Alpha Protocol Interview

Obsidian Entertainment’s Chris Avellone managed to talk his way out of several questions about Alpha Protocol and game development in general over at X360 Magazine.

To what extent do you believe storytelling in videogames should be cinematic?

If by (cinematic,) you mean face-to-face conversations that control the camera, I believe it shouldn’t be done there’s other ways to pull off the same effect while allowing a player freedom of movement and action. I think when you paralyze a player or put them in a (talk box), that ends up ultimately diminishing the experience.

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Alpha Protocol appears to be a mix of cutscenes and old-fashioned, text-based choice making which method do the team prefer working with?

Choices are preferred cut scenes are good for certain events, but there’s usually ways you can show those explosive events in the environment without taking camera control away from the player.