Alpha Protocol - Reviews, Impressions, Gameplay, etc.

[Grifman]

No, the game isn't out yet but some early reviews are trickling in and they seem to be all over the place. I've pre-ordered the game and decided to go ahead and start up the thread so we can get a couple of pages filled before someone actually has the game and can play it. So go for it!

[tgb]

I haven't read everything out there, but what I have gives me a bad feeling - checkpoints for saving, timed dialogue responses, finicky mini-games for things like hacking and lockpicking, inconsistent characterization. The more I hear about it, the less I want it.

Why doesn't someone just remake Covert Action, dammit?

[Giles Habibula]

Definitely waiting for more reviews and impressions on this one. I've been reading more negative than positive thus far from the few impressions and reviews I've seen.

And here this was going to be my first online-activated purchase in years (due to Sega's promise to patch out the activation in 18 to 24 months, which is something I decided I could live with). You wouldn't believe how difficult that decision was for me. And now, I may not have to deal with it after all. We'll see. The game showed all kinds of potential.

[Chaz]

I've heard a lot of moaning about the timed dialog thing, but I'm personally hugely in favor of it. It worked extremely well in Heavy Rain. With the traditional models, dialog is some of the least pressure-filled parts of the game. You can be having a verbal sparring match with the main villain or a powerful potential ally, and they're perfectly happy to sit there eternally while you consider your next line or go make a sammich. Putting in the timer and reducing the visible options to a single word or tone description places the player under the proper amount of pressure.

I'm definitely keeping my preorder. Even if it turns out to be a disaster, I'm all for supporting experimental disasters of the type of game I want (dialog and story heavy RPGs with actual consequences for player choice).

[neofit]

I didn't know what to think of it until I found this link to a PAX panel with 3 guys from Obisidian presenting AP. At first I was thinking that guys getting drunk while presenting their game couldn't do anything wrong. But then when they got into specifics I changed my mind.

When I think of modern 3D CRPGs, I have on one end of the spectrum Fallout 3, with freedom (within bounds, mind you), good PC-like shooter, a modicum of complexity with ammo and inventory management, equipment with stats, etc. On the other I have ME and ME2: more an interactive movie than anything, with constant cutscenes breaking the action, bad console controls, with everything oversimplified. I guess it is abvious from that scale that I like FO3 a lot more than MEx.

Now where does this put AP? The devs were proud to present a very complex diagram of one encounter, with all possible outcomes of every choice (where is the beer drinking emoticon?). So the game is totally scripted. Then they were proud to announce that the game has 12 hours of cutscenes, but one would only see 4 hours in a playthrough depending on his choices. So I will have to sit through 4 hours of blah-blah, listening to a story, that at best will have me single-handedly save the world for the millionth time, and at worst mimic the MW2 "The World for Dumbasses as told by Foxnews" story. That uber chick wielding a huge machinegun, running around Moscow during a snowfall in a white summer tank top with an apparent red bra kind of hinted at the depth of their storytelling.

So this does not look like a game I would enjoy. I've already given ME2 a chance and regretted it a dozen hours in, I won't do it again for another console game, not properly adapted to the PC, even more scripted and with even more flow-breaking cutscenes.

[Giles Habibula]

... At first I was thinking that guys getting drunk while presenting their game couldn't do anything wrong. But then when they got into specifics I changed my mind.

You trust a panel of drunks to give accurate specifics about a complex game?

[map]

Why doesn't someone just remake Covert Action, dammit?

Ditto

[Baroquen]

The guy at Joystiq wasn't impressed....

I'd think about this one more if my backlog of games wasn't so severe.

[Doomboy]

Wow. There sure is a lot of complaining in here for a game that isn't even out yet.

I can't imagine how a fully open and free form spy game could work. I don't remember seeing any spy movie where the hero decided he was going to go fishing, or out for a nice leisurely drive in the country instead of stopping the evil billionaire industrialist bent on world domination.

The one thing they apparently do give you freedom in, is how you react to various elements in the plot. Sure, it seems like maybe that isn't important, because you basically have to play the whole game over and over again to see this freedom, but if the game isn't total crap, knowing that you could do things differently might be a nice reason to go back and play again.

In most RPGs, you get the choice of good guy, and bad guy responses to stuff. It looks like in this one, you get various shades of secret agent guy responses. Which allows you to play a good guy with whatever kind of personality you want him to have. I don't like being the bad guy, so when I play a typical Bioware game, I only ever see half the game. I never go back and replay it to see what it is like being the bad guy. Because it makes no sense to me that a bad guy would bother saving the world. Most of the time it just makes the bad guy seem like more of a psycho jerk anyway.

[Scoop20906]

I was at that PAX East Panel where these guys presented the game. It was a great panel and really sold me on the game.

One thing they empasized is that the choices you can make in the game are necessarily Good or Bad so its not so easy to decide what to do. For example, do you kill the arms dealer or not? Well, its not a moral question in this game at all. If you kill the arms dealer you will need to find some other way to find the stolen nuke. However, if you kill the arms dealer, you get your lead on the stolen nuke but then the arms dealer is still out there arming your enemies making later in game harder.

I LOVE THAT GAME DESIGN.

I don't know how good the game is or the engine but the "CHOICE" concept is great. Got my amazon pre-order done and just waiting to play it.

[Scoop20906]

Ok, I need to amend my previous post. I just read several reviews and they aren't good. Mainly the big complaints are bugs, technical issues, bad AI, and bad combat. And the combat sequences are a majority of the game.

The good are the choices, characters, good mini-games, and good RPG elements.

I watched the review on gametrailers.com and that scared me. It might be better to not buy the pre-order and wait to see what more reviews have to say.

Color me bummed out.

[Smoove_B]

The guy at Joystiq wasn't impressed....

The review is one thing. The comments from an alleged developer is another:

The blame is still mostly Obsidian's because the execution was absolutely terrible, and it was obvious 2 years ago that this game should have been scrapped. Instead, though, they focused on adding still more features and never fixed the ones they already had. That is a recipe for tons of bugs and no polish... as is obvious.

[Victoria Raverna]

I prepurchased from Steam back at 2009 before it was delayed. The game unlocked when I woke up this morning about 24 hours after the store page countdown reached zero.

Starting the game, you get to choose the background of your character. Soldier background get starting skills in combat related skills. Field operative is stealth based. Tech Specialist start with sabotage/hacking and gadget related skills. And mercenary let you choose starting skills (you get skill points to spend on any skill you want). The other two backgrounds are special. Recruit is for extra challenge, you start without any skill but you also don't get skill points to spend. Veteran need to be unlocked by finishing the game as a recruit.

You can choose how the character look like but the choice are very limited. You can only choose the skin tone, hair, beard, glasses/shades, and hat.

Combat is like ME1/ME2. You can move from cover to cover. You can aim and shoot. But unlike ME1/ME2, you can shoot blindly from behind cover with the SMG.

For me, Hacking is harder with keyboard and mouse but easier with XBOX 360 controller because I have trouble with using the mouse to move the right-side code. Locking on the other hand is much easier to use mouse than using XBOX 360 controller since you use mouse to move the pins when using keyboard/mouse but with controller you use the pressure sensitive trigger.

Save system is very limited. Seem like you autosave at checkpoint. And if you save manually, you only save your latest checkpoint.

As for the conversation system, you have to be fast in selecting the choice you want to which is more realistic but I don't like it. Maybe I'll get used to it the longer I play.

[Scoop20906]

Thanks that review. All that sounds good so far. What do you think of the combat? Is it worth the purchase price?

[Victoria Raverna]

Thanks that review. All that sounds good so far. What do you think of the combat? Is it worth the purchase price?

Combat is okay just like average FPS, but there are alternate to combat in most situation if you don't raise alarm. You can stealth your way through most of the area (except maybe 'boss fight'). I play it like playing Thief. I try to get in and out without combat and only disable/kill when I have to.

As for worth the purchase price? It is worth it to me, but I'm easily pleased. So far this game is more like Thief/Hitman than ME or Deus Ex. Hopefully there are more variation later on. The missions at the the first area are inflitration/combat. The only dialog/choice you get to do is when dealing with the boss and your handler (plus one exception where you start a mission talking with enemy NPCs). All NPCs you meet in the missions in the first area are all enemies so except for that special case, you don't get to talk with them.

[Turtle]

I've posted elsewhere about this, but one thing that AP gets really right, is blending plot elements into gameplay.

For doing certain actions, even actions that won't usually net you physical rewards or even higher EXP, you'll get perks for your character, positive or negative reputation with your contacts, more or less intel/support on missions, and more.

For example, one early mission involves finding an arms dealer you think is involved in the main plot. When you finally get to him, you can choose to arrest him, kill him, or let him go. If you arrest him, it doesn't really net you any money or much else, but gets you perks related to being a bit lawful. If you kill him, the intended mission goal, you get a different perks and some other rewards like more money. However, if you let him go he can supply you with more weapons to buy from the gun store. All 3 options will alter how certain characters perceive you too. All this is on top of the plot ramifications for your actions.

[Grifman]

Fairly favorable review here:

http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/article?ar ... f=0&id=314" target="_blank

[Smoove_B]

I really want to believe the good can outweigh the bad, but I'm just going to have to wait until more people start playing before I get a copy. There are definitely games that can be fun despite odd design choices or weird problems. Still hopeful.....

[Scoop20906]

I really want to believe the good can outweigh the bad, but I'm just going to have to wait until more people start playing before I get a copy. There are definitely games that can be fun despite odd design choices or weird problems. Still hopeful.....

We are in the same camp at the moment. And I can deal with an odd design choice but the reports of bugs and bad technical decisions reminds of another game I bought with high hopes for the PC that was an unmitigated disaster: Saints Row 2. For those that TRIED to play the PC version, it was an unplayable mess. That memory has me spooked. Will just have to wait for more reviews from the brave.

[Scoop20906]

Fairly favorable review here:

http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/article?ar ... f=0&id=314" target="_blank

Thats a really favorable review. Interesting that he notes that he didn't encounter many bugs and just notes that the AI and shooter parts of the game are lackluster. Alot of other reviews are reporting the game is broken.

From a technical viewpoint, Alpha Protocol lacks polish but I didn't encounter any substantial issues. The graphics on PC are serviceable, although the animation is lacklustre. The game ran very smoothly on my low-end rig and was essentially bug-free. I encountered one scripting error when I took an unexpected path through one area, but that was it. The AI is mediocre; not as bad as reported but it does ignore some simple things, such as open doors and missing companions. The PC version does have console conversion issues: checkpoint-only saves, no double-clicking and unreliable scroll-wheel use are annoying but not uncommon these days.

[Giles Habibula]

I suppose it has something to do with a person's definition of "bugs".

In the past, I've played plenty of games that I'd seen described as buggy, but either I never saw those bugs, or else I looked right past them because I was focused on other aspects of the game. So now I'm always skeptical when I see the word "buggy" without a lot of detail as to what those bugs are.

[Victoria Raverna]

The only bug that I experienced so far is that if you reload checkpoint, you'll be out of stealth.

[Scoop20906]

Ok, my pre-order is back for Amazon for this game. Soon as I get some playing time, I will be sure to post some impressions.

[Turtle]

http://www.giantbomb.com/alpha-protocol ... 4/reviews/" target="_blank

Another kind of ambivalent review. Like my statements above, they mention some amazing RPG and scripting elements that tie in story, making your choices in the RPG aspect matter way more than in ME1 or 2 combined. However, it's marred by some really poor ME1 style combat elements. They gave it 3/5 stars.

What I really liked about the game was the thing that's it's reviewing strong for, I'm still buying it.

[Peacedog]

Too bad we (USish) couldn't play this over the holiday weekend.

[neofit]

RPS has a funny little piece on AP here. Excerpt:

When you’re a spy, it’s very important to never step over anything. If there’s a long way around, ideally surrounded by guards, cameras and locked doors, then this is the route the good spy will take. Rather than lifting his legs over a one foot fence.

A lot of people think a spy uses the art of stealth, silently sneaking through rooms, the enemy not even aware he was there. This is a myth. When you’re a spy you want to walk into a room, loudly declare your arrival, then mow everyone down with an assault rifle. Don’t worry about the alarms – just turn them off and everyone will forget you were ever there.

And of course, when you’re a spy you have to buy your own weapons.

I could keep going with this joke for ages. When you’re a spy you have to hack the .ini files of the game to change options that appear in the game’s menu but don’t actually do anything. When you’re a spy you don’t have to worry about leaving dead bodies lying around as they evaporate seconds after death. When you’re a spy you only go into cover about one in three attempts… But the strangest thing about /Alpha Protocol: An Espionage RPG/ is that it’s not about being a spy at all.

Not for any of the above reasons. But because it just simply isn’t a game about a spy. It’s a game about being a commando. It’s every other third-person action game, where a black-ops military man is sent to clear out entire bases, except with an awful lot more talking.

I love it when one takes a game, any game, and starts applying real-world logic to it .

[Peacedog]

Mouse + Keyboard interface is completely terrible. I've heard tell that mouse smoothing was hard coded to on. All I know is the sensitivty I chose to set in the options doesn't matter. It's a ponderous death any way. I hear using a 360 controller on the PC experiences no problems.

Booooo.

[Scoop20906]

Mouse + Keyboard interface is completely terrible. I've heard tell that mouse smoothing was hard coded to on. All I know is the sensitivty I chose to set in the options doesn't matter. It's a ponderous death any way. I hear using a 360 controller on the PC experiences no problems.

Booooo.

Please keep your impressions coming.

I won't get the game for a couple days since I cancelled my pre-order but re-ordered the game.

[Smoove_B]

While I have nothing to base this on, I suspected that the PC version was going to be a wonky port - which is why I'm going to get the console version. I can only hope for your sake PD, that I am wrong.

Summary from CAG:

If all this seems like I’m being overly harsh on the game, I’m not. Its shortcomings will be clear to anyone who plays it. That being said, I follow with this: fuck it, I like Alpha Protocol anyway. I enjoyed defining the kind of spy my Agent Thorton would be – an operative focused on the mission and his country while at the same time palling around with Nolan North’s character and romancing the ladies that didn’t happen to perish due to my questionable decisions. Don’t worry, dead ladies, maybe you’ll get lucky next time around. For me, there was enough enjoyment to warrant a play through or two. But for many, the uneven nature of the game will highlight its weak combat and technical issues and not its unwavering commitment to choice. Perhaps a bit too much time was spent creating all those alternate scenarios, as most players will never appreciate all the content that makes Alpha Protocol interesting because of the messy package it’s wrapped in.

And from Kotaku:

With its role-playing game progression, branching dialog system, and emphasis on player choice changing the way the game progresses, it's easy to see why many previews (including one of mine) suggested that Alpha Protocol was Mass Effect for the cloak and dagger set. And while the game does manage to ape several of the more attractive aspects of BioWare's epic space saga, it fails to deliver the same level of quality. It's like the store brand equivalent to a BioWare action RPG. It has its share of delicious moments, but it's likely to leave a bad taste in your mouth after all is said and done.

The one thing I thought that was interesting from the Kotaku review was that he didn't like that enemies don't scale with your character - like they would in Oblivion and even Fallout 3. I don't like scaled encounters and much preferred the way games like Gothic handled you wandering into the wrong area.

[Peacedog]

I will but I must warn you. While I own a corded 360 controller, I am so bitter about the initial mouse use that I'm tempted not to pick it back up right away. Or I guess I could just tell you that instead of making it a "warning".

[Chaz]

Mouse + Keyboard interface is completely terrible. I've heard tell that mouse smoothing was hard coded to on. All I know is the sensitivty I chose to set in the options doesn't matter. It's a ponderous death any way. I hear using a 360 controller on the PC experiences no problems.

Booooo.

If this is true, it absolutely blows. Mouse aim was one of the main reasons I went with the PC version. I'm going to be mighty pissed if I wind up having to play the PC version with my 360 controller.

Of course, I'm still hopeful that the PC version will get a mess of official and unofficial fixes that the 360 version won't, and it's cheaper. Still, really annoying. And of course, my Amazon order has shipped, so there's no going back now.

[Doomboy]

It seemed to work when I messed with the mouse sensitivity in the menu screen. Every now and then, when I try to turn quickly, the screen will go nuts and I will be facing the wrong way, but I wouldn't say the mouse+keyboard are broken. Not for me anyhow.

That said, this morning I tried some game-play with the xbox controller, and it was much smoother. Aiming was a little more imprecise, but that is just due to the nature of trying to aim with two little sticks. The hacking game was also much easier with the controller.

I did have to go back into the menu several times and tell it to do stuff. I think it wanted to do one thing at a time when I tried to change things like graphics and mouse sensitivity.

One bug I discovered, over about 5 hours of play, is when I manually reloaded because I decided I wanted to try to stealth through the first mission. After loading, I was standing in front of a guard, he was facing me, and he started shooting. Then after that, there were no guards at all in the first area. They didn't reappear until the next checkpoint in the mission.

After that, I just went with it and had more fun. Sure, it makes no sense that the guards would ignore an alarm and gunfire just because the alarm stopped blaring. But I quickly found out it didn't bother me and I let myself have fun.

[mtkafka]

I'm about halfway thru the game and so far its one of my fave games this year...im almost afraid to finish it. dont want it to end!

a year from now... the game will have a cult following. just hope it sells well so we can at least get a sequel or something.

[mtkafka]

I will but I must warn you. While I own a corded 360 controller, I am so bitter about the initial mouse use that I'm tempted not to pick it back up right away. Or I guess I could just tell you that instead of making it a "warning".

i have no issues with mouse keyboard at all. i did turn off mousesmooth in the ini file... but even before that, didn't really see anything wrong. if ppl want to compare the games fps feel... the mouse keyboard controls are a helluva lot better than the original Mass Effect. its inbetween ME1 and 2 in those terms.

[MonkeyFinger]

I will but I must warn you. While I own a corded 360 controller, I am so bitter about the initial mouse use that I'm tempted not to pick it back up right away. Or I guess I could just tell you that instead of making it a "warning".

i have no issues with mouse keyboard at all. i did turn off mousesmooth in the ini file... but even before that, didn't really see anything wrong. if ppl want to compare the games fps feel... the mouse keyboard controls are a helluva lot better than the original Mass Effect. its inbetween ME1 and 2 in those terms.

Pretty sure I read somewhere that there are 'issues' with settings made thru the GUI not sticking or something along those lines, the suggestion was to edit the ini file (files?) manually in that case. From what I recall.

[Chaz]

It's funny to me how the general internet sentiment being propagated is that this thing is terrible and broken. I bet that most of this is coming from people who have decided not to play it based on other reports that it's terrible and broken. Seems like a lot of people who are actually playing it are saying that it's a good game with some technical problems.

I feel bad for Obsidian. This is pretty much the reason that a lot of games have embargoes on reviews until just before or on release day.

[Doomboy]

I used a couple of the ini hacks that were listed on their forums, and the jerkiness using a mouse has pretty much gone away.

I am having a lot of fun with it now. I do not understand how the hell they managed to make the game branch as often as they do. It must have given somebody a huge headache trying to program in every possible option. Re-playability is going to be huge, assuming you do things differently. And can get past the minor glitches.

I really do wish that Obsidian could make a game free of glitches.

[Turtle]

I'm about to pick this up on sale for the PC, could you post a link to those tweaks?

[Doomboy]

http://forums.sega.com/showthread.php?t=329305

I didn't use the one at the beginning, I used the one at the bottom of the thread. You do have to find the location the guy at the top says for the ini file.

[Scoop20906]

Wow! All that doom and gloom about how the game is broken and buggy. Bunch of crap.

I'm playing the game and it has a very Deus Ex feel to it. Lots to stats and equipment to tweak. Different routes to achieve objectives. Some average stealth and combat. But the real star of the show is that the game can change based on how you perform on missions and talk to NPCs that you meet or deal with.

This game is by no means perfect but it is not broken and people should not steer clear of it if they are interested. I'm playing the PC version with a 360 controller and so far not problems or game crashing bugs.

I think some people are trying to compare this to Mass Effect 2 which simply isn't close. Its not as good for sure. But Mass Effect 2 does not give you the shift loyalties and characters that you deal with here. This story is not on rails and I'm liking the fact that my actions or decisions can steer the story in different directions.