Alpha Protocol

[FitScotGaymer]

Okay so basically this thread is to ask folkses opinions on Alpha Protocol.

The reason I ask is because I hadn't heard of it at first (makes me feel shame because im an RPG gamer lol) and when I did hear of it some months after release I heard really bad things. Like really really bad things.

And I believed those things cos hey its an obsidian title. Obsidian are like Bethesda, their games are always buggy unplayable heaps of crap on release.

So I didn't bother investigating.

In my defence it was more because there were other "better" more interesting titles coming out around that time, and my own financial situation meant that I felt that I had to prioritise what I was purchasing.
So Alpha Protocol got forgotten about.

Until very recently when I was told some very positive things about it (the convo system?), and the fact that its like 15 quid from Steam now.

So wondering, is it worth buying?

I mean did obsidian get around to actually fixing the thing? Lol.

Opinions?

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Is Alpha Protocol a game that at times feels like a late-alpha build, with horrible performance and stability issues, balancing issues and the general feeling of a game were most levels were rushed out in order to not overshot the release date? Yes.

Is Alpha Protocol one of the best "spy genre" games I've ever played and one of the smartest third person shooter/RPG hybrids out there? yes.

The thing with Alpha Protocol is that it is obviously unfinished and feels like KotOR2 in a lot of respects (though KotOR2 was obviously worse off, at least AP has all its' endings in place), but at the same time it is a game where you can feel the genuine love that went into its' production and it is a game that doesn't handhold the player. To get the most out of the story you have to play smart, investigate your surroundings and be careful with how you treat the various NPCs. It has three playstyles, of which only two are really playable (stealth and combat, gadgeteering feels unfinished and only really works as a compliment to one of the other two) and the combat system in general is kind of wonky and very prone to abuse once you get certain skills.

For all its' shortcomings, I still love Alpha Protocol though. It is engaging, the story is slow to start but becomes really interesting and there are some very well-developed NPCs in there. Is it worth 15 quid? Definitely.

 

[Jorec]

I say it's worth 20 bucks or 15 quid, whatever. It is a good game, but it is a flawed game. Combat can be awkward, certain skills are overpowered, the graphics are average at best and it's buggy. That last part can be hit or miss though because the copy I own seems to be bug free as far as I can tell.

But the story, oh god the story. The story makes up for it in my opinion. And so do the characters. I don't wanna spoil anything though so you'll have to take my word on it.

I just pray they make a sequel. If any game deserves a second chance, it's this one.

Also thanks, I was wondering what I could play today. I'm off to play some AP.

 

[PPB]

Alpha Protocol is the quintessential Obsidian game in that it's full of great ideas that just don't work that well in the end (whether it's due to bad implementation of the features or lack of time is up in the air). The storyline is interesting if you take the time to care about it; it's very "Bourne-like" with big conspiracies and subtleties, but it does take an effort to get into it. The gameplay itself feels very unpolished and broken at times but some of the mechanics are pretty interesting. It's also worth saying that some of the minigames are infuriating to play with a mouse and keyboard.

Overall it's not as bad as some people made it sound like (at least in its current patched state), but it's certainly not a great game either. In my humble opinion, it comes off as a poor man's Deus Ex.

 

[NearLifeExperience]

The story is bland and uninteresting, the characters unlikable, the trait system feels weak and unbalanced, the dialogue options are ambiguous at best (and have a timer, just like in real life), and it's also an awfully short game. Still, if you're bored to tears, have a decent tolerance against less-thinky-more-shooty games with a generic story, and have a few extra quid, I suppose you could buy it.

 

[FitScotGaymer]

I don't really have the money to "waste" as it were cos im buying AC3 at the end of the month.

So yeh thats why im asking for opinions.

 

[DustyDrB]

I never had a single bug in three playthroughs. I will admit it has some unpolisihed elements (boss fights, enemy AI that is among the worst I've ever seen, one of the minigames is designed to give you headaches, the cutscenes look fuzzy...or something), but it's really not buggy. I like it for a few reasons: Choice, story, and characters. And because I love chain shooting Marburg in the face.

If you like to tinker with the possible variables in a story, then you'll probably like Alpha Protocol. Just make sure you actually take time to learn how to use weapons. Some people apparently skipped the optional tutorial, thinking they already know how pistols work. Then they try to kill enemies across a map with rapid-fire and wonder why it doesn't work.

 

[Karoshi]

Overall it's not as bad as some people made it sound like (at least in its current patched state), but it's certainly not a great game either. In my humble opinion, it comes off as a poor man's Deus Ex.

Weird, I consider it to be the exact opposite.

I have played this game for two days straight and found the combat much superior to Deus Ex (not to speak of the boss battles...). There are plenty of different abilities, lots of ways to spec and most of the hybrid playstyles are pretty viable.

I am playing as a shotgun-wielding kung-fu master who stealthely obliterates his enemies. There are much more map routes which I can take and the stealth approch is much less infuriating than it was in Deus Ex. Overall, I am having lots of fun.

The plot is entertaining, but what absolutely won my heart were the shit ton of decisions I can take and which heavily influence the plot. Since you only get like 5-10 seconds to choose an option, you are going to fuck up at least one decision. Still, it's an absolutely amazing experience. Think fast and deal with the consequences.

As for bugs, during 20-30 hours play-time I have encountered only one minor glitch. An enemy got stuck in a crate and was invulnerable. A quick reload fixed it.

Overall, I am heavily recommending this game to fans of RPGs and stealth games.

 

[Smertnik]

I enjoyed the game a lot. The multiple choices and dialogues are well done, the (semi-)realistic espionage/action setting is pretty unique for an RPG and I remember the gameplay mechanics to be pretty decent as well. I don't think I experienced any kinds of bugs or performance issues so many people seem to mention, either.
One thing I disliked about AP were the unavoidable DE:HR-like bosses who could prove to be a higher than necessary challenge if you happened to choose the "wrong" skills.

 

[Mullac]

Well I didn't encounter any bugs when playing it off steam, but I did think the game was pretty crap. The general gunplay wasn't very well polished, felt clunky, the story wasn't great, didn't care about any of the characters, and the conversation system was ok...but that's all it was.

Overall the game was pretty meh, and I wouldn't recommend spending your time playing it when there are 100s of other better games for the same price.

 

[NearLifeExperience]

My biggest annoyance with the game was the whole timed dialogue options thing. You only have like 3 seconds or so to pick an option, and most of the time the options given are ambiguous as hell, presented in a single word, giving you very little time to make your mind up

 

[NearLifeExperience]

Overall, I am heavily recommending this game to fans of RPGs and stealth games.

Surely you jest! Using stealth in this game is completely unnecessary, downright unwieldy even, and seems rather quaint next to pointing your gun at things you don't like and then the things stop living.

 

[Karoshi]

Overall, I am heavily recommending this game to fans of RPGs and stealth games.

Surely you jest! Using stealth in this game is completely unnecessary, downright unwieldy even, and seems rather quaint next to pointing your gun at things you don't like and then the things stop living.

Well, that's what pretty much every stealth game has in common - unless the penalty for being detected is death. Just out of curiosity, what would you consider a good stealth game?

As for usefulness of stealth: it depends on the context. I prefer to avoid killing civillian security or organization I am allied with, cases in which stealth is invaluable.

 

[alphamalet]

The gameplay of this game is an absolute mess. It is terrible. I don't recommend this game.

 

[MetalDooley]

AP probably could have done with a few months of polishing before release but as it is it's a flawed gem.I got lucky bug wise I think as I only ever experienced a couple of minor graphical ones but nothing bad

What sells it for me is the story and how your decisions affect it.Each time I played it I seemed to discover new stuff by making different choices.For example it wasn't until my 4th playthrough that I discovered

Spoiler

that Madison was Parker's daughter.I was able to use this info during the final mission and tell Parker that Marburg had attempted to kill her in Rome which caused Parker to attack Marburg

.This was something I'd completely missed in my other playthroughs

Overall AP seems to be a pretty polarizing game as most people seems to either love it or hate it.Personally I loved it and consider it one of my fav games this gen.For 15 quid I'd definitely recommend it

Some people apparently skipped the optional tutorial, thinking they already know how pistols work. Then they try to kill enemies across a map with rapid-fire and wonder why it doesn't work.

Yeah I've seen this complaint from people about how the pistol is useless when in reality it's the best weapon in the game once it's levelled up enough.

 

[MetalDooley]

My biggest annoyance with the game was the whole timed dialogue options thing. You only have like 3 seconds or so to pick an option, and most of the time the options given are ambiguous as hell, presented in a single word, giving you very little time to make your mind up

Which was the whole point of it.You're supposed to make snap decisions and then deal with the consequences unlike Mass Effect where you can spend 20 mins pondering over every decision.It's a system that worked well in my opinion

 

[NearLifeExperience]

Overall, I am heavily recommending this game to fans of RPGs and stealth games.

Surely you jest! Using stealth in this game is completely unnecessary, downright unwieldy even, and seems rather quaint next to pointing your gun at things you don't like and then the things stop living.

Well, that's what pretty much every stealth game has in common - unless the penalty for being detected is death. Just out of curiosity, what would you consider a good stealth game?

As for usefulness of stealth: it depends on the context. I prefer to avoid killing civillian security or organization I am allied with, cases in which stealth is invaluable.

Yeah, I guess the stealth wasn't completely useless, in that one mission where there were civillian security guards, but not using stealth only resulted in a negative reputation with that one female handler I forgot the name of (and I didn't like her one bit, so I disregarded her pleas to not kill any civilians, but I guess that's a personal preference).

My point is that this is just another action game laughably making an attempt at stealth and fans of this genre should probably skip this one if they're expecting good stealth mechanics, because screwing up the sneaky stuff has very little to no consequences at all.

To answer your question, I think Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was and still is one of the best stealth games ever made. Achieving 100% rating in all missions on the hardest difficulty setting was delightfully challenging. What a shame that the game went down the drain after that one, now dwelling in the sewers of bland mainstream action shooters with its latest installment Conviction

Which was the whole point of it.You're supposed to make snap decisions and then deal with the consequences unlike Mass Effect where you can spend 20 mins pondering over every decision.It's a system that worked well in my opinion

That wouldn't be so much of a problem if the options given weren't so unclear and ambiguous they could mean anything. I remember this one situation where I had to get some info out of this bloke, and I picked an option that seemed rather innocent, whereupon my character socked the guy in the face. I got my info in the end, so I guess this could be considered nitpicking, but that wasn't the approach I was going for, game!

 

[Vegosiux]

I liked it, really did. Went sneaking through the entire game and not once did it feel like I'd do better to just blow the place sky-high.

My biggest annoyance with the game was the whole timed dialogue options thing. You only have like 3 seconds or so to pick an option, and most of the time the options given are ambiguous as hell, presented in a single word, giving you very little time to make your mind up

Just like in real life, when thinking on your feet is paramount, huh!

 

[SajuukKhar]

Just like in real life, when thinking on your feet is paramount, huh!

Gameplay mechanics should be added to make the game better, not because they are realistic, timed dialog did not make the game better.