Tell me about Alpha Protocol

[Havok]

If its better on a controller, I don't own it or wish I hadn't bought it.

Wow this almost sums you up completely.

Based on the reviews I am hearing over AP, I will avoid it.

Man, and this sums up the rest... you actually listen to gaming reviews.

You are like some fundie or right wing nut that hates controllers 'cause they are different!'

[Superman]

Ironing

Iron Sights

Two different concepts.

LOL

Thanks, Alyeska. I was totally confused there for a minute until you cleared that up. I was like, "does Stark mean he's actually ironing guns with the thing I use for my laundry?" The context was clearly ambiguous at best.

[Flagg]

Ironing

Iron Sights

Two different concepts.

LOL

Thanks, Alyeska. I was totally confused there for a minute until you cleared that up. I was like, "does Stark mean he's actually ironing guns with the thing I use for my laundry?" The context was clearly ambiguous at best.

Don't forget that anything he's ignorant of and doesn't understand without any research on his part is a PR1 violation as well.

[JointStrikeFighter]

Quiet flagg or he will surgerize you

And the idea that kbm is better than controllers for every game is fucking retarded. I guess aly doesn't play any driving, sporting or flying games lol.

[Norade]

Based on the reviews I am hearing over AP, I will avoid it.

Man, and this sums up the rest... you actually listen to gaming reviews.

You are like some fundie or right wing nut that hates controllers 'cause they are different!'

Feeyah the corupting powah of the evil controlah!

[Stofsk]

For the record, AP is fine on PC. It's only the hacking game (and to a lesser extent, lockpicking) which blows shit. I've failed hacks and gotten alarms simply because I get three misclicks in a row trying to keep the mouse highlighted sequence on the spot it needs to stay on, or because the shit keyboard half physically moves slower than the "reset" timer.

I agree re: the hacking minigame, but not lockpicking. I find lockpicking trivially easy.

Alyeska, this is two people who have played AP on the PC. We're telling you it's a good game. Don't listen to the reviews, they're fucking hopeless.

[Vendetta]

I think the problem with videogame reviews is that reviewers basically have no opinions of their own, so unless you crank up the internet hype machine to epic proportions, they don't know what to say and just start flapping.

I mean the conefire in this appears to be no different to the original Mass Effect, but I don't recall anyone making a big deal of it there, despite the fact that it rendered some guns pointless until you'd boosted your skills high enough.

If this game had been hyped well enough you could expect the reviews to be averaging 8's.

[CaptHawkeye]

If its better on a controller, I don't own it or wish I hadn't bought it. Based on the reviews I am hearing over AP, I will avoid it.

Jesus Fucking Christ.

Did you just roll into this topic on like page 2 or something? Did you totally ignore everyone's opening posts all basically saying "the reviews were wrong"? No, you ran in to defend your PC lineage or something. Far be it from us to question the almighty Aryan PC gamer.

[Alyeska]

Quiet flagg or he will surgerize you

And the idea that kbm is better than controllers for every game is fucking retarded. I guess aly doesn't play any driving, sporting or flying games lol.

I never said it was better for every game. Do read what I've said, not what they claim I've said. There are many games that have translated quite well to the controller. I just do not care to play them.

[Alyeska]

I used to be a "mouse and keyboard elitist" when it came to shooters. Turns out that translates into "requires no real skill to play". I have a fuckton more fun playing Gears2 on 360 than I ever have playing point and click shooters on PC.

Yeah, no skill. I am nearly always the best player in any FPS game in my clan. Right now in Bad Company 2 I fucking own. In BF 2142, I cleaned house. I was damned near on the top playing COD4. Yeah, I have skill. And I very much have fun. I do not have fun using the controller, period. If they supported mice and keyboards on a console, mandated support for every game, I'd actually buy it.

[Alyeska]

If its better on a controller, I don't own it or wish I hadn't bought it.

Wow this almost sums you up completely.

Based on the reviews I am hearing over AP, I will avoid it.

Man, and this sums up the rest... you actually listen to gaming reviews.

I read multiple reviews and I talk with people who have played the game in order to get an idea of what it is about.

You are like some fundie or right wing nut that hates controllers 'cause they are different!'

Because they are uncomfortable. I play with the controls that I prefer. So do you. Is that concept too hard for you to comprehend? Or do you not use logic, like a fundy?

[Alyeska]

For the record, AP is fine on PC. It's only the hacking game (and to a lesser extent, lockpicking) which blows shit. I've failed hacks and gotten alarms simply because I get three misclicks in a row trying to keep the mouse highlighted sequence on the spot it needs to stay on, or because the shit keyboard half physically moves slower than the "reset" timer.

I agree re: the hacking minigame, but not lockpicking. I find lockpicking trivially easy.

Alyeska, this is two people who have played AP on the PC. We're telling you it's a good game. Don't listen to the reviews, they're fucking hopeless.

Fair enough. I've heard some contradictory information. Hotfoot seems not to like it. I might wait for it to drop in price first.

[Whiplash]

Based on the reviews I am hearing over AP, I will avoid it.

Man, and this sums up the rest... you actually listen to gaming reviews.

I'm not gonna deny that, some people take bribes, some jump on bandwagons, and yes some people get caught up in the hype. But yes, overall gaming journalism in general and reviews are worth paying attention to. I mean to think otherwise is a blatant exaggeration.

I mean, I refuse to believe that critics didn't like this game because its not what they expected/ it wasn't made by a big company/ they didn't get money to praise it.

I mean look at Dark Void, Force Unleashed, Bionic Commando, Resident Evil 5 (granted that one was the best reviewed of this bunch), Lost Planet 2, and Metro 2033. Can honestly say that the reviewers of those games were full of shit?

[CaptHawkeye]

I'm not gonna deny that, some people take bribes, some jump on bandwagons, and yes some people get caught up in the hype.

So it's ok to propagate this right? Hint: Just because you are a marketing shill doesn't mean I have to be.

But yes, overall gaming journalism in general and reviews are worth paying attention to. I mean to think otherwise is a blatant exaggeration.

Can you back up this statement with any kind of logic other than "I am incredibly naive and refuse to believe that people can be dishonest"?

I mean, I refuse to believe that critics didn't like this game because its not what they expected/ it wasn't made by a big company/ they didn't get money to praise it.

Believe it. Pretty much every reason you named HAS heavily affected reviews, over and over again. How many examples do we have to point out of games that got 5 star reviews...for the all the same reasons as games that got 1 star reviews?

Stark can point you to reviews where they pretty much say "this game isn't like Splinter Cell so I didn't like it". I can point you straight to a review where, I shit you not, the reviewer gives the game a demerit because Thorton can only carry two fucking guns. If that's not biased journalism to you I don't know what the hell is.

I mean look at Dark Void, Force Unleashed, Bionic Commando, Resident Evil 5 (granted that one was the best reviewed of this bunch), Lost Planet 2, and Metro 2033. Can honestly say that the reviewers of those games were full of shit?

No, but I can honestly say you finding a couple of bad games with bad reviews doesn't do shit to help your point. It also doesn't help that a lot of those examples suck.

[CaptHawkeye]

Double Post.

[Whiplash]

Give me some time (a day) and I will. I'm posting this so none of you get the impression that I'm running away from an argument, I just know I'm not going to be logged on this site long enough today to look up and post all of that.

No, but I can honestly say you finding a couple of bad games with bad reviews doesn't do shit to help your point. It also doesn't help that a lot of those examples suck.

Alpha Protocol is a poorly reviewed game, how is finding other (at least slightly hyped) poorly reviewed games giving a bad example?

[CaptHawkeye]

Because a lot of those games just flat out suck. The reviews for them are even more hilarious, you can watch the reviewers contradict themselves repeatedly on the Force Unleashed and Resident Evil 5 reviews constantly. It's funny stuff.

[Havok]

Because by all accounts of the pretty hardcore gamers in here, and even Stark, AP is good. And the games you cited were not.

[Alyeska]

Because by all accounts of the pretty hardcore gamers in here, and even Stark, AP is good. And the games you cited were not.

Actually, you've made a very good point. Stark is known for hating everything. But he likes AP. That is very telling.

[Aaron]

See now if you had a console you could go rent it to see.

Seriously though, it's actually a great game. I'm a casual gamer but I've been playing non-stop since it came out on the 1st. Beat it twice and I like it enough to try it out on "Hard", something I never, never do. Honestly I'd put it up with Metro 2033 and ME2 for best games of 2010.

[Peptuck]

Having actually played the game, I agree that most of the reviews are full of shit. Its a solid shooter and stealth game mixed in with some great dialogue, good plot, and some really amazing branching in the storyline, with most of your actions having varied consequences and the game world reacting to what you do in a very impressive, smooth, and plausible manner.

There's some issues with popping in and out of cover and fighting melee while in cover - basically, if you're ducking behind cover and someone runs up to smack you, it can take a second for you to stand up to punch him back - you can't simply strike while in cover. Another issue for a shotgun whore like me is that you can't move behind cover while reloading, so if you're reloading the shotgun when some jerk flings a grenade at you, enjoy your new shrapnel beard. Also, every now and then I have some trouble with perspective on whether or not I'm in range to melee somebody. I'll do a bunch of spinny kicks and punches, while the guy five feet in front of me stares and then riddles me with bullets.

Other than that, gunplay is solid. Martial arts are fun and powerful - the toughness line of talents plus martial arts essentially turns you into a sort of Collossus/Jason Bourne hybrid of badassery.

One of the best things about this game is how responsive it is. Beat up an informant, and he warns the government about you, and the next mission has armored Marines on alert instead of security guards. NPCs actually talk to and treat you differently depending on their reputation with you. Wear heavy armor, and NPCs will comment on it. Wear glasses or hats, and they'll comment on them. Put points into certain skills, and cutscenes will change to reflect your aptitude. And that's just minor stuff; depending on your choices, you could end up fight any of a half-dozen different bosses at the end of the game, and the endgame appears to change completely depending on how you progressed through the game itself. Everything you do feels like it has a consequence, which is really impressive considering the size of the game.

Also, the fact that you can walk around every mission wearing civvies is just cool. Armor is nice, but I love the notion of beating up armored soldiers wearing a button-up shirt, slacks, baseball cap, and razor sunglasses.

Also, Steven Heck is made of win.

[Stark]

The cover isn't always intuitive either; in some levels there are pillars and such that apparently aren't cover. You can stand behind them, but you don't get the 'peep around corner for instant death pistol shot' benefits, which makes the final level on hard deeply frustrating. Good thing I bought 30 incendiary grenades.

[Peptuck]

Yeah, that caught me a few times too. Also, one thing interesting about this game is that cover isn't the perfect shield it is in other games. If you're at the edge of cover, badguys can shoot parts of your body that are poking out just like you can shoot them. That's gotten me killed a few times when I was peeking around cover. Slightly annoying for a Gears of War player like me, but pretty realistic.

[Stark]

I think that's why people fail at the stealth too; if you're in cover beside a door but a guy comes down the hallway from the other way, he can easily see you/shoot you/etc. Especially on Hard crouching near corners is a festival of being shot in the fucking foot over and over.

[Peptuck]

That's what we have flashbangs and grenades for! Well, that and bullet-time super gunpowers.

Chainshot is so much fun.