Zero Punctuation: Alpha Protocol

[rembrandtqeinstein]

Wow an actual positive review. A favorable comparison with Deus Ex, one leg of the holy trinity of best games ever made that is Deus Ex, System Shock 2, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

I'll wait for the first big patch and inevitable DLC and then buy this game.

Even though Yahtzee allegedly doesn't read these comments, it would be nice to know what system he played the game on. The system selection a big part of how good the experience is. FPS games that require accuracy are way better on the PC with keyboard and mouse movements. But the interface of console ports always sucks on the PC.

 

[nmaster64]

John Barrowman FTMFW

 

[cavalerie]

Huh... I agree with Yahtzee about that stupidly cheap melee boss, but playing the PC version I found the hacking system to be stupidly clumsy and irritating, more often than not forcing me to take the "blood wallpaper" approach simply because I couldn't get the twitchy thing to work properly first time round... The lockpicking and keypad screwing-with minigames worked fine though.

One utterly arbitrary and assinine aspect that I was hoping Yahtzee would thrash but didn't even mention was the weapon-carrying system, a limit of two despite the fact that the SMGs and Pistol each occupy their own entirely seperate places on Thornton's body than the assualt rifle and shotgun, (which ar the opnly ones to share a zone) meaning that more often than not you'd be mocked with an annoying, pointless empty chest-holster. This isn't provoking stratic planning, this is arbitrarily hamstringing the player in terms of flexibility in-mission, for a reason that the "logic" or "realism" utterly fails to justify.

Not to mention that in the cutscenes where you menace or interrogate people you are holding a pistol even if you don't have one equipped.
I finished the game 3 times, and every time I went with a different character build and choices.

The gameplay is quite flexible, you can play it as a basic TPS (assault rifles, and endurance are a must plus another skill of your choosing) or as a stealth action game (stealth, pistols and electronics), or you can play it as a hybrid (assault rifles, stealth and electronics).
I haven't seen anything like this since Deus EX.

I played the PC version and the bugs were not so bad. The AI was decent and quite true to the dossiers (different factions had different combat styles). The only thing that pissed me off was the hacking minigame, but that could easily be avoided by EMP grenades.

 

[ewhac]

It's kinda weird that Yahtzee brings up Deus Ex, because I just last week picked it up again.

I stopped playing in the middle of the game -- in Hong Kong about to wreck the Universal Constructor -- sometime around 2003 (according to the dates on the saved games). I picked it up again a few days ago and started noodling around.

"Oh, joy," I thought, after finally finishing in Hong Kong, "Hell's fscking Kitchen for the fourth fscking time," and very nearly dropped it again. But I pushed through it, and am now in the process of scuttling the superfreighter. Apparently I'm a little more than halfway through the game.

The thing that bothers me about stealth-em-ups is that the player is so brittle -- and I'm so damned methodical -- that after painstakingly working my way through an area (without saving, natch) death often springs out at me and I have to start over. And you can't replay the same segment any faster, because often you have to wait in the same places for the same guards to move in the optimal phasing necessary to slip by undetected. (I also make it harder on myself by trying to avoid inflicting fatalities). I stopped playing Thief: The Dark Project in the middle for the same reasons.

All I have to say is, the ending better kick ass, or I'm going to be annoyed.

(Just for laughs, I fired up the multiplayer server browser, and found there are still active servers! Amazing!)

 

[nightwolf667]

I don't really wanna go through eight pages looking for answers, so... who the heck is John Barrowman? Is he some obscure Australian thing a stupid, narrow-minded American wouldn't know about?

You'd know him if you watched New Who (Dr. Who) or Torchwood. He plays Captain Jack Harkness.

The fact that Yahtzee may have enjoyed AP shows how far off modern day reviewers are. If the original Deus Ex or V:tM Bloodlines came out tomorrow, the American gaming press would rip them to shreds for subpar graphics (even compared to other games at the time), bad A.I., wonky controls, and bugginess.

Would? I thought they already DID that back when they came out, V:tM Bloodlines especially. They became cult classics (or just general classics) anyway despite the bad press. A lot of people have mentioned that the reception Alpha Protocol has received was just like that of Bloodlines when it was released. There's a lot of similarities between these three games.

 

[dancinginfernal]

I wasn't expecting Yahtzee to be one of the few critics not to ***** and moan about the skill-based shooting.

That's because he's secretly a Deus Ex cultist.

Which pleases me immensely, and compelled me to venture back to his Guitar Hero review to hear that song of his.

 

[crmhpfan]

Please please can Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands be reviewed next!

 

[kara_bulut]

A good video as always.

 

[Enigma6667]

Poncing. Poncey poncey ponce.

Man, I'm gonna be using that word a lot now. Thank you, Yahtzee.

 

[Ewyx]

forgot to add, it's not a pmc, it's a weapons contractor. But yeah... whatever.

 

[faselei]

Best for a long time. Hat king is back.

 

[daxterx2005]

"I literally fucked her brains out"

win as Always Yahtzee

Cheers!

 

[warmonkey]

Dear Yahtzee, you made me spit on my desk and that hasn't happened since around 1998 and the second Duke Nukem Forever engine switch. I'm not sure if I want to kill you or kiss you but I definitely want to ksomething you.

ps you're a handsome fellow but scrap all that talk about the kiss, i'm afraid our facial hair might entwine and make things awkward. chin up there's other anonymous fans out there.


I was serious about the spitting part, though. The dialogue with the lady and the brains was good stuff. I'm not frequently caught by surprise by anything that amusing, kudos to you and your hat good sir

 

[Joabbuac]

This counts as Yahtzee liking it by the way

 

[kthxbai]

The part with the Neutral , Good and Asshole cracked me up *Rofl* .. Well played good sir , well played

 

[The Noble Shade]

The review for this game reminds me of Yahtzee's review for Bayonetta, in that "gameplay was good; would take multiple replays to understand." This raises a good discussion point in creating reply values for games. Moral choice systems are too obvious (and asinine) to justify multiple playthroughs; it's a concept that's been overdone. Is "forcing" replay value with a convoluted story arc acceptable? I don't mind it, but I'm seeing a lot of games like these lately.

 

[DayDark]

Funny enough I might actually buy it on this review, at least check it out.