ALPHA protocol

[Art Blade]

Currently I'm playing the next mission, locations so far look good but not overwhelmingly good. Still, don't worry if your read that, I mention it because I believe it is important to know but at the same time I repeat, don't worry because the gameplay will keep you busy enough that you won't take notice. It's not hectic, which I like, you can take your time to walk around, think about how you're going to proceed, enough time for tactical thoughts. What I don't like is that the map isn't bound to a key (or I haven't found it in the keymapping) -- you need to open the inventory and there open intel which will open the map. Quite a chore if you want to check quickly  where you are or where you're going to find objectives.

The basics of a mission are:

• follow waypoints (checkpoints)
• avoid or eliminate guards
• avoid or deactivate alarms
• lockpicking and computer hacking
• search all rooms for collectibles (ammo, upgrades, money)
• accomplish secondary objectives if available
• if you can't avoid it, finish the mission ;)

[Art Blade]

oh, another funny moment. "gather intel" led me to hack into a computer terminal which was located right next to a massive rocket launcher turret (looked like those of JC2 which protect military facilities, AA sites). The hack caused that thing to launch a proper AA missile that went straight into the opposite wall. My radio switched on

Westridge: "What the hell was that?"
you: "I, erm, launched a rocket."

^+-+

[Art Blade]

Ok I admit it, this game is addictive. The stories (missions) can be influenced by your actions. If you were to find a bad guy, once you found him you could decide how to deal with him, like taunt him, believe him, execute him (for the more drastic sort of conversation) and so on. Obviously an executed baddy can't be of much help any more, but in case you let him live, he may go and get intel for you or you might get better offers, money.. nice :)

Now after the first big series of operations in the Middle East, I am told to specialise. Skills like pistol or martial arts so far were freely accessible, you could spend your XP points randomly across the skills sheet, but there is a limit as to how many per skill unless you have to specialise in three skills -- then you have about twice as many upgrades available for those special skills (given you have enough XP points). What I like is that at this point, when you decide in which fields to specialise (operative = free choice, vs preset specialisations) you are allowed to redistribute XP points which allows for corrections or completely new arrangements. That part reminds me of Mass Effect 1, there you could specialise too and I believe you were also allowed to redistribute XP points.

[Art Blade]

Indeed, savegames are good. I reloaded one that put me back at the end of "episode 1" and before specialising. I wanted to redo some conversations and get a different result which I managed to do, also reconsider specialisation. Now things go the way I hope they're best for my type of game.

I like how it develops. And apart from shooting or stealth approaches the game is about choices. Many of them. And all of them have an influence on how it's developing. You can play a real badass and kill everyone when given the opportunity (not my style) or something in between or no kills at all. A lot of freedom there :) I play a style between professional and friendly (I don't kill any target unless I've got all intel necessary that justifies such an act) and I'm mostly into martial arts incapacitating opponents rather than using weapons, unless I have to shoot my way out, that is. I believe there is a lot of potential for replays, if you have time for it that is. I have a feeling that I'm far from the end, yet I've done so much already.

For some reason the graphics seem to improve over time.. almost as if rewarding you for playing on  ;D I really like the game, so far it is very immersive, you build some kind of relationship between you and main characters, be it like or dislike, there are characters you get used to meeting or hearing from. I like that a lot :)

[Art Blade]

This game looks cool!  8)

Reminds me of Splinter Cell games, which I enjoyed a lot... only played the very first SC and there are a few of them - a new title, SC Conviction is out now!

It is a really good game. I like to spend time playing it, very enjoyable. No hiccups during gameplay, all smooth. I don't know SC apart from what I couldn't avoid hearing about it, but at that time it didn't interest me. So I can't compare it with AP.

I like how the guy play stealth. For what he said you can just go guns blazing as well, which adds for good replay value even for a linear looking game!  :-X

For me this time stealth wasn't really an option.. early in the game I failed miserably, so I chose to do it Star Wars style: "The force will be with you"  ;D If I see enemies, I take 'em all down. Those who are not into close quarter combat get shot, plain and simple. Hehe  ;D

Keep us posted of how you like it, mate!

I'm on it, I'm on it.. but I kind of miss responses. No replies ever since I've started to report..  :-(

[JRD]

(...) I kind of miss responses. No replies ever since I've started to report..  :-(

Chillax, mate... I'm reading through your reports!  ^+-+

Only, I'm busy doing other stuff this weekend and also I can feel the excitement of a new game in your posts. Maybe after a few days of gameplay you'll come up with a less biased report!  ;)

Sriously now... the RPG aspect of this game sounds interesting, but if its too much RPG, I'll let it pass... when you have some kind of control on skills I find it cool, but when I have to study thoroughly how to distribute skill points before level up and choose among dozens of skills, then it turns into an annoying task instead of fun time! I quit playing Knights of the Old Republic due to that kind of thing. I actually picked it up from where I left once, but can't w@&k my way through so many options and stuff!

Spliter Cell is a stealth game with capital stealth! Once you engage in open combat, you are screwed. Your character pick locks, hack computers, hide in the shadow, stealth kill people, hide bodies.. all unnoticed... great game but very linear.

I'll keep checking here and see how you like it, but am more interested in your reports about WoP!  ;D ;D ;D

[Art Blade]

Thanks for that, lol  ;D

There are only like 10 skills (never counted them) 9 skills. One is stealth, one is martial arts, and the rest is devided into weapons and other skills, like how your health increases or how you can make use of tech stuff. So not too much of it, but each skill branch can be taken through maybe 25 15 improvements. That's when the specialisation kicks in, the basics can only be taken to like level 10 level 7, and from there on only three skills can be taken to the max.

You can try and accomplish missions unseen, but for my taste it takes too long  ;D I decided to do it pac man style.. gobble my way through every opponent as quickly as possible until I get to the heart of the mission. It still took some time  ;D The rest of the game (perhaps 50%) is story with dialogue options and decisions like which mission to take on, and reading through intel, emails etc.. so 50% action, 50% RPG. Just like we discussed a few times lately, it's kind of a TPS RPG or a RPG with TPS aspects  ;D Definitely not focussing on action although it plays a big role.. lol, you see..  ;)

And one thing, I'm not biased because it's new. Remember HoE? It was new and I virtually killed it on the forum very quickly. AP is just a good game from start  :)

did check the skills sheet ;)

[Art Blade]

About interaction with other characters through dialogue options:

From start, everyone is neutral towards you. A lot of those options are linked with karma points. If a character prefers a professional talk and you keep joking or insulting or flirting instead of talking business, you'll gain negative karma points with that character. Most of the time a professional attitude gains you positive karma points. The karma points are linked with the dialogue partner, not with you, so you'll never see it like we do on this forum where you'll know someone gave you  a thumbs up, in the game you'll see who  gave you a thumbs up (or a smite).

They turn from neutral to "like" (likes you) to trusting to friend. 10 positive karma points equals friendship, you can't top that any more as far as I could observe. One (maybe two) negative karma points still let them appear neutral towards you. In my game all characters range from neutral to "like" and only with Mina I'm friends. The way they talk to you changes depending on your reputation, someone who likes you will likely provide you with intel and keep a nicer tone in his conversations, and with a friend there's some personal touch to it, and you get emails asking how you're doing etc. If you piss someone off, that will be reflected in his replies and dialogue options, too. One example is what Tez showed in one of his vids, when Westridge communicated with him via TV, he switched it off. If you do that, cut off a dialoge, it will result in -1 reputation (with Westridge in that case) :)

So that's why it is important to consider (quickly) how to respond in a talk or if you are allowed to reply to an email (not common) you can choose which way you'd like to reply, too.

I like it how you can "make friends" or leave them be (neutral) or annoy them (I don't know what happens then, I never tried that on purpose -- I used to gain another positive karma to get even). Obviously you can't befriend someone when you keep annoying and pleasing them in turns.. that will just add up to neutral while you could have gathered positive karma all the way (or negative karma, if you are so inclined).

Quite interesting, that  :) :-X

[Art Blade]

Now I have to stop playing (bed time) -- this game has turned from a simple shooter with some RPG elements (what I had expected first) over a good RPG with TPS aspects into a great political thriller. If you do it right, regarding reputation and buying intel, it is even better than some movie productions. The plot is cool and turns in ways that are not exactly predictable. Probably the best "modern" RPG I've played so far. :-X On top, I like the voices and voice acting.

[PZ]

My initial reaction when you reported that the graphics are a bit dated was that it is not the game for me - unless the graphics are stunningly realistic, I find it difficult to get really into it.  However, as your stories develop, the RPG aspects seem intriguing.  :-X

[JRD]

Funny... I read some bad reviews at IGN and Gamespot... not that hey are spot on with my taste, but usually games I like get good reviews there and games I don`t like get bad reviews.

A good plot is essential for a good game, no matter if its an RPG, FPS, TPS. And also good action mechanics to stealth or combat. Both things are what those sites lists as clumsy and soulless!  ????

[Art Blade]

You know guys.. maybe they  are biased.  ;D Maybe they haven't actually played it themselves.. or, not intensely enough. Game graphics not stunningly realistic keep you from playing? FO3 got a lot of attention here, even a board of its own.

I'm not writing here to make anyone like or even buy any game, I write my personal opinion and try to be as open minded as possible, so I always mention stuff that doesn't seem to w@&k well and games like HoE get a virtual headshot from my end if they deserve it ("make sure to use a joystick" -- no joystick supported and even after patching it was not properly implemented). But if a game is good, I explain why I think it's good.

Bad critics? What about FC2? The game our entire site is built upon didn't exactly appear to be any good if you check the countless forums, including UBI's, and critics weren't exactly great if I remember correctly. I ended up here back then because I was desperate.. no one had good and useful advice so I was looking for cheats, and when I found the roots of this site here, only then did I learn how differently it could be perceived.

So I actually don't care what anyone else utters about games, unless they're members of OWG. Or if I can watch vids on youtube that show a lot about a game.. like those from Tez.

However, I've played a couple of RPGs and this here is a lot of fun. If it had graphics like Kane&Lynch, I'd probably need medication upgrades and be treated by a vet (bigger doses) to keep me from playing this day and night  ;D

[Art Blade]

About action mechanics, here you go:

Action is shooting, taking cover, seek and destroy, hide and discover.. all that takes place, while enemies don't really seem to hide. They're either posted or on patrol. If they spot you or alarm is raised (by the player who isn't yet able to quickly solve puzzles or gets caught in a vid cam surveillance) they will try to track you down without subtlety. This helps when you sneak away silently or if you want them to run into the trap you're sitting in waiting for them. They will use cover to their advantage and maybe wait for you to show, but I've not seen them trying to flank me. Perhaps because I killed them first or there was no way of flanking me (me in a trap, a room with only one door, lol). The fights are fun but hell, they sometimes manage to kill you if you're not really aware of dangers ;)

You can shoot them with all kinds of upgradeable weapons and different ammo types (for example armour piercing rounds or tranquilizers and other types). You're carrying two weapons of your choice, you're not bound to a pistol in one slot and a rifle in the second slot, you can go into combat with a shotty and dual SMGs if you like. Then there are gadgets, like mines, EMPs, explosives, remotely detonable mines, hand grenades of various flavours.. man, you can be a one man army  ;D Stealth depends on your outfit.. the heavier your gear, the more noise you make.. less noise = less items in your inventory and poorer armour. Full armour and stuffed to your teeth with weapons and gadgets, you're not exactly a butterfly in a mild breeze. More like a tank with smelly feet ;D Armour upgrades can increase your stealth. Stealth works, but it takes time to move around, better change your loadout before you go on a mission so you're not a rattling collection of tin pots when trying to sneak around unseen ;) And better use heavy armour and guns if you are the "all in" type  ;D

And there is martial arts. It does look very good, and you hit E a couple of times to perform a series of (random) kicks and punches, later you can upgrade to run and jump into an enemy knee first and knock him out, and then if you like stomp him in the guts to finish him off. Martial arts is my favourite style, it looks really cool and the sounds you make are cool too (due to very fast punches you hear your suit make noises that indeed resemble those noises that can be heard in a real life training / in a dojo). It usually doesn't kill enemies but renders them incapacitated, which is good enough. Later on you can upgrade martial arts to finish someone off after dishing out a blow and immediately pull out your gun to shoot your enemy at point blank distance, if you want to kill him that is. When hidden, you can choose between either "take him out" or "perform a kill" -- so again, choices.

So combat and stealth and all that is available, depending on how you like to play, and all of it can be fun. I'm more the tank type with a bit of camouflage around the cannons, though  ;D

[JRD]

usually games I like get good reviews there and games I don`t like get bad reviews.

Bad critics? What about FC2?

Hehehehehe... I see I touched a nerve  :-() :-() :-()

Both IGN and Gamespot gave FC2 8,0-8,5, which is very good imo.

Reviwers are usually meeting a deadline and not playing the kind of game they like - when they actually get to play it right! But some guys can be pretty much straightforward sometimes and bad reviews are bond to point out some fun ruining flaws  ;)

I'm glad you are taking the time to write about your gaming experience... an OWG member opinion worth ten thousand site reviews for me!  :-X :-X

A few questions you can answer though

- Environment: I've seen building interiors in a videoa and nothing else (didn't do my homework properly yet  ::) ). What kind of places you play at? Indoors mostly or anything outdoors where a sniper rifle is of some use? Linear games usually "make" areas for a sniper approach, like a big square in a city-like environment, but are otherwise a close quarter kind of thing!

- Cover mechaniism: if you ever played Rainbow Six Vegas, you know what a great cover mechanism is... how does it plays out in AP? Your last post mentions that mechanism, but when it is well implemented, a game gets a new meaning! R6V made a great w@&k with cover/blind shooting

- How much Artificial Dumbness they put into that game? Are enemies ameba-brained or do they care for their digital self?

[Art Blade]

Ahhh, balls. JRD, you posted while I'm still on this!!  ^+-+ So I'll slip in a reply and then add my freshly composed post  ;D

Hehehehehe... I see I touched a nerve  :-() :-() :-()
Really? I haven't noticed.  ;D ;D ;D

I'm glad you are taking the time to write about your gaming experience... an OWG member opinion worth ten thousand site reviews for me!  :-X :-X Thanks, I see you're glad that you're with us, mate :)

A few questions you can answer though sure

- Environment: I've seen building interiors in a video and nothing else (didn't do my homework properly yet  ::) ).never mind ;) What kind of places you play at? Indoors mostly nope, like 50/50.. sometimes in a building, sometimes an Arab palace ruin, now I'm in Rome, then there is Moscow, and I think China.. all over the world, different locations, and you live in different safehouses with a really posh design :) or anything outdoors where a sniper rifle is of some use? Although a sniper rifle isn't available at the arms dealer (at least not yet) there are missions that provide the opportunity to use one which can be found in dead drops or guard towers. Linear games usually "make" areas for a sniper approach, like a big square in a city-like environment, but are otherwise a close quarter kind of thing! Here it's everything :) Even conversation meetings may take place in a street caffe or a bar.. really diversified :)

- Cover mechaniism: if you ever played Rainbow Six Vegas no..., you know what a great cover mechanism is... no idea... how does it plays out in AP? Your last post mentions that mechanism, but when it is well implemented, a game gets a new meaning! R6V made a great w@&k with cover/blind shooting You can do that, take cover and pop up from behind and shoot and flick back into cover, the AI does that, too

- How much Artificial Dumbness they put into that game? Are enemies ameba-brained or do they care for their digital self? They're not completely stupid, but they need to risk something if I don't leave a building.. so they get in and I kill them  ;D The AI is good enough on Easy, no idea how Medium or Hard plays out.

[Art Blade]

Now that is weird. A bad guy I'm after met with me and we had a chat during which I managed to gather 9/10 karma points with him = trusted. Later, different mission: When trespassed rather than break into his villa, he had me dragged to his desk and there we talked a bit more, resulting in 10/10 = friend. Which didn't stop him from ordering his guard to introduce me to an electro shocker that let me drop off my chair. He then said something like "That was 10,000 volts. Guards, beat him until he can no longer stand but make sure that he's still able to talk."  You see, there are friends and there are friends.  ^+-+

A tip on both disabling alarm and hacking into a computer: Learn to do two things at the same time: While you trace one route on the circuit of an alarm board, check where the next number is so you can go on quicker. While hacking, move both passwords around (left hand/left password with keyboard, right hand/right password mouse). That allows you to create shorter ways to the matches. My fastest attempt in hacking is now 4.80 seconds and indeed I've improved a lot and like that I usually end up under 10 secs.

Sounds too difficult? Well here is something for you: EMP "grenades." Stick or throw them to the device you want to break and BANG.. done. 2 seconds perhaps  ;D Only you can't carry around a bag full of EMPs.. so keep them for the tough stuff you're having real difficulties hacking, if you're having difficulties, that is. You can also develop skills that give you more time disabling devices or hacking systems. And there are armour upgrades (let's call it a data glove) that slightly improve your skills, too. And there are perks that come with increased skills, you can activate them for some time and then they need to cool down for some time. All that to solve one particular situation, and that goes for other situations as well.. again, choices.. :)

Regarding graphics, the game is far from photo-realistic, but some elements are rather nicely done, others are still quite nice.. it's like a mixture of Hitman:BloodMoney on steroids combined with TDU (the interior design of villas) and now I think I know why the graphics are hmmm not typical for a PC game.. it's a SEGA production.. a console manufacturer/game publisher.. SEGA was never a top league player in this regard as far as I know, judging from SEGA games I know. Anyway, still, there are a lot of different areas and locations, interior as well as exterior, all in all quite nice. I'd like to think that even a modded FO3 looks a little worse ;)

[JRD]

Hmm... checking some gameplay vids on youtube as I type!  8)

Hey Come on... graphics are very nice!!! I've played Tomb Rider, mate, I've played Doom on release!  >:D

Hmmm... can't be more linear than what I see... seems like good fun though.  :-X

Most of all, I like the idea of an RPG that is neither in outter space / alien world or dungeons and dragons!

Enjoy, mate and keep the reports flowing!

[Art Blade]

cheers :) Doom? I see you're being realistic.  >:D

What I like about AP is that some of your communication actions take a while to kick in.. for example, emails. There are several characters I receive emails from and to some of them I may reply. There are, of course, choices as to how or whom to, like forwarding intel to someone you think is best or flirting rather than dismissing.. and then you've got to wait until after the next mission to receive a reply. And only then will you know if you did it "right." So you can't always just go back to the last savegame to redo some conversation but probably just accept the outcome. I once had the choice to either meet with someone who sent an invitation via email or forward it to Mina so she could try to find out something. I forwarded it and later I found out that because I didn't reply to the sender, the meeting never happened.. because he got killed. I might have had a chat with him if I hadn't made that decision. Or maybe he would have killed me when I showed up.. or I missed out on some intel or never got a new extra mission.. I don't know. You see, if you interact with characters, they may give you extra missions, or not. It all depends.. on choices  ;D

[Art Blade]

A couple of things, briefly.

I just played a mission that was different. At one point I had to choose left or right (no matter what, "you can't have the cake and eat it"), and after that I couldn't go back. The result of my choice had multiple effects, one in how the mission played out, two the debriefing, three in the general story telling (the game starts with kind of an interview situation and then goes three months back in time so you can play what had happened then, and occasionally you get back to now and play that current interview and so forth) and probably more effects yet to come. That branching is interesting regarding replay value and I think it calls for a savegame there so you can play the other way through (which I haven't yet). I believe both ways end in a brutal situation, at least what I did was rational but of course resulted in a win and a loss,  as assumingly would have if played the other way round, like a loss and a win.  Cool  :-X

The game is so massive and I want to get through quickly but there are too many options -- I'd have to play several times through to test at least some of them. Since the game makes you solve puzzles such as hacking into computers, I decided to hack into my very own PC.

What I did was reading out my RAM and changed some data and that enabled me to level up excessively and to max out rapidly all available skills. Also I treated myself to some extra cash and purchased all available weapons and upgrades etc from all weapon dealers. Now I'm sort of supercharged within the limits of the game settings and it is still fun to play because that doesn't change the story. At least I know what all those upgrades do and which armour suit is coolest etc. Like that I can comment on an awful lot of stuff such as weapons, armour, skills, upgrades and so on.

I used ArtMoney (nothing to do with me) which I already mentioned at the end of FC2's cheat topic, in case you're interested.

[Art Blade]

Anyone interested in a full spoiler, Wikipedia is just about right for that. Describes various aspects of the game, too.

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


Heh, what I've seen so far! Safehouses in the Middle East, Italy (Rome), Taiwan (Taipei), Russia (Moscow) yet to come.. nice. Dealt with CIA, VCI (Veteran Combat Initiative), triads, all kinds of fanatics, criminal businessmen.. yay.

There was a funny moment when I had an option to drop down into something like a canal with dark brown stuff in it.. out of curiosity (not need) I jumped in. Twice.

(Paraphrasing) You: "Eeeew.. I don't want to know what it is I'm stepping in.. it's pudding. Keep telling yourself you're walking in a big bowl of chocolate pudding.. Yech! It smells of gook a$$! -- Mina, remind me to burn everything I'm wearing when I get home!"  ^+-+

[Art Blade]

Btw Art - I haven't commented yet, but I'm enjoying your review of AP. Sounds like quite an interesting game - yucky, smelly brown stuff notwithstanding :-X Just remember to wipe your feet before you rejoin polite company :-\\

Thanks, mate :)

Wipe my feet? Hehe, since there's martial arts available, I'd prefer a different approach.. if I see an enemy from behind, I'll kick him in the butt so hard the lump in his throat will be the tip of my boot.  ;D

[Art Blade]

I have a new funny friend. Crazed out, more likely :) Nomen est omen, he is called Steven Heck  ;D

From my (Mike Thorton) latest debriefing:

During the pursuit, Steven Heck (at Agent Thorton's request) arrived to offer emergency backup. Said backup came in the form of Heck crudely mounting a minigun to a subway car firing wildly at Chinese secret police officers as his train passed the platform.

When that happened I was busy a bit away in a room on that platform and I heard that ruckus outside. I thought a war had broken out. LOL  ^+-+

[Art Blade]

Now I see results of my general attitude and strategy. Two groups (a triad and a covert organisation) assist me in a current mission because of my previous actions and reputation and they are provided by Heck with better weapons and armour. Four of the many characters are +10 rep with me = friends and most of them range from liked to trusted towards me. Only very few are neutral. This is really a cool game, considering how many things there are that you can influence in different ways and the effects of your actions play a role in upcoming missions (as well as in whether or not there are extra missions available).  :-X

Also it payed off that I usually don't kill people unless it's unavoidable, I just received a reward for not killing 250 opponents.. my endurance got a significant boost. Actually all your actions give you all kinds of perks.

[Art Blade]

I've read a little on the net about this game: As usual, there are people who love it as well as people who don't. Most of what I read from those who don't like it seems to be unfulfilled expectation. Which means that they expected the game to be something, whatever that was, and apparently never gave it a chance. We all know, meanwhile, that the game's graphics don't meet extremely high standards, but hey, I told you, it's really ok. The issues some people report regarding glitches and so on: I don't know about them, the game never crashed here, never produced graphical errors of any kind and the AI was thank god quite predictable (as are mercs in FC2 and govmen in JC2 etc). It's not a fast paced action shooter alright.

The sneaking around does w@&k, only it really requires you to observe the patterns of the AI and cope with them accordingly which does take time. Sometimes a lot of time, but that again is cool.. it's thrilling not to get detected at all and it's doable. Then you'll have to find out which weapons suit you best, I think good advice is Pistol and Assault Rifle. When you read the mission briefing, you really should go back to your armoury and make changes necessary and hope you chose well. Which is another thrill. Once you've picked your weapons and combat suit (there are many) all upgrades and whatever kind of stuff you possess will be available during the missions so you can exchange parts to adapt even better, only you can't change the weapons, gadgets and suits during a mission.

The next thing you should consider is that aiming accurately requires you to train your weapon on your target and wait until the crosshair has homed in completely on the target ("critical shot"). Any firing while moving or from the hip is pure luck, so don't complain -- in real life it would be the same. Then there are your skills.. you'll find out quite easily what does or might suit you best because every single upgrade is clickable offering a description, even if you can't yet upgrade. So you can read what the master skills (maxed out) would be if you chose them. Which is way cooler than any other game I know, they used to hide such information rendering your levelling-up a matter of luck, here it isn't.

Then the main thing, the conversations, well.. you don't have much time to select a reply. It is still doable, and in case you screwed up, there are your individual savegames, so save the game after every checkpoing. If you forget to save, it's your own fault. You'd still progress but probably not the way you wanted to. I reloaded a few savegames to replay part of a mission so I could revoke previous mistakes during conversations or "wrong turns" in the game. You don't need to do that, the game will go on regardless, but I like to get it right (the way I want to) and for me it's not a problem to replay from the last (or any) checkpoint if I insist on getting a specific result. All that is mostly relevant if you want to get your reputation right (no matter in which direction you want to go) so either making friends or foes or keep characters neutral.. your choice. And it's fun to see what happens or how it changes if you choose a different reply.

All that said, the game is wonderful, you really get the impression that what you do does matter and you really can make a change = your decisions and actions are long-lasting and will have an effect on the game. Just great, excellent replay value for further playthroughs.

I am thoroughly enjoying the game  :-X :)

[JRD]

Also it payed off that I usually don't kill people unless it's unavoidable, I just received a reward for not killing 250 opponents.. my endurance got a significant boost. Actually all your actions give you all kinds of perks.

I assume you`ll have another go on the game, this time unleashing the inner beast in a killing spree?!?!?!  >:D >:D