Just starting playing it on PC. My god this needs patched. Playing it with a mouse the view keeps jumping around very annoyingly. Is it better with a controller on PC? I'm more of a mouse guy.
Thats odd that both Amazon and Gamestop would have bomba price drops and then raise them up again. i guess the price is back up because it sold so poorly its a rarity.
I think I got the "good" ending, riding off with Mina into the proverbial sunset. I decided to kill Scarlet after I had hot, sweaty sex with her, I killed Darcy, Parker and Leland, but Westridge managed to run away while I was saving Mina. In Rome I choose to piss off Marburg and save Madison (what an ungrateful bitch), in Moscow I choose to side with G22 (I spared Sis and saved Albatross from the russian mobster guy boss whom I killed) and Surkov. I also got on SIE's good side. In Taipei I allied with Steven Heck but I didn't delete his records because the alarms turn on and it's a real pain in the ass mowing down a bunch of soldiers when I can stealth trough 2-3 of them. I also managed to save Ronald Sung's life and ally myself with Ong Den.
The game was fun while it lasted, rough around the edges, impossible to play with mouse (I used Dual Shock 2 with an adapter to play it) and has a bunch of weird bugs I don't want to mention but in the end, I found myself suprised how much I liked the story and the constant twist and turns that it brought. I can easily see myself replaying the game down the line but going down a different path.
Just picked this game up from Gamestop. Fuckin kid behind the counter says, "Dude, i cant let you buy Alpha Protocol. Its horrible." SMH...I've been playing the game all day today and I really like it so far. Im a sucker for esponiage games and this game really fits my style.
On my second play through now, the game may lack polish but I'm still loving it. Kinda short as well, it's like Mass Effect 1 length without the side quests.
On my second play through now, the game may lack polish but I'm still loving it. Kinda short as well, it's like Mass Effect 1 length without the side quests.
glad you are enjoying it, I loved both of my playthroughs, one of my favs of the year and the generation so far
btw I think disproved something brought up in this thread awhile ago about the moscow embassy mission
On my 2nd playthrough I played the Moscow Embassy mission carefully, using G22's help and Leland didn't say anything at the end of the game about the marines dying. From what I remember reading in this thread most people claimed this was some kind of glitch in the game and you always got blamed for the marine's deaths. Apparently not so...
glad you are enjoying it, I loved both of my playthroughs, one of my favs of the year and the generation so far
btw I think disproved something brought up in this thread awhile ago about the moscow embassy mission
On my 2nd playthrough I played the Moscow Embassy mission carefully, using G22's help and Leland didn't say anything at the end of the game about the marines dying. From what I remember reading in this thread most people claimed this was some kind of glitch in the game and you always got blamed for the marine's deaths. Apparently not so...
Just beat it 10min ago. Screw the haters. I really enjoyed this game. I like character models and weapon models. During Thorton's standing animiation he puts his main weapon behind his shoulders and it looked so great. The dialogue sequences, voice acting, minigames...I had a blast. This one has earned a place on my shelf.
Playing through right now and it seems like Obsidian had so many great ideas, but it's almost if they lacked the talent to implement them well. I know they're beloved darlings around here, but every one of their games I've played have always been rough around the edges, but packed full of awesome ideas. Still, I'm really liking where the game is going. Playing with a controller helps a bunch.
Just finished this. Really enjoyed it on the whole and thought it was much better than a lot of the reviews claimed. I was wondering, though, did anyone complete objectives only to find the game didn't seem to register them? In the last mission, I completed all the objectives but two weren't counted for some reason. One of them wasn't even optional! Annoying, but at least it was the only bug I encountered.
Just finished this. Really enjoyed it on the whole and thought it was much better than a lot of the reviews claimed. I was wondering, though, did anyone complete objectives only to find the game didn't seem to register them? In the last mission, I completed all the objectives but two weren't counted for some reason. One of them wasn't even optional! Annoying, but at least it was the only bug I encountered.
I had that problem as well. After a while though, you get use to the many, many bugs in the game. :lol
Its too bad the game is so rough around the edges. To me it could have been one of the best games this gen but in the end became a decent game. Great ideas, but poor ass execution.
Finished this game a while back, but only discovered this thread now!
It's a little hard to sum up how I feel about this game.
There are so many things it does poorly, but the one thing it does RIGHT it does so well that it's utterly compelling: The way YOU manipulate the plot. I didn't even like the plot itself; standard evil weapons manufacturer conspiracy nonsense. But how everything you do has an effect is quite brilliant.
Key to this IMO is the timer pressuring you to make quick decisions. It means even quite oddly black-and-white decisions (something AP does really well to avoid) like
Madison-or-the-Bomb
become cool instant tests of judgement: Which is it? No time to think through the consequences: PICK NOW!
(I picked the girl.)
A friend asked if he should buy it. I said: Whether you like it or not, you won't regret the experience. AP does so many things wrong, but the central mechanic is used to such a unique degree that it's worth at the very least trying.
Despite all the bugs and issues, I still enjoyed Alpha Protocol. I wish Obsidian get the chance to either make a sequel or make another game along these lines, so they can smooth out the various issues with Alpha Protocol and make the game it should have been.
And for the record: Steven Heck, who was awesome, was my end-game handler... until I rescued Scarlet, who I screwed. I also rescued Mina so she ended up on the boat with me, but that was a little odd to me because I only rescued her to get answers -- and I didn't get any! I convinced Parker and Marburg that I was right, and left Leland for the authorities. No idea what happened to Westridge.
I just got through Saudia Arabia, and I've got to say, I'm not feeling this game, I'm kind of pissed I impulse bought it to support Obsidian and RPG's in general. The story so far is less than mediocre, and oh my god are the actual game mechanics shit.
But, I'll keep playing hope it gets better like people say it does.
I just got through Saudia Arabia, and I've got to say, I'm not feeling this game, I'm kind of pissed I impulse bought it to support Obsidian and RPG's in general. The story so far is less than mediocre, and oh my god are the actual game mechanics shit.
But, I'll keep playing hope it gets better like people say it does.
Oh and also, I can't even get a solid 30fps at 720p and I'm running on an e8400 and a 4850. No super hot computer I know, but I can run Mass Effect 2 (I use ME2 as an example because it is also UE3) at 1080p 30fps and this game should not be more demanding then that. Not even when I turn down both decal settings, no AA (because with it on you can't see dialogue choices).
I am sticking with it though, I will admit the way Saudi Arabia ends and the next couple of cutscenes/conversations intrigued me.
If you are really hating the mechanics I would try going with pistols and stealth. When I first played I did not like the SMG that came equiped at all and used the pistol always from then on. I have played a shotgun only game and it was a lot more clunky than my pistol game. The pistol ability is also a get out of boss fight free card if you are really not digging the mechanics.
Alright, so I just beat the game. I'm sorry guys, this game is really not very good. And this is coming from someone who has adored every Obsidian game up until here (well, I guess they've only released 2+2 expansions, but both of them are some of my favorites.)
I did restart on a harder difficulty going pure stealth/pistols, and that made the game a lot more fun to play. Mechanics still are not very good, I can't really see myself wanting to replay this game using tech or more combat oriented stuff. If I ever do replay this game (which I doubt will ever happen), I would probably just go stealth again.
But unlike other people, I don't think the mechanics are this game's biggest flaws. The narrative is just a big jumbled mess. I don't see what about this is so praiseworthy. At it's best, it's just typical spy nonsense with nothing innovative or exciting (which isn't a problem, but also isn't a huge plus). But at it's worse, it's a convoluted mass of poorly written and VA lines of dialogue loosely connected to each other but often making no sense. And it frequently makes no sense. I'm assuming this happened because it's so modular in nature, like some lines might only make sense if you have acquired that piece of intel or followed that line of dialogue, and it is really jarring when all of a sudden you have absolutely no idea what they are talking about in the conversation. And the loose ends, oh god, don't get me started on the loose ends.
The game, at least on PC, is a technical mess. I had to do some heavy .ini editing to even get the game playable, and the bugs are significant and rampant. The most annoying one is where if you die and reload the last checkpoint, it will frequently just delete every enemy in the next room. I guess that's great if you're having a tough time with the room, but when one of those enemies is a boss you have to beat to continue with the mission, it becomes a problem. It also seemed like every other scripting event was bugged in some way.
In the ruins, when having to defend the hacking job or whatever, it took me ten tries to complete it, not because it was difficult, but because it kept bugging and after killing all the enemies nothing would happen.
But my biggest complaint, and the one that makes me consider the game such a poor outing, is the fact that choice, probably the central mechanic of the game, is so poorly executed. I never had any idea what I was going to say next, I just had to guess at what the vague on screen prompts hinted at. I would chose suave, and he would become a leering perverted old man. That's not suave, that's creepy. The option should have been creepy then. Mass Effect has this same problem, but it seemed to be much more significant in Alpha Protocol, perhaps because the different options are much less consistent. Again, using suave as an example, one time you choose it it means cleverly flirtatious, the next time it means making a joke about her tits or something. At the end of the game (MASSIVE Alpha Protocol Spoiler ahead)
apparently I chose to go after the bomb rather then to save Mina, although I didn't know it until they show me a video of her being shot in the face. I kept waiting for them to tell me how to make the choice, but I guess I went through the wrong door or something?
But for such a decision that is of such paramount narrative importance, how can you not clearly spell out what the player is supposed to do?
So, when I read people saying, "Oh, this game is great as long as you know what you want out of it," I am baffled. What is it I was supposed to want to get out of it? I always assumed those consumers and reviewers were talking about the clever nature of the story, and how player choice can effect it, but it was such a mess in the end I felt like it wasn't my choice that effected the game, it was their piss poor ability to let players know what choices they were making.
Uh, that's not the point? It is supposed to be ambiguous...the "suave", "aggressive", "professsional" thing are just general stances. They generally don't affect the story all that much but do generally affect how characters feel about you. And regarding Mina...you should have looked at your map. Plus when you got near the right door Leland says something to you.
Uh, that's not the point? It is supposed to be ambiguous...the "suave", "aggressive", "professsional" thing are just general stances. They generally don't affect the story all that much but do generally affect how characters feel about you. And regarding Mina...you should have looked at your map. Plus when you got near the right door Leland says something to you.
Why is it supposed to be ambiguous? How does that add to the experience? It also seemed to me that there were important narrative options given to me based on how the other characters felt about me, which were mostly effected by dialogue, which is directed by the poor dialogue choice system. And this is especially true for the characters who aren't so simplistic (Simplistic: SIE, more complicated and thus more interesting: Scarlet, Heck, etc.). Sometimes they might like a suave character, sometimes they might like a professional, etc. But hell if I know which one they like right now, because I have no idea what I'm about to say when picking this option. It's too bad, because I like the concept of no morality system, instead you just have relationships with individuals, and that made it even more disappointing how bad it is.
About the map, I found the map atrocious, but maybe I was missing something? I had a very hard time understanding what were different levels, and pretty much stayed away from it after the first couple of missions. Part of this probably was due to the poor interface, which is probably a PC specific problem since it was obviously designed around the gamepad. But on PC, to navigate the map you can't use arrows, wasd, or mouse, you have to drag the scroll bars on the side.
I think I missed a door for that important decision in the end game, Leland did say something and there was a room with multiple doors, but he never said, "choose this door for this option, choose this door for that option" like they did earlier in the game when you had a similar decision. Also, there was a camera in that hallway which I was under when he said something, so maybe I was supposed to go to one of the doors covered by the camera, but since I'd already gotten past the camera, I assumed I was just supposed to proceed.
It's also possible he said something later on, but this game also has TERRIBLE audio design, at least on PC in 5.1. By messing with ini I got it so that I did have surround sound, but voices and sounds would come from the weirdest directions that had no correlation with where they were located in game, and a few times people would be talking to me and I couldn't hear them because of them coming out of weird directions and with very odd levels. Before you say, oh, well you can adjust voice levels, yes, I understand that, but most of the time people's dialogue to me was way too loud.
He's talking about the big choice you have to make in the last Rome Mission. I personally thought that the game was clear on how you decide that choice (by going either left or right at the top of the stairs).
No, that one was very clear. I'm talking about where you have to make a similar choice in the last level, I completely missed where I supposedly made the choice.
No, that one was very clear. I'm talking about where you have to make a similar choice in the last level, I completely missed where I supposedly made the choice.
You're far from the only one with that problem. Many people miss out on saving Scarlet or Mina in the final mission the first time through because poor design decisions make it pretty unclear where and when you have to go find them.
Oh, and I also wanted to say, I still don't understand what the hell happened at the end of the game. Obviously, end of game spoilers ahead...
Scarlet shows up, shoots me, is apparently an assassin, and then there is some vague discussion of contracts, she shoots Leland, vague discussion of a list, I ride off into the sunset? WTF!?!?
I am assuming there were important pieces of intel or dialogue that I missed that would explain what the hell happened there, but if you need those things to understand what is going on, why would you make that the ending when the player never had those pieces?
I just finished Rome (did Taipei first, then Rome, saving Moscow for last).
So far, I think I'm liking it more than most people. I'm playing as a Rookie and I've emphasized Stealth, Martial Arts, and Pistols. So far I've killed 0 people (1 kill listed in stats, from collateral damage when I used the rocket launcher to blow up the tank in Saudi Arabia; I'm not sure if this was avoidable). I'm planning for a 0 kill game.
My biggest complaint so far is that the bosses are not well balanced. I've been playing the entire game very successfully using stealth and martial arts... but both the Taipei boss and the Rome boss would be impossible to defeat with those. They've got 9999999 times more HP than regular enemies, you can't use takedowns, and both of them have an annoying habit of bumrushing you and pummeling you with unblockable melee attacks.
I ended up killing the Taipei boss using exploding grenades and Phosphorous shotgun shells, but it was annoying as hell. Rome was even worse; I lost about 35 times before I managed to glitch the boss into being stuck and then repeatedly headshotting him with steel bullets. Before I glitched him, my main strategy was using invisibility and takedowns to take out the henchmen, using chain shot (at my current level, 2 bullets) to headshot the boss twice, and then running from everything until those two skills cooldown. It didn't work because the cooldown periods are slightly too long and the boss does way too much damage with his gun and his bumrushing.
The other thing is that I don't think I understand how the gadget/item inventory system works. I bought 12 first aid kits, but only 4 of them are equipped; 2 in the top slot, 2 in the right slot. And you can't change equipment mid-mission, so by the time I got to the Rome boss, I had half health and 1 first aid kit remaining (plus there's a healing kit near one of the elevators).
I seem to be doing well trying to romance all three chicks so far (sealed the deal with one in Rome), but it's hard to say when I'm faced with a choice that obviously involves choosing one of two chicks which one I more need the points with.
The game was fun while it lasted, rough around the edges, impossible to play with mouse (I used Dual Shock 2 with an adapter to play it) and has a bunch of weird bugs I don't want to mention but in the end, I found myself suprised how much I liked the story and the constant twist and turns that it brought. I can easily see myself replaying the game down the line but going down a different path.
Finally got into my copy that I purchased a month back and just finished up the Moscow mission
Loving it, though I naturally went the pistols/stealth/hacking route (my playstyle by habit) and have found the difficulty very miminal. Also have Thorton being mostly professional.
When I do a 2nd playthrough, was gonna roll a SMG/brute force/complete asshole Thorton.
I played with a mouse and found it incredibly easy. It is basically a win button for lock picking, although it is a little wonky in hacking, but still completely usable.
I really wish Sis was used more, seemed like such a waste of a great design.
Do they really never expand on her? I always assumed it was just because I didn't follow the right path, but that another one she would have been more important.
No, besides some not very informative intel there isn't much. If you team up with Albatross at the end she will be the one who frees you, but that's about it. The dialogue probably contains the most information about her, most of it only implied.
Oh, and I also wanted to say, I still don't understand what the hell happened at the end of the game. Obviously, end of game spoilers ahead...
Scarlet shows up, shoots me, is apparently an assassin, and then there is some vague discussion of contracts, she shoots Leland, vague discussion of a list, I ride off into the sunset? WTF!?!?
I am assuming there were important pieces of intel or dialogue that I missed that would explain what the hell happened there, but if you need those things to understand what is going on, why would you make that the ending when the player never had those pieces?
LOL I got the same exact ending as well and I didn't understand it either. :lol
The achievements in this game are bugged as well. I've been getting achievements that I didn't think I would get and I'm not getting achievements that I should be getting.
I had a similar setup to you but didnt have much problem with the bosses, whenever they rushed me, i would just go toe to toe with them, and found that as long as you timed your hits right they wouldn't be able to get any hits on you. Though for the Moscow boss i did just run away whenever he tried charging me.
My biggest complaint so far is that the bosses are not well balanced. I've been playing the entire game very successfully using stealth and martial arts... but both the Taipei boss and the Rome boss would be impossible to defeat with those. They've got 9999999 times more HP than regular enemies, you can't use takedowns, and both of them have an annoying habit of bumrushing you and pummeling you with unblockable melee attacks.
I ended up killing the Taipei boss using exploding grenades and Phosphorous shotgun shells, but it was annoying as hell. Rome was even worse; I lost about 35 times before I managed to glitch the boss into being stuck and then repeatedly headshotting him with steel bullets. Before I glitched him, my main strategy was using invisibility and takedowns to take out the henchmen, using chain shot (at my current level, 2 bullets) to headshot the boss twice, and then running from everything until those two skills cooldown. It didn't work because the cooldown periods are slightly too long and the boss does way too much damage with his gun and his bumrushing.
The other thing is that I don't think I understand how the gadget/item inventory system works. I bought 12 first aid kits, but only 4 of them are equipped; 2 in the top slot, 2 in the right slot. And you can't change equipment mid-mission, so by the time I got to the Rome boss, I had half health and 1 first aid kit remaining (plus there's a healing kit near one of the elevators).
You're only allowed to carry a certain amount of items in each slot, if you want more of one item you either have to fill another slot with it or improve one of the skill trees... I forget which one, but there's one that'll let you carry more items I think.
As for difficult bosses when using melee, use Flashbangs. They'll stun almost the whole room (boss included) which lets you do frontal stealth takedowns on eventual henchmen before you proceed to pummel the boss.
Got this game yesterday and been playing it for 5-6 hours or so.
Im enjoying the game a lot more than I thought I would because of the reviews. The shooting stuff and enemy AI is pretty bad/broken but otherwise the game is just really compelling. The dialogue is done really well, much better than Mass Effect.
It's really a shame Obsidian can't do another so they could improve the gameplay parts on missions.
Finally got all 1000 achievement points in Alpha Protocol after 5 playthroughs. What an awesome game. It has its flaws, but the good things about the game outweight the bad.
Heck is one of the best video-game characters ever.
Just finished this game and it is a hell of a lot better than I anticipated. From the reviews I was expecting a very bad game, but I actually loved it.
The shooting wasn't great, but I played with a pistol and slow-mo shot mostly so it felt like Splinter Cell. The story was awesome, and the choices and their outcomes were amazing.
I enjoyed the characters and the voice actors did a great job as well.
I doubt we will see a sequel but I would buy it. Great game, some issues, all fixable.
Just finished this game and it is a hell of a lot better than I anticipated. From the reviews I was expecting a very bad game, but I actually loved it.
The shooting wasn't great, but I played with a pistol and slow-mo shot mostly so it felt like Splinter Cell. The story was awesome, and the choices and their outcomes were amazing.
I enjoyed the characters and the voice actors did a great job as well.
I doubt we will see a sequel but I would buy it. Great game, some issues, all fixable.
Obsidian admitted that action wasn't their forte (their first attempt) and IF there was a sequel it would be a bit more RPG heavy I imagine (unless they used this as a learning lesson and had more action, but I want more RPG)
Still, I loved every second I played this game myself. Might eventually make it my first platinum.
Man wtf! My ending turned out completely retarded.
Ending Spoilers:
I romanced Scarlet and what not expecting her to be on the boat at the end but it ended up being Mina on the boat even though I discovered Mina's true motives behind Alpha Protocol. :lol
I think I'm done with the game. I can't be bothered to play it anymore to finish off the achievements when they are so bugged.
How are the stealth elements in this game? I have been dying for a Chaos Theory-esque style of gameplay for a long time. Is it possible to play hidden in the shadows the whole game?
