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.
Recruit is actually the hardest way to play because you don't start with any skill points at all. If you have the patience for super stealthy games I'd recommend Freelancer, putting your points into Stealth, Pistols and Sabotage, which you should also tag as your main skills when you get to specialise. Difficulty-wise it's pretty easy on normal. I gave up on my first game because normal was far too easy, but ymmv.
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.
Which is what should be reviewed considering consoles are the main platform for this game. Sales aide, the quality of the PC port doesn't indicate that they spent much time on it.
The game's visuals aren't are not good even when maxed out on the PC. Even though it's a game with small environments and tons of corridors, it looks like something that came out 4 years ago. Performance has been fine other than some mouse-smoothing issues. The other stuff he talks about, the bugs and terrible motion blur in on the PC too.
Recruit is actually the hardest way to play because you don't start with any skill points at all. If you have the patience for super stealthy games I'd recommend Freelancer, putting your points into Stealth, Pistols and Sabotage, which you should also tag as your main skills when you get to specialise. Difficulty-wise it's pretty easy on normal. I gave up on my first game because normal was far too easy, but ymmv.
Yeah, but on hard recruit with going to Moscow first,
Brayko or whatever his name was
was an absolute bitch.
My pistol only had 2 chain shot at the time, and he'd block half my melee moves even with my first fury, and stealth did nothing. Finally got him down with my no point assault rifle.
Also, question, are there any other weapons that you can get from
Missions like the gold-plated AR from managing to stealth up on Shaheed's lieutenant?
Yeah, but on hard recruit with going to Moscow first,
Brayko or whatever his name was
was an absolute bitch.
My pistol only had 2 chain shot at the time, and he'd block half my melee moves even with my first fury, and stealth did nothing. Finally got him down with my no point assault rifle.
Also, question, are there any other weapons that you can get from
Missions like the gold-plated AR from managing to stealth up on Shaheed's lieutenant?
Yeah, but on hard recruit with going to Moscow first,
Brayko or whatever his name was
was an absolute bitch.
My pistol only had 2 chain shot at the time, and he'd block half my melee moves even with my first fury, and stealth did nothing. Finally got him down with my no point assault rifle.
On my first playthrough which wasn't even a recruit run I went to Moscow first and I must admit I had a hard time with him too.
It really helps to have the pistol ability that allows you to line up critical shots from cover, so you can get an extra round in before you use your chain shot. Then I'd cloak, hide and wait for the cooldown. Not very exciting but it did the job.
Also, I love that fight:
"Sirioussly bahddy, where the fahk did you just go uh?" :lol
Just watched the GT review. I'm not sure what makes this game all that different than a, say Fallout 3. From the sound of the review, the shortcomings of both games are similar(such as bugs, glitches, shitty AI, shitty hitboxes, bad animation, so/so graphics), yet everyone praises Fallout 3.
Just watched the GT review. I'm not sure what makes this game all that different than a, say Fallout 3. From the sound of the review, the shortcomings of both games are similar(such as bugs, glitches, shitty AI, shitty hitboxes, bad animation, so/so graphics), yet everyone praises Fallout 3.
Yeah it's kind of like how GTA:SA had terrible animation, modeling and textures for the late PS2 generation but the scope of it meant that people gave it a bit of a free pass.
subversus said:
I liked the music, made me dust off some Motley Crue cds.
I had to hang out in Moscow a while after I defeated him so I could rock out in the safe-house to his sound-system. Brayko is easily my favourite bad-guy in the game, comically exaggerated Russian accent notwithstanding. Did you find his coke-knife in Rome?
You have to find that? I just assumed it was sent to your room after you fight him. The other items seem to just appear after you become friendly enough with people or make certain decisions.
Guys I need the final verdict, is the game worth the purchase? The issues mentioned in reviews, can they be fixed via patch or is the game doomed? I want a game close to Syphon Filter- any chance of a feeling like that in AP?
Just watched the GT review. I'm not sure what makes this game all that different than a, say Fallout 3. From the sound of the review, the shortcomings of both games are similar(such as bugs, glitches, shitty AI, shitty hitboxes, bad animation, so/so graphics), yet everyone praises Fallout 3.
Guys I need the final verdict, is the game worth the purchase? The issues mentioned in reviews, can they be fixed via patch or is the game doomed? I want a game close to Syphon Filter- any chance of a feeling like that in AP?
You have to find that? I just assumed it was sent to your room after you fight him. The other items seem to just appear after you become friendly enough with people or make certain decisions.
Oh, that's what I meant. Come to think of it, "notice" would have been a better word than "find". I almost missed a few of the little keepsakes myself because I started using the Intel menu to launch missions rather than explore the safe-houses. When you only ever go to the computer and TV it's easy to miss the details.
Just got past the tutorial. Not bad, my biggest complaint so far is the hacking mini-game that shit sucks. And the combat does feel a little janky, but i don't mind it.
What i like a lot so far is the conversation system, it kinda sucks using the KB&M but it works really well if you are using the 360 controller. it's the kinda thing i expected from ME 1 conversation system but didn't end up that way.
Just got past the tutorial. Not bad, my biggest complaint so far is the hacking mini-game that shit sucks. And the combat does feel a little janky, but i don't mind it.
What i like a lot so far is the conversation system, it kinda sucks using the KB&M but it works really well if you are using the 360 controller. it's the kinda thing i expected from ME 1 conversation system but didn't end up that way.
I must admit I was having a lot of trouble doing it blazed :lol
It does take some getting used to though. There's probably an element of lower expectations too, it's unusual to find a hacking minigame that is even slightly challenging. Comparing it once again with that other big WRPG shooter that came out this year that's already been talked about more than enough in this thread, it's a big step up in terms of difficulty.
Got this for the PC and just finished it over Boot Camp on a Mac. . .man what an awesome ride, I really enjoyed the narrative, great characters for the most part, the branching dialogue of course and the weapon/equipment customisation.
I maxed out Stealth and Martial Arts and put most of the other points into the Assault Rifle and Toughness stats and relied on takedowns and CQC for most of the combat. The shooting sucks ass at the beginning, but once you get some mods for your weapon like stability and recoil as well as some points into the weapon stats it's not bad at all.
In the endgame,
I had the chance to either go after Leland or Mina, I wanted to save Mina but picked the wrong door. . .felt really bad especially after Thornton just got force fucked by CIE :lol and then they show a pic of her dead over the monitors Though the end cutscene with Leiland was really satisfying, including the bullet through the eye.
I only had one glitch throughout though, but it was a pretty big one, got through to the end of the
US Embassy
mission, died, then when the game reloaded the last checkpoint all the enemies were gone and the game couldn't continue so I had to start the whole level from the beginning.
Other than that I really enjoyed the game, and if the only thing keeping people from buying the game are graphics, that's a shame, it deserves to be played.
That's my current Mike's look too. I'm doing missions in casual attire though.
k0ji-wd said:
In the endgame,
I had the chance to either go after Leland or Mina, I wanted to save Mina but picked the wrong door. . .felt really bad especially after Thornton just got force fucked by CIE :lol and then they show a pic of her dead over the monitors
Mike only got to get bizzy with Madison and Mina in my first run. I kind of assumed that SIE was an option but she continuously pissed off Mina and I didn't want to ruin his chances with her!
I had the chance to either go after Leland or Mina, I wanted to save Mina but picked the wrong door. . .felt really bad especially after Thornton just got force fucked by CIE :lol and then they show a pic of her dead over the monitors.
This seems to be a pretty common occurrence, it happened to me the first time through too. It's even worse because
it's a false choice. If you save Mina, you don't actually lose anything. The stuff with Leland plays out exactly the same. The choice of whether or not the save Albatross is basically the same. The data you get if you don't save him doesn't actually seem to serve any purpose.
It kind of breaks the whole illusion that your choices matter.
I must admit I was having a lot of trouble doing it blazed :lol
It does take some getting used to though. There's probably an element of lower expectations too, it's unusual to find a hacking minigame that is even slightly challenging. Comparing it once again with that other big WRPG shooter that came out this year that's already been talked about more than enough in this thread, it's a big step up in terms of difficulty.
Just started playing this (PS3 review code) and I wonder if the walking while crouched animation is an internal joke or something. It's so bad it must be intentional. I can't stop laughing watching at it.
Really? Boggles my mind how people can't understand that the freedom of an open world guarantees a game to have more bugs and glitches.
There is a big difference between a small linear level/world with no ability to affect the outcomes of events versus one that is open and allows you to combine it's elements in countless different ways as well as tackling objectives in pretty much any order you like.
AP to me is the epitome of an unpolished gem. It comes across on casual inspection as total shit compared to the best games of the current gen but when you dig in to it there is some stuff buried in there that you pretty much can't find in any other game, at least on the consoles.
Really? Boggles my mind how people can't understand that the freedom of an open world guarantees a game to have more bugs and glitches.
There is a big difference between a small linear level/world with no ability to affect the outcomes of events versus one that is open and allows you to combine it's elements in countless different ways as well as tackling objectives in pretty much any order you like.
AP to me is the epitome of an unpolished gem. It comes across on casual inspection as total shit compared to the best games of the current gen but when you dig in to it there is some stuff buried in there that you pretty much can't find in any other game, at least on the consoles.
Considering it is the title that made Obsidian my favorite western RPG company title I would say we should disagree
But I will go one step further to this
The unpolished gem argument is broken to me for one major reason: Fun Factor. The more "polished" a game is the less fun it is (with notable exceptions)
GTA4 is considered a "polished" game and yet you constantly hear people complain about it. That is essentially my case / point for this entire argument at least :lol
Just started playing this (PS3 review code) and I wonder if the walking while crouched animation is an internal joke or something. It's so bad it must be intentional. I can't stop laughing watching at it.
ok, this game is pretty awesome. The conversations and actions changing the story and dialog is amazing stuff, like, really amazing stuff. The combat and action is probably shit but the only time I fired a gun was in the training area and...it was shit. I play total stealth and the complete jank and lack of polish plays in my favor. Neck chopping dudes left and right because they're fucked in the head means I can breeze through the baby stealth and get to the good stuff. At least the action isn't stopping me from getting to what I like best, and even exploring the levels provides its own rewards.
ok, this game is pretty awesome. The conversations and actions changing the story and dialog is amazing stuff, like, really amazing stuff. The combat and action is probably shit but the only time I fired a gun was in the training area and...it was shit. I play total stealth and the complete jank and lack of polish plays in my favor. Neck chopping dudes left and right because they're fucked in the head means I can breeze through the baby stealth and get to the good stuff. At least the action isn't stopping me from getting to what I like best, and even exploring the levels provides its own rewards.
Its a stat based shooter. The lower your stat the harder it is for you to aim (and the longer it takes to aim)
This game isn't Mass Effect, it actually TRIES to be an RPG, and I love the stat based shooting (as well as my brother, he thinks that any RPG/TPS should use it)
Almost finished Rome and have completed some of the other two cities and I'm enjoying this incredibly. The dialogue only missions are brilliant and really set the scene well. It's a shame this is reviewing so poorly - not surprising because the individual mechanics range from awful to amazing - but it's an experience that you really wont get from any other title.
Almost finished Rome and have completed some of the other two cities and I'm enjoying this incredibly. The dialogue only missions are brilliant and really set the scene well. It's a shame this is reviewing so poorly - not surprising because the individual mechanics range from awful to amazing - but it's an experience that you really wont get from any other title.
In my chain of commenting on what people say, yours actually gave me a way to describe it!
Obsidian games are like the girl next door. They aren't gorgeous (but the gorgeous girls are, most of the time, shallow bitches), they aren't ugly and devoid of character, they are sweet and fun and not bad to look at.
That is my analogy of this company from now on. They are my "girl next door" company
This seems to be a pretty common occurrence, it happened to me the first time through too. It's even worse because
it's a false choice. If you save Mina, you don't actually lose anything. The stuff with Leland plays out exactly the same. The choice of whether or not the save Albatross is basically the same. The data you get if you don't save him doesn't actually seem to serve any purpose.
It kind of breaks the whole illusion that your choices matter.
Considering it is the title that made Obsidian my favorite western RPG company title I would say we should disagree
But I will go one step further to this
The unpolished gem argument is broken to me for one major reason: Fun Factor. The more "polished" a game is the less fun it is (with notable exceptions)
GTA4 is considered a "polished" game and yet you constantly hear people complain about it. That is essentially my case / point for this entire argument at least :lol
I loved GTA4, had a great time with it. Sorry, I don't think the level of polish is inversely proportional to a game's fun factor. Are you saying UC2, ME2 or COD4 are not fun? And if you did think that wouldn't it be purely subjective anyway.
I'll just say this, I think that the more polished a game is, the higher the chance it has of being "fun".
I like this game a lot, I'm ignoring Red Dead in it's favor but I would never say that it's a well made game. It obviously needed a lot more development time and a bunch of it's elements needed to be overhauled almost entirely.
I'm not sure about Albratross, I'll find out on this (my 3rd) playthough, but it looks like there are three main endings with smaller variables. You either destroy Halbech, join them, or betray Halbech and start your own organization with your allies. The other stuff changes the end-mission text, the news report, and who is in the boat with you. I've seen 4 different endings and they all pretty much sucked except for the last one, mostly because it was a surprise that I could betray Leland.
I'm not sure about Albratross, I'll find out on this (my 3rd) playthough, but it looks like there are three main endings with smaller variables. You either destroy Halbech, join them, or betray Halbech and start your own organization with your allies. The other stuff changes the end-mission text, the news report, and who is in the boat with you. I've seen 4 different endings and they all pretty much sucked except for the last one, mostly because it was a surprise that I could betray Leland.
I had +10 with him and I did not get the option. I am assuming that I need a a full dossier on him to do so.
As for the ending, I think the games variability may have caught up to it. Near the end, some things did not quite make sense unless you followed specific paths.
Anyway, I really wish that the real villain behind all this could have been called up (or perhaps it was my ending, but i doubt it).
Its a stat based shooter. The lower your stat the harder it is for you to aim (and the longer it takes to aim)
This game isn't Mass Effect, it actually TRIES to be an RPG, and I love the stat based shooting (as well as my brother, he thinks that any RPG/TPS should use it)
If you like stat based shooting, then sure, but I'm not a fan in how most use it. It just makes it seem like the gun is damaged, not that the character is inexperienced. There are better ways of having RPG stats impact shooter than making a magical number tell you that you missed. I mean, for the minigames, they get easier for the player as your skill increases. That's how it should be. Leveling up should make things easier and better, not just usable.
If you like stat based shooting, then sure, but I'm not a fan in how most use it. It just makes it seem like the gun is damaged, not that the character is inexperienced. There are better ways of having RPG stats impact shooter than making a magical number tell you that you missed. I mean, for the minigames, they get easier for the player as your skill increases. That's how it should be. Leveling up should make things easier and better, not just usable.
I had +10 with him and I did not get the option. I am assuming that I need a a full dossier on him to do so.
As for the ending, I think the games variability may have caught up to it. Near the end, some things did not quite make sense unless you followed specific paths.
Anyway, I really wish that the real villain behind all this could have been called up (or perhaps it was my ending, but i doubt it).
The problem with Alpha Protocol's gameplay isn't that it's stat based, it's that it is stats based and shallow. The RPG elements are better on paper than in reality. Things like shadow operative make stealth trivial and abilities like chain shot make the bosses a joke. There's no real depth to it to compensate for the poor gunplay and ai.
From what I understand, the orders to create both AP, Ally with Halbech etc. came from on high, so someone within the government is responsible (unless the last few dossiers I did not fill answered this).
I also, I wanted to know if it was possible to ally with Marburg somehow as a handler. If not, then earning loyalty with him was useless.
Speaking of which, I am guessing possible final Handlers are:
From what I understand, the orders to create both AP, Ally with Halbech etc. came from on high, so someone within the government is responsible (unless the last few dossiers I did not fill answered this).
I also, I wanted to know if it was possible to ally with Marburg somehow as a handler. If not, then earning loyalty with him was useless.
Speaking of which, I am guessing possible final Handlers are:
As far as I know, the game doesn't reveal exactly who in the government is responsible, but it's possible I just haven't seen it. Marburg won't become your handler, but you can kind of make him see the error of his ways
Madison can't be your handler, you never see her again after Rome even if you save her. Mina and Scarlet kind of take over as your handler once you rescue them, though the game has issues if you rescue both and gets confused in the ending. Otherwise the list looks correct.
it's the kinda thing i expected from ME 1 conversation system but didn't end up that way.
