My thoughts after completing Alpha Protocol

Just finished the game and I like it lot. A good mix between Deus Ex & No One Lives Forever.
 
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I finished it tonight as well. My early impressions were a bit negative but the more I played it the more I liked it.

I'm hoping Obsidian has both the desire and the means to make a sequel.
 
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Didnt finish the game yet.

I only have to say one thing : Dont believe the reviews !
This game is a true gem. And i can see it becoming a cult classic.

And for critic on stealth part. People just dont get it. Its not thief/splinter cell stealth. Its the stealth from Metal Gear Solid. Actually the whole game reminds me a lot of MGS1 - if it was rpg
 
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I was really surprised about the reviews and the experience i had with this game. It doesn't compute. Playing it on the XBOX360, don't know if that makes any difference.

I like this game alot. I think every part of it has been really good (except the boss fight mentioned here earlier). I am glad i saw the gametrailer review cause i knew this was for me. I do not see anything wrong with the gameplay. It feel like Deus Ex. Or any RPG shooter where you ad skills to do more/better with the weapon. But even though i do tend to play it like a shooter :) (I like to kill things) the combat is really fun.

My time is extremly limited nowadays and for me spending two days with a game, says something for me. I do see some stupid things and i wish that the scripted events from Modern Warfare 2 was added, just for the coolness. But i do not feel the AI are more stupid then any other AI. I do think the AI behave rather well comparing to other games. Is definitly not as bad as i was let to belive reading reviews and user comments on other forums.

I even liked the first mission you got. Saudi Arabia. And i really like the dialouge system. No more pondering over the lines, wich line is Sarcastic, Which line is Humorus. 2 + for making the conversation system fun. :)

Sadly the one boss fight described above put the grade down. Almost like playing the witcher for the first time. But now i know how i should tackle it.
 
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Glad to see I'm not the only one enjoying it. Slightly afraid for a while after all the bad press that it might end up a huge failure, which would be a shame - I'm hoping for an add-on or a sequel after all. In the impressions thread over at the news forum, there is a link to an article trying to explain the varied reviews of AP. Good read.

Completed my no-kill-game. Ended up with three kills unfortunately, but it's definetly possible to do it without any deaths (I just wasn't careful enough, could've avoided it).

Unlocked Veteran after playing Recruit. They start with loads of points, and some pretty cool dialogue options during the training.
 
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This game is quite odd though. The stealth system is so much more rudimentary than in the Splinter Cell games, yet pulling it off feels so much more rewarding.
 
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I'm on what I assume to be one of the last missions (to thwart the assassination) and I've enjoyed it too. It hasn't been one of those games where I wake up in the morning and can't wait to get into it, but it's been a fine pass time game.

I think the loot system is worth commenting on. If I may compare it to Mass Effect one and two, because it's sort of similar in a few ways and because the loot system in those games has been heavily debated. I think ME 1's loot system was horrible because you got sick of picking up all the crap and sorting through it. But ME 2s was worse because, well... there wasn't one.

I thought, and I got the impression that so did a few other people, that a happy medium could have been found rather than ripping the loot and inventory right out. I think AP's system would be a perfect compromise.

You still have the enjoyment of browsing for new weapons and equipment, and upgrading and customising them, something I always enjoy. But there isn't so much loot that you're constantly having to sort through it and unload it. There are a few mods that you will pick up that you don't need, but you can ignore them or sell them.

My only criticism is there aren't enough new weapons, and when new ones become available they don't seem to be appreciably better. I bought my rifle after my very first mission, and I've still got it. The same with armour. I used the same armour that you start with for most of the game, until I decided to buy some SWAT utility armour just for a change. I guess if the game was more challenging there would be a greater urgency in upgrading your armour, but as it's so easy on Normal (but overwhelming on Hard) there's really no need to fuss too much about that.
 
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I just uninstalled in disgust due to the rockstar boss fight. I wasn't expecting that a single encounter could ruin all my goodwill towards the game, but it managed to do it anyway.

I don't think I've ever seen a more effective way of completely annihilating everything a game is supposed to be.

That's impressive in a tragic kind of way :(



Spoiler!



There are tricks to make that fight a pice of cake. First, when Brayko has snorted cocaine you should focus on getting away from him. Use sprinting from time to time or you will be caught and raped in no time. Don't try to fight back when he's psyched, you will not do much damage during this time. After a while his rage will cool down and he stops chasing you with his knives. Now you can shoot him. make sure to use chain shot if you have it. Also a good trick to get away from him is to run from him to the stage where he starts and then drop down from there. He will follow but he drops from the stage very slowly.
 
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Spoiler!



There are tricks to make that fight a pice of cake. First, when Brayko has snorted cocaine you should focus on getting away from him. Use sprinting from time to time or you will be caught and raped in no time. Don't try to fight back when he's psyched, you will not do much damage during this time. After a while his rage will cool down and he stops chasing you with his knives. Now you can shoot him. make sure to use chain shot if you have it. Also a good trick to get away from him is to run from him to the stage where he starts and then drop down from there. He will follow but he drops from the stage very slowly.

Yeah, I know there are tricks ;)

There shouldn't be tricks in a "realistic" spy shooter fight. I hate traditional boss fights (with "tricks") with a passion - even in plain shooters, and if there was one game I didn't expect to encounter them in, it was this one.
 
I'm not a fan of traditional boss fights in games myself. Still, i wouldn't call Brayko much of a hassle once you observe a bit and use your surroundings properly. Granted i was surprised and cut down first time when i met him, but i won on the second try once it was clear you need to get the fuck out of dodge when he comes with his knives. Beating Marburg and keeping Surkov alive for example were much harder tasks for me.
All in all there are much worse bossfights in some other RPG-s. I still remeber trying to beat the beast in The Witcher. Now that was an annoying mutt if i ever saw one. On my xth try i finally got lucky and incapacitated it with a sign. To add insult to injury you had to sit through a longass cutscene again if you didn't quite make it. Compared to that Brayko was nothing. Good times.
 
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I'm not a fan of traditional boss fights in games myself. Still, i wouldn't call Brayko much of a hassle once you observe a bit and use your surroundings properly. Granted i was surprised and cut down first time when i met him, but i won on the second try once it was clear you need to get the fuck out of dodge when he comes with his knives. Beating Marburg and keeping Surkov alive for example were much harder tasks for me.
All in all there are much worse bossfights in some other RPG-s. I still remeber trying to beat the beast in The Witcher. Now that was an annoying mutt if i ever saw one. On my xth try i finally got lucky and incapacitated it with a sign. To add insult to injury you had to sit through a longass cutscene again if you didn't quite make it. Compared to that Brayko was nothing. Good times.

It has nothing to do with the difficulty, and I love a challenge. I play on hard usually, and I did in AP.

But I care about immersion, and I care about consistency. When I develop my character in a certain way, I expect to be rewarded. So, when I can headshot people with great success throughout - even other bosses - and then encounter such a RIDICULOUS character, both in terms of type but also in terms of breaking immersion completely based on not going down even with a 100 headshots - the experience is nullified.

I simply don't want to bother with little puzzle-fights in that kind of environment, because it takes me out of the experience, and into meta-gaming arcade game territory.

The game's just not for me, but I'm glad others enjoyed it!
 
I also hate silly 'boss fights' - there should be some logical, game-consistent way of defeating the enemy. A head shot (as suggested above) for a mere mortal should do it - presumably he was not a construct and his head mattered to him ;-) My measure is: in real life, you would have ONE attempt - no reload. Why should game that strives for an immersive experience be any different? Make it a long, taxing fight - but leave enough evidence in the world (BEFORE THE FIGHT!) for the average reasonably observant character to determine what the enemy's strengths are, and how to defeat him/her/it. Almost no games do this - like there's some sadistic desire to piss people off and get their blood pressure up. The best boss fight I've experienced was in MAx Payne (1 or 2?), where the big female she-boss had a cadre of goons, and a bullet proof vest. But in the end, through sheer persistence you took her down. No fake coke-induced invulnerability - you smack her hard enough and she died. As it should be.
 
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Yup, pretty much.

It's about consistency, really.

The game is set in an environment that's supposed to reflect our own reality, or at least that's VERY much what I got from it.

I don't mind genre conventions, and obviously fantasy based CRPGs have traditions that we're conditioned to, and the setting is so far from our own, that realism doesn't matter to the same extent.

But, I don't even care about realism that much, and again, it's CONSISTENCY. If the game had signalled from the beginning, that bullets don't matter - really - and that you can't expect weapons to function like their real-life counterparts at all, then I'd be fine and accept that it was that kind of game.

You can't do a 180 turn all of a sudden, and present a boss that basically can't die unless you figure out some stupid little puzzle aspect.

The designers of that game were either split down the middle, or just plain incompetent. There's not a single grain of doubt in my mind about that.
 
I simply don't want to bother with little puzzle-fights in that kind of environment, because it takes me out of the experience, and into meta-gaming arcade game territory.
Alpha Protocol is definitely not an ultimate realistic game you make it out to be. Little arrows flying above opponents' heads, invisibility, flashing lights appearing from cameras, etc. Boss fights fit in pretty nicely. :)
Make it a long, taxing fight - but leave enough evidence in the world (BEFORE THE FIGHT!) for the average reasonably observant character to determine what the enemy's strengths are, and how to defeat him/her/it. Almost no games do this - like there's some sadistic desire to piss people off and get their blood pressure up.
It's because most people find figuring out boss's weak spots a fun thing to do.
 
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Alpha Protocol is definitely not an ultimate realistic game you make it out to be. Little arrows flying above opponents' heads, invisibility, flashing lights appearing from cameras, etc. Boss fights fit in pretty nicely. :)

Ultimate realistic game?

Forcing words into my mouth won't change how split the design of the game is.
 
I was exaggerating (obviously). You're saying boss fights are bad because they're not as realistic as the rest of the game. I'm saying that's not true - the majority of the game is not realistic. Simple as that.
 
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I was exaggerating (obviously). You're saying boss fights are bad because they're not as realistic as the rest of the game. I'm saying that's not true - the majority of the game is not realistic. Simple as that.

No, I was talking about consistency.

The boss fight mentioned, in particular, was HIGHLY inconsistent with the rest of the game up until that point.
 
Alpha Protocol is definitely not an ultimate realistic game you make it out to be. Little arrows flying above opponents' heads, invisibility, flashing lights appearing from cameras, etc. Boss fights fit in pretty nicely. :)

It's because most people find figuring out boss's weak spots a fun thing to do.

"most people" is rather a sweeping generalization ;-) If I wanted to play a puzzle game, there are genre's for that. Each to their own of course. The problem is it takes skill and cleverness to design a challenging end-game fight without simply making the boss ridiculously powerful. Few studios will make the effort. Having to reload/die several times to find a boss's weak point - as seems to be the expectation - absolutely shatters (for me) any sense of in-game realism or immersion.
 
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