Tell me about Alpha Protocol

[Vympel]

Since I can't be bothered to find out just WTF its supposed to be for myself. It looks pretty.

[adam_grif]

Well, from what I've gathered, it's a Third Person Shooter / RPG hybrid, with the shooting being, mechanically, derived from the RPG part of the game (i.e. dicerolls). You're a spy with some organization called Alpha Protocol, your first mission goes tits up and then you're in one of those webs of conspiracy that so permeate the spy thriller genre.

Critical consensus (Inb4 reviews are useless shitstorm) is that the game is buggy as shit, and that the shooter mechanics are also crap because it looks and feels like a TPS but plays like an RPG (i.e. perfectly lined up shots missing because the dicerolls said you missed). They praise the voice work and say that the story is quite good, one of the only games where the impact you have on the plot is meaningfull (like what Mass Effect has been trying to do, but failing at because they keep having to rail-road you to set up sequels).

IIRC Stark was saying in one of the threads that the negatives they bring up are all lies or some shit. I don't know. I usually only skim his posts, I'm sure he'll set the record straight.

[Xon]

It really isn't that buggy, but the hacking minigame designed for a gamepad and is not translated well to the PC. At all.

Instead of two analog sticks, you need to use wasd + mouse to move the 2 things on the field of changing numbers independant of each other. Yeah, keyboard for on, mouse for the other. It uses the mouse as a fucking relative scroller, so no you can't just fucking point and click you need to wave your mouse around till it gets to the right spot and hope like fuck you don't jitter it as you click.

Easily the single most broken aspect of the game which is a legitimate grip.

Stealth can be hard to get a handle of, because untill you level it up to get the superhuman perks you are basicly limited to making very very little noise and staying out of sight with utterly no saving throws. The only reason stealth is possible at all, is the superhuman senses thingy which gives you a radar map of people & thier alertness level which unlocks in the tutorial mission.

Weapons wise, almost all of them have an "aimed" mode which dramatically increases critical hit chance and accuracy(it gives a dramatically smaller target rectical). This aimed mode dramatically penalizes movement, aim movement inclusive! With this mode you can easily score 1 shot kills even on the hardest difficulty reliably.

Really, it plays like a Deus Ex with a working Stealth option and vastly more customizable guns. Oh and dialog choices which actually make a difference.

[Aaron]

I have it for 360, so far the only bug would be odd intereactions between my guys beard (lumberjack) and light. Sometimes you can see through it partially. Other then that it runs great.

Like others have said, it's third person. Rather like GoW1/2 in how it handles, a ridiculous number of add-ons for your weapons, a tonne of gadgets (from flashbangs to EMP grenades). I find the story to be pretty decent, though I'm very forgiving of flaws in such things.

It's definitely one of the better games to come out this year but rent it if youre not sure. Also don't judge it on the abysmal intro, I almost turned it off when I got to the hacking but it picks up after that. Especially after the first official set of missions in the ME.

[CaptHawkeye]

It's nowhere near as bad the journalists are bitching it is. Pretty much every major problem they're highlighting in their reviews they had no problem with at all in other games. They're just angry that AP isn't Splinter Cell or Call of Duty.

Some usual complaints in the reviews.

Game is buggy - So was Red Dead Redemption
Combat is gamey - So was Batman Arkham Asylum
Texture pop and Graphic errors - So was Halo
Can only carry two guns - Are you fucking kidding me?

[Vendetta]

Texture pop and Graphic errors - So was Halo

The texture pop-in is an unavoidable consequence of the Unreal 3 engine. There are a couple of ways to disguise it (Gears 2 does so quite well), but it's always going to be there unless you have giant load screens of doom.

[Stark]

So far noone I know who has actually played it agrees with reviews. It's actually quite hilarious.

I'd expect the controls to suck on PC, it's very much a console game. But hey, actual choices! Unfinished art was my biggest issue (there isn't enough weapon mod art to go with the weapon mods).

If anyone can tell me where AP uses dice rolls I'll be happy. Reviews and drones say that, but aside from conefire there's nthing of the sort. Equally, the 'broken' stealth is based around 'don't get seen' and ispretty logical (shooting cameras bad, people seeing corpses bad, etc). You can even make it easier using items and skills. I guess people are too used to MGS vision cones.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I found stealth to be nearly impossible during the Mid East missions (but it was okay 'cause I was packing an assault rifle and aviator shades). Only later when I got Master Awareness and Shadow Operative (plus all the doo-dads and armor mods for stealth bonuses) did stealth really become viable.

Anyway, as others have said AP is really quite good. Rough around the edges, yes, but if that doesn't bother you then I recommend it. I like to think of it as Deus Ex meets Mass Effect, plus meaningful choices which is rather commendable in and of itself. The way you talk to people and the actions you take with them can completely change the espio-political (?) landscape you're operating in. It's pretty cool stuff.

[Stark]

It depends what you mean by 'stealth'. If you mean 'finish operation without ever being detected like in Hitman Silent Ninja', yeah, it's hard. If you mean 'sneak around and fight with advantage of surprise' than it's really easy. I'm really bad with the stealth, but zipping guys in the head is always effective and confusing them is fun. The first operation is fucked because you've got no skills (even a veteran gets the first 3, which are the bullshit ones). I like that stealth is the hardest skill to improve, given it's game-breaking possiblities. Even at 15 you still have to keep your eyes open, though.

Ironically I think the level 5 pistol skill helps stealth more than some of the early stealth skills.

PS 'espio-political' is awesome.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Part of my problem, I think, was that I went into the game expecting more Splinter Cell-style gameplay, and that threw me off a bit. My instinct in these games is to stay undetected, evade or silently neutralize guards when possible, and get into firefights only as a last resort.

Once I got used to AP's style it started working out better. And yeah, it's definitely good that stealth is the priciest skill. In addition to game balance, I think it's good that it therefore encourages the more "violent" and utility skills, which for me at least gives me pause to think about which ones I want (since I'd normally just go all-stealth).

[ShadowDragon8685]

I was actually thinking of buying this game and writing a full review for it.

I think I'll do so. Since others have compared it to Deus Ex and Mass Effect, that's good for me, since I've played and finished both, though I'm hoping for more DE than ME.

The Steam advert for it seems to be setting it up as "Deus Ex meets DE_Dust and CS_Office"... Which really, sounds awesome. (I wonder if anybody's made a JC Denton skin for Steam-engine'd games that could be added to CSS...)

[Edward Yee]

I guess people are too used to MGS vision cones.

Ironically, the lack of any such "vision cones" and whatnot was part of why I liked SCC... the lack of a minimap admittedly only works because a lot of that game is pretty railroady, but the lack of hints as to where the enemies were did force me to stay alert, and even the Sonar Goggles were relatively balanced. So far the good things I'm hearing here are inspiring me to give AP a chance. *looks around shadily for a "Assault Weapons Pack" code* Too bad about the apparently "endstate" for the game:Spoiler

Side with Alpha Protocol against the eviiiiil corporation, side with the evil corporation against Alpha Protocol, or fuck them both.

Then again , the strategy guide claims I can "grind" one of the training courses for extra XP.

[Stark]

Part of my problem, I think, was that I went into the game expecting more Splinter Cell-style gameplay, and that threw me off a bit. My instinct in these games is to stay undetected, evade or silently neutralize guards when possible, and get into firefights only as a last resort.

Once I got used to AP's style it started working out better. And yeah, it's definitely good that stealth is the priciest skill. In addition to game balance, I think it's good that it therefore encourages the more "violent" and utility skills, which for me at least gives me pause to think about which ones I want (since I'd normally just go all-stealth).

The stealth being so 'real' is pretty at odds with the other quite gamey/RPG elements, though. The 'poor' (ie very pursuit heavy) AI doesn't help either; one slip and someone is going to come over and find you and it's all over. What's REALLY strange is when you plink a guy with tranks and as he recoils from the hit, a burst of automatic fire comes out of his ROCKET LAUNCHER.

I just finished the G22 Taipei mission without being seen, on hard. So it's not impossible; it does involve some save/loading and I usually can't be fucked.

Yee, you have no idea. The end is determined by game activities and the acheivement is only which combination of bosses you face. There are more than 3 endings, because there are more than 3 combinations of characters that survive.

If you really want to 'grind' a training course for 25xp to get a level every three hours, you're welcome to waste your life.

[ShadowDragon8685]

The stealth being so 'real' is pretty at odds with the other quite gamey/RPG elements, though. The 'poor' (ie very pursuit heavy) AI doesn't help either; one slip and someone is going to come over and find you and it's all over. What's REALLY strange is when you plink a guy with tranks and as he recoils from the hit, a burst of automatic fire comes out of his ROCKET LAUNCHER.

That could be amusing or hilarious depending on just what you mean by that.

Do you mean that his rocket launcher is one of those bizzaro-combo weapons that only works that way in his hands, and he lets off a burst of automatic gunfire, or a short burst of high explosives?

Because I'm thinking that latter one could be exploitable if you tranq the guy with the rocket launcher while he's next to a few of his pals and facing a convienant wall...

[Stark]

No, it's a burst of automatic rifle fire. The specific animation with accident fire only includes rifle fire; it doesn't make the launcher fire a lot. Bullets come out. Game not polished.

[Edward Yee]

LOL forget that idea (the training course grind) then. Are there any other ARs though besides the ACR and G36C renames?

[Stark]

Frankly all the SCARalikes look the same these days. There's a vaguely AK rifle too. There's four for each type, but the US AR looks like a SCAR, the Israeli one looks like a SCAR, the German one looks like a G36 and the Russian one looks vaguely like an AK.

The pistols are Glocks, Berratas, High Powers, etc. There's no P90, though,just Uzis, MP7s, MP5ks, and something else. The shotguns are the SPAS-12 and a bunch of poop.

[Edward Yee]

Bleh, not a M4 in the lot it sounds like; even SCC had more varied weapons, as useless for stealth as most were. (Then again, I've always had a soft spot for SBRs, and the SCC "M468" is one.)

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Yeah, I was a bit of a sad panda at the apparent absence of the M16 family (which I fear is a growing trend; the rifle's old and game developers like the new shiny, but I digress), but it's not a big deal. AP is as much RPG as shooter; I picked up a G36 and have hardly paid attention to my weapons since.

[Stark]

Who cares what they look like, and why would anyone want a piece of shit like an M4 anyway? The idea of going to lengths to meet arms dealers to buy a shitbox gun as a fashion statement is pretty funny, but I can see you obsess over such things.

I'm frankly glad the game doesn't have a Rainbow Six style laundry list of totally useless weapons with either no difference or an obvious 'best gun', because that's lame.

[Stark]

Yeah, I was a bit of a sad panda at the apparent absence of the M16 family (which I fear is a growing trend; the rifle's old and game developers like the new shiny, but I digress), but it's not a big deal. AP is as much RPG as shooter; I picked up a G36 and have hardly paid attention to my weapons since.

The differences between the guns are pretty minor anyway; with pistols it's basically 'do you want a big mag or high damage or high accuracy' and there is no wrong choice. Hell, I used the piece of shit gold AK for a while, and it's no big deal.

Since I'm not mired in the 60s the lack of the AR15 didn't even occur to me, because 40 years of shit guns is long enough. I'm sad there isn't much proper modern guns though, like F2000 or even TAR-21 etc, but the developers obviously never finished their weapon art anyway. Assault rifle scopes eh? ALL IDENTICAL.

[Edward Yee]

I doubt it'll be a growing trend simply because of the M4-type's "iconicness," right up there nowadays with AKs in the West. Hell, said iconicness was partially the reason that Colt lost its trademark infringement lawsuit against H&K and Bushmaster.

The F2000 would have been cool for this game though, I agree. Personally for "look" factor I'd have (also) wanted the Magpul PDR, but that never even made it to prototype.

[Stark]

M4s are 'iconic' because of Counter-strike. Otherwise nobody but mil-triv nerds would care.

[Edward Yee]

My impression had been that they'd become the go-to look for weapons thanks to all the photos popping up of SOF with them after 9/11.

*LOL at reading that someone made the Brayko boss fight much easier by having his cocaine poisoned* Okay, that is a credit to this game.

[Stark]

Why are you reading the internet regarding a game where everything is obviously wrong?