AP is awesome, in spite of itself

[Krakn3Dfx]

After seeing reviews and hearing just general complaints about the game, I picked it up for $7.50 during the XMas sale. I'm about 7 hours in, and I gotta say, I'm loving this game. The acting the story line are top notch, the graphics and environments are great. The shooting is lacking, and in a lot of situations it's downright bad, but IMO everything else about the game makes up for the problems it has. I haven't come across anything game breaking yet, I guess if I did that might change my opinion a bit, but right now I just feel like it's a modern day Mass Effect 2 w/ a kickass back story, and I can't wait to play it more when I get time.

It's really too bad sales were poor enough to stop a sequel, nobody should have to buy a broken game, but I feel like there's enough here that a followup with the problems fixed could be an amazing experience.

[btallas]

Got it during the Thanksgiving sale. Extremely underrated game! I've already beaten it twice and am looking forward to a third playthrough! Hoping for a sequel but it seems like there are so many different scenario's and endings that a sequel might not be necessary.

[mclazyj]

I have said this several times before, but I enjoyed Alpha Protocol, but it was rather buggy and unpolished for a $50 game. At $7.50, it is a great value, but when you are paying full price for a game that was rough and buggy at the start, it kind of kills the enjoyment.

I really wanted to like the game. I had it in my hype list since it was first previewed at E3 several years ago, but it did not live up to those expectations. Would have loved to seen a sequel that worked all the kinks out, but unfortunately, Sega has decided to scrap that idea and move on with more Sonic games instead. I mean, those are all good, right?

[stillwater78]

I have said this several times before, but I enjoyed Alpha Protocol, but it was rather buggy and unpolished for a $50 game. At $7.50, it is a great value, but when you are paying full price for a game that was rough and buggy at the start, it kind of kills the enjoyment.And yet Fallout New Vegas, which was an absolute bugfest (and didn't have the right to be, since it was using an existing engine) got rave reviews and at least one "game of the year". I wish reviewers were as forgiving of this.

[XDragon350]

Yeah, agreed. I really liked how they did the dialogue options in this game. I think it helps to make conversations flow better than the traditional list of questions or statements you see in most games. Also there are plenty of opportunity to use your skills to bypass a firefight, which I like very much. I only encountered one bug that I remember, and that was a crash if I tried to load too often, in a difficult part for example.

I was annoyed with a few things though. The way your character sneaks hurts my back just looking at it. The worst part for me was the weapon mods, and some of the skills. Apparently the only thing the development team knew about guns is that they exist. Internal magazine in a pistol? I couldn't bring myself to buy half of the stuff because it was so stupid. Another good one is the skill 'Field Stripping' which gives you a bonus to the ammo you pick up because your good at stripping ammo out of magazines. Serious face into palm moment right there.

Overall, I thought the game had great potential and was very disappointed to find out that there wouldn't be a sequel.

[phoenix5]

Agreed. When I first heard about this game I was in love witht he concept. The Metacritic rating scared me away until the price dropped during the thanksgiving sale. I'm REALLY glad I picked this game up. I'm about 6 hours in and loving every minute of it. It's a little buggy but for the price it's an amazing game. Too bad no sequel will ever be made.

[Levi]

I had been holding out on it mostly because of the mediocre reviews, but picked it up during one of the sales. I finally got around to playing it recently and its been pretty fun so far(other than the annoying lag spikes). Definitely underrated.

[Smertnik]

Yeah, I really enjoyed this game. Never experienced any bugs, either.

[HomerPepsi]

Great game!! I really wish there was a sequel. I feel like it was over criticized on negatives, I would rate this 85-90.

Awesome play with a 360 controller, I did not experience any bugs either. Lots of fun for sure.

[Pim Pandoer]

yes, unfortunate about the sequel, but what can you do.
i think the game lacked alot of customability (if thats a word) in that, you had alot of different skills to add points into, but if you strayed to far from the spy loadout, you would get brutally punished (eg. you will have to hack consoles quite alot, and if you didnt add several points into this, you will have a very hard time progressing through the game.) i tried to make a big tough guy with a LMG, but it doesnt work out at all, since the game is centered around being a spy dude. also pistol is very OP, and is practically a must for the Konstantin Brayko boss fight. i liked the concept of handler bonuses and rep with them, but 99% of the game is spent with Mina as your handler, so if you piss her off, your pretty screwed. i was hoping that they would fix some of these issues in a possible sequel, but apparantly that was scrapped. :rolleyes:

[SpectralShade]

Dunno. I only got the first skill helping with hacking (think it was a total of 2 points in sabotage to get it) and I really didn't have any issues with hacking. I always used the armor enhancement that looked like a glove and helped with hacking, and those 2 together was more than enough. This was.. a total of 6 AP (?) to be able to hack anything I needed (And I hacked anything I got near that I could hack), so I think your comment about NEEDING to sink alot of points in it is a bit off.

First time I completed was as a spy kinda thingie, inspired by the bourne movies I went melee, rifle, stealth and pistol (pistol only as something I put points into without specialising). Worked out great.

Second playthrough I tried the recruit 'class' and specialized in shotgun, health and melee, but still put points in stealth so I could do the stealthy bits I wanted. Whenever I needed to fight proper, though, the shotgun turned out to be a beast in this combo. Knockdown shot -> run over and finish them off before they get up. And if they managed to get up before I was there, my increased Melee made them easy peasy at that range. The russian Boxer was actually a letdown as a melee specialist. :-/ Flying knee to start with before he made a move, and he was on the ground. He never got up before I had kicked him unconsciouness :-/

I enjoyed the game alot, and I'll prob finish my 'veteran' playthrough at some point too. But yeah, a shame there's not gonna be a sequel.

[sparks454alive]

They should've left this trainwreck unported, so as to not aggravate the PC players/insult the PC players intelligence.

[TheOD]

They should've left this trainwreck unported, so as to not aggravate the PC players/insult the PC players intelligence.

The PC version has much less issues than the console versions.
It is more than playable.

[ChaosBahamut]

They should've left this trainwreck unported, so as to not aggravate the PC players/insult the PC players intelligence.

Please, I have a feeling most of the people who like AP for what it is are PC gamers, due to the game having a bit of a Deus Ex vibe to it. (and lest we forget, from what I've read Deus Ex was another one of those "The sum is greater than its parts" kind of game)

[SpectralShade]

Please, I have a feeling most of the people who like AP for what it is are PC gamers, due to the game having a bit of a Deus Ex vibe to it. (and lest we forget, from what I've read Deus Ex was another one of those "The sum is greater than its parts" kind of game)

I'm a pc gamer (I don't even bother owning a console), and I like Alpha Protocol.

So, yeah... :)

[Jashin]

Holy shtt, you never played Deus Ex and you think you get to call what's easily 1 of top 3 greatest games on PC names???

[SpectralShade]

Reading.

It's a skill some people use.

[Jashin]

Talking.

I was not to you.

Apparently reading the context is a skill too.

[SpectralShade]

A public discussion forum.

Private messages.

Understand the difference.

[sinisterene]

Alpha Protocol has a wonderful game underneath

Granted, it never achieves to surface, but you do get to see its blurry visage under the waves

Also, tactical stealth is an excellent way to do stealth, specially considering how most stealth games nowadays are save-fests.

[BuckRodgers]

Its an Obsidian game, they usually make fun games but are always try to add too many unique features to games, they are capable of making Valve level quality software, but spend mabey 5-10% of the amount of time Valve does polishing so launch is always a crapshoot.

[everymefh]

I played the game four times to test out all the different possibilities, first as a solider type always using aggressive stance and leaving a path of death and destruction behind me, then as a technician always taking suave, a spy always talking professional and finally as a recruit playing specifically towards the Thorton Inc ending (making as many allies as possible along the way).
I may play a fifth time as Veteran for the "best" ending, i.e. least horrible things happening in the credits, though it means I will be slamming Grigori's head on the table.

[surreal]

Why would you slam his head? I was quite sure that this action would put you in a very bad position in Moscow.
Am I wrong?

[SeanHraefn]

I felt the game was awesome regardless of the reviews. Buggy at times, yes, but still awesome.