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This is one of those times I wish I had time to play a game in a vacuum before reading anyone else’s reaction to it or complaints about it. You read about all of the game’s high points and flaws, and go into it with a predetermined mindset about what to expect. But that’s often a bad thing, because it almost forces you to adopt those other reviewer’s viewpoints, because they are the only viewpoints you have until you play it for yourself.

I’ll admit, I’ve been looking forward to Alpha Protocol by Obsidian Entertainment for a year or two. Like most people who were looking forward to it, I was disheartened and worried when it was delayed for so long. I had the game pre-ordered on Steam for almost 9 months–the longest pre-order I’ve ever been engaged in, thanks to the game not releasing last year as planned.

Well, it’s out now, and for all the negative press surrounding it I, for one, am enjoying the hell out of it. Sure, it’s a highly nuanced experience. Sure, you have to come into it with some understanding of what to expect from an Obsidian release–somewhat buggy, perhaps unfinished in some respects, but made with a passion for the IP that Black Isle and Obsidian in turn have been so well-known for. But when you see it for what it is, you can enjoy it for what it is–and the enjoyable parts sure are enjoyable.

I didn’t go into it expecting a Mass Effect clone, as some have reported–I simply didn’t see the correlation based on all of the information surrounding the game. What it does share with Mass Effect is its third-person shooting elements–which I am fine with, seeing as Mass Effect has arguably some of the best third-person shooting elements of any RPG.

The best way I can describe the game in terms of what it’s like or what it can be compared to, is an interesting combination of all of Obsidian’s previous titles (KOTOR 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, etc) set in a modern day spy setting with some elements of Mass Effect mixed in to make its mechanics work.

But now, to the meat of the game. The fun is in the nuance of the experience–the characters you interact with, and especially the way in which you interact with them, along with the tools you’re using and the environments and situations the game puts you in, all combine to really make the experience feel like a spy thriller. Each character has a distinct and often believable personality which the game forces to the forefront by rewarding you for your perceptiveness when choosing a certain type of response during a conversation. Certain characters prefer to be spoken to professionally, while others will appreciate the occasional joke or sly remark. Cater to their preferences, and they will start to like you. The fact that you have a limited time to choose a stance when responding in a conversation keeps the conversations flowing and makes for some believable conversations and interrogations, unlike most RPGs in which there are often long pauses while the player decides their response.

As with any of Obsidian’s RPGs, you will start off with frustratingly-weak skills and equipment–able to complete the beginning missions, but without a few initial levels under your belt you skill timers don’t last long and take a long time to recharge, your weapons are inaccurate, and your equipment is severely lacking. After you complete a few missions on Saudi Arabia, however, you will quickly find that leveling up your skills and upgrading your weapons makes a huge difference–you become tougher, harder to detect, with more accurate and higher-powered weapons, cooler gadgets, and slicker moves.

While many of the missions feel similar in execution (make your way toward the objectives in turn, bypassing security and finding any available goodies along the way, either without being spotted, or with killing everyone), the nuance of your character’s abilities and limitations gives each encounter a distinct feeling. Your handler varies, the settings and missions vary, and you will need to use different skills, armor, weapons, and modifications for different circumstances. You are usually focusing on something different each time, and there are almost always several ways to get to an objective.

Also much like Obsidian’s previous titles, once you get wrapped up in the story you become very interested in the character interactions and dialog, and while the writing might not be quite up to Bioware standards, it is still leaps and bounds better and more intelligent than the majority of game stories out there.

A comparison I haven’t seen made much which I find myself coming to quite often, is that it feels like a complete rewrite of the Splinter Cell formula in RPG style. The stealth doesnot work as well in Alpha Protocol, and the AI often feels dumber than in any Splinter Cell game, but the game elements are there, and they work as well as they need to so that you can focus on the better-executed elements of the game–the story, the characters, the gathering and utilizing of intelligence, the espionage-based character progression.

One of my largest complaints about this game is its save system–in most or all of their other titles, and in most in-depth RPGs such as this in general, you can save anywhere, anytime, as long as you are not in combat. This has been a part of Bioware and Obsidian’s PC-based RPGs for a very long time, and it seems like a necessity. I often find myself spending five or ten minutes after each mission expending the cash I earned and fitting myself for my next mission, then remembering that when I save my game, it will only save to the checkpoint when I entered the safehouse. If I load that game, everything I did between that checkpoint and when I saved is gone. In an RPG where you spend so much time in preparation and skill-allocation and related activities, that’s very unfortunate and really detracts from the experience.

Where the game puts you when you reload during a mission is often very frustrating–in one of the first missions, for example, I kept zip-lining down and getting my legs caught on camera, setting off an alarm that gave away my presence in the area. I wanted to try and do the mission silently, so I would reload every time, and would put me back to the beginning of the mission, always standing up dumbly directly in front of an enemy, who would immediately start shooting at me and would set off an alarm if I didn’t kill him right away. If this is the checkpoint location, why would they put an enemy standing right in front of it? Or, if they really want the enemy there, why wouldn’t they start you off crouched behind the cover you’re standing right next to? (I have a feeling it has to do with the game technology–in all Bioware and Obsidian games I can remember, no matter what you’re doing when you save, when you load again you always start in a default standing posture with any companions in their default formation around you.)

The graphics are also a bit lacking by today’s standards–however, to be fair, if this game’s perspective was that of an isometric overhead view like many RPGs, it would look excellent. The reason it looks bad is that you are always right there next to Thorton and next to the objects and textures around you, meaning it’s hard to miss when something doesn’t look right. The game has been in development for a long time as well, meaning its technology is likely not as advanced as titles that began development more recently. I believe it’s the best looking Obsidian game to date, however, and for an RPG of its kind, I would say it’s probably only rivaled by the likes of Mass Effect. I would compare it graphically to many aspects of Dragon Age, actually.

The sound is good–not of the highest quality, but not noticeably lacking either. The music is also good, and fits perfectly within the setting of the game. I find no issues with the sound itself.

I can’t speak much to the balance yet, I feel I need more playtime to truly get a feel for that. From what I have read, however, the skills are not very balanced, and building up the right ones can make the game feel very easy. My advice, would be to not make extensive use of those skills to keep up the fun of the experience, until such time as they re-balance things, if of course they do.

Overall, I can conclude that it’s the game I’m currently spending the most time in–more than TF2, more than Bad Company 2, more than any other recent obsessions of mine. That’s something I have truly come to rely on from any Obsidian release, and in that respect Alpha Protocol does not disappoint. If you can get past the negative press, I really recommend you try it for yourself!

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While it’s too early to state any more clearly, without even having crossed the Omega 4 relay yet I can without a doubt say Mass Effect 2 is one of the greatest games of this generation. It takes everything we loved about Mass Effect and amps it up a few notches. It fixes most of the complaints and enhances almost everything else. ME2 is now a lean, mean, role-playing, shooting machine.

But alas, the title still has its fair share of bugs to be worked out in future patches. The worst of them have been addressed and there is no point in rehashing them. But one bug in particular has continued to annoy me since release day.

Randomly, when Shepherd is next to a wall, on a ramp, or really doing anything collision-based, he will suddenly appear a few feet off of the ground, floating in midair. He can turn (and yes, you can save the game–but don’t!), but he can’t move around.

Unfortunately the only way I’ve found to get past it is to load the most recent save and continue from there. It’s never happened twice in the same place for me. Luckily, the game auto-saves a lot, and I’ve never had to replay more than 10 minutes or so due to this bug. It certainly does need patching though.

Look for our full review once we finish playing BioWare‘s new–ok, I can’t hold back–masterpiece.

Like any faithful and long-standing RPG enthusiast who still cannot get enough of the great Infinity Engine titles of yore (Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale…), I was very excited to finally get to play the spiritual successor to the beloved Baldur’s Gate games, Dragon Age: Origins by BioWare.

First and foremost, I am happy to report that I am not disappointed in the least–and I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface of this deep and emotional fantasy masterpiece. The graphics are not necessarily representative of today’s triple-A titles, but they are high-fidelity and of a quality and fine detail not often seen fully realized in an RPG of such massive scale. It’s because of this that I would not hold any minor graphical glitches or shortcomings against it.

The audio is excellent, and the music is simply outstanding–the soundtrack is befitting of a Hollywood fantasy blockbuster and comes in at all the right times. The sound feels spot-on and contributes to the general feeling of calculated mayhem of the melee battles in the game.

The story even so far, in the first parts of the game, is top-notch and fully engrossing. As soon as you start to know the characters, you start to experience pains of treachery and tragedy of loss that often not portrayed to this level of effectiveness. You truly feel for these characters, and you never feel like you know them quite well enough (which is a huge compliment).

Many game impressions contain comparisons–how they match up, or how similar they are to other games, or other types of media altogether. While this is quite subjective, I will start by saying if this were a movie with the same plot, same characters, same soundtrack, and similar pacing, I would thoroughly enjoy it.

One can easily find traces of The Witcher by CD Projekt Red in the game’s adult setting, difficult moral choices, and less-fantastical and more political style of fantasy.

You can also see a lot of influence from the Lord of the Rings books and movies, especially with regard to how the story is laid out and the pacing and soundtrack.

But more-so than anything else, and more importantly than anything else, you can see a lot of BioWare’s previous RPGs in there–you can witness for yourself that they have learned their lessons with each successive title while introducing new concepts and refining old mechanics to make a smoother and more fun gaming experience.

This is dialog-driven RPG perfection and is already one of my candidates for Best RPG of the new millennium–we have yet to see if the rest of the game continues at this level or if our impressions change as we progress further. Look for a full review soon!

Major online distributor Steam has moved their release date for Alpha Protocol from this month out to March of 2010.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the delay is inevitable, or accurate in any sense of the word, but it does mean that the publisher does not plan on releasing the game on Steam this month.

While this is sad news for those eagerly awaiting the release (like us), we are also grateful that the publisher is not forcing Obsidian to release an unfinished game, as seems to be a growing trend these days with games that take longer than expected.

We’re still hoping for official word from Sega and/or Obsidian to confirm or deny the delay. Look for more news as it is made available.

In its unsurprisingly quiet fashion, Sega seems to be blowing off all attempts to discover any official updates on the Alpha Protocol release date.

As many of you are aware, many major retailers have changed the release date they list for the highly-anticipated espionage RPG from Obsidian to October, and in some cases even June 2010. Yet Sega still holds fast to their October 6 release date, however that seems very unlikely given that no retailers seem to be expecting the game in early October any longer.

The official site simply states “October 2009″, and while it is the least specific, I can only assume the rest of the PC gaming community joins me in genuinely hoping it remains accurate.

In all honesty, however, wouldn’t you be happier playing the game late (even 8 months late) if it meant Obsidian had the time they needed to polish the game and deliver a product that actually lives up to its hype (which is surprising at all given the lack of a respectable marketing campaign thus far)?

While I eagerly await this title, just as I eagerly await just about everything Obsidian does, I also applaud them for their efforts and hope that Sega gives them the time they need to do what they set out to do, and does not force them to release an unfinished or buggy product just to meet a deadline.

Let’s face it–whether or not you’re a fan, it’s hard to pass up all of the massively multiplayer online games both in beta and being released this season. Just to name a few, check the below lists.

Recently released MMOs:

• Champions Online by Cryptic
• CrimeCraft by Vogster

MMOs Coming Soon:

• Aion (Release: September 22) by NCsoft
• Fallen Earth (Release: September 22) by Icarus Studios
• Global Agenda by Hi-Rez Studios
• Huxley: The Dystopia (Release: November)
• World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion by Blizzard
• Alganon by Quest Online

Other MMOs probably not releasing this fall:

• Star Trek Online by Cryptic
• Star Wars: The Old Republic by BioWare
• Stargate Worlds by FireSky
• A new Lord of the Rings Online expansion

As we have the chance to try out all of these exciting titles, we will post our thoughts, and eventually our full reviews here. Check back for updates!