Sega Is Not Keen On A Second Alpha Protocol

Lol Obsidian URL fail.

Alpha Protocol had the unfortunate fate of being a game of startling ambition, created by a group of people who are very good at creating complex design documents but kinda shit at actually coding them. I guess what I'm saying is, Obsidian made it.

Alpha Protocol wasn't as awesome as it could've been, but it is an alright game nonetheless. The $29.99 they're asking for on Steam right now is about right, but when the price inevitably drops for the holidays it'll be well worth picking up on the cheap.

" @Protome said:

" @Detrian said:

" Nice job reviving a thread full of people fawning over a game so shit it's actually a hot contester in this year's Golden Turd award. "

Nice job not understanding that Giantbomb's comment system is connected to its forums for some silly reason, and that people often comment on news stories or videos long after they were first posted. I take it you're new to Giantbomb? "

Are you dumb? What does that have to do with anything? Whether a comment or a forum post, it's retarded. "

" @Detrian said:

" Nice job reviving a thread full of people fawning over a game so shit it's actually a hot contester in this year's Golden Turd award. "

Nice job not understanding that Giantbomb's comment system is connected to its forums for some silly reason, and that people often comment on news stories or videos long after they were first posted. I take it you're new to Giantbomb? "

" Nice job reviving a thread full of people fawning over a game so shit it's actually a hot contester in this year's Golden Turd award. "

Nice job reviving a thread full of people fawning over a game so shit it's actually a hot contester in this year's Golden Turd award.

" That's a shame, Alpha Protocol was a great game. It had its quirks, but there are very few RPGs that dont. "

Sega doesn't own the IP to Alpha Protocol, therefore they don't decide whether there will ever be a sequal. They won't be publishing it, but that doensn't mean there won't ever be one.

 This sucks.
 
@darkjester74 said:

    " I feel sorry for Obsidian, they cant seem to catch a break.  They have some genuinely great ideas but always seem to get a bad rap.  I for one am enjoying my time with AP. "

Yeah. The thing is, Alpha Protocol is the best game Obsidian has made. It's not perfect, it's a diamond in the rough, but I really like it.
 
When I first read this news, I felt like "well, figures"; sort of a "serves them right" because I'd been reading all those less-than-enthusiastic reviews and knew Obsidian by reputation: They have great writing and great ideas in their games but are always held back by technical issues and less than stellar gameplay.
 
But the thing is, now that I've played the game, I can say that here those issues, while present to a degree, don't ruin the game for me. I think people expected the wrong thing from the gameplay -- it wasn't meant to be Mass Effect, it was meant to be Dragon Age, in real time.
 
Or maybe I'm just willing to overlook some issues because I enjoyed the rest of the game so much. I do enjoy games that are mostly about  "gameplay mechanics" but games like Alpha Protocol are the reason I love games. I just wish they'd've gotten the chance to make a more polished sequel-- especially with how AP ended! Now all we have is a destined-to-be cult classic that suffers from the "Bloodlines" syndrome. At least Obsidian hasn't gone the way of Troika... yet.

" What a shame.  Cult Classicdom awaits.  This didn't really deserve to flop, but what can you do, the market is what it is.  Polished turds review and sell better than rough diamonds nowadays. "

I wonder if this game was doomed from the start or if it could have been saved with another 6 months of work. I didn't buy it, but not because I wasn't interested, but because I still have so many unplayed games I am working through. Now I won't get to see this franchise blossom. Shame.

" @Artemis_D said:

" That's pretty fucking lame.  Blame poor sales and ratings.  The game had potential!  Instead of giving up on it, how about making A BETTER FUCKING GAME!  Sega really pisses me off with this shit.  Always putting they're most interesting franchises on the backburner, they can eat a dick.   "

I'm sure a better game can come out of this.  It simply won't be "Alpha Protocol 2."   Sega are going to have to make something new, hopefully not with Obsidian.  And for once, let's not blame Sega for this.  Obsidian have made SEVERAL games with glaring issues.  Both KoToR 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2 had glaring technical issues and severely marred the experiences, and at least KoToR 2 had an established engine!  Obsidian just isn't good enough.  AP had two YEARS of development time.  There's no excuse. "

" @MurderByDeath said:

" Giantaku? "

I'm wondering. Are you guys offended  by the content of the news story or by the style it's written in?   I don't mind these stories and I don't visit kotaku anymore so it's interesting for me to know that AP2 is not likely being developed in the near future. "

Did anybody not see this coming? AP will become playable soon, after PC modders have had a chance to fix and run with Obsidian's implied ideas. Like with many many cRPGs before it.

" @MurderByDeath said:

" @tiwi said:

" @RE_Player92 said:

" Cool news story bro "

what the fuck is this supposed to mean? "

It means this is a barely-news story that has already been reported exactly the same way all over. Usually the thing that sets GiantBomb's news pieces apart is their unique perspective and strong editorial voice. Not the case here. "

Sure is E3 round here. "

I can't say I was very keen on a sequel after playing and beating Alpha Protocol.

"As a game though, Assassin’s Creed fails in just about every respect. That sense of freedom offered aside, its design is hopelessly outdated at best and laborious to the point of perpetual boredom at worst. Once the initial lustre of Assassin’s Creed’s world wears off after a few hours, what’s left is a flimsy, soulless gameplay experience, struggling under the weight of a painfully ponderous, woefully hackneyed narrative which only serves to drag things down further. "
- Mat Wales, IGN - UK 

" ...each element of the game sacrifices too much in order to squeeze other major elements in. Instead of a true stealth engine, you have awkward "hide spots" to accommodate the free roaming. Combat is either too easy or too hard, lacking the brilliance of a dedicated action title. And the free-roaming, bound as it is to mission objectives that would be fine in a more linear game, is just unsatisfying. Each element of the game is individually interesting, but as a whole the package feels incomplete and patchwork more than innovative. With Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft has tried to jump start its next monster franchise. Unfortunately, what it's ended up with is a Frankenstein: powerful and wondrous to behold, but not quite what it was aiming for. "
-Patric Joynt, GameSpy

"The sad truth is, Assassin's Creed is a prime example of basing a project on a single mechanic rather than creating the appropriate mechanic to support a project. Everything except Altair's athletics feels underdeveloped and painfully shallow, making the end result an overhyped attempt to recoup the development costs for something that's little more than an extended tech demo.  "
-Brad Gallaway, GameCritics.com

" Though I'm focusing on a lot of Assassin's Creed's faults, this doesn't mean I didn't enjoy playing the game -- it attempts a lot of ambitious things and it almost succeeds at every one. But it's apparent that these grandiose ideas may have been a little too much to master the first go-round. But hey, at least the groundwork is laid for a killer sequel -- right, Ubisoft?  "
-Michael Donahoe, 1UP

" Judging by the technical catastrofuck that was Alpha Protocol, I don't want a sequel. "

To bad they have become such a mediocre game publisher....  Thats what they should really be upset over.

This is a bummer.  I really enjoyed AP despite its shortcomings, and I think a sequel could fix many of the issues (though I didn't mind the shooting like some people did.)  I suppose my opinion doesn't mean much to Sega though, since I got the game day-1 from Gamefly...

No Beta Protocol. Sad day. 

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

maybe someone can answer my question of: 
 
"doesn't anyone play this shit before it gets released?" 
 
or maybe:
 
"doesn't anyone play this shit at the publishers before printing a million copies?"

This is the logical path of  "Squandered Potential" 
1. Come up with new IP and a great concept for unique gameplay.
2. Design it to similarly to successful already existing franchises.
3. Hype it.
4. Execute your plan for unique gameplay in the worst way possible.
5. Push back deadlines as far as you can.
6. Continue to implement terrible gameplay.
7. Hype it again, deny anything is wrong.
8. Release it and hope for the best.
9. Admit that you're mistake was making an interesting and original IP, and bury it quickly.
10. If Sega, announce new Sonic game with added gimmicks and characters.
 
I see this happen way too often. A brand new IP shows up receiving lackluster support from its own developers or publishers, and is minimally successful. Sometimes it gets abandoned almost immediately, rather than fixing some of the original problems. It is possible to fix poor implementation in a proper sequel rather than giving up. Look at Assassin's Creed. It had its share of problems, enough that some people and critics despised the game. However, instead of leaving it to die, they decided to fix some of the problems and improve the best parts. Low-and-behold, they created a highly commercially successful sequel.
 
This can even work with completely garbage games. I give you, Army of Two. The original was total crap and everyone new it. The sequel fixed some of the original issues, tried improving on what worked, and the sequel was modestly successful. I'm willing to bet that we might even see the same thing happen to Kane and Lynch. You must put a coordinated effort and dedication to your IP's if you ever want them to be commercially successful.

That's what makes the gaming industry go round. I would be amazed if there is another Mirror's Edge game for the same reason.

Hooray for reviewers killing original games with unique gameplay elements. Give me an Alpha Protocol; unique yet buggy experience, over a Mass Effect; overly produced, uninspired experience, any day of the week!

not surprising, seeing as the game was horrid

I feel sorry for Obsidian, they cant seem to catch a break.  They have some genuinely great ideas but always seem to get a bad rap.  I for one am enjoying my time with AP.

I kinda liked it, sure the gameplay was a bit janky. but i really enjoyed the game.

" I really enjoyed AP, and didn't really encounter any of the many problems a lot of people talk about.  I've only played it through once on a mostly stealth build but plan on going back to it before too long.  SEGA has just been doing a terrible job as a publisher lately.  The AP problems have been well noted, but Resonance of Fate was a very good game by an established RPG maker and SEGA sacrificed that to the wolves by releasing it during the onslaught of FFXIII press, guaranteeing that it would be passed over and forgotten about.  SEGA hasn't had good marketing since the days of the Genesis.  They were always had good ideas which were executed poorly for some reason or another (except their arcade division which was amazing), so I guess that continues even now. "

Judging by the technical catastrofuck that was Alpha Protocol, I don't want a sequel.

Whatever. Alpha Protocol sucked anyway, who needs another one.

" Giantaku? "

" Giantaku? "

Someone get Rorie on the phone. 
We need to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 
Did he order the code red?

Mediocre ratings to blame...really...if they learned to make a half descent game then maybe they would not have mediocre ratings. Sega is known for crappy games to be honest they put a small budget on a game and expect it to be a hit.
 
Just stick to Sonic....and yet you manage to make that game a shadow of its former-self.

I love how these developers blame poor review scores for why their game doesn't sell.  Maybe if you produce a game that people like.....you would...I don't know...receive a higher score?  I think they all miss the days of NES gaming where you had to rely on a monthly magazine to get any insight into a game, so most people just plunked down $50 and bought games without reading reviews.

Their high concept was broken to begin with. NEXT.

When I showed my friend the game he said "It has a very Sega feel to it" and I replied "Yeah, namely, an unfinished game."
 
They've been churning out these half-assed games for years now. Most of them have some very cool aspects, often really good graphics, but they seemingly cut corners and get lazy and don't bother play-testing the hell out of the games. If they do playtest there's no way they can miss the little issues that bother everyone who plays them, so they must just not bother, or ignore them and assume it'll be ok.
 
I actually liked Alpha Protocol and forgave it of it's little issues. I still think the idea in another developer's hands would have been better, because it was only execution of their fantastic concept that was the downfall.

" @Deathpooky said:

" @tiwi said:

" @RE_Player92 said:

" Cool news story bro "

what the fuck is this supposed to mean? "

It's called generic first post for the quest without getting banned. "

kind of got that quest months ago by accident and I couldn't care less about quests... all I meant was this is a cool news story and I consider Brad N, and the rest of the GB staff, bros "

SEGA is sinking, fast. Lucky we never got that Dreamcast 2 everyone was hoping for cause it'd probably end up like it's predecessor !

I hate Metacritic. It's not really reliable.

It's a shame they won't be able to elaborate on the neat ideas from the first game in a sequel that would hopefully be better. Hopefully New Vegas turns out well.

Shame that they're going to be making the same old shit with Call of Duty every god damn year because basically every console owner (and a good portion of the PC gamers) will buy a copy regardless of it's quality, yet when it comes to something I actually care about and that I actually enjoyed thoroughly there won't even be a single sequel any time soon. 
 
Typical.