RPGCodex’s 2010 Year in Review

RPGCodex does their traditional year in review, from European dragon-related RPGs, to indies, to mainstream fail (Alpha Protocol), to Fallout: New Vegas.

Alpha LoloFAIL was going to be awesome. It was an RPG through and through but not just your standard fantasy-fare with +1 Vorpal Swords of Beheading and Hawt Sexy Chainmal of Romance++. No, Alpha Popamole was going to be based in a deep and intriguing spy-world. Where you, Mr. Spy, could choose your approach through missions with consequences that would affect who gave you information, what sort of quests opened up and how the game unfolded. Inspired by the three J.B’s, you could be a suave James Bond and take your missions shaken, not stirred. Stealth through them like Jason Bourne (or did Jason Bourne explode through them?) or simply interrogate the fuck out of everything that moves Jack Bauer-style.

At least, as always, that was the plan. What with all the dark epic gritty redefining of RPGs for teh kiddies, like most grand plans when it came to fruition, it seems a lot of it got lost along the way. After the hoo-ha last year in some leaked minutes that “Mass Effect felt more RPG” than the much vaunted Alpha Turd, Obsidian would have to deliver.

And deliver they did.

Delivered that is:
* A broken stealth system.
* Mini-Game Extravaganza.
* Over-powered abilities.
* An apparent inability to actually approach different scenarios in much different ways other than blasting your way through mission after mission.
* A miserly 10 – 15 hours of game-play.
* Obsidian still sucks with cameras.

Needless to say, it was far from perfect. But still, some people like it. If it was an indie game, perhaps it would’ve been praised highly for daring to aim for something better and still providing something fun? But no, it’s a mainstream AAA title. We expect better. Our standards are higher for those.