Posted my thoughts on game in one of the news thread without noticing this one, so here´s the repost for posterity and such
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"I just finished the game with a tech/stealth/pistol character (normal difficulty) with only 19 enemies killed - and all those were killed because I was sleepy and ran through one mission mistakenly using normal bullets instead of tranquilizers.
It´s not only possible to achieve a completely non-lethal game, the game also quite often rewards player for non-lethal approach.
I really enjoyed playing my merciful stealthy dude and felt the game supported this kind of playstyle more than enough.
I´ve to say, as a whole package Alpha Protocol left me very positively impressed.
It hasn´t level design of Deus Ex quality, stealth gameplay of Thief quality and production values of Mass Effect 2, sure, it´s actually mostly mediocre in these aspects.
On the other hand there is a very intriguing story, memorable and genre-wise very fitting characters, interesting dossier mechanics and most importantly, the game is a marvel of narrative design. Player faces choices and consequences (sometimes unforseeable, but c´est la vie) at every step and the resulting level of world reactivity makes imo this game worth a play alone.
Timed dialogues are a bit flawed because stances sometimes simply aren´t descriptive enough and in a lot of cases more benevolent time limit would be more sensible, but the system works really well at keeping player on his toes and making him really pay attention to what´s being said.
Another tension boosters are minigames and checkpoint-only save system. Save system definitely has its quirks, minigames I´ve found personally very well implemented.
All in all, the whole game is very effective at keeping player constantly on his toes.
After a weaker start (tutorial, Saudi Arabia), the game was progressively getting better and more exciting (my order was Moscow -> Rome -> Taipei) and the endgame was satisfying and suitably over the top.
Besides the occasional one-time stutter and one nonfunctional activator solved by reload, I encountered zero bugs and crashes which is quite impressive, especially given the amount of narrative variables.
Despite its many flaws (none being serious imo), Alpha Protocol is a game with heart in the right place and has more than enough virtues to be considered a creative success.
Especially when it comes to narrative design it´s quite a milestone.
A lot of reviewers seem to be blowing the flaws out of proportions while subduing the virtues, which is btw the exact opposite what they do when it comes to "true" AAA titles like Mass Effect and co.
I really hope Obsidian will be able to continue the franchise."
