Alpha Protocol...

Branoic

...buggy, crappy mess like all of Obsidian's efforts, judged fairly by the gaming media, or misunderstood flawed masterpiece, and the most worthy successor to date for Deux Ex's crown?

Discuss!

uberpixie

Branoic wrote: »

...buggy, crappy mess like all of Obsidian's efforts, judged fairly by the gaming media, or misunderstood flawed masterpiece, and the most worthy successor to date for Deux Ex's crown?

Discuss!

Judged too harshly.
It wasn't a bad, a 7/10 to 8/10 game, it just didn't live up to the hype.

I played it through twice and got a different experience/ending each time. The effect your choices made in the game were handled well: it never felt like Mass Effect where no matter what you said, you pretty much felt you were going to get the same ending/result bar at the very end were a "different" ending was tacked on. Also a lot of the choices were very grey and not hyper "good" or "Evil" like in most Bioware games....

So as an RPG it was done well, the game mechanics for the action sections of the game not so much....

I played on the PC and didn't have too many bugs at all, some small annoyances like the mouse cursor going mental every now and then and some small graphical glitches in cut scenes. (As I understand it the bugs were worse on the console versions)

I have played a lot of buggy RPGs on the PC so I am a little more forgiving on a game when it has a good story and offers choice.

Retr0gamer

1up's RPG podcast seemed to love it. Said the opening in Saudi Arabia was rubbish and the combat is terrible but once you upgrade your cpmbat efficiency or play the game on easy it'sa lot better because the RPG elements and choice you have makes the game worth it. I'm kind of interested in it.

Grumpypants

I got it on Zavvi for 20 euro, i havent given it a bash yet ive heard the same thing from a number of places thats is good in bits really bad in others. I am just so desperate for a RPG with out swords and magic that ill play anything.

Branoic

Yeah it really does improve after the Saudi missions.

For me, the game was never on my radar. I knew that it got fairly poor reviews but that was it. Then I just read the news story on Eurogamer this weekend about Sega saying it's disappointing sales would mean no sequel, and I was surprised by level of support for the game in the comments thread, people saying it was judged far too harshly, that it would be a cult classic in 5 years. So on the basis of some of these comments I went out and picked it up yesterday around lunch and pretty much played it until I started the thread at 4:30 AM, and I had brilliant fun.

Yes, it's a little rough around the edges in places, and the graphics aren't leading edge, but Jesus so what? Those were never things to bother me too much. For example in Eurogamer's review they criticized your characters "creepy lifeless eyes" and suggested you put shades on him just to cover them up. Talk about priorities.

I've found the game to be hugely enjoyable. Great scope and great feeling that your choices have a real impact on the future of the game. I also love the openness of the mission structure - with the three hubs of Rome, Moscow and Taipei, how you can move between them however you like and events in one will influence others.

I've also no problem with the combat. I think most people just didn't get that it was RPG stats based and not an FPS, and if you put your points into your guns you'll have no problems. Personally I've avoided guns entirely and I've gone the stealth route. I'm maxing out my stealth and martial arts skills, and it's very satisfying running around the levels with silent takedown after silent takedown.

What else is there? Oh yeah, the script and characters are great. Sharp, witty and in some cases just downright hilarious. I even like the hacking minigames that get so much flak!

So yeah, brilliant game, definitely in my top 5 of the year so far. I think Obsidian deserved a lot more credit for this. They're like the unloved step child of the game world, always getting other developers' ill fitting hand-me-downs. I think they've done a great job with their own IP.

Helix

I really enjoyed it. No idea why it was slated so badly

Onearmedbandit

Just finished it there after getting it for €20. Overall I think it is a good game and the story in it kept me going till the end. It is a bit buggy alright but once you get over that you forget about it. Worth a rent at the very least.

Mr. K

I'm quite intrigued by Alpha Protocol, I'd be tempted to pick it up for €20. The idea is pretty amazing, even it has its flaws.

uberpixie

tbh you will get your €20 quids worth out of Alpha Protocol.

It has it's flaws but it is not a terrible 1/10 game by any stretch no matter what some of the reviews said.

It is well worth a look if you like RPGs and want something different.

humanji

I loved it. It think most reviewers gave it about 7 out of 10, which is about right considering it's faults. But many view that as being too low a score to bother with the game. This is what happens when reviewers insist on giving 10/10 for every overhyped, big budget release.

Helix

Agreed, 7/10 is a bloody good game. This is why we use stars out of 5. A 3 1/2 star score looks a lot better than a 7/10 score, despite being the same thing. If I had my way we wouldnt give scores at all

Coriolanus

I'll probably pick it up when I see it cheap enough. Though 20 off Zacci is good, so might order it tonight!

I've always preferred relative ratings anyway. Gives you a better idea. Better than x, worse than y, in the same genre.

Vyse

One of the better games I've played lately. Can't understand the negativity towards it. Reminded me a lot of ME2, sans the big budget and sci-fi plot.

Mr. K

Seems that it'll be a bit of cult game, since there's no sequel coming!

Can the less polished aspects of the game be avoided by developing your character in a particular way?

humanji

Mr. K wrote: »

Seems that it'll be a bit of cult game, since there's no sequel coming!

Can the less polished aspects of the game be avoided by developing your character in a particular way?

The only big problem that I found is that the combat is messy and the AI is fairly bad. So I always gor for a stealthy character and concentrate on upgrading my pistol. I think it's just after the tutorial (or maybe after the first section, Syria) that you get to choose your specialisation. There's three main choices and the third is to pick your own. I do this and pick pistol, stealth and the one that deals with lockpicking (I can't remember what it's called). This gets me through the game easily enough.

The pistol has a powerup that you can get where time slows and you can pick a certain amount of targets and it's an instant kill. It's very useful.

Mr E

Is it a long game? Are the endings/choices different enough enough to make it worth playing through twice? I'm trying to decide if I should rent or buy...

Ri_Nollaig

humanji wrote: »

The only big problem that I found is that the combat is messy and the AI is fairly bad. So I always gor for a stealthy character and concentrate on upgrading my pistol. I think it's just after the tutorial (or maybe after the first section, Syria) that you get to choose your specialisation. There's three main choices and the third is to pick your own. I do this and pick pistol, stealth and the one that deals with lockpicking (I can't remember what it's called). This gets me through the game easily enough.

The pistol has a powerup that you can get where time slows and you can pick a certain amount of targets and it's an instant kill. It's very useful.

It does look like a really interesting game.

I don't suppose any patches have been released for it yet that could fix a lot of the issues? As i have heard if you pick some classes the game is just unplayable, coupled with numerous "have to reload to last checkpoint" bugs and terrible AI...

Shame, as it does look like it could have been a classic.

Branoic

Mr. K wrote: »

Seems that it'll be a bit of cult game, since there's no sequel coming!

Can the less polished aspects of the game be avoided by developing your character in a particular way?

I took the "Spy" specialisation, allowing me to max out Stealth, Pistols and Martial Arts. I think the gunplay is probably the wonkiest aspect, so turning your guy into a super ninja spy gets around that

uberpixie

Mr E wrote: »

Is it a long game? Are the endings/choices different enough enough to make it worth playing through twice? I'm trying to decide if I should rent or buy...

Yes.

1st play through: I played as smart and as professional as I could, specialising in stealth, pistols and assault rifles. Played as recruit which made the game harder as I didn't have any skill points and had to start from scratch. Played fairly stealthy and had some Martial art skill and decent tech skills for hacking.

2nd play through: decided to be the biggest dcikhead I could possibly be and specialized in martial arts, shotguns and SMGs.

As I had played through on recruit the 1st time, this unlocked the last class which gave me a huge number of skill points starting off (which I reassigned as I saw fit). So I had good toughness, tech skills and decent stealth along with my weapon skills and martial arts.

Picked most of the hard ass options, shot myself in the foot regularly with NPCs and may have killed as many of them as possible :-) I was a total and utter cock.

2nd play through I had a very different ending with different outcomes in each of the mission hubs.

Also smgs and shotguns rock. Nothing like kicking in a door and using the the shotgun to knock everyone in the room down on the floor and then setting them on fire with incendiary grenades/incendiary shotgun shells or a good flying knee followed up with a punch or two topped off with an smg to the face, one of the late Martial skills lets you use you guns in the middle of combos :-)

You can easily play the game very run and gun take no prisoners or go to the extreme and play stealth. If you go stealth, also take a few ranks in Assault rifles as they will get you out of a few sticky situations with boss fights and the like.

The pistol is prob the most lethal weapon when you full upgrade it. The pistol is not a run and gun weapon. Hide in the shadows, behind cover, hold the reticule over the enemy for a few seconds until so your next shot is a crit and you will kill in one shot. Topped off with chain shot which allows you to pull off 6 or 7 simultaneous head-shots you can clear entire rooms in a a few seconds or just aim all of the chain shots on a bosses head and you take at least a third of their health bar in one go!

NunianVonFuch

Tis very Deus Exy, only game since that classic to compare to it. I haven't come across any bugs on the 360, but as others have said the Saudi mission is pretty bad. I think some of the reviewers are utter twats tbh marking the game down because "bullets don't go where you aim them". It's an RPG! Level up and try again you lazy gits! Did these same reviewers mark down Mass Effect 1 and Deus Ex when they used the same mechanic? I think not cos they had a bucketload of hype and marketing in their favour :-D

Also Steven Heck! Do you copy? LIKE A FLOPPY! :-D

Helix

i marked down mass effect coz it was rubbish

humanji

Ri_Nollaig wrote: »

It does look like a really interesting game.

I don't suppose any patches have been released for it yet that could fix a lot of the issues? As i have heard if you pick some classes the game is just unplayable, coupled with numerous "have to reload to last checkpoint" bugs and terrible AI...

Shame, as it does look like it could have been a classic.

I don't think a patch came out for it. I could be wrong. To be honest, after two play throughs the only problem I had was enemy AI being rubbish. I don't remember any bugs.

Grumpypants

Ive just finished the Suadi part and enjoyed it if thats the worst bit im pretty happy with it for 20 euro. The RPG elements are really good. True the combat is a little poor but its no worse than mass effect 1. All RPG's seem to suffer from poor combat. Fallout wasnt great either but that didnt get in the way of me enjoying it i dont buy RPG's for the shooting anyway.

Ive found being quite and taking your time waiting for the instakill shots makes it a lot more enjoyable.

I was expecting a stinker with a half decent story line but ive been impressed so far with it.

humanji

Grumpypants wrote: »

Ive just finished the Suadi part and enjoyed it if thats the worst bit im pretty happy with it for 20 euro.

Wow, then you are going to f*cking love the rest of the game. I didn't think anyone liked the first section.

Grumpypants

humanji wrote: »

Wow, then you are going to f*cking love the rest of the game. I didn't think anyone liked the first section.

Im sure once ive played the next level ill look back at it with a different outlook

Grumpypants

Zavvi are selling this for 22:45euro in there Monday madness sale and Xtravision will give you 28 euro as a trade in (20cash) so very little risk in giving this a go.

Im enjoying it but i haven't been able to get back to it as ive to finish playing through the awful crackdown 2 sometimes being a games reviewer is not as good as it sounds.