Alpha Protocol

[Vegosiux]

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.

And of course, if I disagree with you on that one, I'm naturally plain WRONG.

No really. It was frustrating sometimes, yes, but I liked how it made it like "Well fuck I better make up my mind fast because I don't have all day to ponder". Besides, they weren't -that- ambiguous, the top option was the "professional tone" one, the right was "smartass", left was "tough guy approach", and the bottom one was the "special". Sure you didn't know what you were about to say, but you could make out the tone.

And then I ran into the hacking minigame. Right now I'm debating on whether I should keep going or just deinstall and never look back again. Believe me when I say this: the hacking minigame is the most frustrating, annoying, unnecessary piece of shit I have ever seen in an RPG. How this thing got past playtesting is beyond me.

It's not so bad once you memorize the patterns, at least. Takes a few times, but they reappear very often, there's not many, so after a while you don't even have to follow the lines anymore.

 

[NearLifeExperience]

And then I ran into the hacking minigame. Right now I'm debating on whether I should keep going or just deinstall and never look back again. Believe me when I say this: the hacking minigame is the most frustrating, annoying, unnecessary piece of shit I have ever seen in an RPG. How this thing got past playtesting is beyond me.

You can get a trait later on that gives you extra time to do those silly little minigames. But I do know what you mean. It doesn't exactly contribute to a cool player experience. One of the things I found the most pants-on-head retarded, was the fact that lockpicking minigames (like the hacking and overriding) have a TIMER. :| What on earth was the thought behind that ?

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

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.

And of course, if I disagree with you on that one, I'm naturally plain WRONG.

No really. It was frustrating sometimes, yes, but I liked how it made it like "Well fuck I better make up my mind fast because I don't have all day to ponder". Besides, they weren't -that- ambiguous, the top option was the "professional tone" one, the right was "smartass", left was "tough guy approach", and the bottom one was the "special". Sure you didn't know what you were about to say, but you could make out the tone.

And the game clearly established that the important part wasn't what you said, but what attitude you had since different NPCs preferred different attitudes and what attitude they liked could also change based on what the matter at hand was. I also liked the timed dialogues because they made you think on your feet and meant you could "screw up" conversations just like you could fail at mini games, sneaking or any other activity in the game. All in all, Obsidian really managed to make the conversations feel as integral to the experience and dynamic mechanics wise as the rest of the game which is no small feat.

 

[Smertnik]

And then I ran into the hacking minigame. Right now I'm debating on whether I should keep going or just deinstall and never look back again. Believe me when I say this: the hacking minigame is the most frustrating, annoying, unnecessary piece of shit I have ever seen in an RPG. How this thing got past playtesting is beyond me.
I found the minigames quite enjoyable and very easy (even without upgrades). But then I also played the game with a controller. I don't think it's the minigames which are faulty but rather their implementation to the k&m controls.

 

[FitScotGaymer]

Question tho.

Does AP have mods?

 

[hazabaza1]

Ya blew it buddy, it was on sale for like 2 bucks and a piece of string yesterday.

Was it worth it? I have no idea. I played for half an hour and I quite liked it.

And then I ran into the hacking minigame. Right now I'm debating on whether I should keep going or just deinstall and never look back again. Believe me when I say this: the hacking minigame is the most frustrating, annoying, unnecessary piece of shit I have ever seen in an RPG. How this thing got past playtesting is beyond me.

The thought that Obsidian actually believed the thing was worthy of making it into the final game actually scares me. I'm suddenly a lot less confident in Project Eternity. The minigame is so fucking bad it changed Project Eternity from a "Buy as soon as you can" to a "Lets wait what the reviews say" purchase for me.

You can buy EMP gadgets fairly cheap later on. Disables hacking stuff with no issue.

OT: I really like the game. It does seem to be a case of "love it or hate it" and it is ridiculously unbalanced in terms of difficulty, but I say if you can get it cheap, get it.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Question tho.

Does AP have mods?

It's definitely worth it, however £15 seems a bit steep. I got mine las year for £3. It was a 360 copy but still, shop around a little, see if you can find a better price than that.

It is a complete gem of a game though, I was the same as you, didn't think I'd like it but loved every second of it.

 

[Realitycrash]

It's insanely bugged for the PC. I've heard it's more stable for consoles (especially the aiming. Seriously, forget sharp-shooting on the PC. You can't adjust your aim just sliiightly to the right, because then it jumps half an inch instead. This isn't a problem on short or medium range, but long-range..Ugh).

Now, the story is awesome, the stealth works nice (until you get overpowered in the end), and the shooting/melee is dependable enough. I recommend it, and if the aim is fixed on consoles, I recommend it very highly.

 

[Realitycrash]

And then I ran into the hacking minigame. Right now I'm debating on whether I should keep going or just deinstall and never look back again. Believe me when I say this: the hacking minigame is the most frustrating, annoying, unnecessary piece of shit I have ever seen in an RPG. How this thing got past playtesting is beyond me.

You can get a trait later on that gives you extra time to do those silly little minigames. But I do know what you mean. It doesn't exactly contribute to a cool player experience. One of the things I found the most pants-on-head retarded, was the fact that lockpicking minigames (like the hacking and overriding) have a TIMER. :| What on earth was the thought behind that ?

I have no idea. It really does feel like they pushed the game out the door before they had even reached a Beta ready game.

You mean the one where you need to pick the correct circuits under X amount of time, or when you are supposed to find the code in a cypher that isn't moving?
Either wasn't very hard, and I found the circuits sort of enjoyable. Very skill-dependent. And if you run into the hard ones you can't beat, just EMP em'

 

[mrhateful]

I loved the crap out of that game :>

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

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.

that, or they forget it's an rpg for a reason..which i think they handled really well, it takes a few seconds for your sight to line up when you stop moving, and it only get's progressively better as you level up, by the end of the game you can headshot around corners like a pro without even needing chain shot.

OT: it has it's glaring flaws yes, but as dusty DrB mentioned, i had no actual bugs that hindered my gameplay/progression through the game, and i've beaten the game maybe...7-8 times already? the impact you have on the story is a real gem and if you like any of obsidian/biowares titles, i couldn't recommend it more (it sadly went on the daily deal on steam the other day..would've been 5 bucks :/ )

if you're looking for a shooter with some story bits, i'd probably tell you to pass it up, but if you like rpg's and like story/characters/effects of those two combinations, then yes, would recommend it for sure.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

And then I ran into the hacking minigame. Right now I'm debating on whether I should keep going or just deinstall and never look back again. Believe me when I say this: the hacking minigame is the most frustrating, annoying, unnecessary piece of shit I have ever seen in an RPG. How this thing got past playtesting is beyond me.

You can get a trait later on that gives you extra time to do those silly little minigames. But I do know what you mean. It doesn't exactly contribute to a cool player experience. One of the things I found the most pants-on-head retarded, was the fact that lockpicking minigames (like the hacking and overriding) have a TIMER. :| What on earth was the thought behind that ?

I have no idea. It really does feel like they pushed the game out the door before they had even reached a Beta ready game.

your eyes adjust to it after a while, and as mentioned there are multiple upgrades early on you can get that lengthen it by a shit ton, or just use EMP grenades on em.
(and that is from a recruit stance, without getting exp right off the bat)

by the end of the game i was doing the hacking minigames in probably 3-4 seconds max, but at the start it's a massive "WTFBBQ :SLKJFDS:LDKFJSF WHY GOD WHY?!~?!"

still, would never argue for that to be in the game, it is not a delightful minigame by any means.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

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

wow, and i've beat the game 7+ times already and I never knew that little tid bit...

where did you learn that? I must've missed some dossier/intel somewhere on a mission, and never realized it..

gah, see? this is where AP's strength comes in for me, there are so many damn intricate details that change the story up depending on how you respond/prepare.

 

[Norrdicus]

Just a question: did you play the console version or the PC version? Because you'd think the hacking couldn't get any worse, but oh fucking boy, try controlling it with a mouse. I got the hang of the thing fairly quickly and was able to find the non-moving digits in a few seconds, but actually selecting them was literally impossible.

The problem could have easily been avoided with actually having the mouse pointer visible, and not just the highlighted code. I don't understand how they didn't notice that, maybe they did all the testing on consoles?

However, even without that, I personally found the mini-game very easy. The bit of code you select with WASD is easily grabbed, and the mouse-selected code takes maybe 2 unnecessary seconds extra, due to you having to select it half-blind

where did you learn that? I must've missed some dossier/intel somewhere on a mission, and never realized it..

I might be wrong on this, but that info can be found in

Spoiler

Marburg's mansion, in a secret room in the garden right before you escape the place

 

[Jandau]

The thing about Alpha Protocol is that it is a deeply flawed game in many respects. Well, "deeply flawed" might be overstating it a bit, but it's horribly unbalanced (Chain Shot with Pistol is ridiculous, SMGs are borderline useless, etc.) and has occasional bouts of bad design. I'm not going to elaborate more because people have been doing that for years.

However, it's a great game DESPITE all of its flaws. When I fired it up for the first time earlier this year I found out that almost everything bad that's been said about the game is true, but I still had tons of fun with it. It's a genuinely great game with some awesome ideas behind it and while it dragged down by some bad design it's positives shine through.

I wouldn't put it on the top of your shopping list, but if you're interested in the overall setting (Spy stuff, think 24 or Bourne movies) and the gameplay (think Deus Ex: Human Revolution), it might be worth a look.

 

[DSK-]

I enjoyed the game despite it feeling unpolished and with very very poor performance with mouse lags and other things. I preferred it to the likes of Dragon Age 2 and I'd definitely recommend it.

 

[malestrithe]

It might be worth it now that it's 5-20 dollars new, but be warned it is unpolished and booted out the door before it had a chance to freshen up a bit.