I was really looking forward to Alpha Protocol when I first saw it a few months back but my GOD is it awful. Had a small play of it the other day and I just don't know what the hell Obsidian and Sega let this one into the market in such a state. It's probably the worst looking, worst handling game I've ever seen, and in the age where super-duper-uber-consoles can create graphics so awesome they melt your eyeballs, this shit is fucking atrocious.

Also the crouch (if you could even call it that) in this game is probably one of the most stupid movements in video game history.

I was kind enough to message all of my friends on xbox live and tell them not to waste their money

Now I begin to think: Obsidian is the studio that is developing Fallout New Vegas. But behind that we have the fact that Bethesda is working with them, and knowing Bethesda they would not allow a broken, or unfinished product onto the market with their name on it.

I had the exact same concern for New Vegas, but yeah... Bethesda would in their fuck let such a shambles of a product be put on the shelves. They have one of the greatest games of the last decade to live up to, they're not gonna allow anything near the pretty much non-existent standards of Alpha Protocol to be available to the public. I mean that game isn't even shit... That's being too kind. It's Diet Shit.

It's just sad that another ambitious game fell flat. I really want to like Alpha Protocol, I want to boot it up and play more...but I cant bring myself to do it.

Don't forget that Obsidian has a lot of people who worked on the original Fallout games, I doubt they would tarnish their own game's name. Also I wouldn't be surprised if a different group of people within Obsidian are guilty of Alpha Protocol.

[EphelDuath666]

I was really looking forward to Alpha Protocol when I first saw it a few months back but my GOD is it awful. Had a small play of it the other day and I just don't know what the hell Obsidian and Sega let this one into the market in such a state. It's probably the worst looking, worst handling game I've ever seen, and in the age where super-duper-uber-consoles can create graphics so awesome they melt your eyeballs, this shit is fucking atrocious.

Also the crouch (if you could even call it that) in this game is probably one of the most stupid movements in video game history.

I read an article where one of the people involved who didn't want his name to be made public (for obvious reasons) stated how he/she knows how disappointing the game is and that Obsidian wanted to stop Alpha Protocol and continue to work on the Alien RPG. Alas, Sega had different plans as we all know now. And according to him/her unnecessary changes were made to Alpha Protocol over and over again and the people responsible for the gameplay mechanics of the game basically have no clue what they're doing. So it's basically a half assed effort.

WHY IS JOHN MARSTON WATER SOLUBLE!?!?!?

I think Marston's inability to swim was somewhere explained by him living his whole on the prairie. Haven't read anything about the dissolving issue though.
But a great game nevertheless. The huge amount of detail and stuff to do and the atmosphere being just spot on make this game, for me, better than any of the GTA games I've played. I even enjoy the poker minigame.

[swervedriver]

WHY IS JOHN MARSTON WATER SOLUBLE!?!?!?

I think Marston's inability to swim was somewhere explained by him living his whole on the prairie. Haven't read anything about the dissolving issue though.
But a great game nevertheless. The huge amount of detail and stuff to do and the atmosphere being just spot on make this game, for me, better than any of the GTA games I've played. I even enjoy the poker minigame.

He also says he can't swim when you're traversing the river into Mexico. That's good enough for me to keep him the hell away from any water whatsoever. When it starts raining I let him take shelter at a bar.

I'm nearing the end of the storyline missions I think. That north-east part of the map with the mountains is freaking dangerous. I'm quietly minding my own business, picking some flowers here and there and BAM! Gangraped by 3 grizzlies. Never knew those creatures hunted in packs... All in all though, one of the most immersive gaming experiences I've had so far. Great game.

WHY IS JOHN MARSTON WATER SOLUBLE!?!?!?

I think Marston's inability to swim was somewhere explained by him living his whole on the prairie. Haven't read anything about the dissolving issue though.
But a great game nevertheless. The huge amount of detail and stuff to do and the atmosphere being just spot on make this game, for me, better than any of the GTA games I've played. I even enjoy the poker minigame.

He also says he can't swim when you're traversing the river into Mexico. That's good enough for me to keep him the hell away from any water whatsoever. When it starts raining I let him take shelter at a bar.

Even peope who can't swim would be able to keep themselves afloat in the depths of water that Marston dies in... I dunno. It just always gets on my nerves when characters can't swim. The only person who ever really had a legit excuse was Cole from inFamous...

Just completed all three God Of Wars. Exhausting but worth it. And got 83 trophies out of them. Win.

Just completed all three God Of Wars. Exhausting but worth it. And got 83 trophies out of them. Win.

Did the same thing myself a month or so back. Pretty epic fun to be had playing all 3 of them in a row. Definitely the king of hack n slash games, in my opinion.

I also think I'm going to buy Red Dead this week. Need something to hold me over until Singularity, since I wont be playing the train wreck that is Alpha Protocol.

So... how much money do you guys spend on games monthly/bi-monthly?

[EphelDuath666]

Just completed all three God Of Wars. Exhausting but worth it. And got 83 trophies out of them. Win.

Did the same thing myself a month or so back. Pretty epic fun to be had playing all 3 of them in a row. Definitely the king of hack n slash games, in my opinion.

I also think I'm going to buy Red Dead this week. Need something to hold me over until Singularity, since I wont be playing the train wreck that is Alpha Protocol.

I played all 3 GOW's too in a row...well, except that I started with GOW3

And you'll dig RDR. It's sooooo much fun. In my opinion soooooo much better than GTA4.
I checked out the multiplayer stuff today. Seems like there's lots of idiots participating in that. I played with 2 guys, we were playing through all the hideouts and there was one idiot that literally followed us for at least one hour and kept shooting at us with his sniper rifle. Some people sure got issues! What an annoying creature...

So... how much money do you guys spend on games monthly/bi-monthly?

it varies but what I can tell is that it's way too much money!!! May has been sort of OK though. Just Alan Wake and RDR.

I've only bought Alan Wake so far. RDR will be next, though I'm going to try and buy used because I can be horribly cheap sometimes.

I try to minimize my costs with video games as much as possible. Sales, discounts, used. Some months I may not buy more than one(if at all). Some months it could be upwards of 3 games.

Not a monthly purchaser... I keep an eye out for things I want and purchase accordingly. If certain games I want come in the same week I'll wait and get em both cheap a few weeks later if I already have something to play or get one and get the other one cheap later if I don't... This year I've so far bought Heavy Rain, Arkham Asylum and Red Dead... I've a list of things to keep my eye on before the year is out.. It's quite a sizeable list as well so we'll see how the bank account manages!

I spend far too much on games, but then I work in the warehouse of our online retail store and so I see each and every game coming in - imported games included. So it's a case of "Ooh, do want" constantly.

But honestly it'll vary. Sometimes close to 300 in one month, and other times perhaps under 100. Depends what delicious temptations enter my field of vision...

I spend far too much on games, but then I work in the warehouse of our online retail store and so I see each and every game coming in - imported games included. So it's a case of "Ooh, do want" constantly.<br style="text-shadow: none;"><br style="text-shadow: none;">But honestly it'll vary. Sometimes close to 300 in one month, and other times perhaps under 100. Depends what delicious temptations enter my field of vision...

The cost of games for ye still baffles my brain... Red Dead Redemption only cost me €35... Game prices rarely go above €50 nowadays, and prices drop pretty quickly after release as well so you get em cheap if you wait a week a lot of the time.

[swervedriver]

I spend far too much on games, but then I work in the warehouse of our online retail store and so I see each and every game coming in - imported games included. So it's a case of "Ooh, do want" constantly.<br style="text-shadow: none;"><br style="text-shadow: none;">But honestly it'll vary. Sometimes close to 300 in one month, and other times perhaps under 100. Depends what delicious temptations enter my field of vision...

The cost of games for ye still baffles my brain... Red Dead Redemption only cost me €35... Game prices rarely go above €50 nowadays, and prices drop pretty quickly after release as well so you get em cheap if you wait a week a lot of the time.

If I ordered RDR through a major webstore in The Netherlands I would've paid something like 62 euros. Instead ordered it via amazon (UK) and paid about 40 euros instead. I don't get these huge differences for exactly the same product. Surely amazon isn't selling it without making a profit on it.

Well RDR was selling out like absolutely nothing the game stores here had ever seen before so when I went to get it they had actually put it on sale... There's actually a fair bit of competition in Cork between Game and Gamestop in the city because they're right across the street from one another, so there's often a bit of price-warring going on and it puts the price down quite nicely for the consumer in some cases.