Random Video Game Idea 2

[BigDaddyCool]

It would kinda be neat if they made a game loosely based off Burn Notice. See you would be a spy that got fired. The main story line would be trying to figure out who did it and getting revenge. The game play would be somewhere inbetween Grand Theft Auto and Mass Effect. You could go pretty much anywhere in the city, pick up all sorts of odd side jobs to make money. But your character changes depending on how you resolve situations. I think if done properly, a game like that would be neat.

[Kane Knight]

As I said on MSN, I agree.

[BigDaddyCool]

See, I figure your character has options on how to handle most situations, shotting their way out, talking their way out. Decisions can be made on how to get information from people (toture, smooth talk, and so on). Money can be used to buy cars and upgrade them, guy weapons and ammo and neat little spy devices, bribe poilce men. I figure you can get in trouble with the law, but not like wanted levels, either you are being pursued by the police or not. You can try to bribe them, maybe shoot them, and whatever.

[Kalyx triaD]

Open-ended RPG spy shooter.

Am I getting that right?

[Kalyx triaD]

Cause that's awesome.

[BigDaddyCool]

Something like that. There will be a main story arc, I'm not sure if it will be as open ended as GTA.

[Kalyx triaD]

Games these days are actually regressing back to its streamlined roots (ironic IMO), I guess people finally learned open-ended games - oddly enough - can get boring. The 'longer than a movie, shorter than a JRPG' timeframe is getting more popular. People do like their objectives to be open-ended in the way you deal with them, but in a linear game overall. And I think episodic content will get pretty big next gen.

[BigDaddyCool]

And a spy game like this can easily have a sequal after revenge has been had. Some could contact him, move him to a new city, or leave him in the same one. He gets double crossed, whole new story line of cat and mouse.

[Requiem]

Only if Bruce 'Mothafuckin' Campbell was your best friend.

[BigDaddyCool]

I'm sure he could do some voice acting for the video game. He could also be talked into some reverse acting.

[Kane Knight]

And a spy game like this can easily have a sequal after revenge has been had. Some could contact him, move him to a new city, or leave him in the same one. He gets double crossed, whole new story line of cat and mouse.

Kinda like how Burn Notice: Season 2 is dealing with a whole new set of handlers (though it's still the same storyline so far).

[HeartBreakMan2k]

Not EXACTLY what you're looking for but check out a game called Alpha Protocol. It's in development now. It is a spy shooter crossed with a bit of an open ended RPG.

The concept of the game is based off of major spies and you choose what route you want to go in handling a certain sitation. Handle some things like Bond, some things like Bourne if you'd like.

[HeartBreakMan2k]

From Gamespot.com

Staying Alpha With Alpha Protocol (http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/preview-blog/909185203/26474130/staying-alpha-with-alpha-protocol.html) This past week, Sega put on a conference call to give gaming outlets an opportunity to hear Obsidian discuss their forthcoming modern espionage role-playing game, Alpha Protocol (http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/alphaprotocol/index.html). We sat in on the call as members of the development team talked story, combat, dialog, and how exactly you place an RPG in a modern spy setting. From the sound of things, it's shaping up to be a promising take on the malleable, character-driven storylines of recent Western RPGs with a bit of international espionage flair.

Story and Setting
"Alpha Protocol" is a term used to describe what happens when a covert agent's ties to the government are cut--not on his own accord, but by the agency itself. This contrasts with the plotline of the Bourne trilogy where the assassin protagonist has a change of heart and decides to go rogue on his own volition. Alpha Protocol stars Michael Thorton as the agent who's been sent out to sea (so to speak) by the government he once called his employer.

The setting will take Thorton all over the world. You build a vast list of contacts who will give you missions in various international locales. There's no hub city in which you spend the majority of your time. Instead, you're a nomad who doesn't stay in any one area for any length of time. The general aesthetic of the game is said to be highly influenced by the 2005 movie Syriana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriana), a film that used gritty, terse storytelling to weave a plotline featuring mature political themes as shown in several international settings. But as a way of keeping things from getting too dry, Obsidian says this modern setting will offer plenty of visual flourishes, effects and general camera trickery.

Character Customization
The character you play is, first and foremost, Michael Thorton. So when you get to designing the look of your character at the game's outset, you'll be limited to modest alterations like facial hair and so forth. If you're looking to create a freakish medical oddity pulled directly from the Mass Effect character creation system, you're more than likely out of luck.

The character you design will have ten skills that can be upgraded throughout the course of the game. You can select predesigned "backgrounds" for Thorton that act as a skill template, but you can also adjust them manually at the beginning. These skills include elements such as weapon abilities, computer hacking, resistance to damage and lock-picking.

One of the biggest focuses for Obsidian is to avoid the pitfalls of sticking Michael Thorton into one of the "three J.B." roles prominent in espionage games--James Bond, Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne. Rather than forcing you to play as a suave ladykiller, a torture-prone tough guy, or an amnesiac with otherworldly melee skills, you'll be able to craft your version of Michael Thorton through the game's skill system and dialog options. Speaking of which...

Dialog and Character Interactions
Just like with Obsidian's previous work, dialog will play a large role in Alpha Protocol. The system at work is called the "Dialog Stance" system. With this, the focus is on choosing a general emotional stance on a particular issue. From there, Thorton will decide what sort of lines to use. Obsidian says this system looks a lot like the Mass Effect interface, but in terms of implementation it doesn't circle back around as much when you discuss matters that have already been talked about. But much like Mass Effect (and the two sequels to previous BioWare games Obsidian has worked on, Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2) dialog will be a critical force in shaping the world around you. Your contacts are critical to the storyline, and what you say to them, and wind up doing as a result, will prove a big factor in what happens during the plotline and the new broadcasts played out in-game.

Combat and Weapons
It seems most of the role-playing elements in Alpha Protocol are focused on the character development, because combat is firmly rooted in the third-person shooter genre. You can still upgrade various gun skills to determine how well your character can shoot and achieve critical hits, but there's no D-20 system running under the hood. It's almost entirely up to you and your twitch reflexes. But it's not that straightforward; Thorton can unlock super-charged special abilities like the bullet time-inspired "chain shot" despite the fact that the setting is mostly rooted in reality.

The guns in the game are loosely based on real-life models, but they can be heavily customized with various modifications and ammo upgrades. In fact, Obsidian says that upgrades are a good way to counterbalance a lack of gun skills. If your version of Thorton is a lock-picking wizard who excels in stealth, you can compensate for the fact that he might be a terrible shot by upgrading your gun to high heaven.

Of course, you don't have to run around with guns blazing if you don't want to. Characters who specialize in skills like hacking and gadget use can affect the environment in such a way as to minimize the amount of combat they'll need to do. It's entirely within the realm of possibility to sneak around and perform stealth takedowns if that's what you'd like to go with.

Wrapping It Up
We're pretty excited to see what Alpha Protocol has to offer when we get a chance to see it in person. All these conceptual details sound intriguing, and the fact that Obsidian has worked on critically acclaimed games in the past lends credibility to all the early talk. An RPG taking place in a modern espionage setting sounds too interesting to pass up, so we'll be sure to keep you updated on Alpha Protocol as more details arrive.

[HeartBreakMan2k]

I've actually been really excited about this for about a year now.

[Mooияakeя™]

More info ion that one HBM posted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Protocol

I heard of this and was intersted in something like this.

Though I'd love a crack at something like Frontier: Elite 2. - Fuck Eve Online, i want something I can play for 2 hours a day or even leave it for a few days and I ain't a noob. Fucking RL does exist god dammit.