tehNihilist
New member
Cool thanks 
Alpha protocol
- Thread starter Stefan9
- Start date
Wlad
New member
So I've been playing for a couple of hours now, but I've restarted with a different approach to everything so I'm not far into the game yet. Here are my thoughts so far:
The bad
Visuals - no matter how you look at it Alpha Protocol isn't a pretty game. The character models are fairly poor (especially generic enemies) and there are a lot of low res textures and such. There are also quite a few visual glitches, especially regarding depth of field.
Bugs - there certainly are a lot of bugs present here and it seems as though the game should have gone through a lot more quality assurance before it was released, I thought that was the reason it got delayed in the first place but I guess I was wrong. I have encountered everything from grenades being stuck in the air to enemies just standing still right in front of me as if I was invisible or not even there at all.
AI - The AI isn't really all that intelligent at all. Example: At one stage I raised the alarm and climbed up a ladder to escape detection, but three gaurds spotted me and instead of shooting me like any normal (smart) bad guys would, they followed me up the ladder one-by-one. I did, however, beat the crap out of them for making such a stupid error in judgement
The good
Choices - There really are a lot of choices to make here regarding everything from who you're gonna befriend or piss off to what weapons and gadgets you're gonna take with you on missions. This certainly isn't the watered down roleplaying you'll find in other titles such as Mass Effect 2. There is a shitload of customisation, I have been stuck in menus for ages trying to decide what to buy and what skills to upgrade, etc.
Story and dialogue - The story and dialogue are brilliant, as is the norm when it comes to Obsidian games. I really like the dialogue system and how the game forces you to make quick decisions during conversions that will have on impact on the game's story and how characters perceive you and treat you. I haven't played long enough to see how my decisions and attitude towards certain characters will affect things in the long run, but I have discovered optional side quests as well as bonus ("secret") perks by just playing around with the different stances during conversations.
Overall
I really haven't played enough of the game to give a fair opinion about the grand scale of everything, but so far it looks like the good definitely outweighs the bad. I'm really enjoying the story and found it quit surprising how funny some of the dialogue is. This game looks like it was made with people like me in mind, people who don't care about bugs or "poor" graphics, people who like to really spend time with roleplaying. As I've mentioned there is a lot of customisation and you will most probably spend a lot of time reading intel, deciding which skills to upgrade or which weapon or armour upgrades to buy, etc. Obsidion have clearly dedicated most of their time with this game on creating a rich and deep RPG experience. Unfortunately other elements of the game such as the visuals and AI seem to have suffered from it and this will result in a lot of people hating the game for it and never playing past the first few hours.
Will try to give a more in-depth and final opinion once I have played furuther into the game or once I have finished it once and seen just how big an impact my decisions have made on the story and how characters treat me. Things are looking good so far as I'm really enjoying all the decisions as well as the story so far.
The bad
Visuals - no matter how you look at it Alpha Protocol isn't a pretty game. The character models are fairly poor (especially generic enemies) and there are a lot of low res textures and such. There are also quite a few visual glitches, especially regarding depth of field.
Bugs - there certainly are a lot of bugs present here and it seems as though the game should have gone through a lot more quality assurance before it was released, I thought that was the reason it got delayed in the first place but I guess I was wrong. I have encountered everything from grenades being stuck in the air to enemies just standing still right in front of me as if I was invisible or not even there at all.
AI - The AI isn't really all that intelligent at all. Example: At one stage I raised the alarm and climbed up a ladder to escape detection, but three gaurds spotted me and instead of shooting me like any normal (smart) bad guys would, they followed me up the ladder one-by-one. I did, however, beat the crap out of them for making such a stupid error in judgement
The good
Choices - There really are a lot of choices to make here regarding everything from who you're gonna befriend or piss off to what weapons and gadgets you're gonna take with you on missions. This certainly isn't the watered down roleplaying you'll find in other titles such as Mass Effect 2. There is a shitload of customisation, I have been stuck in menus for ages trying to decide what to buy and what skills to upgrade, etc.
Story and dialogue - The story and dialogue are brilliant, as is the norm when it comes to Obsidian games. I really like the dialogue system and how the game forces you to make quick decisions during conversions that will have on impact on the game's story and how characters perceive you and treat you. I haven't played long enough to see how my decisions and attitude towards certain characters will affect things in the long run, but I have discovered optional side quests as well as bonus ("secret") perks by just playing around with the different stances during conversations.
Overall
I really haven't played enough of the game to give a fair opinion about the grand scale of everything, but so far it looks like the good definitely outweighs the bad. I'm really enjoying the story and found it quit surprising how funny some of the dialogue is. This game looks like it was made with people like me in mind, people who don't care about bugs or "poor" graphics, people who like to really spend time with roleplaying. As I've mentioned there is a lot of customisation and you will most probably spend a lot of time reading intel, deciding which skills to upgrade or which weapon or armour upgrades to buy, etc. Obsidion have clearly dedicated most of their time with this game on creating a rich and deep RPG experience. Unfortunately other elements of the game such as the visuals and AI seem to have suffered from it and this will result in a lot of people hating the game for it and never playing past the first few hours.
Will try to give a more in-depth and final opinion once I have played furuther into the game or once I have finished it once and seen just how big an impact my decisions have made on the story and how characters treat me. Things are looking good so far as I'm really enjoying all the decisions as well as the story so far.
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tehNihilist
New member
Awesome thanks a ton Wlad!
Hopefully after some patching it will sort out some of the weird bugs. Sadly I figure the AI will always be set on dumb-ass-mode. Taking into consideration all the good and bad I have read I probably will get it 2nd hand. All these issues do no warrant full pricing for me sadly. Maybe if I run out of things to play before then I will grab it at standard pricing.
Obsidian really need to get their shit together when it comes to stomping out bugs. They worked on this game for 4 years and still so many got through quality control. Must say this makes me worry about Fallout Vegas.
Hopefully after some patching it will sort out some of the weird bugs. Sadly I figure the AI will always be set on dumb-ass-mode. Taking into consideration all the good and bad I have read I probably will get it 2nd hand. All these issues do no warrant full pricing for me sadly. Maybe if I run out of things to play before then I will grab it at standard pricing.
Obsidian really need to get their shit together when it comes to stomping out bugs. They worked on this game for 4 years and still so many got through quality control. Must say this makes me worry about Fallout Vegas.
Wlad
New member
Pleasure. 
After starting a new character and taking the stealth/melee approach I am finding the game a lot more enjoyable than it was playing the game like a normal cover based third person shooter. I usually suck completely at anything even remotely related to stealth, but luckily for me the AI in this game is dumb enough for even to sneak past them
I got the game for free so I didn't have to worry about buying a buggy game. I would have thought about it long and hard before paying full price for this game, although I probably would have given in and just bought it anyway. I am extremely weak willed when it comes to RPG's (except JRPG's - can't really stand those)
After starting a new character and taking the stealth/melee approach I am finding the game a lot more enjoyable than it was playing the game like a normal cover based third person shooter. I usually suck completely at anything even remotely related to stealth, but luckily for me the AI in this game is dumb enough for even to sneak past them
I got the game for free so I didn't have to worry about buying a buggy game. I would have thought about it long and hard before paying full price for this game, although I probably would have given in and just bought it anyway. I am extremely weak willed when it comes to RPG's (except JRPG's - can't really stand those)
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Stefan9
New member
Thanx for that Wlad. From what you are saying that parts that are most important to me are very well done. Yeah bugs are annoying but as long as the story is good I usually overlook them.
On the delay, it wasn't delayed due to QA it was delayed because they didn't want the game launching at the same time as dao or me 2.
Will give my feedback over the weekend when I finally get the game.
On the delay, it wasn't delayed due to QA it was delayed because they didn't want the game launching at the same time as dao or me 2.
Will give my feedback over the weekend when I finally get the game.
Stefan9
New member
Got some info on the reason behind the pc version delay or more confusion. Talk to Glen at BT games he sees it was delayed due to some unforseen circumstace, he is still trying to get the reason from the distributor. Michelle told me it was held up at customs, personally I have serious doudts that only the pc version would get held.
Further frustration is it now appears that we may not actually be getting that preorder weapons pack.
Further frustration is it now appears that we may not actually be getting that preorder weapons pack.
tehNihilist
New member
It's a conspiracy to get you to buy consoles!
They're watching you...
They're watching you...
Wlad
New member
The PC version being the only version to be held up at customs is actually quite plausible. Same thing happened with Split Second. The XBOX version was in stores last thursday, but the PC and PS3 versions got held up in customs and will probably only be available later this week.
Stefan9
New member
They will have to block steam for that....
Not going happy one bit if that preorder weapons pack is no more since its the only reason I have had to wait, would have gone the steam route were it not for that.
Stefan9
New member
Here is rpgwatch's first impressions:
http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/article?articleid=151&ref=0&id=314
http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/article?articleid=151&ref=0&id=314
Stefan9
New member
Reading on the official forums I got the trick. Apparently you should move either, you need to wait and try and spot the characters that aren't moving. Initially I was moving the stuff and couldn't spot the characters. Now I sort of have it, only in the earlier part though so we will see how it goes further in the game.
Really liking the game so far.
Wlad
New member
Couldn't agree with you more dude.