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One of my most anticipated games of the year since I read about it in a mag months ago.
Looks great.

Such an awesome premise. Unfortunately the "Alpha" part seems to be emphasised in all the footage I've seen of it so far. Very unpolished.

Interested, will have to see if one faction's walkthrough would be completely different from the other, or if some of them just culminate together like KOTOR.

i'd like to look forward to this but two things concern me.

The timer on the choices may add "tension" but i believe it may also remove thought in your actions..weighing up the consequences of what those choices may lead too - especially as it seems you have to make your choice of reply before they've finished talking to you.

But my main concern is the terrible screen tearing... which would just distract so much that i wouldnt even bother with it at this point.

i really hope you can change the guys face ala mass effect, cos default guy is pretty punchable looking.

wow just wow its a preview build.....

Tha game looks promising any release date?

Actually, I think it is a good thing . . . very much like real life in that you are going to be required to make wise decisions on the fly, or pay the consequences for lesser decisions.

In a lot of ways, it also looks to work out like a good detective or spy fiction, where you the hero (anti-hero) have to actually pay close attention, and size up the situation pretty quickly. I do not know too many situations in real life or in fiction (movies, TV, novels, etc.), where the protagonists just sits there for several minutes weighing out every possible consequence for every possible thing they are going to say or do, before getting on with it. Sizing up people quickly and knowing how to deal with them, is not only considered a good trait in quality fiction writing, but is also a damned good trait to have in real life.

As much as I love a game like Fallout 3 (for example), having to cycle through, oft times, entire menus of dialog options and getting that dead space of "awkward" and uncharacteristic silence, while you peruse your dialog menu looking for what to say next, is not only a bit jolting from the immersion in that world, but is also quite boring and in the way, when you are putting in marathon sessions with the game.I think it was confirmed ages ago, the player would be able to create their own "character" at the start of the game. Furthermore, that the character created, would continue to evolve throughout the course of the game based on the decisions the players make once the game started.

The premise does very good, and having shades of gray gameplay adds to re-playability which is huge. The dynamic conversation system a little like ME is a very nice touch, will have to see if the timer is going to become annoying or not..

Being a work-in-progress build without all the polish that goes into it before releasing it, I'm not going to comment on the graphics itself, but it looks good so far..

"And screens, screens will tear us apart.. again"

I think the idea is good and could turn out great. But in my opinion it looks horrible. The graphics are not even close to current-gen games. The animations look very unnatural. The Characters are uninspired to say the least (that woman looks so cheesy, it made me laugh). The shooter-aspect doesn't look good as well. This game is in development for a long time now, I expected it to look much better than this. Even if it's an early build, how are they going to get that fixed?

EDIT: Why are the main character and that 'tough stasi woman' standing in Russia in the snow with only a short-sleeved shirt and a top that most woman wouldn't even wear if it was 40°C outside? Would that be their cover ;o)))

wow, it does look super alpha like someone else said.

The timed dialogue choices thing is from Indigo Prophecy, glad someone copied that great system. Really had to think on your feet, instead of weighing pros and cons for an hour.

Its like in real life. You can wait an hour to decide what your going t osay, but the chances the person your talking to will care by that point is slim. You need to communicate withing a certain amount of time. Real conversations don't let you wait and wait. It keeps up fluid dialogue, makes it so you can't think your decision to death, etc etc etc. You aren't supposed to be able to perfect your conversation. Just like in real life, this means you can say things you didn't exactly mean to say.

Indigo Prophecy, another great game with a lot of good ideas, even if the implementation was not exactly perfect. Thinking about it, makes we want Heavy Rain all the more.

I agree with the timed dialogue being a pretty neat idea put into the game, but at the moment the game looks pretty average overall, nothing stands out. But here's hoping they pull out a great one because the idea is neat and sega do tend to come out with the odd gem here n there, shame they can't be more consistant (yes I know they're only publishing but still my point stands).

Sakura Taisen says hi from over 9 years earlier (and 5 main titles, plus a ton of spin-offs) than Indigo Prophecy. But i'll grant you, chances are Obsidian played Indigo Prophecy before Sakura Taisen, but nonetheless they weren't the first to do it. as for the tension and timed response taking away from your ability to think out your response...that's pretty much the idea, so i'd say you're exactly right! its also an attempt to make conversation more realistic since most ppl won't just stand there staring at you blankly like they do in Mass Effect waiting for you to carefully think out every response. or at the very least they'll start to think you're a weirdo and probably start getting creeped out by you. and if the context is a high tension quick thinking scenario, then yea....think quickly.

I think i timed dialog system is a great idea, sort of forces you to either act on instinct or actually role play as you can't, as many have said above, just stop and think everything through. You'll have to act fast and hopefully that will bring you a more consistent character. At least that's how i look at it.

Wow, first if all...it's a WRPG! That's like, unique or something these days. What's more...wait for it...it doesn't take place in forests with boring medieval towns and swords and horses and whatnot! It's even set in a modern era!!! Wow, now that's a bleeding miracle!

I don't even care how crappy it is...just the fact that it's there astonishes me! Day one purchase!!!

PS: 1200!!!