Why did Alpha Protocol get such bad reviews?

I bought it yesterday for $7.50 at D2D and I think its great. Sure the shooting mechanics aren't exactly perfect, but it definitely doesn't ruin the game. In fact, the reason I bought the game is because everytime I've seen the game mentioned on these forums, the game is usually praised. What I find even stranger is that nobody has made an unofficial patch for the game yet like the patches that were made for Oblivion and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. If you have the game, what is your opinion of it?

It's only $6 at D2D if you use the HOHOHO code.

After playing this game I'm not saying anything bad about Mass Effect ever again, lol.GeneralShowzer

Gonna ninja in here and hold you to that. Just to be all creepy ;)

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]After playing this game I'm not saying anything bad about Mass Effect ever again, lol.Sharpie125

Gonna ninja in here and hold you to that. Just to be all creepy ;)

[QUOTE="Sharpie125"]

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]After playing this game I'm not saying anything bad about Mass Effect ever again, lol.GeneralShowzer

Gonna ninja in here and hold you to that. Just to be all creepy ;)

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"][QUOTE="Sharpie125"]

Gonna ninja in here and hold you to that. Just to be all creepy ;)

dakan45

Anyways, I thought the game was great despite its obvious flaws.

the game wont even load for me. I have uninstalled and re installed it 5 times now after buying for 7 bucks at D2D. I tried installing that patch as well and it didnt help. Sometimes it would load after like 10 minutes of waiting, but then do nothing from there. I was pretty damn frustrated. Luckily I only spent 7.50.

Because it basically sucks.

I thought the game was a solid 7.5/10. It had some glaring flaws but it was still a great buy for 7.50 during the Steam sale :)the_ChEeSe_mAn2

Agreed I would give it that rating. Overall it was a very fun experience and the extent that your choices affect what happens in the game is pretty amazing. However, its got some serious issues. Its pretty buggy. Luckily, I ran across no game breaking bugs, but I constantly ran into loads of minor bugs. Its also extremely short. I think my game only lasted about 12 hours which makes this the shortest RPG i have ever played BY FAR. Also, the combat and stealth mechanics leave a lot to be desired.....although it is still generally fun. Its easily worth $7.50, but I would have felt ripped off if I paid $50 for this game.

I had thought about buying the game, until I read the review. All of the bugs and other detractors were enough to convince me not to purchase it.

A rating is one thing, but I always read the entire review (and player reviews) before I make a purchase decision.

To me, a cheap price doesn't negate bugs- but patches can.

topsemag55

To be fair, if you read the review from Gamespot, all they did is cut and paste the console version. When i played the game I didn't run into any bugs but the game does suffer from terrible production values. The lead character's voice acting is pretty bad, the animations suck, the AI is poor and the graphics aren't good and something that may put off pc gamers...it's easier to use a controller than a mouse and keyboard, especially for the minigames. but the game has a great choice and consequence system. the story isn't convoluted at all it's the typical "world of espionage, don't trust anyone" situation and I think the short length of the game encourages more playthroughs, which isnt too bad of an idea because there are a ton of choices to make. the perk system is pretty awesome and the game can be played in numerous ways.smerlus

To be fair, I did hear the storyline is pretty good, but on the other hand, the stealth animation was viewed as poorly done. It does look a bit weird.:P

topsemag55

smerlus

:lol: Good one. :lol:

I likened it to a man desperately in search of a toilet.

I bought it yesterday for $7.50 at D2D and I think its great. Sure the shooting mechanics aren't exactly perfect, but it definitely doesn't ruin the game. In fact, the reason I bought the game is because everytime I've seen the game mentioned on these forums, the game is usually praised. What I find even stranger is that nobody has made an unofficial patch for the game yet like the patches that were made for Oblivion and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. If you have the game, what is your opinion of it?

halo2_4_pc

I enjoyed Alpha Protocol. I had been looking forward to it for over a year by the time it was released. It had it's issues but they were all minor things that didn't detract from the games good things like the awesome choice and consequence system, and the good story. Overall I think it is a great game that could of been an awesome game.

lots of great ideas, poorly executed. if a game can't get the basics right it doesnt matter how good things like the story and choice system are, its always going to be a frustrating experience. still it's worth a playthrough if you can get it for cheap

the consolespot review score is about right. Fallout 3 got a 9.0: a far lesser role-playing game, with easily the same amount, if not more, of bugs at release. AP is just in the same league with VtMB and Arcanum. cult favorites are simply too hard to stomach for the mainstream crowd.

It was very much a mixed bag the gameplay mechanics weren't great; whilst I enjoyed the characters, the choices and consequences and developing the story constantly through every action and conversation. The CnC actually had most other games beat imo.

I think there are lots of problems that can be listed against the game too many actually to name but I was able to look past them but they are undeniable.

I didn't have too many bugs except of the camera swings and stuttering which I was able to minimise but not completely eliminate by editing one of the ini files and then there was the inconsistent ai.

Stealth while nice to play around is flawed. Enemies could not spot you when you are literally right under their nose and they walk past whereas other times you would be spotted despite being behind cover and many obstacles in front of an enemy miles away. After that there was no way to lose them except shadow op

Shooting mechanics weren't great either but you improve your weapons skills by spending points in them as in an rpg. I only maxed out pistols and they were fine and got better as they leveled up, I can't tell if the others were still poor though.

My own gripe was when you activated chainshot and the aiming reticle would be yellow but then the whole screen would filter yellow also making it hard to see where you are aiming and getting headshots at times. That was a bad design decision imo.

It made a terrible first impression when I first started playing it but I grew to enjoy it a lot, and because it is a mixed bag I think it all depends on a persons experience on how it went which is why it got the reviews it got. I can't argue too much if someone really hated it or if someone really liked it because there are good justifiable reasons for each way.

I personally felt 6 and below scores were harsh and above 8 were being generous. I think there are more negatives against pros to list of Alpha Protocol but for me the pros outweighed them and I enjoyed it very much. One thing though it had bags of potential and could have been so much better and we would not be having this discussion which is a shame really.

It got bad reviews because people have different opinions, this will always be the case. A bad review garners people saying "why such a bad review?", a good review garners "that game sucked, why such a good review?". That is why I take all reviews with a grain of salt and never base my purchases entirely on their rating. [I haven't played Alpha Protocol so I don't have an opinion on it, but some podcasters I listen to have been pretty positive on it]carlosjuero

Taking a review with a grain of salt is normally what I do as well, for instance:

Majesty 2, did not get a very good review, but I read through the review and found some things about the game I think sounded interesting, bought and enjoyed the game alot, in my book it should ave gotten an 8.

Besides a grain of salt, adding an inch of peppar, usuallyspice up the result as well :)

oh and about the review for Alpha Protocol, I guess alot of people are a little annoyed at companies releasing games, that are not yet ready for release.

If I should review the game, and I did not think the game is really out of beta yet, then I would give it a big minus in the score as well as Alpha got.

I bought it yesterday for $7.50 at D2D and I think its great. Sure the shooting mechanics aren't exactly perfect, but it definitely doesn't ruin the game. In fact, the reason I bought the game is because everytime I've seen the game mentioned on these forums, the game is usually praised. What I find even stranger is that nobody has made an unofficial patch for the game yet like the patches that were made for Oblivion and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. If you have the game, what is your opinion of it?

halo2_4_pc

Think about the people who paid 50$ for it on release, being way more buggier than it is now

I can't run the game it ***** stutters even at lowest settings.GeneralShowzer

This. The game is unplayable for me. Even with the .ini edit fixes and frame rates in the 120s, the game still skips frames when using the mouse. Use the console game pad and it plays fine but this is PC version and I should be able to use my mouse properly, darn it.

Plus the fact that anti-aliasing does not work properly is a big no no also in my book.

Patch fixed none of these common issues. And they wonder why PC gamers dis game makers so much.

Dont get me started on this...

The game was amazing and the bad reviews made me laugh.

No crashes, no big issues in thsi game for me, just a great story, good characters, fun gamepaly and the best choices system iun a videogame yet.

This game totally surprised the heck out of me. For me personally I enjoyed thisw game as much as ME2.

Bought the game on release day and was probably the biggest surprise for me this gen, turned out way better hten I expected.

Sure its not the best game ever, but its ideas, choices you make, story, rpg elements and gameplay I enjoyed.

I woudl rahter have a flawed masterpeice then a optimzed polished turd like say Modern Warfare2 or AC.
Thoguht this was a much better rpg experience then Oblivion or Fallout3 to be honest (Fallotu New vegas was awesome though).

The game has the odd slowdown and has some bad animations, but everything else was well done imo.

I expected a crap game, but really enjoyed my time with this game, very very underrated.

It got bad reviews because people have different opinions, this will always be the case. A bad review garners people saying "why such a bad review?", a good review garners "that game sucked, why such a good review?". That is why I take all reviews with a grain of salt and never base my purchases entirely on their rating. [I haven't played Alpha Protocol so I don't have an opinion on it, but some podcasters I listen to have been pretty positive on it]carlosjuero

Exactly.... I seem to dissagree with 90% of reviews these days, so I dont even pay attention to them.

Some people like good animations instead of a fun time I guess.

Dont get me started on this...

The game was amazing and the bad reviews made me laugh.

No crashes, no big issues in thsi game for me, just a great story, good characters, fun gamepaly and the best choices system iun a videogame yet.

This game totally surprised the heck out of me. For me personally I enjoyed thisw game as much as ME2.

Bought the game on release day and was probably the biggest surprise for me this gen, turned out way better hten I expected.

Sure its not the best game ever, but its ideas, choices you make, story, rpg elements and gameplay I enjoyed.

I woudl rahter have a flawed masterpeice then a optimzed polished turd like say Modern Warfare2 or AC.
Thoguht this was a much better rpg experience then Oblivion or Fallout3 to be honest (Fallotu New vegas was awesome though).

The game has the odd slowdown and has some bad animations, but everything else was well done imo.

I expected a crap game, but really enjoyed my time with this game, very very underrated.

kozzy1234

Very much agree with you there on all points

Dont get me started on this...

The game was amazing and the bad reviews made me laugh.

No crashes, no big issues in thsi game for me, just a great story, good characters, fun gamepaly and the best choices system iun a videogame yet.

This game totally surprised the heck out of me. For me personally I enjoyed thisw game as much as ME2.

Bought the game on release day and was probably the biggest surprise for me this gen, turned out way better hten I expected.

Sure its not the best game ever, but its ideas, choices you make, story, rpg elements and gameplay I enjoyed.

I woudl rahter have a flawed masterpeice then a optimzed polished turd like say Modern Warfare2 or AC.
Thoguht this was a much better rpg experience then Oblivion or Fallout3 to be honest (Fallotu New vegas was awesome though).

The game has the odd slowdown and has some bad animations, but everything else was well done imo.

I expected a crap game, but really enjoyed my time with this game, very very underrated.

kozzy1234

The animation and graphics suck though. Also, the level design is all messed up. Why can't i jump or move where i want. There are blimps that show you what you can interact with. Horrible design decision. And what's with the hand-holding. The map is useless, since you always have a pointer showing you where to go. What's wrong with some figuring stuff out on your own like Deus Ex.

This could have been a masterpiece...

the stealth animation was viewed as poorly done. It does look a bit weird.:P

topsemag55

It looks like the sneaking of MGS4, but nobody complained then...

[QUOTE="dakan45"][QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"] So you're not an RPG. At least you're not Alpha Protocol.SF_KiLLaMaN

Anyways, I thought the game was great despite its obvious flaws.

It got mixed reviews and the difference between the US reviews and the European reviews showed a rather remarkable thing. US reviewers, Who in a sense represent the US gamers, focuses more on the flaws and see them as big enough to bring a game down, the game mechanic needs to be much closeer to perfection inorder for them to be satisfied with it, however European Reviewers are more prone to overlook flaws and focus more on what is good and this is also reflected with European gamers. Not saying anyone is wrong, but that the focus is different between the two.Treflis

I think you have a point. BUT:

If there are flaws big enough to be worth focusing on, then they're worth focusing on. Games that are pretty much universally agreed upon as being "great" almost without fail don't fall prey to these kinds of flaws.

I have not played AP myself, but if the action is shooting based and it has poor shooting mechanics, then that is both a big problem, and a flaw worth mentioning, and possibly something that ruins a lot of the satisfaction that might have been gleaned from it overall. However, most people seem to think the story is less than desirable as well, so it doesn't sound like the basic mechanics are the only thing dragging the experience down.

YES, there is _almost_ always at least a couple positive aspects to any game. Almost.

I think you're right about US reviews being poor a lot of the time, but I think you've got the characterization of that statement incorrect. I don't think it's so much that they focus on the negativity of a game, I think it's more that they only focus on the negativity of things that aren't smash hits.

For instance: Fallout: New Vegas, while a good game in many ways (There's your positive nod), was released as a buggy mess. I would say the majority of gamers experienced at least some kind of bug or performance issue, ranging from the annoying to the game-ruining. And yet, while Gamespot acknowledges these (And in the game's releases state, they were pretty big issues for a release version of a game), its score magically did not suffer. I would say a title of equal quality/problems not released by a major name would have been treated much poorly. Would they not?

I would say a title of equal quality/problems not released by a major name would have been treated much poorly. Would they not?snared04

edit: or were you thinking of the publisher, maybe

AP had good story (well at least i liked it), good dialogue system, and your decisions really had consequences in the game world... what i didn't like about AP were bad animations (crouching... REALLY?!), bad mouse sensitivity in mini-games (hacking or sniping... jesus christ)... shooting mechanic was terrible especially for smgs... and that textures poping in were just annoying... oh and the AI was dumb =] AP had the potential to be great but it's just avarage at most.

seems certain people on this forum will by default score up a game simply because it's made by obsidian. its the same people who slated fallout 3 but said they loved new vegas

seems certain people on this forum will by default score up a game simply because it's made by obsidian. its the same people who slated fallout 3 but said they loved new vegas

Macutchi

[QUOTE="Macutchi"]

seems certain people on this forum will by default score up a game simply because it's made by obsidian. its the same people who slated fallout 3 but said they loved new vegas

smerlus

hit a nerve have i lol?

there's not that much difference between the two games really tbh no matter what you say, certainly not enough to hate one and love the other. i dont agree with most of the points in your list either, we're talking about slightly better dialogue (only because its reminiscent of the original games in some parts), slightly better aiming, of course theyre going to add some more weapons etc etc.

yes theres hardcore mode, factions and a few more quests but its hardly a world of difference

[QUOTE="smerlus"][QUOTE="Macutchi"]

seems certain people on this forum will by default score up a game simply because it's made by obsidian. its the same people who slated fallout 3 but said they loved new vegas

hit a nerve have i lol?

there's not that much difference between the two games really tbh no matter what you say, certainly not enough to hate one and love the other. i dont agree with most of the points in your list either, we're talking about slightly better dialogue (only because its reminiscent of the original games in some parts), slightly better aiming, of course theyre going to add some more weapons etc etc.

yes theres hardcore mode, factions and a few more quests but its hardly a world of difference

[QUOTE="Macutchi"]

[QUOTE="smerlus"] because it's crazy to like New Vegas for having better dialoge, better aiming, more items and weapons, a deeper crafting system, hardcore mode, better AI, more quests, better continuity with the original games, factions, more skill checks, better companion characters... who are these people that would rate their RPG's higher for being better RPGs?smerlus

hit a nerve have i lol?

there's not that much difference between the two games really tbh no matter what you say, certainly not enough to hate one and love the other. i dont agree with most of the points in your list either, we're talking about slightly better dialogue (only because its reminiscent of the original games in some parts), slightly better aiming, of course theyre going to add some more weapons etc etc.

yes theres hardcore mode, factions and a few more quests but its hardly a world of difference

i'm not on the defensive, i'm just trying to justify my opinion by responding to the points you made.

if you rated both games similarily then fine, i can understand people preferring one over the other, it's just theyre not that different

i'm not on the defensive, i'm just trying to justify my opinion by responding to the points you made.

if you rated both games similarily then fine, i can understand people preferring one over the other, it's just theyre not that different