Alpha Protocol is $2 on Steam -- You Should Buy It

[thedeathscythe]

I see a lot of people on the fence to buy a game for $2, and I find it funny that people quote them and then try and change their mind. Here's a hint, if they're having a serious debate about a measly $2 game, then they won't buy it. Seriously. This even happens for $1 iPhone games, the game is awesome, has tons of content, but can't quite convince them to buy it, even though it's a dollar. At this point, don't even try and debate about it, their minds are essentially made up.

At a value like that, if it isn't an instant decision to buy it, then it ain't gonna happen. Sure, it's nice to let people know about these deals, but Steam does this for me when I boot it up. That being said, I actually bought the game. I bought it during the summer sale. I forget the price, but it interested me before it came out but I had heard bad things about it. Seeing it on sale, I wanted to check it out. I'm trying to be a game developer, and I'm working on my spare time to learn how (I don't see the point for school for this sort of thing). Having said that, I find it useful to play any game, good or bad, generic or unique. It has some unique features and it seems like it could be fun, but good or bad, I could learn something from playing it, and that's why I bought it. I actually haven't played it yet but having seen this, I will install it and try and find time for it this week.

The whole point of this was, if a $2 price tag doesn't make someone compulsively buy it, they won't buy it after you hassle them about it.

 

[Epona]

The game has horrible mouse control and the hacking mini-game has bad controls. You move one block of numbers with WASD and Space to confirm and the other block with the mouse (which doesn't work very well at all) and left click to confirm. It would be awkward if it worked right but since it doesn't, it's even worse. It's broken unless you play with the 360 controller but then you get the right analog stick instead of the faster, more precise mouse for combat. I can't believe Obsidian or even Sega would let this pass QA. It's a damn mess and as of right now, a waste of $2.

Wonder why the OP didn't mention these problems?

 

[KarlMonster]

Edit: IGN gave the game a 6.3, which means its about a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10

IGN pretty much bases it scores on how much its viewers want to see the game perform, so dross like Final Fantasy 13 can get a "great" 8.9 or its inbred twin Dragon Age 2 a 8.5. They occasionally like to throw a game to the wolves when they can get a away with it so they can deflate their absurdly imbalanced score system. They just choose games with minimal advertising, niche fan appeal and ones which they intentionally play like retards to make it look like the game isn't working. Really the best way to get a good score on IGN is to make sure you throw down the advertising dollars and flood them with bullshit "first looks" and news releases to get some loyalty with them.

I did purchase Alpha Protocol. And a cow bell. So now during all of the moments when the flaws annoy me, I just shake my head and make the cow bell clank.

My ears are ringing pretty much constantly.

It is a good game. That is to say, it would be a great game if it didn't have so many flaws just with mission intelligence alone. You cant even tell if you're about to walk into a stealth op or if you'll have to shoot your way out. Or even why you're going on some of the missions. How do I know who Dmitri or Lazo are? Shouldn't I have dossiers on those guys, *before* the op? There are almost enough flaws to make it a terrible game, but I have to call it good, because there's a great game in there somewhere. With Quick Time Events. So maybe I have to hate it?

Edit: The hacking game is strange, but the fix that worked for me is to bind an *alternate* interaction key. I had probs with that too, but it gets mentioned on the Steam forums often enough to find possible solutions relatively quickly. Also: if you take the time and effort to get a good hacking time in your starting evaluations, I think you get a time bonus for doing it later. More bonus time can be had when you put points in sabotage (instead of technical skills... strange breakdown).

 

[Vuljatar]

I just bought it, and in my first half hour of play I've already got almost $1 worth out of it. Yes, it is a poor man's DX:HR, but it seems decent regardless.

 

[CrawlingPastaHellion]

Seriously: buy yourself an ice-cream instead, you'll have more fun and less headaches. A potential alone does not make a game.

 

[gCrusher]

A kind friend purchased this for me, figuring, hey, $2...

Sadly, for whatever reason, my mouse doesn't really care to move the right-hand hack bar into position without a great deal of effort. Without a controller, it's unplayable.

I plug in the controller, but now the previous tutorial is worthless as I have no idea what buttons do what on the wired 360 controller. Not really relishing going through the tutorial again, wasn't fun the first time.

 

[cainx10a]

The best $2 I have spent. Had as much fun with this as I did with Deus Ex: HR. Good story, funny characters (lol Steveeeeee ... I said it beotch), but flawed minigames. The stealth could use some work, but I will put the blame on lack of vents to crawl through to get from point A to B, stealthily.

Anyhoo, Agent Thornton, signing out. Also, can you have another handler throughout the whole game, like Darcy instead of Mina?

 

[Lukeje]

Right. So after some initial confusion (the dialogue choices don't appear unless I run it in windowed mode) the game now crashes silently when loading the first level after the training missions. Great.

 

[SpaceBat]

Decent game. Has its fair share of issues in terms of gameplay (Although Stealth worked perfectly for me), but it's still decent. Dialog system is incredible and the story itself is technically fine, but it lacks something (I don't know what to call it. Compassion, heart, whatever). I found it hard to get emotionally invested in the game.

Still, most definitely worth the 2 dollars

 

[GiantRaven]

Anyhoo, Agent Thornton, signing out. Also, can you have another handler throughout the whole game, like Darcy instead of Mina?

Sadly, no. I would have loved me some more Parker in the game.

 

[Takolin]

I don't regret spending 2euros on the game. Sure it had some flaws, but overall I had fun while playing the game.

 

[Epona]

What's all this "dialogue system is awesome/great/incredible" stuff?

Here's how it works, the conversation doesn't stop to wait for you to make a choice. A choice is highlighted for you and if you don't change it before the AI stops talking, the pre-chosen choice is taken. What that means is that you can't listen to what the AI is saying because you have to hurry and make a choice before he/she finishes talking.

You know that awkwardness in other games when the AI is just staring at you while you make a decision about how to respond? That's what they are trying to prevent here but it means you no longer get to both listen to the speaker and then read through the options. The dialogue system is stupid.