Ulicus

I think scores between 7-8 are perfectly fair for this game. What? You're joking, right? Yes thats right, I'm joking. Certainly games of ME2's polish, quality and production values don't do anything to raise expectations of other games. Just like how the original Half-Life didn't raise expectations for future FPS games to become more cinematic, nor how MGS for the playstation didn't raise expectations for games everywhere to have high quality voice acting and cinematic cutscenes. Instead of cherry picking my post for a single statement just to make a dumbass remark, why not put some effort into it and actually tell me your opinion. The thing is that though ME2 was a great game -- and certainly one that does have better production values and polish than AP -- it was extraordinarily limited as a CRPG. You can't raise the bar on what a genre should be by divorcing yourself from the genre as much as you possibly can. Half-Life wouldn't have raised expectations on future FPS games if it had been a third person game, after all.

How else could you do it? I'm genuinely curious, here. I found the checkpoint system to be the only thing that ensured I continued to roleplay my character as my character during the gameplay segments. Had I been able to quicksave whenever I wished, there wouldn't have been any sort of tension at all. I'd have saved before every safe/alarm/computer and never have to had to worry about alarms at all. In short, without checkpoints, where's the real risk in doing anything?

To be honest, I think the criticism regarding the first thirty minutes -- and the beginning of the game in general -- is fair. If I had no familiarity with Obsidian, or if I was somewhat new to RPGs, I'd have probably given up pretty early... because I really didn't like the game to start with and was incredibly disappointed. Thankfully, I stuck it out and had a tremendously good RPG experience, and now -- when I play the beginning -- I have absolutely no problems with it. Which leads me to believe that my problem wasn't ever really with the game but my not being very good at it.

To be honest, you already have a basic proficency with all weapons at the beginning of this game (if you invest no points). Mike can hit any and everything right from the start it's just that the conditions under which he can do so are severely limited unless he's more experienced. (A pistol shot won't necessarily hit unless he's taken the time to line up a critical shot, etc) Which, well, makes sense. A basic proficency implies that Mike's only really "experienced" on the firing range. Since he's not used to taking shots under fire (at least initally), everything's going to be out of wack. That said, I do think that all the "classes" should have started out with more AP in their respective fields. Or perhaps have been given some inherent bonuses to further differentiate themselves from each other. Soldiers getting a flat bonus to all weapon skills, for example.

Wait, wait, wait.... Steven is voiced by NOLAN NORTH!? WHAT THE HECK!? I... I am honestly shocked and impressed. I never realised the guy had more than one voice. I thought all his characters were Nathan Drake. I must now go and eat my hat.

I'd like conversations to be more dangerous in a sequel. It'd be awesome if there was a very real threat of the protagonist being shot dead in a convo-cutscene if someone pulls a gun on them. And, yes, that would mean replaying sections again if there was no checkpoint right at the start. That would be the point! >:D Add some risk! It'd be harder to give someone the benefit of the doubt if you knew they could actually kill you if you've made a mistake in trusting them.

It probably comes in handy, but it's perfectly doable without. My first playthrough was Recruit/Hard and I didn't go near toughness (I only had so many points, after all!). Of course, I barely knew how to play, so I didn't have anything approaching a good build until towards the end of the game... in other words, I accidentally made everything much harder for myself. Ironically, I found myself relying on the AR (in the early game) all the time for snipes... even though I didn't have a single AP invested.

Not in Unreal Engine games! Just ask Carmine.

Well, it was the game's climax. And: Infiltrate: I'm surprised you found all three romance options. I hid them pretty hard.

Hmmm. Possibly. It WAS with my uber-violent soldier. Though, that said, I still stealthed the hotel mission... and made sure Heck didn't kill anyone.

You realise you can disperse the starting AP as you see fit, right? If you don't use shotguns or smgs, put the points somewhere else. You can begin the game with five ranks in Stealth. If you're playing with a Veteran, you're not really playing "hard". I would argue the point that toughness is necessary for hard mode, too. If you're focusing on high levels of stealth and pistols, you'll never really need it... because you're not shot at nearly enough. I mean, don't get me wrong, I LOVE that line for my guns-blazing soldier, but I think the points are best spent elsewhere if you're doing a stealth build. Most of the time you'll be cleaning out rooms with shadow operative. Mmm.... Shadow Operative. Overpowered, perhaps, yet glorious all the same.

Did you delete his files in the hotel? If not, this may very well be a bug. I didn't delete his files, no. I was actively trying to make him loathe me.

Does Heck ever give Mike up as the shooter? He was at -8 Rep with me on playthrough II, yet he still gave them Wen's name instead. It... endeared him to me, somewhat.

Review from the Daily Telegraph.

That outcome at actually isn't a veteran only option... Really...I wasn't able to do both with Operative and Recruit (Albatross/Sie)...some Intel missed or bad choices I made in Dialogue? I won't give specifics, but we do have checks based on backgrounds other than Recruit and Veteran, as well as skill ranks. I started noticing this on my second playthrough and I love you guys for it. LOVE!

Nice job, Tigranes -- that was exceptionally good.

By your definition, though, it only seems as though Master Shadow Operative is broken. And a thirty second duration? Was that with perks, gear and whatnot? Mine was only 20 or 22 seconds. I didn't pay a great deal of attention to upgrades and gear, though, in all honesty. Yeah, I also targeted the head. You said you were playing on hard, right? I never had a boss go down instantly to it (and that was with having removed their endurance with an ordinary pistol critical hit beforehand). Though it usually took away somewhere between 1/3 or 1/2 of their health, sure. That said, I only upgraded to the 6-shot version in the final mission. It allowed me to take down the final boss with two chain shots (assuming I'd removed their endurance beforehand)... but during the recharge period I had to avoid plenty of crap being thrown my way. Still, chain shot does seem a great deal superior to the other weapon talents, which cost just as much. Again, only the most advanced versions seem "utterly broken" by your definition. That's fair enough, I just think you should keep in mind the reasons why a role playing game is made easy by pumping certain skills high: because there is a disparity between what the player can do and what the character can do. (And only the very highest level of shadow op allows you to run)

There is an easy fix for this. Spend some points in Sabotage, buy intel, and use armour mods that improve your breaking and entering skill. Oh and buy EMPs and use them for things you cannot break. I really believe that they SHOULDN'T be lowering the difficulty of the mini-games (save for the Hacking control glitch) Agreed. Though I do think adding a "Breaking and Entering (expert)" between Basic and Master on the sabotage skill-line is warranted.

Which bosses? I'd only maxed it by the third hub, and it took at least 2 or 3 to kill bosses... which didn't make things feel too easy, given that it has a recharge time and there were usually a lot of mooks out for my blood at the same time. Recharges fast? That's simply untrue. If you want to use it in every encounter, you have to spend a considerable amount of time hanging about and, in the longer encounters, it only comes in useful once. Neither can the bosses be killed by a stealth choke/knife takedown -- the most it allows you to do is set up a good shot. S'not to say it's perfect. I think the conditions on which the ability deactivated should have been more comprehensive, and included killing mooks in the LOS of another -- so you still had to take awareness into account. The ability to run at the highest level was also, perhaps, a step too far. But you're objecting that the maxing out the most expensive skill line makes the game a hell of a lot easier... when that's exactly what it should do. Perhaps not quite to the extent that it does (as things stand, stealth should maybe be 7 points a pop), but to for the price it takes to make out stealth, you could max out both sabotage AND technician. It removes the challenge of being stealthy, yes. And so it should, for the reasons I stated in my previous post. Player skill shouldn't be the deciding factor when using maximised abilities in an RPG. If you've maxed out stealth, then Mike is too good at being stealthy for a bad player to mess things up for him.

If possible: - Save games organised by career/character - Removal of the (apparantly) arbitary backtracking cut-off points - Additional "breaking and entering" skill on sabotage progression (between "basic" and "master") - Ability to customise Mike's skin/hair/beard/eyes prior to game start - A more clearly defined crosshair during use of special abilities (yellow on shades of yellow = tricky)

Indeed. With Alpha Protocol, for the most part, what the player is seeing on the screen as they play is "what" is happening, as opposed to "how" it is happening. Exactly right. And it was a breath of fresh air, considering the current trend. I love games that depend entirely on my own skill, don't get me wrong, but if I'm playing an RPG and I spend (in this context) the 90 AP needed to max out stealth... then I'm going to be pretty annoyed if it isn't easy to stay out of sight -- especially since, with 90 AP, I could have maxed out more than one of the other skills.

While I understand your perspective, it's also one I find a little frustrating (though by no means surprising) given the game's nature. Alpha Protocol is an RPG, first and foremost. If Mike's stealth skills are maxed out, it means that Mike is an amazing stealth operative, irrespective of the player's own abilities. Therefore, Shadow Operative exists, in the way it exists, not because Mike can perform "magical impossibilities" but because it represents Mike's ability to move throughout the environment unseen. It's a gameplay mechanic -- just like how, in the Infinity Engine games, "hide in shadows/move silently" made you invisible. That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with how you suggest the game should be played. And, indeed, it would be more challenging. I just don't think the stealth skills should be contested on the grounds of their "magical" nature.

My sentiments, exactly! Certainly as an RPG, yeah. It's the best RPG I've played in years. Not perfect, of course -- and there are improvements that could be made -- but, damn, I hope there's a sequel. I hope there are many sequels. (Direct, spiritual, or otherwise)

My thoughts? Kreia was intended to be Kae and there was originally going to be an "I AM YOUR MOTHER" revelation between Kreia and Brianna. Brianna's whole "becoming a Jedi" thing seemed to echo Luke's - especially with her dialogue: "I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my mother" and whatnot. The way Kreia spoke about Kae made me really suspicious - and at the end of the day, since the only information we have about Kreia and Kae's "different reasons for being exiled" come from Kreia herself, we're able to take that with a pinch of salt. Add that to the fact that Kreia supposedly died "in the Mandalorian Wars" (when Kreia told the Jedi Exile that she was exiled *after* the wars) and that the Jedi Exile cannot even remember Kae, despite her being a very prominant Jedi Master (and having just spoken to Kreia about her "memory blurring techniques") I think it's safe to speculate that Kreia = Kae.