Alpha Protocol - Obsidian's new RPG

[Serpentine Cougar]

Sounds interesting. At least they're trying something different.

[Pavlos]

Looking way too much as in Mass Effect. I hope there's innovation on the story, then.

I'd say it's worse than Mass Effect's dialogue system. Rather than clicking on a three word option which will often have nothing to do with what Shepard actually says, I now click on a 'mood'. Well, suave could mean anything. All of the James Bonds (from Connery to Craig) have brought a unique touch to the role but they've all been suave in some way or another. I have no idea how the mood will cause my character to act. It's like shooting an arrow half blind, with an arm and a leg tied behind your back.

 

I appreciate Obsidian's attempts to bring us dialogue choices which are flavoured rather than the stock good/evil/I want a cup of tea arrangement which is very common in post-Fallout 2 games. It means conversations sound like... well, conversations rather than a search on Wikipedia with the occasional moral choice to make.

[Pavlos]

Source

 

I do remember my password! How exciting.

 

Obsidian has obviously been awfully busy giving interviews and allowing the press to sample their new FPS-RPG, Alpha Protocol.

Gameplayer, the ubiquitous Kotaku, QJ.net, Game Informer, and the lovably bookish Gamasutra are all sporting fresh, new articles.

 

We also learned a bit more about the game’s mission structure. Both main and side missions will have more than one way of being completed. While this is nothing new to games, Obsidian has but their own spin on things. The different possibilities will depends on how a player has made their choices up until that point. The completion of a mission a certain way will also effect not only what they see on the news but subsequent missions later on. “In particular, a lot of the little thing you do will show up in the end game,” Design Producer Nathan Davis explains. 'It will show up depending on who you ally with and what factions are friendly with you, they may come in and help or hinder your ability to finish the end mission.'

 

What fun.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Damn, I hate how I critscize that game so much, but I feel I must agree with the article where it says "It's nothing new".

 

I wonder if they plan on disabling when (or where) one can save (ala the GTAs, The Witcher, etc).

I've thought on that possibility, however I don't find it likely nor useful. If you allow me to make a little forced comparison, I'd say save points are plenty on eastern RPGs while the "save-whenever-you-want" system is present at a lot of western RPGs. So I wouldn't count on it.

[Pavlos]

Source

 

Obsidian have released six new screenshots of their profession, suave, and aggressive espionage-themed action RPG, Alpha Protocol.

 

You know, despite being initially impressed with Alpha Protocol, the art direction is beginning to worry me. The whole thing looks generic (despite the re-emergence of the weird four-eyed goggle people of doom, death, and destruction), the video game equivalent of the sort of music that a cab driver might play while he's got passengers in the back; inoffensive and never striking.

 

Of course, that might be the point. The art may be designed to ground the player in 'the real world', to make whatever comment the game may have on society seem that much more shocking and effective.

 

We shall have to wait and see, keeping an eye out for more detailed previews and the inevitable videos of epic battle sequences gameplay.

[Pavlos]

Source

 

Remember that roundtable discussion on Alpha Protocol a few months back? (Of course you don't but I'll pretend that you said, "yes".) Well, Sega Nerds seems to have a more complete transcript of it for your enjoyment. Featuring Executive Producer, Chris Parker, Marketing and PR Director, Matthew Rorie, Senior Producer, Ryan Runcinski, Art Producer, Abia Roberts, and Design Producer, Nathan Davis, the question and answer session covers topics from Alpha Protocol's character creation to marmalade.

 

Despite some odd typos (apparently, some of the folks at Obsidian used to work at Blackout Studios; maybe a quibble about what happened to Black Isle... ?) there's some interesting stuff in there.

 

To be honest we’re going to see how this all works out but the visual style we’ve focused on is Syriana and we feel like the cinematic effects bring in that cinematic language to our game. And when it comes to our story we have those hard hitting, gritty aspects. I think when you put the two together it definitely elevates the visual language that we’re going for with this game. When it comes to our characters we are going for some over the top characters. You’ve probably seen it in some of the concepts and other things that we’ve released already. We want to stay away from just guys in suits. It also helps gameplay wise when your bosses show some type of over the top characteristics. So those are the things that we’ve focused on for our visual style of the game.

 

Imagine a game where no one wears a suit... and one character, an assassin does. He blends in because of his suit, yet stands out because no one else wears one. You never see his face, never hear his voice; only ever see his back on security camera records; only ever see the results of his assassinations, two shots to the head. And he's chasing you. You.

 

Don't tell me that the generic can't be interesting -- it can. It's how you use it that counts. Make the generic special and you've got something interesting.

 

It's my idea you're not allowed to steal it >_>

[Arátoeldar]

Despite some odd typos (apparently, some of the folks at Obsidian used to work at Blackout Studios; maybe a quibble about what happened to Black Isle... ?) there's some interesting stuff in there.

 

Come On Pavlos I thought you knew that O.E. was started by ex-B.I. people such as Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone and Josh Sawyer.

[Miltiades]

He does. In the roundtable, however, they say Blackout instead of Black Isle. Hence why Pavlos said "some odd typos".

[Bee Hoon]

I was disappointed when they said that you have to play as a guy, but at least he looks reasonably cute. Hey, if I have to play as a guy, might as well be one who's good eye candy right? His sweater in Matthew Rorie's second screenshot is fugly though.

[Pavlos]

Mopping up after E3 season, here are some of the previews for Obsidian's Alpha Protocol which you may have missed in between all the drooling journalists have been doing over The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion: Guns Edition. FYI, the 101 on the back of the vault suit isn't a clever reference to the eponymous room in Nineteen Eighty-Four... they chose it because it looked cool.

 

Gametrailers

 

An interview with Producer Chris Parker retraces some of the information already released on Alpha Protocol. Of interest for the music buffs may be the tune playing in the background of the video.

 

I would say my favourite thing about Alpha Protocol is actually the story. I've been making roleplaying games my entire career at Obsidian and at Black Isle and story's always a huge thing; how the characters interact with you, how you decide over the course of the game whether they're going to like you or dislike you, what you can actually get them to do or not do over the course of the game and then how that affects the world as a whole and Alpha Protocol is really, really focussing on that sort of big, reactive world environment, making sure that everything you do has an immediate effect, long term effects on the game and really plays out for the character..."

 

I may not be a huge fan of the mechanics and art direction but the game's plot, or rather how said plot works, certainly intrigues me.

 

IGN

 

IGN have run a traditional-looking and traditional-reading article giving us some more insight into the way the game works.

 

This is a game with an emphasis on keeping the pace high, even during moments when you make decisions. A lot of RPGs in real-time will pause when you have to make a decision, so you can think about what you want to do. Alpha Protocol has a timer that only gives you a handful of seconds to choose. So you have to think on your feet whether you want to, say, talk nice to the American Marine guarding the embassy you're trying to get into, talk sarcastically, or pull your gun on him.

 

Always thought that decisions were the most interesting and defining feature of RPGs, myself.... The dialogue system seems interesting though.

 

GameSpy

 

GameSpy have taken the liberty of renaming the main character from 'Thorton' to 'Thorne' in a preview which, while fleshing out aspects of the plot, doesn't really detail much more about mechanics. Worth a read for spoiler-philes, phobes may wish to stay away.

 

In our case, our Obsidian demonstrator decided to talk before the guns came out, walked straight up to the U.S. Marine guarding the door, and tried to bluff his way into the embassy. The player's dialogue choices reflected what Obsidian calls the "three J.B." emotional paths through the game. The player can choose to speak in a clipped, professional manner (the Jason Bourne), a smooth operator (the James Bond) or as an aggressive psycho (the Jack Bauer). The choices the player makes will determine quite a bit about the world in which the player operates, as the game is inhabited by various factions that have a memory and will long remember how the player treats them. Shooting the Marine guard will seriously alienate other Marines in the game, making them much less friendly and more prone to pull their guns on Thorne.

 

Thought Obsidian dropped the "three J.B." line?

 

Thunderbolt

 

An article more focussed on providing general information about Sega's games at E3, it does contain a few interesting paragraphs on Alpha Protocol

 

Another level had Michael hunting down an arms dealer. Once the target was found, several options were available. The villain could be brought in and arrested, which is what the objective truly is, or could be shot in the head just to be a jerk. The most intriguing option was letting him free in exchange for money. If extortion is selected, the villain later becomes a valuable ally thanks to his arms dealing. Producer Chris Parker said that the goal of Alpha Protocol is to “make the player feel like all the choices they make are driving the world around them.”

 

Doesn't seem all that innovative but, then again, at least one of those decisions has a larger consequence on the progression of the plot, hopefully beyond just getting a nifty new store.

[Pavlos]

Source

 

VideoGamer.com has published a preview-interview with Obsidian Entertainment's Nathan Davis about Alpha Protocol, the company's espionage-themed RPG.

 

It's how your decisions impact the game world and Thornton himself which has our eyebrows raised. In Mass Effect it was clear what decisions would make your character more evil, or more good. In the end these moral choices were driven more by the pursuit of specific statistical bonuses than genuine concern for the characters and plot. Nathan promises a system with blurrier lines.

 

I wonder when journalists will stop calling Thorton "Thornton"...

[Ctrl Alt Del]

^ Blurry indeed.

 

How they plan on doing that? Fable-esque, like a halo atop of your head if you're good and a pair of horns if you're a bad boy?

 

Most of the RPG-ness of the game will be conducted in one of the game's many safe houses. These hubs will be where you'll coordinate with your contacts, receive intel on and select missions to embark on, buy and sell equipment and customise Thornton himself, which Nathan demonstrates in a CIA safe house in Saudi Arabia.

And this keeps looking more and more like Mass Effect. Those safe houses seems to be for AP what the Normandy was to ME.

 

But, unlike in other games, you won't be messing about with your threads just for stat bonuses and to impress the ladies. Thornton's outfit will often have an impact on gameplay. Remember that incident with the marine we described earlier? If Thornton had a combat suit at his disposal he may well have been able to sneak to the US embassy with nary a care in the world. "We wanted to make sure you're always the crazy, sexy, cool stud super spy Mike Thornton," says Nathan. "But we wanted to give you some ability to change some of the things a super spy might want to change."

At least this looks more interesting.

[SpaceAlex]

"We wanted to make sure you're always the crazy, sexy, cool stud super spy Mike Thornton," says Nathan

 

Oh my, how exciting is that. This is beginning to sound like this game is geared more towards the younger gamers. Let's hope I'm wrong.

[Arátoeldar]

Oh my, how exciting is that. This is beginning to sound like this game is geared more towards the younger gamers. Let's hope I'm wrong.

 

Agreed. OE should remember that the RPG genre fan tends to be older and has a larger female population.

[Corinthian]

And again I wonder why Obsidian is so popular.

[Arátoeldar]

And again I wonder why Obsidian is so popular.

 

Because Interplay-B.I.S.-O.E. have made and are making great RPG games.

[Corinthian]

O.E. is not Black Isle or Interplay. And O.E. has made Great Unfinished RPG and maybe Great Expansion - I don't know, Mask of the Betrayer hates my computer.

[Emperor Devon]

A lot of RPGs in real-time will pause when you have to make a decision, so you can think about what you want to do. Alpha Protocol has a timer that only gives you a handful of seconds to choose. So you have to think on your feet whether you want to, say

 

This sounds terrible. I hope it can be modded out.

 

And O.E. has made Great Unfinished RPG and maybe Great Expansion

 

Don't discount MotB for being an expansion, its done better than most other RPGs are. Personally I think of it as the game the OC should have been.

[Corinthian]

Yeah, I hear Mask was really good. It doesn't work on my comp for some reason, though, bugs right after I fight the Bear-God-Guy-thingie. But that's not a great track record, really.

[Arátoeldar]

O.E. is not Black Isle or Interplay. And O.E. has made Great Unfinished RPG and maybe Great Expansion - I don't know, Mask of the Betrayer hates my computer.

 

O.E. may not be exactly B.I.S. (Interplay Thank Goodness no Harve Cean) However B.I.S. ex-employees formed O.E. and other former B.I.S. came there to work such as Josh Sawyer.

[Corinthian]

A handful of employees do not a company make. Obsidian has potential, admittedly, and I have faith that Alpha Protocol will be good if just because it's going to be a Forerunner, but Obsidian has made a rather bad impression on me, what with Rocks Fall Everyone Dies and what happened with KotoR 2, although I don't hold them responsible for many of that game's failures.

[Arátoeldar]

A handful of employees do not a company make. Obsidian has potential, admittedly, and I have faith that Alpha Protocol will be good if just because it's going to be a Forerunner, but Obsidian has made a rather bad impression on me, what with Rocks Fall Everyone Dies and what happened with KotoR 2, although I don't hold them responsible for many of that game's failures.

 

I guess that Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky and Jason Anderson didn't matter at Troika Games.

[Pavlos]

Source

 

Gamespot has uploaded a minature preview on Obsidian's Alpha Protocol based on what they saw in the Sega booth at Leipzig.

 

Another cool aspect is the media feedback. Your actions may be reported on the TV news, for example, and you'll also be able to sit down at your computer to check your e-mail. The one thing the team isn't including is vehicles, despite the game's use of Unreal Engine 3 technology.

[Arátoeldar]

I swear Pavlos. The only thing you must do is scourer the interweb for RPG info..

[Ctrl Alt Del]

We managed to secure an appointment to see the latest build of the game at the Sega booth, where we saw a couple of new things about this promising spy-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game

Holywhathehell?

 

Your base of operations will be kitted out exactly as you'd expect for a spy's home. The developers have clearly watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith, as the gadgets and weapons reveal themselves from regular household cabinets

Merely aesthetical, but a nice move.

 

Another cool aspect is the media feedback. Your actions may be reported on the TV news

Also known as: the elevator shaft of Mass Effect.

 

and you'll also be able to sit down at your computer to check your e-mail.

Also known as: the comm room of Mass Effect.