Alpha Protocol

[seireikhaan]

I was turned off when I saw gameplay footage of the player engaged in a shootout with an enemy, who promptly decided, mid fight, that climbing a nearby ladder would be fun. Turns its back, holsters gun, and the player calmly pegs them mid climb. I don't demand the AI be super amazingly cunning, but some common sense is a necessity.

[rajpoot]

I was turned off when I saw gameplay footage of the player engaged in a shootout with an enemy, who promptly decided, mid fight, that climbing a nearby ladder would be fun. Turns its back, holsters gun, and the player calmly pegs them mid climb. I don't demand the AI be super amazingly cunning, but some common sense is a necessity.

That kind of enemy behaviour is actually a rare quirk. Far as I know stuff like that happens when the player is too far away from the enemy....far away enough to be considered out of sight by the AI. In such a situation they stop shooting and start moving in an attempt to get closer to the player\get a better position to shoot from. Happened to me when I was in a firefight and ran to the foot of this ladder, out of the LOS of the enemy at top. So he started climbing down.....

Most of the comparisons in that respect have been based on the dialogue system, since they both share a 'pick tone from menu and wait to see what happens' design. AP has a time limit so you can't sit there for ages deciding which is the most beneficial option. Also - supposedly - there are no wrong options. Some people prefer the AP style as it brings tension and a natural flow to dialogue, others don't like the pressure.

The other have been based around NPC loyalty (doing 1 set mission versus needing to work and play to that character's likes), and the effect of player choices (not that much versus quite a lot).

IMO this individual approval deal, with a numbered scale to mark approval, is a lot better than the system in ME2. Approval system here is a lot more like what it was in DAO. So basically they've picked the dialogue wheel from ME series, and used it with a DAO style approval system. Though, I don't like the time limit thingy either. Nor the fact as to how the number of conversations is so limited and places where conversations trigger, pre-set.