Alpha protocol: worth playing?

[RhombusHatesYou]

fucking captcha double post.

 

[Agayek]

Hi again, just asking for everyone elses opionion

reveiws have been less than polarizing, however it dose look interesting, hows the story?/gameplay?

what are the pros and cons?

I like it quite a bit. It's definitely worth the playthrough, especially if you find it on sale somewhere.

The story is the standard spy thriller (basically, Middle Eastern warlord got him some missiles, you're sent to stop him and a bigger conspiracy unfolds), but it's told fairly well and the supporting characters are generally well done, if occasionally a tad cliche. There's some occasional moments of general wtf, but depending on your decisions through the story, it's not usually game breaking.

As for the gameplay, I like it. I played a stealth character through it (which once you get a few key abilities is incredibly broken), and it played basically like a cross between Splinter Cell and Mass Effect. I enjoyed the fuck out of it, but I can't say how the other playstyles compare.

 

[ethaninja]

Great idea, poor execution. Liked the whole RPG aspect of it. It's too bad that it fails in controls and lame combat.

 

[The Hunted Snark]

Not a fan of it myself. Decent game (even with the terrible AI) and the dialogue options were done well but some of the characters were just waaaay too much.
Also, the boss fights. Yeah. Running around for 20 mins shooting a russian (I think, it's been a while) guy in the head repeatadly (around 70-80 times) while he tries to knife you when you're supposed to be a martial arts expert is not my idea of compelling design.
But that's just me.

 

[DustyDrB]

Not a fan of it myself. Decent game (even with the terrible AI) and the dialogue options were done well but some of the characters were just waaaay too much.
Also, the boss fights. Yeah. Running around for 20 mins shooting a russian (I think, it's been a while) guy in the head repeatadly (around 70-80 times) while he tries to knife you when you're supposed to be a martial arts expert is not my idea of compelling design.
But that's just me.

It was a Taiwanese fellow you're thinking of (I think). If you hated the fight with the Russian then I am just sad for you. I was laughing all through that fight.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

It wasn't good value at full price but now it is worth trying. It plays decently enough although there is plenty about the game that is either annoying or disappointing which might drive some people to stop playing before they get too far. When you get into it, it does a good job of keeping you interested enough to keep playing although it never really pays you off with anything really great.

 

[SalamanderJoe]

I got it cheap and actually don't mind it. It's like a poor man's Deus Ex...a very poor man's...

 

[s0denone]

The game is incredibly good. It got some bad reviews from some technical issues, but they've been blown way out of proportion. There is a little texture pop in and some weird collision issues but that's about it.

The story is your basic PMC trying to take over the world thing... not exactly a fantastic story or anything. But you meet lots of interesting characters, and your choices affect the rest of the story a lot more than any other game available (including the BioWare games.)

The gameplay is a ton of fun, and its where the game really shines. If you want to be a Jack Bauer type and go into every situation with an obnoxious pistol or assault rifle and beating the crap out of everybody and executing people after interrogations, you can. If you'd prefer to be the techie guy or the stealth guy, you can do those too.

I personally love being really really stealthy and choking/stabbing people to death. If I ever have to use a gun, its a suppressed pistol, and that's it.

It's likely pretty cheap for all platforms... I'd say take a chance and pick it up. Lots of fun.

Almost word for word what I would have said.

I would have spoken of the reviews more harshly, probably claiming these people to be idiots, and going into the game with "FPS" in mind, rather than "RPG".

To OP:
You like Deus EX?
You're certainly going to like Alpha Protocol.

You like RPGs with branching storylines?
You're most certainly going to like Alpha Protocol.

Are you expecting a mindless FPS?
You're probably not going to like Alpha Protocol.

 

[robotam]

I really liked it and it is for once a game where your choices actually effect the story.
The dialogue system is mostly good, although sometimes it's hard to know what an option will make your character do (often something worthly of a cringe).

If you can find it cheap, give it a go.

 

[trooper6]

I really enjoyed the game.
I played it on console when it came out...and never had any bugs to deal with...so...yeah. I can't speak to that.

Obsidian does moral conundrums better than Bioware and this was no exception. There were some really touch choices to make and I really appreciated that. Also, in conversations there are "aggressive," "professional," and "suave" choices...but they aren't about your morality like most of the other RPGs out there. You are spy, and your job is to get what you need from people. So some people respect suave, some people respect aggressive, some people respect professional. Part of what you do is try to figure out the best approaches to take on various people.

I played it stealthily (though you can certainly run and gun)...and I had a real blast.

I'd certainly recommend it, especially since you can probably buy it pretty cheaply.

 

[The Hunted Snark]

Not a fan of it myself. Decent game (even with the terrible AI) and the dialogue options were done well but some of the characters were just waaaay too much.
Also, the boss fights. Yeah. Running around for 20 mins shooting a russian (I think, it's been a while) guy in the head repeatadly (around 70-80 times) while he tries to knife you when you're supposed to be a martial arts expert is not my idea of compelling design.
But that's just me.

It was a Taiwanese fellow you're thinking of (I think). If you hated the fight with the Russian then I am just sad for you. I was laughing all through that fight.

Yeah, it was the Russian guy. Fair enough if you found it funny, I just felt it was horribly designed.
The Taiwanese guy would be the one that snipes you from 20ft away ...wasn't a fan of that either to be honest.
Slightly nick-picky here but I also hated the animatation (or lack thereof) when you used the pistol special ability (I forget the name of it) but you basically shot everyone in the room without moving the barrel so the bullets just came out in the relevant direction. It looked like absolute crap to me.

I'm starting to think that I might just be a really grouchy person...

 

[2xDouble]

Well of course it is. How else will you know what's going in in Beta Protocol? haha!

But seriously... I've never played it. Nor have I heard any worthwhile reviews on it. I don't really have any opinion at all, to be honest. But this thread seemed to be getting kind of heavy, so I thought I'd break up the tension with a picture of some kittens.

d'aww...

 

[The Wykydtron]

The pistol is way better than any other gun when upgraded (chain shot = raep) and later stealth lvls are awesome.

Story is good and the moral choice system is probably one of the best ever... As long as you don't mind being a complete ponce 100% of the time XD

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Alpha Protocol actually delivers on this promise. Its ridiculous at how much you can influence the story. Only other game where I've been this impressed with how your choices influence stuff is The Witcher.

You, sir, may have just sold me a copy of this game with that comparison. I was really looking forward to it before it came out, but the mediocre reviews made me hold off for a bit. The reasons the people who like it seem to like it have pretty much got me convinced to grab a copy next time it's on sale on Steam or something, though, because they're the parts of it I was interested in in the first place.