Alpha Protocol Review - Joystiq

Joystiq: 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.

[ElementX]

Officially craptastic!

[StanLee]

Called it months ago. The game looked incredibly dated.

[ElementX]

.

[jjesso1993]

well iam enjoying it

[DanyBrown]

so am i, haters gonna hate...

[Montrealien]

it is a good game, I am also enjoying it. The two trolls above have no idea what they are talking about. Just ridding reviews of a game that have not even played.

I suggest you guys also report Elementx for trolling, he has not even played the game.

[ElementX]

Report me because I said it's crap due to several reviews saying the game is broken and unfinished? Yeah, I'm trolling alright. Check out the reviews for the game, they go from 5-8s. That's not a good game! I don't have to play a game to know it's bad, reviewers say there are issues with it, poor graphics and AI, the cover system is messed up, and other issues. Does that sound like quality to you?

[FragGen]

Normally, I'd agree with you guys since most reviews are BS. But if Justin says it's total crap, it is. He's a really forgiving reviewer... and, really, this game looks like sh*t, so if the gameplay is not there it's a trainwreck.

I love the concept and it's in my GameFly queue to rent, so I will still give it a look but after this review I'm not counting on hitting that "keep" button.

[Montrealien]

did you play the game elementX? nope.

You have not played the game.

You read a few reviews.

You jump to an asinine conclusion by claiming it is craptastic on the first comment in a review of a game.

yep, troll.

[NeoBasch]

The reviews are off big time. I tried setting it straight for some, but apparently the words of Destructoid, GameSpot, and BitTech are greater than fellow gamers. Journalists refuse to take note of Obsidian as a company. They've always had terrible presentation skills (presentation = polished gameplay, refined controls, sleek animation sets, etc). However, the heart and soul of their games lies in the storytelling craft.

Sometimes, I prefer them over Bioware, which is saying a lot. They don't have a large staff. They can't pull off the same Triple A productions that Sony Santa Monica, Bioware, or Nintendo EAD can. That's just unrealistic. I wish they could, but they can't. Journalists fail to account for this. Graphics nor polish are everything. Next time critics do a write up, they should make better use of their time.

[hatchimatchi]

your argument falls flat when you associate polished gameplay & refined controls to presentation values.

Who wants to play a bug filled mess of a game? I haven't played the game, to me it looks interesting but what I'm trying to get at is that your argument looks pretty silly. It seems like you're asking people to just ignore it's problems for the sake of the story.

[NeoBasch]

I'm saying ignore the problems in favor of the ideas behind the gameplay and story. What's wrong with that. Nothing falls flat, and that's what presentation is. It's something that looks, sounds, and feels slick. That's not Obsidian. That's what I'm saying you should ignore. Everything else though is pretty f#cking awesome.

[RankFTW]

The game is actually awesome, people should never pay any attention to reviews and play the game before saying it's crap.

[Nihilism]

But who can we really trust these days?, the reviewers who are getting paid?, or the fanboys who act like marketing slaves for free?

I don't know which is worse.

Some games get awesome reviews and I hate them, others get reviewed poorly and I love them.

I guess i'll keep going by my usual measure of somethings worth:

The universal law of greatness, if it is shiny or fluffy it's awesome.

[RankFTW]

I usually only trust myself when it comes to deciding if a game is any good or not. I have alot of excess money so tend to buy most games that I have an interst in and if it's good then that's great and if it's not then ebay is my friend.

[Nihilism]

Sometimes I think I would have more games if I had less money, I bought:

AVP, supcom2, mass effect 2, bioshock 2;

for full price just this year, and saw them all today for half price :o

then I saw a bunch of older games for like 1/5 of new price....I wish I had the patience to wait

[Tony P]

By all means pay attention to reviews. But don't for one second think they know what you like.

Professional reviews target the mainstream. If you don't have mainstream tastes (like love shooters) the opinion probably isn't for you.

Like they say it's dumb that shooting is stat based. That's a criticism for the benefit of shooter fans, not RPG fans. We've been playing RPGs for decades and we know it's no different from rolling low in Baldur's Gate when you fire an arrow. That's just how real RPG combat works.

There are definitely warranted criticisms here, which is sad. I totally believe in the technical issues. Obsidian... I dunno, they just can't seem to get that right. It doubly bothers me since they held it back for so long JUST to polish it. What are they doing over there where the game still comes out notably buggy?

[DARK WITNESS]

Well most websites gave GTA4 stellar scores and most gamers said they were wrong and the game was not up to it.

Could it be this is the same case but opposite, reviews are giving it bad or average scores, most gamers seem to be saying it's good. who do we believe..

Bottom line, if you really want it give it a try. You personal taste could be the deciding factor. I personal was half and half with this game. I did enjoy Kotor 2 more then I did 1.

[Nihilism]

GTAIV is the worst game I have bought in 10 years, I LOATHED that game, after San Andreas it was a massive letdown.

I played S.A on PS2 and then I played GTAIV on PC, and even so, the graphics were a let down, what does that tell you.

No RPG elements, weaker character models and animations, weak ass driving ( spin out taking corners at 20KPH...

[DARK WITNESS]

well, I have to disagree with you on a lot of your points.

I am one of the few gamers who seemed to actually like gta4 and no matter what I still respect it for what it did on a technical level.

I still don't buy all this stuff about it's graphics being crap and I don't see how anyone could complain about the animation in that game when no other game has animation half as good.

in my book GTA's faults were not technical, it was just content, or rather the lack of it..and the stuff they did make you do, well ya it got boaring really quick.

I mean there is no other open world game with a city that feels so alive. saints row was fun, but it looked rubbish compared to gta4 and saints row 2 almost looked like a step back from one.

AC was the only other open world game that looked anywhere near as good as gta, but it still didn't do half the stuff that gta4 did and the cities didn't feel alive like gta4. games like wheel man and prototype, those were the games that truly had last gen graphics. infamous, I am sorry I played it and the only thing graphically impressive was cole's modelling and the particle effects. the city, cars enemies all looked sub par compared to gta4.

the only sandbox game that looked on the level was prob farcry2, do you really want me to talk about how crap the gameplay was in farcry 2. I don't believe all this crap about gta4 not being tht good. It was not as fun as other gta games I agree, but I just don't understand how people can knock it technically. you can't compare it to the graphics of games like uncharted or gears of war.

anyway, I could go on all day but i don't have to Red Dead stamps out all the open world games so far this gen and it's using the same engine.

it just seems to be the cool thing to hate on gta4 this gen, R* tried to make the game too serious for it's own good, but I still respect what they did with that and you can see how much potential they created with rage engine by looking at red dead.

[Lex Luthor]

Feel sorry for anyone who spent $60/$40 on this game.
Long live pre-owned.