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[Rodney McKay]

So I've played it a bit tonight, got to the last Saudi Arabian mission. So far it's enjoyable, but the game needs a lot of polish. First of all, the game was unplayable for me until I had to edit the .ini file to make the mouse less janky. It was such a huge improvement when I did it though. In the first level there was this weird invisible wall near a corner that ruined my stealth, and I had to reload a checkpoint at the part where I had to hop on a heli because for some reason the checkpoint wouldn't activate once I got close to it. The best part of the game is by far the dialogue system. While the characters are nothing special so far, they still have distinct personalities and it's interesting to twist your responses to their personality. I can't wait to see how my decisions and relationships affect the story later on in the game.

I'm doing a stealth/pistol build, but I'm finding that being stealthy is nearly impossible in some areas and enemies seem to drop out of nowhere or at positions where you simply can't sneak past them. I recently got the shadow operative skill, so I'm hoping I can use stealth more in the future. Also is there a tranq gun anywhere? There was on in the opening part, but I can't find one in the clearing house.

Also, the death animations are hilariously over the top for the main character.

You have to find or buy tranq rounds for your pistol then select that ammo type for the pistol.

The dialog stuff was probably the only thing I found interesting about this game as well, and even there I had issues with it. I hated not knowing what my character was going to say when I chose a response, there were times when I chose to be funny or playful and he would end up being a total dick and I would lose reputation with people.

I wouldn't mind playing through the game again just to make different choices, but I could never force myself to start over from level 1 again. Unfortunately I got the 360 version so there isn't even the hope of modding my character to be maxed out (or at least MILDLY fun to play) from the beginning.

This is the first time I've said this about a game, but there's always youtube right? :\

 

[lastplayed]

Anyone played through with the "Recruit" build? Does it actually change your play style or does it just it just make it a bit harder earlier on?

 

[confused]

Bought the game on Steam, but guess what, I have a backlog of over 100 games. Might finally play it in 2015 :lol

Damn I love/hate Steam

 

[Stallion Free]

Anyone played through with the "Recruit" build? Does it actually change your play style or does it just it just make it a bit harder earlier on?

It just makes it slightly harder at the start and gives you some extra dialogue options. Then you beat it and unlock the Veteran build which gives you a shit load of points spread out to every skill THAT YOU CAN REALLOCATE. Shit gets crazy.

 

[lsslave]

Anyone played through with the "Recruit" build? Does it actually change your play style or does it just it just make it a bit harder earlier on?

Harder overall. Not just earlier on. You permanently lose the skill points you would have started with. And the "recruit" options are pretty funny at points.

Veteran mode even on hard is boring though so it is not worth the effort

 

[lastplayed]

It just makes it slightly harder at the start and gives you some extra dialogue options. Then you beat it and unlock the Veteran build which gives you a shit load of points spread out to every skill THAT YOU CAN REALLOCATE. Shit gets crazy.

Yeah that's what I want. I beat it way back when it first came out on 360, this is my first PC playthrough.

Harder overall. Not just earlier on. You permanently lose the skill points you would have started with. And the "recruit" options are pretty funny at points.

Veteran mode even on hard is boring though so it is not worth the effort

Ah well, I'll give it a go. I like new dialogue options.

 

[Durante]

I'm playing the recruit build and I'm trying to do a playthrough with 0 kills. So far it has been pretty challenging, bu satisfying.

Btw, I have yet to encounter a single bug in the game. It seems quite polished to me.

 

[Sectus]

I also said because its coming into console gaming there is a side of me that is close to giving up entirely on the hobby.

Back when I was running an old DOS-box (Tandy-1000 <3) as a kid I didn't have to fight to tweak games to make them work. Then when Windows 95 went into full force I remember that some of the games I had just "wouldn't" work and it kept happening until I eventually just quit trying :/

When I returned as an adult I played about 10 different PC games over a 2 year period and every single one had problems. Whether it be in Sins of a Solar Empire where every time I'd lose 50+ hours in a multiplayer game because I installed a patch infuriating me or furiously trying to find a patch for KotOR 1 when the game kept crashing on me.

Eventually I just stopped trying; and every once in a while a part of me wants to go nuts on PC gaming (better graphics; fan patches and mods; cheaper games) but I have just been conditioned away from the market through years of pain-in-the-assness

I'd recommend just temporarily steering away from games which are buggy. Wait some weeks or months, and most bugs should hopefully be ironed out via patches.

Heck, with how DLC works that's another incentive to wait with certain games.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

So I've played it a bit tonight, got to the last Saudi Arabian mission. So far it's enjoyable, but the game needs a lot of polish.

Just so you know, Saudi Arabia is hands down the worst the game has to offer. If you're enjoying it so far, it gets much better.

 

[HK-47]

You have to find or buy tranq rounds for your pistol then select that ammo type for the pistol.

The dialog stuff was probably the only thing I found interesting about this game as well, and even there I had issues with it. I hated not knowing what my character was going to say when I chose a response, there were times when I chose to be funny or playful and he would end up being a total dick and I would lose reputation with people.

I wouldn't mind playing through the game again just to make different choices, but I could never force myself to start over from level 1 again. Unfortunately I got the 360 version so there isn't even the hope of modding my character to be maxed out (or at least MILDLY fun to play) from the beginning.

This is the first time I've said this about a game, but there's always youtube right? :\

You have to remember this: Michael Thorton is not an avatar, he is a character. His character is that he is a sarcastic dick. Expect everything to be dickish or sarcastic or rude most of the time.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

The game crashed on me three times before I even took control. Not a good start. :lol

 

[aasoncott]

WOO, SUCCESS!

I found out that MotioninJoy released signed DS3 drivers that finally work in Windows 7-64, so I uninstalled the official Sony drivers and switched to that instead. Turned on 360 emulation in MotioninJoy, and now the gamepad is working flawlessly in both Alpha Protocol and Borderlands.

 

[Stallion Free]

WOO, SUCCESS!

I found out that MotioninJoy released signed DS3 drivers that finally work in Windows 7-64, so I uninstalled the official Sony drivers and switched to that instead. Turned on 360 emulation in MotioninJoy, and now the gamepad is working flawlessly in both Alpha Protocol and Borderlands.

Wait so you were trying to play the game the whole time with a DS3? That pad isn't officially supported, no wonder you had issues.

 

[aasoncott]

Wait so you were trying to play the game the whole time with a DS3? That pad isn't officially supported, no wonder you had issues.

As of March there's been official, signed Sony drivers. The pad itself works pretty flawlessly, though sometimes you need to play with the mapping a bit. It doesn't explain, however, why the game stopped working with mouse and keyboard even when the gamepad wasn't plugged in or enabled.

 

[Stallion Free]

As of March there's been official, signed Sony drivers. The pad itself works pretty flawlessly, though sometimes you need to play with the mapping a bit. It doesn't explain, however, why the game stopped working with mouse and keyboard even when the gamepad wasn't plugged in or enabled.

It's not officially supported by the game I meant.

 

[Fredescu]

It doesn't explain, however, why the game stopped working with mouse and keyboard even when the gamepad wasn't plugged in or enabled.

I'm wondering if there was still something running that made the game thought the gamepad was still on when it wasn't. I was going to try and dig up the ini file setting that told the game whether a gamepad was present, but then I saw you fixed the issue.

I wish AP had gamepad support like Mafia II did. In that game you could use either or at any time, and you could switch your gamepad on or off and it would just pick it up and away you go. In AP, if I'm away from the game for a while and my gamepad has turned off when I get back, I have to re enable it in the menu. Kind of annoying, but Mafia II is a new high standard for gamepad support to be fair.

 

[N4Us]

So I'm a total scrub playing this game for the first time, any advice against defeating Sis because she's pretty much owning me every time.

Just so you know, Saudi Arabia is hands down the worst the game has to offer. If you're enjoying it so far, it gets much better.

The bridge/tank battle took me longer than I should ever admit. Sooo glad I'm done with that place.

 

[Grayman]

I love AP, that is all.

PS. Recruit was not bad for a first playthrough at all but I happened upon stealth+pistols as my main play style.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

The bridge/tank battle took me longer than I should ever admit. Sooo glad I'm done with that place.

There's a similar bit to that fight much much later in the game unfortunately, but you''l have have most of your spy super powers by then at least.

 

[subversus]

I also said because its coming into console gaming there is a side of me that is close to giving up entirely on the hobby.

Back when I was running an old DOS-box (Tandy-1000 <3) as a kid I didn't have to fight to tweak games to make them work.

sorry, but that sounds like bullshit. I had to tweak autoexec and config files all the time.

 

[N4Us]

There's a similar bit to that fight much much later in the game unfortunately, but you''l have have most of your spy super powers by then at least.

Yeah, I was pretty underleveled and didn't have much accessories at the time either, which probably made it worse.

Also beat Sis, I just gave up on the tactics and chucked like five grenade at her and she lost.

 

[lsslave]

I love AP, that is all.

PS. Recruit was not bad for a first playthrough at all but I happened upon stealth+pistols as my main play style.

My favorite build is my "assassin" build. Stealth + Assault Rifle. Sneak into a safe spot and wipe out an entire room of enemies before they even know what is happening.

When I go for replay of AP I am going to probably do the exact same thing (well maybe not; a "non lethal" playthrough is 100 percent definitely in order)

 

[Kurtofan]

Man this game is awesome.
My character is Dudebro incarnate :lol
I even managed to kill two guys in the training mission :lol

 

[Grayman]

My favorite build is my "assassin" build. Stealth + Assault Rifle. Sneak into a safe spot and wipe out an entire room of enemies before they even know what is happening.

When I go for replay of AP I am going to probably do the exact same thing (well maybe not; a "non lethal" playthrough is 100 percent definitely in order)

I played a rush everyone with the shotgun build once. I may try a martial arts game but I am not sure if that will work on the bosses that can be be reached, let alone needing AR or pistol for some ranged ones.

 

[Rocky_Balboa]

I got this game today and basically played all day. Ignored all the school stuff in order to kick ass with my Stealthy Spy Fidel Castro lookalike. Great game so far. I don't understand why it got so many bad reviews.

 

[Stallion Free]

I got this game today and basically played all day. Ignored all the school stuff in order to kick ass with my Stealthy Spy Fidel Castro lookalike. Great game so far. I don't understand why it got so many bad reviews.

The problem here is that you bothered reading reviews. I saw mediocre reviews coming from a mile away.

 

[Zomba13]

So yeah, I've been playing this loads. I've finished Moscow and Taipei. I reeeeally like this game. The shooting stuff is kinda crap but then again it's supposed to be an RPG and if you don't have your pistol skill leveled then you wont be very effective with it (though they could have made the shooting a bit more accurate)
I've been going though sneaking and using melee take downs and am enjoying the story and dialouge and the results of your actions, I think I'm going to play through again an just be an angry badass killing everyone and pissing everyone off instead of playing nice and getting everyone to like me (like I'm doing now).

I think this game could have been amazing if it had a bit more polish, maybe up there with Mass Effect.

 

[Kurtofan]

I got this game today and basically played all day. Ignored all the school stuff in order to kick ass with my Stealthy Spy Fidel Castro lookalike. Great game so far. I don't understand why it got so many bad reviews.

Crazy coincidence my character is Fidel junior too :lol
He is more bloodbath commando rather than stealth spy though :lol

 

[Emitan]

I didn't buy this during the sale because I have a big backlog to get through. I still wish I'd bought it though. It's always sounded fantastic.

 

[Durante]

Finished Taipei, this game is so good. The silent running skill feels fantastic. Popping out of cover and dropping 2 enemies in 10 seconds while staying undetected is great. The only time my stealth/sabotage/hand-to-hand build has failed me so far is against

Spoiler

Deng

. but with a bit of patience (and 7 or so tries) even that was doable.

Still at 0 kills.

 

[Rocky_Balboa]

The problem here is that you bothered reading reviews. I saw mediocre reviews coming from a mile away.

I knew from the reviews that they didn't get it. Most of them thought that it is a shooter. So they complained about the shooting and AI. So I did know that it is not as bad as they say, but I was surprised still that it was so much better.

Just finished Taipei. Before that I did Rome and now I'm off to Moscow.

Btw. I started as Recruit. What is the main difference between that and the normal classes?

 

[Fredescu]

Btw. I started as Recruit. What is the main difference between that and the normal classes?

Far fewer skill points. You get a whole bunch of starting points as a non-recruit. There is also some extra dialog.

 

[Rocky_Balboa]

Finished in one sitting :lol

 

[BobsRevenge]

Finished in one sitting :lol

:O

I'm 9 hours in and I feel like I MIGHT be 1/2 the way through it.

Christ bro.

 

[subversus]

:O

I'm 9 hours in and I feel like I MIGHT be 1/2 the way through it.

Christ bro.

He could play it for 24 hours straight!!

 

[Tylahedras]

Perfectly topical, I just bought this game and am playing it now.

So far I think it got a pretty bad wrap, yeah it's not exactly the most steller graphics or the best gameplay, but the conversations, SO FUCKING AWESOME.

I've never played a game that made me feel so much like a spy.

 

[DiddyBop]

Just picked this up for the PS3 and I'm loving it so far. The first area was a bit frustrating since i would be spotted so easily but I've gotten accustomed to the game machanics and its been mostly smooth sailing from there. I'm currently in Rome and I'm loving the whole espionage theme and the wealth of information available through intel, it really immerses you into the world. this is what a Bourne game should play like, damn shame it won't be getting a sequel though.

 

[Forkball]

I'm in Moscow. How the hell do I defeat Brayko? When he's on the stage I can't hit him with my assault rifle, I have to wait to chain shot him with a pistol to do any damage. After I get him to half health, he cokes up and slashes the shit out of me and I can't escape.

I'm enjoying it, but AP is probably the buggiest game I've ever played. Sometimes if I die and reload the most recent checkpoint, enemies will sometimes be completely gone. For example, in Saudi Arabia there's a boss fight with a guy on a bridge and some others on the ground. I died, and when I reloaded, no one was there. I walked up to the bridge, and when I got to the marker, a cutscene where I kicked the bridge guy in the back of the head played and I got all these stealth bonuses. Uh, okay. In Moscow, I cleared out this are, was advancing, but someone behind me killed me. When I reloaded, there was a boss fight. I think I killed the boss, but the screen went black and when I pressed a button, it just sounded like I was shooting an empty gun. When I reloaded a cutscene played saying I killed that boss.

 

[lsslave]

Just picked this up for the PS3 and I'm loving it so far. The first area was a bit frustrating since i would be spotted so easily but I've gotten accustomed to the game machanics and its been mostly smooth sailing from there. I'm currently in Rome and I'm loving the whole espionage theme and the wealth of information available through intel, it really immerses you into the world. this is what a Bourne game should play like, damn shame it won't be getting a sequel though.

God only knows; with all these people coming in late to the game it could be a slow burner. Maybe not millions but the Obsidian staff has ideas for a sequel all it needs are enough sales for Sega to go "Alright... whatever"

Or some harassment, could just bombard their emails. But GAF doesn't do that, they complain on the message board and never take the fight further We'd have Xenoblade by now if people took that fight to Nintendo.

 

[Grayman]

I'm in Moscow. How the hell do I defeat Brayko? When he's on the stage I can't hit him with my assault rifle, I have to wait to chain shot him with a pistol to do any damage. After I get him to half health, he cokes up and slashes the shit out of me and I can't escape.

I'm enjoying it, but AP is probably the buggiest game I've ever played. Sometimes if I die and reload the most recent checkpoint, enemies will sometimes be completely gone. For example, in Saudi Arabia there's a boss fight with a guy on a bridge and some others on the ground. I died, and when I reloaded, no one was there. I walked up to the bridge, and when I got to the marker, a cutscene where I kicked the bridge guy in the back of the head played and I got all these stealth bonuses. Uh, okay. In Moscow, I cleared out this are, was advancing, but someone behind me killed me. When I reloaded, there was a boss fight. I think I killed the boss, but the screen went black and when I pressed a button, it just sounded like I was shooting an empty gun. When I reloaded a cutscene played saying I killed that boss.

If you are stuck on Brayko you are free to travel to Taipei or Rome if you have not already. Not only will you level up but you will also gain intel advantages.

Spoiler related to brayko and other mission areas:

Spoiler

Stephen Heck who you meet in Taipei will spike Brayko's cocaine stash making the fight easier.

 

[Fredescu]

Sometimes if I die and reload the most recent checkpoint, enemies will sometimes be completely gone.

That's a fairly common bug if you use Quick Load. Use the manual load and the bug doesn't happen.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Right I've just done the first bit of the game and I actually enjoyed it. Pretty visuals, fun stealth.

However, I can't play anymore, because of the retarded conversation system:

Can somebody explain to me what each of the buttons do because at the moment I'm playing lucky dip and I've already pissed off people I didn't want to. I must've played for at least 45 mins and I haven't got one tutorial on the stupid system.

I mean, they just show me buttons and I need to hope for the best? It's a ridiculous idea. I can't roleplay if I don't know what I'm saying. I looked in the options and I don't have any prompts disabled or anything, so I assume this is by some misguided design.

 

[lastplayed]

You don't see text next to the buttons at all?

 

[Jangaroo]

The X (blue button) tends to have conversations that are light in tone and casual. The Y (yellow button) gives you aggressive conversation choices and generally makes you "bad" while the B (red button) gives you professional conversation choices and makes you "good." In all honesty, there really is no good or bad choices in regards to a karmic path since you'll want to mix up your answers depending on who you're talking to and how far your relationship is with that person since conversation tones that may not seem like a good idea at first end up being better for you once the NPC feels more comfortable with your character.

 

[Moobabe]

Can somebody explain to me what each of the buttons do because at the moment I'm playing lucky dip and I've already pissed off people I didn't want to. I must've played for at least 45 mins and I haven't got one tutorial on the stupid system.

I mean, they just show me buttons and I need to hope for the best? It's a ridiculous idea. I can't roleplay if I don't know what I'm saying. I looked in the options and I don't have any prompts disabled or anything, so I assume this is by some misguided design.

That looks like a bug - it should have options next to them - aggressive, suave etc

 

[Jangaroo]

Yeah that's a bug. You're supposed to see text.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

There's meant to be text? Right, that explains a lot.

Hm. I don't know what's causing that to happen then. I am forcing AA/AF so maybe that's it. I'll disable that stuff and see if I actually get the text this time... :lol I'll try verifying game files too..

 

[Durante]

There's meant to be text? Right, that explains a lot.

Hm. I don't know what's causing that to happen then. I am forcing AA/AF so maybe that's it. I'll disable that stuff and see if I actually get the text this time... :lol I'll try verifying game files too..

Forcing AA causes this problem. See my post here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24592040&postcount=2391 on how to fix it for NV GPUs (and still get AA).

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

I'm on ATI

I've disabled AA/AF and still have no text, though.

 

[GraveRobberX]

Remember you literally are a spy

With some people act professional, some suave, some aggressive

Not a spoiler:

First 3 starting training agents you meet:

With the dude with the glasses Parker (I think) be Professional the whole time, come under time on his challenge and get him what he request with-out being seen/hurt anyone = bonus AP+ (think XP)

With Mina (I think) come with a score above average (I got 130+), be Professional, 1-2 suave answers in conversation if it heads that way + if she jokes, nothing more

With the douchebag Yancy/Clancy (I think) act Suave/Aggressive, beat his requirements earn some extra funds early on to help ya out

Then the black dude Westridge (I think) be professional no matter what

For your first play-through try everything out, get a feel for it, unless if your strictly playing a typecast style

PS3:

Square - Suave = James Bond (007)
Triangle- Aggressive = Jack Bauer (24)
Circle - Professional = Jason Bourne (Matt Damon)
X (Rare)- Intel (if you bought/earned it) = Master Spy + you earn Brownie Points + game either give you a bonus or an upper hand

Trying to go for 1000/1000 cheves or the platinum = patience/time/multiple playthroughs (took me 7 different saves of doing different situations, with different outcomes to get Platinum), with the right choices you will start seeing the whole picture

There's 5+ endings..I think more if you just picked and choose different scenarios

Stealth + Chain Shot Maxed out = Game Breaking, you become ridiculous, I took Bryakko out in 30 seconds flat
Also picking the cities after Saudia Arabia does affect certain outcomes, better Intelligence given for other cities beforehand, so good luck, my head hurt when you do a fucking flow chart for this game trying to see every ending or just finishing it completely