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[Llyranor]

Okay, short impressions. Finished Saudi + Moscow, just started Taipei.

Really enjoying the game so far. The writing/plot is good so far, but not Avellone's best work. The characters can be interesting, but again, not MCA's best. The real highlight is in the character interaction, and an evolution of Obsidian's Influence system to encompass all major and minor characters in the game, rather than just the party members. This is really well done, and feels great compared to the simplistic good/evil scale of most other WRPGs. Possibly the best method I've seen of implementing how NPCs perceive you in a WRPG. And as dynamic as the choices & consequences are, it still remains very story-driven, not just mechanical. I also like the sarcastic jerk that is Thorton, and his VA delivers his lines pretty well (not as bland as previews would make him sound).

Shooting is mediocre to average. I can't say it's better than Bloodlines or Mass Effect; they're all varying degrees of mediocrity, so it ultimately doesn't really matter which one is 'better' than the other. At least it doesn't feel like complete utter crap, population: Morrowind.

That being said, I've been enjoying the gameplay. Sneaking around, planting traps and luring enemies into them, stealth takedowns and silencer pistols. Good stuff. AI is average, but it's not markedly worse than your average action game; I don't get the huge discrepancy - is action game AI suddenly awesome? What you *don't* see, though, is enemies charging at you like the stupid Geth in Mass Effect.

Ultimately, solid enjoyable experience. Recommended to Obsidian and WRPG fans.

On one hand, I'm slightly disappointed because it's not Avellone's best work, but the writing/plot is still enjoyable (just, not on the level of awesome of his absolute best - which is too bad).

On the other, the game absolutely lives up to its claims of dynamic character interactions and choice & consequence pertaining to that. Perhaps other games should take note.

 

[-tetsuo-]

ONE OF OUR WRITERS HAS GONE RENEGADE.

He right clicked while posting that comment.

 

[Cep]

He could be operating under Alpha Protocol. No funding, no support, he's on his own...

He be 'Yellow-brick roading' that shit.

 

[Splatt]

Spoiler

Steven Heck is useless! I ninja stealth'd the guards and then Heck came in riding a train with a machine gun :S What an excelent timing, moron! His crazy laugh is really catchy, though :lol

 

[GotchaForce]

MARBUUUUUUUURG!!!

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Someone likened Heck to Brucey from GTAIV in this thread, I think that's pretty accurate except that Heck can actually hold his own.

The only really annoying part with him is in the hotel if you

Spoiler

delete his file from the computer and it sets off the alarm. At the foot of the short set of stairs down into the lobby there are three guys that run out in a scripted event. Trouble is, they are "special" in that they can see through stealth which messes up a sneaker. Heck is supposed to distract them, but he usually only manages to get the attention of 2 out of the 3.

god the game just got 100x more badass so i finally got enough money to buy sound dampnening armor and now im stealthing like a king with silent running

The quietest armour in the game is

Spoiler

your casual clothing You don't get any upgrade slots though.

 

[GotchaForce]

I guess I'm going to have to go back to a previous save and try this whole level over because I'm on a boss I can't even dent. Up until now I've never had to stock up on health or explosive items. I'm stuck in this boss fight and nearly all my stats are in stealth which helps me none

 

[Cep]

I guess I'm going to have to go back to a previous save and try this whole level over because I'm on a boss I can't even dent. Up until now I've never had to stock up on health or explosive items. I'm stuck in this boss fight and nearly all my stats are in stealth which helps me none

Which boss is it and what level are you?

 

[rollingstart]

can someone please post those vsync and mouse smoothing fixes for the PC version? I remember them from somewhere in this thread.

 

[GotchaForce]

Which boss is it and what level are you?

My previous post. I'm level 9 I think. I went to Rome first and was doing everything there. I seriously think I'm fucked since he regenerates his armor (wtf). It's all I can do to get that down and by the time I try to line up another shot he's run off and it's back up again. I tried googling help but nothing, other than someone saying his men run out but after killing a dozen of them the game turned into a slide show.

 

[Tamanon]

"Jesus Michael! What did you do?"
"I fired a missile at their castle":lol

 

[Cep]

My previous post. I'm level 9 I think. I went to Rome first and was doing everything there. I seriously think I'm fucked since he regenerates his armor (wtf). It's all I can do to get that down and by the time I try to line up another shot he's run off and it's back up again. I tried googling help but nothing, other than someone saying his men run out but after killing a dozen of them the game turned into a slide show.

I am assuming you are using pistols and have chain-shot?

How many seconds of shadow agent do you have?

Take down only one of his agents, leave the other.

Use shadow agent to try and get behind him upstairs, and hide in one of the rooms until it cools down.

After this, crit chainshot him in the head with steel bullets. If they move to your location, try and hide further in that small room.

If it does not work, use Shadow agent to move to the room across from you and continue to do the same thing. Should take a couple of tries (after you do it the first time, his agent will be more alert, so time it right when he is not too close).

 

[Cep]

can someone please post those vsync and mouse smoothing fixes for the PC version? I remember them from somewhere in this thread.

set bEnableMouseSmoothing=False
in \Alpha Protocol\APGame\Config\DefaultInput.ini

then 2 instances of that same var in
\My Documents\Alpha Protocol\APGame\Config\APInput.ini

Also set in \My Documents\Alpha Protocol\APGame\Config\APEngine.ini
the following:

[Engine.GameEngine]
bSmoothFrameRate=FALSE
MinSmoothedFrameRate=1024
MaxSmoothedFrameRate=4096

[SystemSettings]
UseVsync=False

(The VSync option in the game does nothing, you have to change it manually)

And finally after all customizations set all user config files in

\My Documents\Alpha Protocol\APGame\Config\

to read only.

// Edit

This?

 

[WanderingWind]

I am firmly convinced Obsidian pissed off the media at some point. This is easily of the quality of Mass Effect. It's being treated like a crappy shovelware title by almost the entire gaming media.

Just finished the Taipan missions, and wow at the decisions you have to make. Fan-fucking-tastic.

 

[Cep]

I am firmly convinced Obsidian pissed off the media at some point. This is easily of the quality of Mass Effect. It's being treated like a crappy shovelware title by almost the entire gaming media.

Just finished the Taipan missions, and wow at the decisions you have to make. Fan-fucking-tastic.

If you do not stick to one hub as you do all the missions, it gets even better.

 

[WanderingWind]

If you do not stick to one hub as you do all the missions, it gets even better.

I just realized that. Holy hell. Why are people shitting on this game so hard? Especially RPG fans who have begged for something like this for years?

- Non-derivative setting
- Well written
- Choices and consequences
- No Nun/Satan morality system
- Modern time frame


I mean, this is basically as if somebody lurked in every rpgGAF thread and made a checklist of every demand. This baffles me. I am baffled.

 

[Basileus777]

If you do not stick to one hub as you do all the missions, it gets even better.

It's pretty much the same thing, other than the fact that you get some dossier info earlier when it is more useful.

 

[eshock]

I just realized that. Holy hell. Why are people shitting on this game so hard? Especially RPG fans who have begged for something like this for years?

- Non-derivative setting
- Well written
- Choices and consequences
- No Nun/Satan morality system
- Modern time frame


I mean, this is basically as if somebody lurked in every rpgGAF thread and made a checklist of every demand. This baffles me. I am baffled.

- Spiritual successor to DX

 

[jim-jam bongs]

I just realized that. Holy hell. Why are people shitting on this game so hard? Especially RPG fans who have begged for something like this for years?

- Non-derivative setting
- Well written
- Choices and consequences
- No Nun/Satan morality system
- Modern time frame


I mean, this is basically as if somebody lurked in every rpgGAF thread and made a checklist of every demand. This baffles me. I am baffled.

If this had come out around the same time as the first Mass Effect it would be getting GOTY pledges all over the games press. After ME2 though people expect far more polish in these types of shooter/RPG hybrid games instead of just accepting that the lack of polish is inevitable when you give the player such an open-ended plot to manipulate.

Don't get me wrong, I am totally Bioware's beyatch, but I think that they've been slowly winding back on the number of meaningful choices in their games to focus on framerate and combat. Not a bad thing necessarily, but because they're the benchmark most people use when it comes to WRPG quality and polish a game like Alpha Protocol can suffer from some harsh comparisons.

 

[D2M15]

"Fuck of a lot of stairs."

If I could high-five you, Mikey, I would, and tell you how you reminded me of that time in Thief when Garrett and I said "That's a long way down" at the same time.

 

[WanderingWind]

If this had come out around the same time as the first Mass Effect it would be getting GOTY pledges all over the games press. After ME2 though people expect far more polish in these types of shooter/RPG hybrid games instead of just accepting that the lack of polish is inevitable when you give the player such an open-ended plot to manipulate.

Don't get me wrong, I am totally Bioware's beyatch, but I think that they've been slowly winding back on the number of meaningful choices in their games to focus on framerate and combat. Not a bad thing necessarily, but because they're the benchmark most people use when it comes to WRPG quality and polish a game like Alpha Protocol can suffer from some harsh comparisons.

I agree, but it's not as if the average review is mentioning things like this. They're basically calling it crap. Also, in the first 10 hours of AP, I've made more meaningful choices than are possible in both Mass Effects. I love those games too, but they clearly are focusing on other things than a proper RPG system.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Stealth is really really bullshit in this. :lol

 

[jim-jam bongs]

I agree, but it's not as if the average review is mentioning things like this. They're basically calling it crap. Also, in the first 10 hours of AP, I've made more meaningful choices than are possible in both Mass Effects. I love those games too, but they clearly are focusing on other things than a proper RPG system.

In defence of the reviewers, I think it's a hard thing to identify. It's like trying to work out which movie ruined stop-motion animation for you because it had such amazing CGI that you couldn't look at stop-motion the same way again.

Mass Effect is an odd beast really. I think what Bioware are actually doing with the series is telling a linear sci-fi story out of sequence. All choices need to be kept superficial because there really is only one beginning, middle and end.

 

[Cep]

In defence of the reviewers, I think it's a hard thing to identify. It's like trying to work out which movie ruined stop-motion animation for you because it had such amazing CGI that you couldn't look at stop-motion the same way again.

Mass Effect is an odd beast really. I think what Bioware are actually doing with the series is telling a linear sci-fi story out of sequence. All choices need to be kept superficial because there really is only one beginning, middle and end.

I have always felt that they hurt the game more than they help when they do this.

 

[WanderingWind]

In defence of the reviewers, I think it's a hard thing to identify. It's like trying to work out which movie ruined stop-motion animation for you because it had such amazing CGI that you couldn't look at stop-motion the same way again.

Mass Effect is an odd beast really. I think what Bioware are actually doing with the series is telling a linear sci-fi story out of sequence. All choices need to be kept superficial because there really is only one beginning, middle and end.

Yeah, but the systems in place that are so far and above what we've seen out of WRPGs this generation are hardly mentioned at all. They really are going out of their way to make this game seem 2nd or 3rd tier.

 

[Basileus777]

I have always felt that they hurt the game game more than they help it when they do this.

It's inevitable if you are developing a trilogy. Alpha Protocol will never get a sequel, but even if there were an AP2, Obsidian wouldn't have to worry about remembering all of these decisions because the story is self-contained.

 

[subversus]

I agree, but it's not as if the average review is mentioning things like this. They're basically calling it crap. Also, in the first 10 hours of AP, I've made more meaningful choices than are possible in both Mass Effects. I love those games too, but they clearly are focusing on other things than a proper RPG system.

I think most of them didn't spend 10 hours with the game. It was like "wow, this sucks, I have other games to review".

 

[Peff]

Has IGN even reviewed the game? The closest thing is these quotes from Arthur Gies' twitter:

@jamest1080 alpha protocol makes bethesda's output look pristine. also, obsidian has a track record of shoddy output.

@jamest1080 alpha protocol starts with a bad impression and just gets worse. there are things to like, but they're buried under crap.

@jamest1080 i'll give you KOTOR2, kind of (which we talk about on the show this week), but NWN2 was a disaster.

alpha protocol is really bad. there. i just saved you 60 dollars and a about a dozen hours of heartbreak.

RT @justinmcelroy: Hey, Alpha Protocol is very bad and you shouldn't play it. http://bit.ly/ccfndf

 

[subversus]

they gave it 6.6 or something like that

 

[Pooya]

Has IGN even reviewed the game? The closest thing is these quotes from Arthur Gies' twitter:

yes, 6/10 IIRC.
EDIT: here 6.3/10

 

[WanderingWind]

Has IGN even reviewed the game? The closest thing is these quotes from Arthur Gies' twitter:

If I ever run into this guy, I swear I will punch him in the left kidney,

 

[JBuccCP]

That ending was uh....well the last level was terrible. And I'm not exactly sure what was going on story wise. The ending felt abrupt.

Spoiler

I think I accidentally let Mina die. I mean it said something like "either come after me or save her!", but I hit A right as the prompt for the door came up and it immediately blocked off the route behind me. Never saw her again so.....I guess the old white haired guy had her or something.

Game was ok. RPG elements were a fine, although the stealth gets silly as you level it up. Dialog was ok, but too self-explanatory. I wish there was more interaction directly with the characters and learning about them through conversation and less email/dossier stuff. I mean i have Madison sitting here in my apartment and all she'll say is "Hey turn on the tv!". I really didn't feel like I knew any of them, even Mina. Also thought it would have been better with a more direct structure. Being able to switch around didn't seem to add much to me but confusion, nor did the flashforwards do much but vaguely refer to something you're about to do.

Oh and every single boss fight was a festering pile of shit. Either sitting up in a tower throwing explosives at you or running around like a fucking headless chicken while occasionally sprinting right at you for some awkard melee.

 

[subversus]

and that's why I haven't read a review in like 4 months. Why bother?

 

[jim-jam bongs]

I have always felt that they hurt the game game more than they help it when they do this.

Sadly we're in the minority. I do hold a little bit of hope that the fact that it's the concluding chapter will allow Bioware to be more flexible with ME3, but I'm pretty much coming around to the conclusion that player-choice is just anathema to their current design-philosophy. Although the illusion of choice is without a doubt something they work hard to cultivate.

Yeah, but the systems in place that are so far and above what we've seen out of WRPGs this generation are hardly mentioned at all. They really are going out of their way to make this game seem 2nd or 3rd tier.

Shit, I didn't really agree with this post until I saw all those Tweets :lol

 

[HK-47]

lol NWN 2 was fixed a week or two after release (poor pacing in first act and the shitty engine not withstanding) and MotB is their most polished and complete product.

 

[Danne-Danger]

Has IGN even reviewed the game? The closest thing is these quotes from Arthur Gies' twitter:

I never liked that guy, and now I know why!

 

[Stallion Free]

I'm glad I didn't bother reading any reviews and based on the reactions to reviews here, I am going to continue avoiding them. I know it will just anger me.

 

[Llyranor]

Kind of reminds me of the MOTB era. Most RPG player impressions were singing its praises. It's only after finishing it that I realized most reviews out there were all whiny babies about 'waaa waaa spirit essence system is too hardddd where's my handholding boohoooohoooo'.

I'm enjoying how intel is gathered in the game. Digging up dirt on NPCs, buying intel for missions (extra objectives, hints, 'conveniently-placed snipers'). The emails are very nice too. Gives you a nice feeling of trying to gather up intel for multiple things from multiple sources at the same time.

 

[subversus]

Sadly we're in the minority. I do hold a little bit of hope that the fact that it's the concluding chapter will allow Bioware to be more flexible with ME3, but I'm pretty much coming around to the conclusion that player-choice is just anathema to their current design-philosophy. Although the illusion of choice is without a doubt something they work hard to cultivate.

Well, you DO have a choice in ME games and it has consequences. Some of your crew will die if you make wrong choices on loyalty missions or just skip them. And you can spare upgrading your ship or

Spoiler

sell Legion to Cerberus

, so you definitley have choices. But the difference is that you must TRY HARD to NOT make right choices in ME universe if your further progress depends on it.

 

[subversus]

Kind of reminds me of the MOTB era. Most RPG player impressions were singing its praises. It's only after finishing it that I realized most reviews out there were all whiny babies about 'waaa waaa spirit essence system is too hardddd where's my handholding boohoooohoooo'.

Yeah, pretty much this

 

[jim-jam bongs]

That ending was uh....well the last level was terrible. And I'm not exactly sure what was going on story wise. The ending felt abrupt.

Spoiler

I think I accidentally let Mina die. I mean it said something like "either come after me or save her!", but I hit A right as the prompt for the door came up and it immediately blocked off the route behind me. Never saw her again so.....I guess the old white haired guy had her or something.

Spoiler

Yeah that bit is annoying. If you don't notice the TV screen above the door she's behind, it's pretty easy to miss her and get trapped in the next area. She's actually being held by some soldiers at the end of her firing-range course.

Spoiler

Game was ok. RPG elements were a fine, although the stealth gets silly as you level it up. Dialog was ok, but too self-explanatory. I wish there was more interaction directly with the characters and learning about them through conversation and less email/dossier stuff. I mean i have Madison sitting here in my apartment and all she'll say is "Hey turn on the tv!". I really didn't feel like I knew any of them, even Mina. Also thought it would have been better with a more direct structure. Being able to switch around didn't seem to add much to me but confusion, nor did the flashforwards do much but vaguely refer to something you're about to do.

Spoiler

Character in the game is more about behaviour. I get where you're coming from but I think that fixating on blending character back-stories into the game story leads to ME2 (how many times has it been mentioned on this page alone?!?). The dossier approach to back-story works better to me, and I'd argue that they actually made the back-stories of characters more significant than if they'd spent time telling them.

Spoiler

Oh and every single boss fight was a festering pile of shit. Either sitting up in a tower throwing explosives at you or running around like a fucking headless chicken while occasionally sprinting right at you for some awkard melee.

I kind of agree, but I did like that

Spoiler

the game catered for a variety of play-styles in boss fights. If I'd had to engage Darcy and his buddies out in the open I would have given up then and there. For me, boss fights are largely an anachronism in gaming so I appreciate that AP let me pretty much skip them by outsmarting the boss.

 

[Cep]

In all honesty, I think the game does deserve most of the low scores it gets.

I still love the game, but pretending that its issues are not there would just be irresponsible of the reviewers.

On the flip-side, those (like Gamespot) that trivialize the game's triumphs should all be kicked in the testes.

GT's review was the best IMHO (pistol/stealth misinformation aside).

 

[WanderingWind]

In all honesty, I think the game does deserve most of the low scores it gets.

I still love the game, but pretending that its issues are not there would just be irresponsible of the reviewers.

On the flip-side, those (like Gamespot) that trivialize the game's triumphs should all be kicked in the testes.

GT's review was the best IMHO (pistol/stealth misinformation aside).

Maybe I'm too early in, but I can't see any of the problems. It's combat is much, much better than Mass Effect 1's. The storytelling is better than anything this gen in an WRPG. The graphics are completely average, granted, but not terrible.

 

[Basileus777]

In all honesty, I think the game does deserve most of the low scores it gets.

I still love the game, but pretending that its issues are not there would just be irresponsible of the reviewers.

On the flip-side, those (like Gamespot) that trivialize the game's triumphs should all be kicked in the testes.

GT's review was the best IMHO (pistol/stealth misinformation aside).

I pretty much agree with Gerstmann's review on Giantbomb. It's a good, but flawed game that should be getting 7s for what it is in 2010. Obviously genre fans are going to like it more, the very things AP does well (choices, dialogue) are what they crave.

 

[Cep]

I pretty much agree with Gerstmann's review on Giantbomb. It's a good, but flawed game that should be getting 7s for what it is in 2010. Obviously genre fans are going to like it more, the very things AP does well (choices, dialogue) are what they crave.

I had not seen his review.

I like it a lot better than GTs.

 

[Llyranor]

Well, AP excels in areas where mediocrity is accepted, and is mediocre in areas where it's not. It reveals the industry standards in a sad light.

 

[Danne-Danger]

Well, you DO have a choice in ME games and it has consequences. Some of your crew will die if you make wrong choices on loyalty missions or just skip them. And you can spare upgrading your ship or

Spoiler

sell Legion to Cerberus

, so you definitley have choices. But the difference is that you must TRY HARD to NOT make right choices in ME universe if your further progress depends on it.

The thing I felt in ME1 and 2 was they put most of the big choices near the ending for both and have them apply to the next game in the series rather than the one you're currently playing, leaving the player to speculate and hope that Bioware will do something neat with it in the next game (emails says "hello", literally). The same kinds of choices are put on the table all the time in AP, and you'll see the effect pretty quickly afterwards.

Losing party members is not something I see as a "big choice". You can still finish the game the way you planned and it won't really change the world around you (especially in ME where most guys just "tag along" and don't really tie into the main plot). Hell NPCs dying used to be commonplace in RPGs like Fallout and Baldur's Gate, it could happen at any time, and you were never forced to take them along for the ride in the first place.

 

[Cep]

Well, AP excels in areas where mediocrity is accepted, and is mediocre in areas where it's not. It reveals the industry standards in a sad light.

Except that in the areas where it fails, Alpha Protocol is a lot worse than 'mediocre.'

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Well, you DO have a choice in ME games and it has consequences. Some of your crew will die if you make wrong choices on loyalty missions or just skip them. And you can spare upgrading your ship or

Spoiler

sell Legion to Cerberus

, so you definitley have choices. But the difference is that you must TRY HARD to NOT make right choices in ME universe if your further progress depends on it.

It certainly does, but the issue I really have with the ME series is that the consequences of those decisions are pretty shallow. They don't affect the story of the universe, they only affect the player's personal story. To put it another way, I can choose not to recruit Tali but that's not going to change what happens on the Flotilla, or what happens with the Collectors. I can choose to let Kaidan or Ashley die, and the only consequence is who gives me a stern talking to in ME2. Even the dialogue is identical, it's literally just a model and VO swap.

Except that in the areas where it fails, Alpha Protocol is a lot worse than 'mediocre.'

You're so harsh man :lol I can't really argue though.

 

[CartridgeBlower]

First time through, should I be playing on Recruit to get the most out of the game, i.e. being allowed max customization?

Also I've seen most people here say the game can be too easy. Are they playing on Recruit? I'm thinking Recruit/Medium is a good bet for my first playthrough, unless people here recommend otherwise.