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[Patryn]

The guy in the disco took me forever. I have the pistol leveled up, so I get 3 shots with chainshot. I would sneak up on the guy and hit him in the head with all 3 shots and his shield would only go down about half way. If I ran and hid I wouldn't have done any damage and his shield would have recharged by the time chainshot was ready again, so I'd try to hit him some more with my pistol, my shotgun which isn't leveled up, or some grenades. He would run straight at me with a bunch of unblockable melee attacks, and inevitably 3 guys with assault rifles would roll into the room.

I'm willing to concede that I may just be bad at this game, but I can't help thinking that some of the other skill trees seem like they would be so much better suited to these fights.

Did you make my mistake and just try to complete one area before moving on to the next?

I did that my first playthrough and had

Spoiler

Brayko

destroy me over and over until he glitched.

My second playthrough, I jumped between the three areas, leaving the bosses until the end. I breezed through them all.

Spoiler

Brayko

took me under 60 seconds.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Did you make my mistake and just try to complete one area before moving on to the next?

I did that my first playthrough and had

Spoiler

Brayko

destroy me over and over until he glitched.

My second playthrough, I jumped between the three areas, leaving the bosses until the end. I breezed through them all.

Spoiler

Brayko

took me under 60 seconds.

Yeah, jumping back and forth was the way to go. Especially since certain missions will provide more intel if you've done other missions elsewhere first.

 

[Brandon F]

You can move between the cities freely? How?

 

[XiaNaphryz]

You can move between the cities freely? How?

Just hit the Back button onscreen when on the mission selection screen to choose between safehouses.

 

[Fredescu]

Yeah, jumping back and forth was the way to go.

I wish the game gave you more of a nudge in that direction though. With the game emphasising choice and consequence, you could be forgiven for feeling that there might be consequences if you fly off to another county and leave things unfinished where you are. My first playthrough I went through it in order, and yeah Brayko was pretty tough. On my second playthrough where I left all the bosses until last it was a lot easier.

 

[old manatee]

Did you make my mistake and just try to complete one area before moving on to the next?

I did that my first playthrough and had

Spoiler

Brayko

destroy me over and over until he glitched.

My second playthrough, I jumped between the three areas, leaving the bosses until the end. I breezed through them all.

Spoiler

Brayko

took me under 60 seconds.

I did make that mistake. I still think it's way too easy to break the game for yourself. When I beat Saudi Arabia it gave me the choice to go to one of 3 countries. I went to Moscow and every time I clicked on the front door after that it sent me to the screen for missions in Moscow. If skipping around to different countries is so important they should start me at the country screen every time or let me know in some way that skipping around is usefull or even possible.

If you put points into more than 2, maybe 3 skill trees you've made the game unbelievably frustrating on yourself. If you level up melee you get to spend the whole game fighting guys with guns with a very unfun 1-button melee attack. God help you if you put any points into the gadgets or hacking trees. If you dump your points into stealth and pistols like I did the boss battles are ludicrous. My best plan of action when fighting a normal human who can take a hundred bullets to the head is to hit the left bumper, rendering me invisible as I stand in the middle of a well-lit room. I haven't tried it, but seeing how the un-leveled up assault rifle is usually just as viable an option to me as my 2/3s leveled-up pistol, it seems like if you put your points into health and assault rifles you would break the game by being wildy overpowered.

 

[Grayman]

I wish the game gave you more of a nudge in that direction though. With the game emphasising choice and consequence, you could be forgiven for feeling that there might be consequences if you fly off to another county and leave things unfinished where you are. My first playthrough I went through it in order, and yeah Brayko was pretty tough. On my second playthrough where I left all the bosses until last it was a lot easier.

on my first playthrough I actually thought that I would only get to play one of the areas before the story progressed in the other areas.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

If you dump your points into stealth and pistols like I did the boss battles are ludicrous.

If by ludicrous you mean "ludicrously easy," I agree. ;P

Hide from target. Trigger shadow operative. Get in position for head shot. Trigger chain shot, wait for critical, then fire all you can in the head. If boss is still alive, hide and use that ability that resets your cooldown timers (Brilliance). Repeat. If somehow the boss STILL isn't dead, hide behind cover until timers for abilities reset and repeat as needed.

Stealth/pistols is incredibly overpowered if you know how to take advantage of the abilities. Even moreso if you have Brilliance.

I put enough points into Technical Aptitude just so I can at least get the first level of Brilliance. This also lets you do both objectives in the Brayko's mansion mission (get the data and save the handler), otherwise you can only do one or the other. The only other way to get that option is if you're doing a Veteran playthrough.

 

[old manatee]

If by ludicrous you mean "ludicrously easy," I agree. ;P

Hide from target. Trigger shadow operative. Get in position for head shot. Trigger chain shot, wait for critical, then fire all you can in the head. If boss is still alive, hide and use that ability that resets your cooldown timers (Brilliance). Repeat. If somehow the boss STILL isn't dead, hide behind cover until timers for abilities reset and repeat as needed.

Stealth/pistols is incredibly overpowered if you know how to take advantage of the abilities. Even moreso if you have Brilliance.

I put enough points into Technical Aptitude just so I can at least get the first level of Brilliance. This also lets you do both objectives in the Brayko's mansion mission (get the data and save the handler), otherwise you can only do one or the other. The only other way to get that option is if you're doing a Veteran playthrough.

It can certainly be effective, if you've leveled up enough before you get to the boss. I mean ludicrous as in if you're going to call an invisibility button stealth you should at least try to justify it. I don't need much. The tutorial could tell me my suit has nano-technology. I'm in! Or maybe your character isn't invisible, but he does something to temporarily blind everyone else. At least the gargoyles in Arkham Asylum were fun to swing around on.

 

[krakov]

Finished this game in a few sittings and it was really good actually, I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. On the other hand, the few frustrating moments I had was probably some of the worst I can remember experiencing in any game ever.

 

[IoCaster]

Well it was kind of timely that this thread made an appearance. I've just finished Moscow and seem to be heading into the end game missions.

Rome kind of bummed me out, but life goes on. For some of us at least.

Taiwan was surprising on many levels. How the 'heck' did Heck make it past the cutting room floor?

Spoiler

j/k

Moscow had some interesting twists and turns, but really was anyone surprised that

Spoiler

Surkov the KGB guy

was the ultimate scumbag that he turned out to be?

I'll see what happens going forward, but I can certainly say that right now this game is well worth playing. I have some issues with the UI, controls, animation and AI, but all things considered it's a good game.

One thing that I am beyond sick of is the craptacular pretense that capitalism and corporations are somehow inherently more evil than communist/socialist states. Honestly who would seriously try to make the case that IBM or Lockheed were responsible for more civilian deaths than Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Kim Jong-Il or even Castro? It's gone past stupid and bordering on idiot propaganda now. Ugh!!

 

[Zachack]

Moscow had some interesting twists and turns, but really was anyone surprised that

Spoiler

Surkov the KGB guy

was the ultimate scumbag that he turned out to be?

I was a little surprised but I felt Moscow kinda jumped around a bit in terms of plot. Of the three locations it was the one I felt the least interested in.

One thing that I am beyond sick of is the craptacular pretense that capitalism and corporations are somehow inherently more evil than communist/socialist states. Honestly who would seriously try to make the case that IBM or Lockheed were responsible for more civilian deaths than Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Kim Jong-Il or even Castro? It's gone past stupid and bordering on idiot propaganda now. Ugh!!

You realize you're playing the equivalent of multiple Tom Clancy novels and seasons of 24 mushed together, right? Evil military-industrial complex private contractors subverting our government for profit is an easy way to take an otherwise complicated and messy topic (global politics) and assign all blame to a singular Illuminati-esque supervillain.

I also don't see how AP espoused the notion that corporations are worse than, say, N. Korea. I don't think it's a stretch to say that a capitalist democracy with stereotypical evil supercorporations running amok is more evil than a capitalist democracy without those supercorporations.

 

[IoCaster]

I was a little surprised but I felt Moscow kinda jumped around a bit in terms of plot. Of the three locations it was the one I felt the least interested in.


You realize you're playing the equivalent of multiple Tom Clancy novels and seasons of 24 mushed together, right? Evil military-industrial complex private contractors subverting our government for profit is an easy way to take an otherwise complicated and messy topic (global politics) and assign all blame to a singular Illuminati-esque supervillain.

I also don't see how AP espoused the notion that corporations are worse than, say, N. Korea. I don't think it's a stretch to say that a capitalist democracy with stereotypical evil supercorporations running amok is more evil than a capitalist democracy without those supercorporations.

Where the hell do you get this crap? Who gives a shit about Clancy novels?

Give me some documented proof that a single or any company is responsible for the number of civilian deaths that those so-called 'political' leaders has on their rap sheet. WTF?

 

[Patryn]

Where the hell do you get this crap? Who gives a shit about Clancy novels?

Give me some documented proof that a single or any company is responsible for the number of civilian deaths that those so-called 'political' leaders has on their rap sheet. WTF?

Documented proof?

Blackwater, at the very least, has a lot of blood on their hands. Hence why they had to get several employees out of Iraq very fast to avoid murder charges.

But let's avoid turning this into a political thread.

The point he was making was that AP has as much relation to reality as Lord of the Rings.

 

[IoCaster]

Documented proof?

Blackwater, at the very least, has a lot of blood on their hands. Hence why they had to get several employees out of Iraq very fast to avoid murder charges.

But let's avoid turning this into a political thread.

Oh ffs, stop it. How many deaths can be directly attributable to Pol Pot or Castro? Is it comparable to anything that any PMC has ever been responsible for? This isn't political, it's simple common sense. :/

 

[Zachack]

Where the hell do you get this crap? Who gives a shit about Clancy novels?

...Obsidian does? I mean, the overarching plot of

Spoiler

weapons manufacturer/security company supplies terrorist organization in order to increase demand/profit

was almost identical to

Spoiler

Season 7 of 24

. I think the Bourne movies (never read the books) are the plot source of

Spoiler

super-secret spy agency getting subverted by outside political/corporate forces, wind up turning evil

.

Give me some documented proof that a single or any company is responsible for the number of civilian deaths that those so-called 'political' leaders has on their rap sheet. WTF?

Er, how does this relate to AP? I don't recall the end-game news reports saying "the

Spoiler

riots/assassination

in Taipei would never have happened if Taiwan had bowed to the glory of Juche!"

But you should wiki IBM and the holocaust if you're curious.

 

[IoCaster]

...Obsidian does? I mean, the overarching plot of

Spoiler

weapons manufacturer/security company supplies terrorist organization in order to increase demand/profit

was almost identical to

Spoiler

Season 7 of 24

. I think the Bourne movies (never read the books) are the plot source of

Spoiler

super-secret spy agency getting subverted by outside political/corporate forces, wind up turning evil

.

I'm talking about the same recycled left wing crap stories in movies, novels, TV shows and games about evil CIA/Military/Industrial mash-ups that are motivated by insane levels of greed doing nefarious shit. It's old, stale and much less likely or realistic than having the terrorist group allied with N.Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, China, etc,. There are actual real world villains that can be used instead of evil capitalists.

Er, how does this relate to AP? I don't recall the end-game news reports saying "the

Spoiler

riots/assassination

in Taipei would never have happened if Taiwan had bowed to the glory of Juche!"

But you should wiki IBM and the holocaust if you're curious.

Is this a joke?

 

[Haunted]

There are actual real world villains that can be used instead of evil capitalists.

Does not compute.

 

[IoCaster]

Does not compute.

OK. I'll reword that. How about 'imagined' evil capitalists? You know the made up kind that don't actually exist. Unlike some of the actual and existing scumbag regimes in the world with a documented history of doing evil shit.

 

[Haunted]

OK. I'll reword that. How about 'imagined' evil capitalists?

Well, using actual real life corporations (Halliburton, BAE, EADS, Blackwater etc.) instead of fictionalised versions of them would open the creators up to all sorts of legal trouble.


Also, most of the usual shooter games still feature your usual nazi/communist/terrorist evil enemies so you don't have to feel bad killing people or having your conservative sensibilities hurt. Win-win, really.

 

[Fredescu]

You know the made up kind that don't actually exist.

Kind of the point of fiction isn't it?

 

[IoCaster]

Well, using actual real life corporations (Halliburton, BAE, EADS etc.) instead of fictionalised versions of them would open the creators up to all sorts of legal trouble, no?

Not the point.

 

[Jerk]

I'm talking about the same recycled left wing crap stories in movies, novels, TV shows and games about evil CIA/Military/Industrial mash-ups that are motivated by insane levels of greed doing nefarious shit. It's old, stale and much less likely or realistic than having the terrorist group allied with N.Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, China, etc,. There are actual real world villains that can be used instead of evil capitalists.

Umm, I am pretty sure that they are all old and stale.

I mean, how is a story about nefarious terrorist or Chinese plots any more original or interesting?

At the very least, when you have stories like this hit closer to home, there are much greater opportunities for moral and ethical dilemmas.

 

[firehawk12]

Umm, I am pretty sure that they are all old and stale.

I mean, how is a story about nefarious terrorist or Chinese plots any more original or interesting?

Homefront is doing North Korea and we've killed countless ethnic people in the games that have been released in the last couple of years, so... yeah.

There are really no new ideas.

 

[IoCaster]

Well, using actual real life corporations (Halliburton, BAE, EADS, Blackwater etc.) instead of fictionalised versions of them would open the creators up to all sorts of legal trouble.


Also, most of the usual shooter games still feature your usual nazi/communist/terrorist evil enemies so you don't have to feel bad killing people or having your conservative sensibilities hurt. Win-win, really.

Well, maybe it's just me, but I don't put "(Halliburton, BAE, EADS, Blackwater etc.)" at the same level of villainy as gangster regimes. *shrug*

 

[IoCaster]

Umm, I am pretty sure that they are all old and stale.

I mean, how is a story about nefarious terrorist or Chinese plots any more original or interesting?

At the very least, when you have stories like this hit closer to home, there are much greater opportunities for moral and ethical dilemmas.

Valid point. Anyway, other than the shit plot it was at least an entertaining game so...

 

[Jintor]

Is this a joke?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

Basically put, it's IBM's punch-card technology and the German census.

 

[Haunted]

If we're talking about WWII, also look up Dehomag, IG Farben or AEG if you can stomach it. Greed can lead to ugly things.

Well, maybe it's just me, but I don't put "(Halliburton, BAE, EADS, Blackwater etc.)" at the same level of villainy as gangster regimes. *shrug*

Well, the underlying theme is "corrupt people in power committing atrocities", so it doesn't really matter whether they're royalty, head of state or CEO.

Whether driven by ideology (rare in the real world, but common in popular media) or greed (common in the real world, rare in popular media), they're all equally viable to make a proper foil for the "hero" character. Just depends on the storytelling ability of the developer.

 

[IoCaster]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

Basically put, it's IBM's punch-card technology and the German census.

This is pretty silly. Does this mean that you could also hold accountable the train manufacturers for the transportation of the victims to the extermination camps? They had a much more direct involvement in the day to day operations of the Holocaust.

 

[IoCaster]

If we're talking about WWII, also look up Dehomag, IG Farben or AEG if you can stomach it. Greed can lead to ugly things.


Well, the underlying theme is "corrupt people in power committing atrocities", so it doesn't really matter whether they're royalty, head of state or CEO.

Whether driven by ideology (rare in the real world, but common in popular media) or greed (common in the real world, rare in popular media), they're all equally viable to make a proper foil for the "hero" character. Just depends on the storytelling ability of the developer.

Suffice it to say that I didn't buy into or enjoy the story/plot of the game. Not much more to say.

EDIT: Let's get off this Holocaust tangent. :/

 

[JohngPR]

So I got the game on PC via NewEgg for $6.99.

Any suggestions for spec-ing out my character?

 

[Stallion Free]

So I got the game on PC via NewEgg for $6.99.

Any suggestions for spec-ing out my character?

Focus on Stealth and Pistols.

 

[JohngPR]

Focus on Stealth and Pistols.

Sweet, thanks! Just got it today from Newegg.

 

[krzy123]

So I did the first three missions in the first hub

Spoiler

Saudi Arabia and arrested Nasri

just using the equipment I started with and what I had found.

Should I be buying equipment (mostly new pistol + the hack help item perhaps) before I do the final mission in the hub, I do realize by my choice I now have less options. I mostly play a stealth and kill style (pistols or by hand) so I'm not sure if getting better equipment even would help.

 

[Reluctant-Hero]

So I did the first three missions in the first hub

Spoiler

Saudi Arabia and arrested Nasri

just using the equipment I started with and what I had found.

Should I be buying equipment (mostly new pistol + the hack help item perhaps) before I do the final mission in the hub, I do realize by my choice I now have less options. I mostly play a stealth and kill style (pistols or by hand) so I'm not sure if getting better equipment even would help.

If you can afford to purchase your preferred weapons and items, why not? It never hurts to have a more accurate and powerful pistol to back up your hand-to-hand skills.

 

[krakov]

So I did the first three missions in the first hub

Spoiler

Saudi Arabia and arrested Nasri

just using the equipment I started with and what I had found.

Should I be buying equipment (mostly new pistol + the hack help item perhaps) before I do the final mission in the hub, I do realize by my choice I now have less options. I mostly play a stealth and kill style (pistols or by hand) so I'm not sure if getting better equipment even would help.

There will occasionally be some good stealthy armor in the shop, other than that, you don't really need to spend a lot. I never used items much though.

 

[crowphoenix]

Beat this game about a week ago. So damn awesome. Definitely one of the best games that came out last year.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

I keep reading that stealth is the way to play the game, but in the recent stealth AI thread, a couple of posters were commenting how bad the enemies are for stealth. It seemed from their comments that the AI is uneven when it comes to sneaking around, so I was thinking of playing the game as Jack Bauer instead of Jason Bourne (i.e. more of a rogue/trigger-happy character instead of stealth/hand-to-hand). Will that work, or am I going to have too much trouble doing it that way?

 

[WanderingWind]

It's official. Alpha Protocol is the Firefly/Arrested Development of the gaming world.

 

[K.Jack]

I keep reading that stealth is the way to play the game, but in the recent stealth AI thread, a couple of posters were commenting how bad the enemies are for stealth. It seemed from their comments that the AI is uneven when it comes to sneaking around, so I was thinking of playing the game as Jack Bauer instead of Jason Bourne (i.e. more of a rogue/trigger-happy character instead of stealth/hand-to-hand). Will that work, or am I going to have too much trouble doing it that way?

You can definitely shoot and whip ass your way through the game.

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

I really, REALLY enjoyed this game. Just finished my first run of it last week. It's a shame it didn't get any love. I wish Mass Effect had the dialogue and "decisions that mean something" that Alpha Protocol did.

 

[Red Blaster]

Oh ffs, stop it. How many deaths can be directly attributable to Pol Pot or Castro? Is it comparable to anything that any PMC has ever been responsible for? This isn't political, it's simple common sense. :/

Is Reagan still president or something? PMCs and corrupt mega-corporations are way more topical subjects these days.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

It's official. Alpha Protocol is the Firefly/Arrested Development of the gaming world.

You can definitely shoot and whip ass your way through the game.

Cool beans, will try that for my first run. Will I miss too much dialog/sidequests/options if I'm just shooting and torturing everyone in the game? I guess once I'm familiar with the mechanics I'll try a more refined approach.

 

[Yaweee]

I keep reading that stealth is the way to play the game, but in the recent stealth AI thread, a couple of posters were commenting how bad the enemies are for stealth. It seemed from their comments that the AI is uneven when it comes to sneaking around, so I was thinking of playing the game as Jack Bauer instead of Jason Bourne (i.e. more of a rogue/trigger-happy character instead of stealth/hand-to-hand). Will that work, or am I going to have too much trouble doing it that way?

Where do you keep reading that Stealth is the way to play? Everything I've seen or read indicates that you can specialize in whatever you want.

I'd imagine playing the rather-large levels stealthily would be boring as piss.

 

[Rufus]

It's not boring! Pff... The 'stealth-is-the-way-to-go' thing comes from the weak gun play, I suppose. It also fits better with being a spy.

I don't get the complaints about not being able to stealth, personally. If you upgrade the appropriate skills (which is the hang-up, I assume) that let you see the enemies on the radar (whatever that was, awareness?) and those that make the enemies short-sighted (your stealth skill does that, I think), etc. you will likely never be detected if you are somewhat careful. That was my experience, at least. I played it like I would play Splinter Cell.
I didn't sneak past people, I just killed or knocked them out stealthily, depending on the mission. Sneaking past people might be impossible.

 

[krzy123]

If you can afford to purchase your preferred weapons and items, why not? It never hurts to have a more accurate and powerful pistol to back up your hand-to-hand skills.

im a rpg-item/money-hoarder .


Although I'm using stealth, im using it to get into position for kills and not avoid, right now if I avoided a enemy its because by accident. I don't know i can keep it up, but im enjoying it that way.

 

[Seda]

My GOTY 2010

 

[FunkyPajamas]

Where do you keep reading that Stealth is the way to play? Everything I've seen or read indicates that you can specialize in whatever you want.

I'd imagine playing the rather-large levels stealthily would be boring as piss.

I haven't read through this entire thread because I want to avoid spoilers, but there are A LOT of posts mentioning that "stealth and handguns" or "stealth/chain shot" or "stealth/etc" is the way to go.

Of course you can specialize in whatever you want, but maybe one play style is favored/preferred (by the game, not by the player), and that's what I was asking about.

 

[Red Blaster]

Almost done with the game and thought I'd vent a little.

I don't think I've ever stuck through such a haplessly broken game. It's a testament to how much I love the idea if I'll put up with such poorly executed gameplay mechanics. The stealth gameplay is not even as fluid as Metal Gear Solid 1. I've almost maxed out my stealth and pistols skills and the game is just now reaching playable status. The unevenness of the enemy AI makes this such a chore to play for someone who enjoys being as clean as possible with their stealth. Not to mention, mandatory boss fights and shootouts just make me groan. Most of the time I just hide in cover and chain shot my way to victory as the game doesn't reward players who smartly approach things.

A damn shame because I love the concept. Too bad it's so brutally unenjoyable to play.

 

[Discotheque]

My GOTY 2010

same here. Even with Platinum Games' double trouble that year.