't buy it. There's something else going on here - why would the European reviewers see the game as pretty damn good, but with outdated graphics while the American reviewers see it as an unplayable trainwreck with monotonous dialogue?

[Toe Tagger Joe]

The US reviewers focus on TPS aspects, while EU ones focus on RPG ones.

 

Funny, they didn't do that for Mass Effect.

 

Perhaps the US box is missing the "The Espionage RPG" subtitle?

 

As far as I know it's on there. I have the pre-order box from Bestbuy, the only difference between the two (afaik) is that mine says "pre-order" and has a yellow part on it... That the retail version won't have (I think I'm supposed to return this version to get the retail version when I pick it up).

[juncaj8]

Hopefully we'll get a little love from the IGN uk review.

[Oblarg]

Hopefully we'll get a little love from the IGN uk review.

 

Going by the past reviews, I predict a 7.5-8.5, praising the complexity of the story and mentioning that the combat takes a while to get used to and the animations are stiff.

[Bendu]

GamersGlobal (Germany): 8.0/10

[Trustin]

Really, it can't only be bugs. The insanely low American reviews all call the writing stale and uninteresting, yet the European reviews almost unanimously praise the depth of the characters and the quality of the dialogue, even in the not-so-good ones.

 

I don't see how these can be people reviewing the same game. If I were to only look at the European reviews, it would be believable, but the gap is just too ****ing big. This doesn't make any sense.

I think it has more to do with where American interests in games are. Most Americans(trust me, I know as I am one) can't sit through a movie if there isn't a crazy action scene, so asking them to play through a game that might take some understanding of the dialogue...

 

As nice as it may be to blame our simplistic minds and our lack of capacity for complexity, I don't buy it. There's something else going on here - why would the European reviewers see the game as pretty damn good, but with outdated graphics while the American reviewers see it as an unplayable trainwreck with monotonous dialogue?

 

I dunno, unless its just that our reviewers have no patience for the RPG elements, I mean, what else could be going on?

[HoonDing]

As nice as it may be to blame our simplistic minds and our lack of capacity for complexity, I don't buy it. There's something else going on here - why would the European reviewers see the game as pretty damn good, but with outdated graphics while the American reviewers see it as an unplayable trainwreck with monotonous dialogue?

Strangely enough this review extravaganza takes me back to Neverend

[Trustin]

As nice as it may be to blame our simplistic minds and our lack of capacity for complexity, I don't buy it. There's something else going on here - why would the European reviewers see the game as pretty damn good, but with outdated graphics while the American reviewers see it as an unplayable trainwreck with monotonous dialogue?

Strangely enough this review extravaganza takes me back to Neverend

 

God I hope AP doesnt end up like that

[edgarcuk]

My reference is DAO reviews, anyone who gave it 8+ and trash AP is out of consideration, it just showed bias at the lowest. I have DAO on Xbox and it is plagued with bugs...

 

If there's some "professional" review that trashed DAO as well as AP, then I would give some credit.

 

But the tendency is evident, US reviews trashing and European reviews praising.

[Oblarg]

My reference is DAO reviews, anyone who gave it 8+ and trash AP is out of consideration, it just showed bias at the lowest. I have DAO on Xbox and it is plagued with bugs...

 

If there's some "professional" review that trashed DAO as well as AP, then I would give some credit.

 

But the tendency is evident, US reviews trashing and European reviews praising.

 

I had DA:O on the PC, and it, too, was buggy as hell.

[Ausir]

Funny, they didn't do that for Mass Effect.

 

Perhaps the US box is missing the "The Espionage RPG" subtitle?

 

Well, they did to an extent. Mass Effect is a better shooter than AP, though (while not as good of an RPG) - this is what Polish gaming site Polygamia that I used to write for said in their (quite favorable) review.

 

If I had to guess, I would say the game will probably end up with a 74% on Metacritic

 

Metacritic has an American bias, though.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Ausir

[WorstUsernameEver]

I'm pretty sure you won't answer this, but how do you feel about the reception Alpha Protocol received so far? I don't remember if you actually worked on it or not, though.

 

I worked on the CQC/martial arts system.

 

It is interesting that the response is so varied. Different reviewers obviously focus on different things, but I don't think I've seen anything that's an unreasonable critique.

 

From J.E. Sawyer Formspring's thingy.

 

Also, since it was me asking the question : thanks Josh, you surprised me with your honesty.

[Deus Ex Machina]

I have yet to play AP myself, but many who have it already are posting their user reviews that are in line with some of the "professional" corporate reviews.

 

Based on the vast majority of user review comments, it seems to me that one of the primary problems is that people were expecting AP to have similar gameplay to games such as Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid. This baffles me personally since it clearly says on the game case "The Espionage RPG", NOT "The Espionage Stealth Action Game".

 

Many have compared AP to Mass Effect 2. While there are some similarities, the combat cannot be compared. In ME2, the combat was similar to that of Gears of War in that weapon damage was based upon hit location and the weapon itself. In AP, the combat is based around stats, meaning you can score multiple headshots without taking someone out. While many have criticized this aspect in both user reviews and corporate reviews, this is what older RPGs are all about. AP has always been advertised as an RPG. I don't understand how people could have mistaken it for something else.

 

As for the criticisms regarding animation issues, framerate issues, lackluster graphics, poor A.I., etc., I cannot say because I have neither played AP or watched any live streams. I will however post my impressions as soon as I get my hands on it, Tuesday, June 1.

[edgarcuk]

My reference is DAO reviews, anyone who gave it 8+ and trash AP is out of consideration, it just showed bias at the lowest. I have DAO on Xbox and it is plagued with bugs...

 

If there's some "professional" review that trashed DAO as well as AP, then I would give some credit.

 

But the tendency is evident, US reviews trashing and European reviews praising.

 

I had DA:O on the PC, and it, too, was buggy as hell.

 

There you go, the Joystiq guy didn't say the same of DA:O on PC... just shows how good the PR ($) is working...

[kirottu]

My reference is DAO reviews, anyone who gave it 8+ and trash AP is out of consideration, it just showed bias at the lowest. I have DAO on Xbox and it is plagued with bugs...

 

If there's some "professional" review that trashed DAO as well as AP, then I would give some credit.

 

But the tendency is evident, US reviews trashing and European reviews praising.

 

I had DA:O on the PC, and it, too, was buggy as hell.

 

There you go, the Joystiq guy didn't say the same of DA:O on PC... just shows how good the PR ($) is working...

 

Or they were lucky and didn

[HoonDing]

There is no way Gamespot & IGN will shamelessly tear apart AP. Obsidian is a respected developer in those parts.

[Ausir]

Actually, Gamespot did have a 6/10 review up but they took it down for whatever reason.