Alpha Protocol impressions

One game I am playing as a Spy/ninja with lots of stealth. I upgraded this stealth armor to make me less noisey when i walk so they cant hear me and then another one so they cant see me from so far away. I have only killed one person with a gun so far thru half way of the game. I have all my points in Stealth and Martial Arts. All I do is kill guys with either finishing move from behind or martial arts if they see me.

Then my other game I am playing liek Rambo, with SMG, Assault and pistol guns as my stat upgrades and upgraded guns lol.

I just like how differnt the styles are, it is rather tough though to be a spy, but very rewarding aswell (:

What about pistols?dakan45

I always start out with the pistol and tranq ammor hoping for a stealthier(?) run. (which in reality I've given up on, but a man can hope!) I've only got the pistols skill upgraded to the second level. It's enough that a headshot with tranq ammo will take a guard down. As soon as your discovered, assault rifle all the way.

I guess you could use the martial arts skill to attack everyone, but they have guns:P

I'm not a fan of fighting games at all and usually do everything I can in any game to avoid going fisticuffs with anyone. In fact, if a game uses hand to hand as a primary skill for fighting, I avoid it altogether.

I might add that using your martial arts skill involves heavy use of the "E" key. Just the "E" key. Nothing more than the "E" key. Only the "E" key.

It would look some thing like this: Fight begins E E E E E E E E E E E E E E man goes down.

Played 2 hours today. I like it a lot. But the hacking minigame is the worst minigame ever. The AI is either brilliant or completely bollocks, there's no middle ground... One moment I feel like fighting agaisnt real people, the other I watch how they shoot at the walls or each other.

I went for Field Agent - stealth, pistols and martial arts.

What about pistols?dakan45

My playthrough is Sabotage/Pistols/Melee. At the very beginning your pistols will suck, no way around it. But when you get the chain-shot skill (that's skill-level 3) things start to get interesting: you can set up some nice multiple kills with it and remain stealthy if you put a silencer on the pistol. I also recommend that you always kill the guards on a higher elevation since the guards below have less chance of seeing the corpse.

If you want to go absolutely stealthy though you have to invest in the stealth skill. I get detected too easily.

If you want to go absolutely stealthy though you have to invest in the stealth skill. I get detected too easily.

kimkim01

actually, midway through the game, a bit of stealth and tons of patience can get you through most situations undetected...since chain-shot can be used as sniper.

of course if you want to go all out stealth->close kill, that should demand high ranks in stealth.

btw, considering the "simplistic" melee...well, this is a role-playing game in essence: when you get higher rank in martial arts, you get special moves and additional damage bouns. no combo is needed; combo is crucial in beat em up games but not in RPG. and again, what about shooting? you simply right and left click the mouse, simple. to trigger fight move, just press E, simple as well.

Well, I just finished.

I stand by everything in my brief review.

I do want to add that the save/checkpoint system is horrid. RPGs should allow save anywhere, anytime.

Another thing, the controls with the hacking minigame - awful. I have a 360 controller for my 360 but no wireless receiver for my PC. I know some people have used the controller to alleviate these control issues, but I bought this to play on the PC.:x

On the final battle, the boss just stood there. I found a place to stand and I guess he couldn't see me. He didn't fire a shot. He just stood there taking headshots like a man. Easiest boss battle I have had in years.

I may try and play through it again and make different choices to how it pans out. I did discover you can hold down the left mouse button and speed the conversations along. I wish I could do this with the missions!:P

This is not a horrible game. It's just loaded with production errors. It's too bad.

A note to Obsidian - If you do AP2, take your time. Don't rush it. Take the part that worked, the skills, leveling up, weapons and armor upgrades and dump the rest. Don't dumb the good bit down. Bring everything else up. Polish it. You'll have a 9+ on your hands.

[QUOTE="kimkim01"]

If you want to go absolutely stealthy though you have to invest in the stealth skill. I get detected too easily.

teardropmina

actually, midway through the game, a bit of stealth and tons of patience can get you through most situations undetected...since chain-shot can be used as sniper.

of course if you want to go all out stealth->close kill, that should demand high ranks in stealth.

btw, considering the "simplistic" melee...well, this is a role-playing game in essence: when you get higher rank in martial arts, you get special moves and additional damage bouns. no combo is needed; combo is crucial in beat em up games but not in RPG. and again, what about shooting? you simply right and left click the mouse, simple. to trigger fight move, just press E, simple as well.

Exactly, on of my charcters has upgraded stealth the full amount and I can pretty much sneak up behind anyone i want and finish them off. Earylier in the game its harder, but as you said once you get further into the game and get that stealth skill increased and get a quiet suit and addons you can be pretty dang stealth.

Just finished Taipei. The boss fight had a cool concept.

[QUOTE="Rheorin"]Impressions? Looks like a poor man's Mass Effect to me. Not exciting at all. Just watched a few gameplay videos and they look rather broken with less than exciting visuals. I'll pass for now.dakan45

on the other hand, ap doesnt look that great and probably should perform better.

I just bought this game and so far.. im loving it.. im actually loving the saudi part... :P.. the stealth perks are very fun... I havent had any bugs so far and the graphics are good:D

I just started playing the game last night. I haven't played enough of it to get a good impression yet but, so far the game seems decent. The dialog can be a bit boring but, I like the RPG elements they mix in with the game so far.

I got to put in about 10 hours or so this weekend and I must say, Alpha Protocol exceeded every expectation I had. It's like a mix of Bloodlines, Deus Ex, and Mass Effect. It's not perfect, few games are, but it's easily one of my favorite games so far this gen. Yes it has its little quirks but nothing is so glaringly broken or flawed to the point that it takes away from the overall experience. Yes the graphics aren't great but they aren't terrible either, and graphics are probably the least concern to me. Gameplay and story matter a lot more. My only realy gripe is the save system. I kind of hate checkpoint based save systems, but I guess it adds more replayability because you cant just reload a save and choose different dialogue options. I see myself playing through this game at least two more times.

As for the combat, I made a combat focused character-assault rifle, sabotage, technical apptitude, and toughness are my primary skills. I still try and use stealth a bit but for the most part I go in guns blazing and grenades flying. I think the combat is fun...if you've played deux ex and the like before you know it's going to be more about your in game skills as opposed to your leet twitch skillz. The only negative is that the AR special skill, Focused Aim, is garbage compared to what pistols, shotguns, and SMGs get. I've yet to see the AI do anything terribly stupid. Different factions have different tactics. Some fall back to friendlies, others are fearless and will charge you if you're close enough, some hang back and try to flush you out with grenades. They aren't always the brightest but they aren't as bad as some reviews have made them out to be.

Critics are stupid.