I was bummed when I heard Deus Ex Human Revolution was getting bumped to later 2011. So much so that I went to Steam and grabbed a copy of the original. My original copy was for OS9 and there was never an OSX port so this was pretty much my only option :\
I had very different memories of this game. I seemed to recall there being far more branches than there are. The game comes down to very basic choices.
Good/evil
Diplomat/warlord
This is reflected in the level design as well where making diplomatic choices can open backdoors and being violent can close them, though at the end of the day, it's the same missions. Mass Effect has this to some extent as well, though it is more neatly divided into social areas and combat areas, whereas Deus Ex does not separate them at all. You can basically start shooting and blowing up stuff whenever you want.
I'm not sure what I like better.
As I begin planning for a new Black Powder Red Earth campaign, probably to be called Black Powder Grey Skies, I am trying to figure out a smart way to build/track a "branching" narrative from a purely story perspective. I picked up a few of the Bioware GDC lectures on the subject and have gotten some good ideas. We'll see how it progresses.
As much as I enjoy making the Facebook game, I still have my eyes on a high speed FPS multiplayer game and a longer story experience set in the world of BPRE :)
Never got into the original Dues Ex, but I'm very excited for the new one. Recently I played Mass Effect 2 and loved it. It frustrates me though, because I felt ME1 was one of the few games where I found myself reading all the 'fluff' and exploring. ME 2 diminished that, but really made combat a lot more enjoyable and the campaign more concise (narrowing if you ask me). Kotr and the ME series have been the only RPGs I find myself completing and replaying. Fallout 3 had me for awhile, but it wouldn't stop crashing on my PC and the combat got pretty boring. Never been too big a fan of Japanese rpgs, but I did love FFX.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your indecisiveness; I hate options that are so obvious ( blow up the city; you're bad. Save the city: you're good. Sometimes I just want to ignore that damn city!). I think the way ME2 was done was near perfect. Let them implement more 'shades of grey' options and keep the combat/dialogue divide and I think ME 3 will be the game of the year.
Really excited to see what comes of your project, and it's a lot of fun to keep checking in.
ME3 is definitely on my must play for 2011 list, though the original did not hook me at all. The acting and dialog was so stiff...it really was an example of the uncanny valley driving me away from a title. Though, as I recall, the combat really sucked as well LOL
ReplyDeleteRe BPRE, have you tried the Facebook game? It was our first attempt to produce a "modern warfare" role playing game. It gets much more into the intrigue side of the house than just face shooting bad guy after bad guy. We're starting to tune the game to have combat that feels more like an RPG now as well...I'm looking at you Vagrant Story and Front Mission series!!!
The new campaign I am developing is going to take a bit longer. I'm doing research on the new country where it takes place. I've got a lot of background but there's so much more to learn even when the country has existed for 63 years! History informs so much of intention and character...
I remember when I wrote the current campaign the "simple concept" was "What if Saudi Arabia hired Blackwater to fight the Iranians in Iraq after the US leaves?" That in itself has proved a nightmare to communicate to most people LOL
I can say the core gameplay concept I am focused on now is "Body of Lies meets Deux Ex/Mass Effect 2". Can you imagine the potential as an MMO? Hmmm life is baby steps though -_-
j
Babysteps indeed, hard when you're as ambitious as you are.
ReplyDeleteI love engrossing backstories that flirt with history and to a lesser worldly person could be taken as real. I think that's one of the reasons why I loved the MGS series so much, especially Snakeater.
I did try the FB game and i'll be honest, I lack the attention for a text clicker like that. My days of pen and paper RPGS are behind me. That said, I was overwhelmed with the attention towards setting and what not; really cool. To see all that you've read, planned, and thought of I wish the best of luck to you guys in the financial /physical aspect of the project; I'd love to see a badass indie FPS/RPG like this.
I was only recently hooked by the claw of ME 2, mostly due to me having a ps3 instead of a 360 or a decent PC. I actually did find myself doing a lot of exploring and thought it to be one of those games that I want to try for 100% completion.
ReplyDeleteBut something struck me as familiar while playing: about this time last year a sega game called Alpha Protocol came out that seemed to follow a similar structure. The same cover-based combat, select which mission you want to do first, similar level-up system in which you add points to different skills, etc.
The one huge difference with this non-fantasy RPG is that you are instead bombarded with choices that affect the future. There are characters that you can kill off and miss out on levels, or create enemies/friends that allow you to explore different levels, or have characters show up in future levels and offer multiple endings which change the plot. It’s really complicated, here’s an example:
If you go on a boat mission, at the end you battle with some deaf/mute punk-rock looking chick. If you choose to let her live, her brother, who is part of yet another secret organization, will thank you and ask to meet with him as another level. Get on his good side and his organization will assist you in future levels. However a couple levels later when you are after some bad guy, the brother’s organization will be stealing something and get caught; you now have to either save him or have a boss battle with the bad guy. Either he dies or the bad guy gets away.
So if you’re looking for a non-fantasy RPG with a lot of branches, Alpha Protocol is a 400-year-old willow tree.
Oh, and I love the MGS3 backstory.