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Alpha Protocol:The **** offspring of Ronald Reagan and an **** American Ninja !!!
Spoit
*twitch twitch*Registered User regular
*twitch twitch*Registered User regular
Alpha Protocol
Platforms: PC, 360, PS3
Release Date(s):
[strike]February 2009
'Summer' 2009
October 2009
'Spring' 2010[/strike]
Australia: May 27, 2010
Europe: May 28, 2010
North America: June 1, 2010
Offical Website:http://www.alphaprotocol.com/us/main.php
Dev blog: http://blogs.ign.com/Alpha.Protocol/
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Obsidian_Ent (Updates occasionally with news)
http://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone (Chris Avellone)
http://twitter.com/mikethorton (In character twitter, hasn't been updated in months, but worth reading anyway)
SoundsPlush wrote: »
Also, a reminder for anyone getting this on PC stateside: You can get it for around $36 on D2D's British page, no hassle. I don't regret the cash thus far.
The PR:
Loyalty carries a price and no one knows this more than agent Michael Thorton. A talented young agent cast out by his government, Thorton is the only one with the information needed to stop an impending international catastrophe. To do so means he must cut himself off from the very people he is sworn to protect. As players determine how to accomplish different objectives, the decisions made and actions taken in each mission will ultimately transform the type of secret agent Michael Thorton will become. Every choice the player makes as Michael Thorton will carry consequences for his future and the fate of the world.
KEY FEATURES
• A morally-complex branching story - The world is not black and white and the story will change based upon how you act in it. By replaying the game with different choices, you will have a very different narrative.
• Dialogue Stance System – The revolutionary new dialog systems allows full control of Thorton’s reactions through emotive controls. However, characters will not always react the same way. He will have to choose carefully in each dialog.
• A Modern Day Role Playing Experience with Action Gameplay – The new RPG system gives players the ability to mold Thorton into the secret agent they want him to become with lethal close-combat techniques, marksmanship abilities, proficiency with spy gadgets, and much more.
• Living, realistic international world that responds to Thorton - Thorton will travel across the globe, encountering mysterious contacts and deadly enemies multiple times over the course of Alpha Protocol's plot. Depending on his previous interactions with a character or a location, the world's reactions to him will change, opening new possibilities and gameplay avenues.
That's great, but I'm used to my RPGs being fully voice acted, so don't throw words at me:
A fairly concise overview of what the game is via gamespot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyznNNNwHso
Choices?
Yes, would it really be an Obsidian game without Choices™? Obviously, like most wRPGs, most of your decisions will be made based on how you interact with the other characters. Thus, Obsidian has developed their Dynamic Dialogue System ©, where you must decide how to approach other characters. Rather than having a list of differnt dialogue options the player must read to decide which to take, Obsidian has distilled it down to 3 dialogue 'stances'. The core motivation behind the DDS is Obsidian thinking "what would JB do?" JB being James Bond, Jason Bourne, or Jack Bauer, the 'holy trinity' of the 3 archetypal playstyles they wanted to emphasize: Suave, Professional, or Aggressive respectively.
And of course, the all important 4th archetype: [Headslam]
The key gameplay innovation is, unlike most RPGs, you actually have a time limit to make your choice, otherwise, it defaults to your previous dialogue stance. Each NPC reacts to different approaches, so you have to make sure you're responding appropriately to get what you want. You can collect Dossiers on important NPCs to find out their motivations and how to best respond to them, just be aware that they're doing the same to you, and more than other games, Alpha protocol is all about
Reactivity
Is the name of the game. Every action you take has repercussions. More importantly, unlike some other sissy RPGs, there is no good or evil (or, if you're lucky neutral) decisions, and even 'messing up' will give you some bonuses.
A flow chart for a single scene:
Character Customization
You play as Mike Thorton, who has a fixed backstory (with 2 NG+ modes that effect how other charccters react to you: 'recruit' or 'veteran''). That means no poorly lit character creators to create mutant 'people' in, but it doesn't mean that there's no character customization:
You can go with the traditional Tux
To some more...esoteric...outfits:
To some more...esoteric...outfits:
Gameplay Hints:
1. Specialize, Specialize, Specialize- this is an RPG, while you can try using everything without any points in them, you'll have much more success when you actually use things you put points in.
2. Take your time- not only does waiting for your weapon to go into a critical hit mode make your shots nearly laser accurate, they also do significantly more damage. A headshot critical can take almost any enemy down in a single hit.
3. Don't like the minigames? Don't bother with them- 1 level of Sabotage (one of the cheapest skills at only 3 AP) allows you to bypass minigames with the press of a button (and an EMP grenade). Not only do you get the goodies behind the minigame, you even get the 25 XP as well!
4. Chain shot is probably the best tool against bosses. Really.
5. Having trouble with any of the bosses? Load the last safehouse save and reequip with better gear, or change zones and do a different mission to gain some more experience. You can always come back and fight them later
6. Having trouble with the end of the Moscow Embassy?
There's a sniper rifle on the roof by the 2nd level exit, takes down enemies with one hit
7. Having trouble with the 80s boss?
Run the heck away when you cokes up, he's in a mode similar to fury and does a lot of damage that's hard to avoid at melee range. He's slightly faster, but if you save your sprint (shift or A/X) for when he almost catches up, you can out run him. You can get Heck to spike his coke, doing a minor DoT effect. At the end of the coked up state, he crouches for a couple seconds, before throwing the flashbombs, which leaves him completely vulnerable, and is probably the best chance melee focused characters will get
8. Having trouble with the Taipei boss?
If you look carefully/ Use awareness, you can easily see where he is while hidden. It's also ridiculously easy to set up and lure him into a trap in the small corridor where you enter. There's also respawning ammo on either side there
9. Having trouble with the endgame boss in the tower?
There's a sniper rifle in the tower across from him, as well as a clear line of sight if you want to try using tranqs. Also, you have a line of sight on him from where you enter the area, where he can't throw the grenades at you
The Achievements
PC stuff:
System requirements
Supported OS: Microsoft Windows XP® or Windows Vista®
Processor: 2.4+ GHZ Intel® or 2.0+ GHZ AMD™
Memory: 1 GB RAM (Windows XP®,) 2 GB RAM (Windows Vista®)
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce 6 series (6800GT or better,) ATI™ 1300XT series or greater (X1550, X1600 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)
Hard Drive: At least 12 GB of free space
Sound Card: DirectX® 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers
DirectX®: 9.0c
DRM:
Processor: 2.4+ GHZ Intel® or 2.0+ GHZ AMD™
Memory: 1 GB RAM (Windows XP®,) 2 GB RAM (Windows Vista®)
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce 6 series (6800GT or better,) ATI™ 1300XT series or greater (X1550, X1600 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)
Hard Drive: At least 12 GB of free space
Sound Card: DirectX® 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers
DirectX®: 9.0c
http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2010/05/01/alpha-protocol-pc-drm-details
Sega has posted the specifics of their DRM scheme for the PC version. I've pointed out a highlights if you don't feel like reading the wall of text.
- Steam version does use this extra DRM
- Can be installed on 5 unique machines at a time
- Internet access is only needed for activation
- Automatic activation returned if uninstalled while connected to internet
- Manual deactivation service available if you do something like upgrade everything but your hard drive
- If you don't have internet access you can download a file from a computer that does have access and transfer it to the other machine
- Disc will not be needed to play
- Patch will be available within 18-24 months to remove activation limits
Tips for dealing with stuttering:
There are 2 types of stuttering that have been really common: mouse movement stuttering, and level steaming stuttering.
First of all, even though it's obvious, try resetting your computer.
For the first type, using a controller reportedly stops it entirely. Also, disabling V-sync, either through ini editing or forcing it off through the video card settings, the in game settings don't always take. For the 2nd type, try ini edits to force it to load more stuff into memory, instead of streaming:
Also, if you have a hardware sound card, try the hint suggested here:http://forums.sega.com/showthread.php?t=328787In APEngine.ini (C:\Users\username\Documents\Alpha Protocol\APGame\Config), change the following settings:
MinSmoothedFrameRate=20
MaxSmoothedFrameRate=30
UseBackgroundLevelStreaming=false
OnlyStreamInTextures=true
OneFrameThreadLag=false
The crouched animation bugging you that much?
This mod will add more frames to the transitional animations or something like that. Basically, it looks better, but you move noticeably slower. So probably make a backup before trying it:
Change these valors in APGame.ini (My Documents)
InteractDistance=250
CoverWalkSpeed=75.f
CoverRunSpeed=125.f
PlayerRotationSpeed=80000.0f
MoveSpeedNormal=240
MoveSpeedScoped=80
SprintSpeed=320
This should improve the animations and player speed. ;-)
Dev Diaries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDJ03kYNWjs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2P72xG5Yto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqCsR8w9dHw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp5-U_a02Vo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHoie4F3b7o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkUf6tjszrU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9K-3mwBYkk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2P72xG5Yto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqCsR8w9dHw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp5-U_a02Vo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHoie4F3b7o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkUf6tjszrU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9K-3mwBYkk
Reviews:
CVG: 8.4
1Up: B+
Eurogamer 7/10
Giant Bomb 3/5
Gamespot 6.0
Updates:
6/1 Out now in the US
4/16 But Thou Must watch the AP PAX East Panel
Also, Avellone:
Spoit on
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This discussion has been closed.
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What reference?
Doesnt seem like him to remove any reference unless its offensive. If you don't have the cajones for offensive thread titles Spoit you shouldn't be making threads damn't!
I nominate "Alpha Protocol: Being Pro-Choice since 2010!"
Its their loss at the end of the day, its a really fun game. Ive left Saudi, went to Taipei and talked to Heck then went over to Moscow where Im going to talk to Sei then maybe go to Taipei or Rome, wherever the G22 warehouse is and do that before I start doing the core missions, see if it ups my handlers interactions.
BUT I'm going away on Saturday so I might not get chance to do it before then
I shall miss this thread.
Also, don't ban me, Tube. We're cool, right?
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
I'm not even sure it was tube who changed the title, it could have been anyone!
Also, going to add a section for gameplay hints to the OP
Things I did that had awesome results: (spoilers)
Using my Tech Specialist origin to save both my ally (Albatross) and get the data in Brayo's mansion.
Screwing over the Moscow and Tapei ops (By keeping Sergi and Omen alive) enough to convince Parker that his master plan wasn't going to work and to help me in the last mission.
Convincing Marburg of the error of working for Leland, making him let me walk away with Leland alive
Things I did that had results I was not proud of: (more spoilers)
Being an ass to Steven Hart and getting the evidence for the riots over Sung's assassiation meant that not only Sung was dead, the blame was on me, which meant Tiawan was probably going to go pro-PRC.
Saving Mina, though not for any aftereffect thing, but more because it seemed to mean I went off to the sunset with her, rather than Scarlet, the hot readhead
...and things I'm wondering about my next playthrough, which on a whole isn't spoilerish:
Thanks to the tech specialist background I picked, I was able accomplish both otherwise mutually exculsive tasks in one of the last Moscow missions, and I'm wondering if one of the other backgrounds-or proper preperation/manipulation of people would let me do the same in other places where this show ups.
also, is it possible/how hard is it to get "perfect" intellegence? i.e. 100% on every person and faction (not worried about the secret stuff, since that would be very hard to do.) if not possible, people I'd like to focus on, whom I got an unsatisfying amount of intel on this time around would be (small spoilers)
Madison
Everyone at AP (including the organization) except Mina (Westridge, in fact, seemed to disapear of the planet and the end of Saudia Arabia in my playthrough, beyond a few mentions and voice clips)
and several others I can't remeber at this moment. Though managed to get everything on Mina, Leland, Marburg, Albatross, Sis, and a couple other big names.
Love to hear you guy's thoughts on this.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
I mean, I'm really really surprised people are arguing otherwise
Anyway, Kotaku posted one of the sex scenes. Classy.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
You must be thinking of some other game. Deus Ex was the good one, you were this guy called Denton, it was in the future and stuff. It was pretty cool, there were a lot of different paths through areas, and secret places, and interesting things to do everywhere. You should try it out some time.
And this game is absolutely meant for consoles. If you're playing it on the PC, you're just plain doing it wrong, and I say that as a primarily PC gamer.
Well, the difference here is that ME2 is a straight up shooter and AP at least tries otherwise.
It's in no way the perfect system, but I like it.
Also I don't even remotly play AP like ME2.
Also: STOP GLORIFING DEUS EX. That game had problems of it's own. Many shared with AP.
But the shooting parts in ME2 were incredibly fun and well done and show the heavy influence of Gears, which is a good thing.
The shooting in AP is absolutely sloppy in tons of respects.
Deus Ex may have better exploration then Alpha Protocol, but Alpha Protocol never emphasized the exploration element. And Alpha Protocol features better 'exploration' of the plot, characters, etc. through the dialogue system.
Oh, and the decisions you make in Alpha Protocol actually change the story in a meaningful way as opposed to the cosmetic changes in Deus Ex.
Furthermore, the control scheme on the PC was absolutely fine. My only complaint was the computer hacking minigame, because using the mouse to move the password could be imprecise. Everything else handled well.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
You mean the highly rated game from Warren Spector?
I assume these are chosen in dialogue, right? But I have no idea when that would be, since at least one of those instances doesn't have a dialogue option actually associated with it.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Well, yeah. Sure it was highly rated but at its time it had also a lot of critism. It wasn't the super polishied
flawless game everyone makes it out to be with Rosa-colored glasses, even back then.
Sure it also inovated things. But the same can be said for AP's C&C.
Greg Kasavin summed my own feelings pretty good up back then:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/deusex/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary%3Bread-review&page=2
Does that make a difference, or is that a fake dilemma? I got the same result trying it either way.
I doubt it's possible to get everyone.
ME2 doesn't have stealth or clever AI, and it was very linear, and the cover broadcasting was very blunt. But then, they have different goals. ME2's was to have enjoyable combat while you cut through enemies, whereas AP's is to give you different options to get past enemies. They're still similar, though, because AP (despite rewarding XP the same either way) doesn't really give you any reason to elude enemies: just to cut through them quietly. Personally, I find ME2's one way of direct combat vastly more enjoyable than AP's direct combat/stealth KO/gadget KO ways individually, or their sum. Do one thing and do it well over doing several things hohum. The different classes are all good and offer different playstyles, whereas AP's imbalanced skills mean if you don't take chainshot, some bosses are going to be godawful (that knife was doing like 50x more damage than my upgraded assault rifle). Guns in general, both ME1 and DX had much more accurate weapons than AP, unless you not at all proficient (didn't have the skill/bonus skill or didn't put points in it), in which case they were equivalent to AP.
Back to linearity, it's not like AP excels at level design or paths. It's a series of small areas, with a couple prescribed routes within each. You can't stack some boxes up and climb over a ledge, a la Deus Ex (or speed leap up there), you can't go around, you can't set something off in a totally different section of the base to lure people out of the area, you can't pop off a sewer grate and sneak in, you can't even snipe (except chainshot, inexplicably). There are chain link fences or cliff wall boundaries or glowing ziplines all over the place.
As for minigames, I like the concept of the minigames in AP more (at least lockpicking and bypassing). Yet, whether we're talking about AP or ME or anything else, I find these types of frequent immersion minigames to be increasingly annoying obstacles, and having to bypass yet another plot-necessary door in either game grows tiresome past the first play. Here's a rare advantage ME1 had - you can eventually just omnigel through all that crap. AP has a partial advantage, because you can use EMP, but it'll get expensive at $1k per and the cost of being able to carry more than two or three charges. ME2 has no advantage because I hate bypassing big ol' doors.
This is the wrongest thing I've ever read, and I've read a lot of wrong things, including The Da Vinci Code. Deus Ex is glory. Also you only quote Kasavin again but neglect that DX had generally very high praise and to this day is basically guaranteed to show up in any top 10, top 5, whatever greatest games list.
In this case, the reviews are accurate. ~74/77 Metacritic/user on AP (PC version, no Destructoid review), 90/95 on DX. The only thing AP does better than DX is choice and consequence. Well, and graphics, but that one is a given with a decade's difference. Okay, and also voice-acting, because seriously, I SPEEL MY DREEEEENK. But in terms of game design, hands down to DX.
Edit: I don't know why this is even an argument. Alpha Protocol's strongest virtue is its reactivity. Literally no other game compares. Gameplay, combat, story, design, meanwhile, it's all pale horse compared to the greats, and Deus Ex is pretty much untouchable by any game, let alone this one.
Spoilers/Speculation
White FC: 0819 3350 1787
YAY, and that's the case we can forgive every game its flaws as long as its liked by everyone! (Fallout 3 was completly flawless too, you know)
But hey, a game that doesn't come from a major developer that has flaws?
How dare they!
Way to not actually respond to any points. Vampire didn't come from a major developer and was riddled with flaws. It's still an incredible game because it fairly oozed atmosphere and personality out of every pore. KOTOR2 had many flaws but was still a much better written game than its predecessor. But, I already said these things. Perhaps you did not read them.
Maybe you think AP has better level design?
Edit: To your edit, I've never played past the first half hour of Fallout 3 because it didn't interest me. Since I haven't mentioned it before, I'm not sure why you're bringing it up.
No one's calling it super polished. It was however a very good game and did some very great things. It's frequently cited as one of the best games of all time, and for very good and articulate reasons which have been repeated ad nauseum about the game.
What can be said about this game? Well, the choice system is very nice, and the way conversations are done are quite nice as well. But, the gameplay, the gunplay, the crux of the game and of the level design, is uninspired. Most people agree about this on the game, which is not true with how people viewed Deus Ex when it came out in 2000. It was comparable to System Shock and...that's about it, I think? This game has the mistakes of several prominent games to build upon but instead options to repeat many of them.
That's why this game is getting hammered. Most are praising the choice system, and most like how the writing is done, even if it is not Writing. However, the gameplay is shitty in comparison to its peers.
Enjoy it if you want. Hell, I enjoy it. But Deus Ex is a game that is rightly put upon a pantheon of PC titles for its influence and superb quality. You cannot say the same about this in its totality.
I just finished the intro, up to the point where you do those three training scenario things. I stopped the game right after, and can't being myself to even consider playing it again. It was just... bad. It feels broken and unfinished.
Does it get better? Is playing it on PC ensuring that I will have to forever live with badly ported controls? Is there any way to speed up the rate of movement when moving the hacking things with the keyboard and mouse, because goddamn I have to move my mouse a mile to get that little line of code to the bottom.
It's not often I regret buying a game. I just hope that maybe it stops being so bad.
I really don't understand this impression at all. I'm playing it on the 360 and having a blast, feels like a perfectly functional game to me! What makes you call it "broken"?
White FC: 0819 3350 1787
Many people report Saudi Arabia (the first area after training) to be the least interesting. I found it about the same as most of the game, since combat is not going to improve much, but I'd say you should try Saudi and if you're not hating it, skip over to Rome immediately thereafter, since you at least get more dialogue opportunities and diversity past Saudi.
Now, granted, with the fact that this kind of masquerades as a shooter sometimes would make me think "Hey use a KBAM" but since the shooting really isn't a twitch shooter thing I felt comfortable just going with the pad.
Every complaint I have so far is fairly minor
Except for when Mike is supposed to be stealthy, and I do something and he stops being stealthy, that's pretty damn annoying
Also not being able to change which shoulder I'm looking over is pretty dumb too and makes some sections needlessly difficult when I should be able to use my noisemaker very effectively
Other than that, so far so good
press down (if you're on the 360).
@Zen: ME2's combat just didn't capture my interest at all, I don't know what else to say. All in all it wasn't challenging to me. It was just meh. The story pretty much carried me through the game.
edit: specifically there was never any real sensation of a consistent threat from the enemies in the game, or even any sensation of real danger at all. they were just in the way. the simple fact that a sloppy encounter in AP will have effects that carry over to the next combat I get into gives AP a massive advantage in terms of threat/fun in the game. trying to go through it non-lethal only adds to that fun for me.
sure, there's a few health boxes and I have a first aid. but even that is limited, unlike simply hiding behind a corner in ME2 until I got full HP again, while the majority of enemies had no such benefit. then there was the whole constant peeling away of layers of armor and shields before your stronger attacks were truly effective (boring). did my first play through on hard instead of insanity. I would have changed it to insanity, but I had already reached a point of not feeling like repeating the stuff I missed (for the achievement) once I realized that the game wasn't going to actually get harder, it would just introduce more attrition. nearly every death in the game was pretty much the result of me getting impatient and staying out of cover too long to wrap things up. maybe when I revisit it on insanity and to do the DLC for gamerscore I may appreciate it more. who knows.
Now I'm going to execute that mother fucker.
Mainly because F3 ALSO has high critical praise. Anyway, it's not really a good comparison since F3 is truly awful for me and I like Deus Ex.
Also Level Design? Well no, in comparison to Deus Ex no... Doesn't mean that Deus Ex didn't have flaws in other criteria. It doesn't need to be always brought up when a perfect game is described.
Also the things you mentioned in Vampire/Kotor2 apply for me in AP too. In fact I have a lot of flashbacks to
I get the feeling from a lot of your post when you are critzizing AP that the main problem you seem to have with its writing is....
Do you just not like the spy gerne in the whole? The setting?
Almost all of my criticism of AP has been about gameplay. It's true that I also don't find the writing very interesting, though. This is more subjective territory than gameplay, but to speak of a game's qualities is usually speaking about how a group will take it and not just an individual's opinion, and in the case of AP, I think most gamers (or most Penny Arcadians, or most RPG fans, or most people in general if translated to another medium) would find Vampire or KOTOR2 vastly more compelling.
In part it's a difficulty of the modern, semi-realistic setting as well as the spy genre, not whether I like them or not (I do). It's not like most of the Bond movies taken in isolation are rich tapestries of pathos (Bond himself has all kinds of issues running throughout the totality). In AP, as opposed to those other two games, there's not much philosophy (by design) or emotion. It's a sequence of events and betrayals, based on who you were a dick to or misunderstood and who was paid to do so. This is akin to the JBs, but I don't think they (or, as a result, AP) are very deep. Deus Ex is the closest in setting of the titles mentioned, but it was rife with commentary on society, in every destitute wretch's comment, in every newspaper clipping, in the color palette and altered skyline, in the new classes of normal/mech/nano in addition to wealth, in every taunting message about the human condition coming from an impassive machine, and in the weight of its endings.
Now, perhaps it's a miscommunication, and they never intended what I like most. 24 may be entertaining, but meaningful it ain't. AP is entertaining, but again. All that said, I don't really wish to argue with someone about whether they personally enjoyed the story, since this is more subjective. I offer my opinion on it in answer to people wondering whether the story is worth it alone.
I game a shitload on my PC, and I don't own a 360 pad, because if there's a game I want to play with a pad, I'll play it on a console.