On the one hand, all I knew about this game were how badly its advertisements sucked. So finding out it's at least better than the shovelware it appeared to be is a huge step up.
Review: Alpha Protocol
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
- Start date
Alpha Protocol didn't particularly scream out at me and I'm not quite surprised either. Oh well, better luck next time.
I actually really enjoy it, too, but I just plain can't recommend someone pay full price for it. The RPG parts really are very satisfying, but everything else...yeeeesh....I mean, only being able to use the sniper rifle in specific spots because you can't carry it with you? Lame. Sorry, just plain lame.kasperbbs said:
Sad to hear. Obsidian doesn't have such a great track record, does it? And they've just signed on to help with the Wheel of Time RPG...oh dear...
I'll be getting this game from Gamefly in about six hours, so we'll see. As for the mysterious wandering off glitch, I experienced that glitch in a great many PS3 games, so I'm a little curious if it's indicative of the game or the console. In any case, it probably explains why this game was so heavily marketed.
Could not most of the issues be fixed with a big fat patch?
Was kind of tempted to get this, but if it really is currently as broken as people say it is, I think I'll hold on to my money.
And heh, expenses account - as an earlier poster said, its quite funny if you're British.
Was kind of tempted to get this, but if it really is currently as broken as people say it is, I think I'll hold on to my money.
And heh, expenses account - as an earlier poster said, its quite funny if you're British.
Obsidian Entertainment does it again!
Knights of the Old Republic II: Missing the last 1/4 of the game.
Neverwinter Nights 2: A frustrating camera you had to fight with at all times, poor level design, bad AI and the game is missing its ending.
Alien the RPG: Canceled
Alpha Protocol: Buggy, poor camera, awful control's, broken AI.
A company is supposed to make better games as time goes on, not worse.
So who is looking forward to Fallout: New Vegas? After Alpha Protocol, I'm not.
Knights of the Old Republic II: Missing the last 1/4 of the game.
Neverwinter Nights 2: A frustrating camera you had to fight with at all times, poor level design, bad AI and the game is missing its ending.
Alien the RPG: Canceled
Alpha Protocol: Buggy, poor camera, awful control's, broken AI.
A company is supposed to make better games as time goes on, not worse.
So who is looking forward to Fallout: New Vegas? After Alpha Protocol, I'm not.
Nuts I was hoping this one would be a spiritual successor to Deus Ex...alas it too has been hit with the Obsidian Curse.
Playing on the 360 version:
The only "Mike wanders off" I've experienced actually came from the thumb-stick on my controller sticking.
Enemy AI wasn't even /that/ bad. Pumping Stealth and getting the Evasion skill was actually a lifesaver at many points (As was getting Awareness in "always on" mode.) because often the enemy would spot me out of the corner of his eye with some vector I hadn't even considered.
It was pretty common (before I learned and purchased "Reduce enemy sight range" gear and leveled Stealth like Nobody's business) to see baddies go into full-blown alert mode because they saw me taking down their buddy from across the room.
The gunplay was... well... It was pretty shitty. For a spy, Mike seems ridiculously inaccurate until far, far too late in the game. Only one weapon class is anything resembling covert (the pistol), and while you could buy "Silent bullets" for the Assault Rifle, they're prohibitively expensive, which is a shame, because it's the only thing that gives you accuracy to a range beyond five meters in the early game. (This is bollocks, as apparently, Mike can't hit a slow-moving, man-sized target at thirty-five meters in the early game, despite all incarnations of him being listed as a decent marksmen.)
That said, Leveling the pistol eventually lead to his ability to shoot like somebody who actually knows the difference between the end of the gun you hold and the one that makes people dead. And it gave you the Chain Shot skill, which, next to Awareness, (Which, as alluded to, you can get in 'always on' mode anyway by leveling Stealth) is likely the best skill in the game, and certainly invaluable for boss fights (Hint! The critical hit timer doesn't decrease and you can put multiple bullets in one target. Do the math.)
I actually enjoyed the game quite throughly on the 360, and am genuinely disappointed to hear that the other versions weren't up to snuff.
The only "Mike wanders off" I've experienced actually came from the thumb-stick on my controller sticking.
Enemy AI wasn't even /that/ bad. Pumping Stealth and getting the Evasion skill was actually a lifesaver at many points (As was getting Awareness in "always on" mode.) because often the enemy would spot me out of the corner of his eye with some vector I hadn't even considered.
It was pretty common (before I learned and purchased "Reduce enemy sight range" gear and leveled Stealth like Nobody's business) to see baddies go into full-blown alert mode because they saw me taking down their buddy from across the room.
The gunplay was... well... It was pretty shitty. For a spy, Mike seems ridiculously inaccurate until far, far too late in the game. Only one weapon class is anything resembling covert (the pistol), and while you could buy "Silent bullets" for the Assault Rifle, they're prohibitively expensive, which is a shame, because it's the only thing that gives you accuracy to a range beyond five meters in the early game. (This is bollocks, as apparently, Mike can't hit a slow-moving, man-sized target at thirty-five meters in the early game, despite all incarnations of him being listed as a decent marksmen.)
That said, Leveling the pistol eventually lead to his ability to shoot like somebody who actually knows the difference between the end of the gun you hold and the one that makes people dead. And it gave you the Chain Shot skill, which, next to Awareness, (Which, as alluded to, you can get in 'always on' mode anyway by leveling Stealth) is likely the best skill in the game, and certainly invaluable for boss fights (Hint! The critical hit timer doesn't decrease and you can put multiple bullets in one target. Do the math.)
I actually enjoyed the game quite throughly on the 360, and am genuinely disappointed to hear that the other versions weren't up to snuff.
I got the 360 version and I haven't had any trouble with bugs or crashes, the only weird thing that's happened was when I began to climb down a ladder the same time a guard was climbing up and Mike suddenly began floating in midair.
I would agree with the retarded AI, and the stealth skill tree just breaks the game difficulty. With enough points you can turn invisible for 20 seconds and then one hit kill every guard in a room and none of them even think "hey our fellow guard was just stabbed in the neck by some invisible force, maybe we should do something?"
Don't even get me started on the gun targeting. You have to train it on a target for a few seconds before you'll even have a chance of hitting them and even then I ended up blowing a dozen bullets at one guy and not hitting him once.
But despite the frustrations I'm still enjoying it. The choices you make in the game feel like they have a real impact and can dramatically alter the story. Even a single dialogue choice that you have about 2 seconds to think over can make a huge difference. It's a great system that puts you under a lot of pressure, coupled with the genuine moral ambiguity of almost every single situation. There are parts that make me want to hate it, but others that I feel make up for it. So I'm kinda mixed about what I think of it. Great review by the way susan, but because of the negative reviews this has been getting you can bet it'll damage the sales for Fallout new vegas.
I would agree with the retarded AI, and the stealth skill tree just breaks the game difficulty. With enough points you can turn invisible for 20 seconds and then one hit kill every guard in a room and none of them even think "hey our fellow guard was just stabbed in the neck by some invisible force, maybe we should do something?"
Don't even get me started on the gun targeting. You have to train it on a target for a few seconds before you'll even have a chance of hitting them and even then I ended up blowing a dozen bullets at one guy and not hitting him once.
But despite the frustrations I'm still enjoying it. The choices you make in the game feel like they have a real impact and can dramatically alter the story. Even a single dialogue choice that you have about 2 seconds to think over can make a huge difference. It's a great system that puts you under a lot of pressure, coupled with the genuine moral ambiguity of almost every single situation. There are parts that make me want to hate it, but others that I feel make up for it. So I'm kinda mixed about what I think of it. Great review by the way susan, but because of the negative reviews this has been getting you can bet it'll damage the sales for Fallout new vegas.
Well I'm still enjoying it (playing PC version), and apart from a wee bit of lag I haven't run into any of the major glitches you were on about, the minor ones were sorted by turning off the motion blur.
Maybe PS3 version is just a bad port.
Maybe PS3 version is just a bad port.
So its another one of Obsidian's "close but no cigar" games eh?
Shame. I really wanted this to be good. This does not give me hope for New Vegas.
Damn, if only Obsidian could get a bit more time on their games.
Kotor 2 could have easily surpassed the first. But seeing how many bugs were in it, how much they cut... its just sad.
And now this. Damn...
Shame. I really wanted this to be good. This does not give me hope for New Vegas.
Damn, if only Obsidian could get a bit more time on their games.
Kotor 2 could have easily surpassed the first. But seeing how many bugs were in it, how much they cut... its just sad.
And now this. Damn...
Honestly, the only problem I've had so far is in Moscow (Well, two problems, hearing it pronounced Moss-cow, despite probably being right, rubs me the wrong way seeing how used I am to hearing Moss-koe)
Apart from that? Great game.
EDIT - I've heard it said a few times that it's this generation's Vampire the Masquerade : Bloodlines. I'd agree with that, if I'm being honest.
The Konstantin boss fight. Apparently, doing Blow makes you immune to bullets, and a history of carving up unarmed civilians that have been tied down means that he can instantly block and counter every blow from a skilled martial artist? I think I had about four ranks on my pistol at that point and a maxed out Martial Arts tree - I'm not a fan of a game telling me I can choose how to play the game, then shoving me into a situation that I can't talk, stealth or fist fight my way out of when that's what I've specialised in.
Apart from that? Great game.
EDIT - I've heard it said a few times that it's this generation's Vampire the Masquerade : Bloodlines. I'd agree with that, if I'm being honest.
I'm rather enjoying Alpha Protocol. It's not as good as it should have been, but that's Obsidian for you. I wouldn't recommend purchasing it, but it is definitely worth a rental.
Funny, even with all my nifty sight-range reducing gear, Guards STILL saw their buddies fall down, and they still ran over to investigate, which I actually used to my benefit a few times before my Stealth was leveled to "ridiculous" to pull a guard away from a camera or a turret or even out of the sight range of another guard.Yassen said:
I think this video shows my Ms. Arendt is my favorite reviewer.
I am so sad for this game being terrible. I was looking forward to it for soooo long. It had so much going for it. Perhaps I will just get it on the clearance rack at the end of the summer.
Now back to Red Dead.
I am so sad for this game being terrible. I was looking forward to it for soooo long. It had so much going for it. Perhaps I will just get it on the clearance rack at the end of the summer.
Now back to Red Dead.