Early Impressions

[Dan_CW]

Okay, normally I wouldn't post this but I thought I would considering that I've read all of the complaints and seen the gameplay videos. I very rarely make mistakes when buying games and I'm glad I didn't let all of the negativity make me cancel my order.

 

Few things first:

 

On the live streams, the people were playing on hard or were they just poor? I can't say how difficult the game is on hard but as a freelancer on normal and without buying hardly any equipment, I've only come close to dying once. I came close at the first boss for Saudi Arabia (not sure if you go back). So, don't judge the game based on the live stream. The streams have done the game a disservice. Regardless, I got past the part they were on and at max, I only had to deal with two soldiers. I stealth killed many of the soldiers, something which I'm sure they didn't do. Plus I wager they rushed through the game thinking of it as a shooter. I only have one point in stealth at the moment as well. (Your armor and skills determine how easy it is for enemies to detect you. Sometimes, they will find me when I close on them, but I have enough time to prevent them shooting me for the most part. I also don't have stealth armor etc. equipped.)

 

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I'm only just out of Saudi Arabia. I haven't done any other missions yet but the story's started getting good at this point. So, I can't comment on how choices you make etc. affect things (from a story perspective). But I will say that the missions you tackle can have an effect on how many enemies you may face in future missions and such. Game length wise, I got the game around 13:00 pm. I've probably had about three hours away from the game and the rest of the time has been spent on it. It's 19:33pm now.

 

I've not encountered any bugs or glitches yet either. The shooting mechanics are not as good as what's featured in proper shooter games, but let's be honest, who thought the mechanics would be? Especially when accuracy etc. is determined by statistics. They're fine in any case. The only attachment I have on my assault rifle at the moment is a sight which gives +1 accuracy I think. Have about 4 ranks in the assault rifle skill also.

 

Level linearity? They seem to be linear. There's a but though. When you go through the levels, you'll find there's sometimes multiple ways of entering an area, so one approach may be better than another. Also, there is often intel and money (amongst other things) hidden off the beaten track.

 

Anyways, didn't want to write up a proper review. I'll be saving that for when I've finished the game and well, I write reviews for money so... Regardless, hope this helped someone decide whether or not to get the game. Feel free to ask questions as I may be back. I've probably not explained everything and haven't proof-read this, but I'm in a hurry to get back to the game after letting the PS3 cool down. So, that's an explanation.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Dan_CW

[WorstUsernameEver]

Definitely interesting.

Personally, if I were a mod I'd open a thread for all this first impressions.. not that they're not nice to read, mind you, but we've had a couple of threads which basically amount to 'what I think of Alpha Protocol after X hours' and having all those opinion in one thread would probably make for a far easier read.

[jokerwoker]

Color me shocked. Some people bought this game thinking they getting the next Mass Effect, and what they got was a CROSS between Mass Effect and Metal Gear Sold/Splinter Cell.

 

The live streamers dislike this game, but they seem to forget MGS and SC were both VERY unforgiving in their first incarnations.

 

And yes, playing on HARD and Recruit means... just that, HARD and RECRUIT. If you can cruise with through the game on those two settings, Easy and Field Agent or Easy and Techie must be a cakewalk. Obviously, I'm glad it didn't turn out that way.

[Dan_CW]

No worries folks about mentioning posting this elsewhere where others have given their thoughts. I should have but what's done is done.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that what people have read about the A.I. etc. is true. It's not the best A.I. out there and I can snipe them when my target reticule is 'focused' without them noticing me. However, I'm normally hid behind something then. In any case, it's hardly a game-breaker for me the A.I. not being great, but I imagine it is for others. Personally, I imagine a lot of folks on the forum here will be playing the game for the story etc. anyway.

[Oner]

Definitely interesting.

Personally, if I were a mod I'd open a thread for all this first impressions.. not that they're not nice to read, mind you, but we've had a couple of threads which basically amount to 'what I think of Alpha Protocol after X hours' and having all those opinion in one thread would probably make for a far easier read.

Sticky one first impressions topic maybe? And maybe the review topic too while they're at it. Edited May 27, 2010 by Oner

[Bendu]

Haven't finished yet, but I want to put my first impressions here. I played the game for about 5 hours so far. Because I started a new game after 2 hours, I'm still in Saudi Arabia with two missions still to complete. I'm playing on hard as a freelancer, specialized on pistol, stealth, martial arts and sabotage.

 

What I really like so far:

- The flashback narrative. Makes me really curious how the story will develop.

- Dialogue system

- Soundtrack

- Cinematics (love the unsteady camera)

- Perks you can gain. Though I would like to choose additionally perks at level up myself like in Fallout.

- Minigames (love hacking)

- I really enjoy the writing so far

- Voice acting is great

- E-mail and the ability to respond

 

What I really don't like:

- Questmarkers. Why are they even on hard difficulty there?

 

What is flawed, but I don't mind:

- Graphics

- Animations. Especially walking.

- AI. Isn't as flawed as I assumed it would be. I think it's on the same level as ME1 AI was.

[Starwars]

A friend of mine got the boxed PC version today (bastard, can't wait until Steam unlocks it). We played through the Saudi Arabia missions together and I think it's pretty awesome. I think the tutorial feels a bit... meh somehow, I'm not sure exactly why. I was actually a bit disappointed at first but once the missions started in Saudi Arabia I was completely hooked. The conversations play really smoothly and are wonderfully written, I think they really nailed it. So many clips we've seen sounded sorta weird when out of context but when playing the game it comes together wonderfully.

I have *no* idea what the bit-tech review is talking about because the characters so far are wonderful and quite likeable.

 

Like Dan said, there are occasional bottle-necks in the levels but they often open up a few minor paths that you can choose. Not what I'd call non-linear but it gives a good elbow-room to move around I think.

 

We played with skill points in Pistols, Stealth and Sabotage. Stealth works great, I have no idea what some people have been complaining about, seriously. Pistols work well at mid-range where you can line up the critical. I do however wonder what the real advantage vs the Assault Rifle is because I think you can use silencers and that on the Rifles as well. And the rifles just seem more powerful and can "snipe" way better at long ranges. Could be a bit unbalanced but can't say until I've tried both more extensively.

I will echo that I feel the game was easy on Normal. When I played using the above build, I also didn't die once for all the time we played. It got close twice but I managed to survive. The game is still fun though and there's still a fairly good sense of danger, but I'll definitely jack the difficulty up to Hard once I complete my first playthrough.

 

The PC version looks better than the console onces (from what I can see on the videos). We had problems with the hacking minigame though, where you have to use the mouse to move one of the cursors. It felt extremely... weird and unresponsive. We also had some slight camera wonkyness when the game loaded things, sometimes the camera sorta got turned around. Not that big of a deal but it sorta threw us off guard a few times.

 

Really enjoyed my time with it and can't wait until Steam unlocks it at midnight.

[Oner]

I do however wonder what the real advantage vs the Assault Rifle is because I think you can use silencers and that on the Rifles as well. And the rifles just seem more powerful and can "snipe" way better at long ranges. Could be a bit unbalanced but can't say until I've tried both more extensively.

I think the difference is that you buy a silencer for pistols and then they're silent (duh), whereas ARs use subsonic ammo which has to be constantly replenished, ergo you use up money that could be invested in something else.

[WorstUsernameEver]

How is the availability of tranquilizers compared to normal ammo?

[Alvin Nelson]

I do however wonder what the real advantage vs the Assault Rifle is because I think you can use silencers and that on the Rifles as well. And the rifles just seem more powerful and can "snipe" way better at long ranges. Could be a bit unbalanced but can't say until I've tried both more extensively.

I think the difference is that you buy a silencer for pistols and then they're silent (duh), whereas ARs use subsonic ammo which has to be constantly replenished, ergo you use up money that could be invested in something else.

 

Nail on the head.

[Pidesco]

Thread stickied. Any early impressions can go here.

[Starwars]

Oh I seeeeee...

[Oner]

I do however wonder what the real advantage vs the Assault Rifle is because I think you can use silencers and that on the Rifles as well. And the rifles just seem more powerful and can "snipe" way better at long ranges. Could be a bit unbalanced but can't say until I've tried both more extensively.

I think the difference is that you buy a silencer for pistols and then they're silent (duh), whereas ARs use subsonic ammo which has to be constantly replenished, ergo you use up money that could be invested in something else.

 

Nail on the head.

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[Alpha]

Nice tread i love it. I'll do the same that did the OP ; ignore the negative post and buy the game because i always have faith in Obsidian.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Alpha

[fastpunk]

...impressions...

 

Now here's a person who's impressions I actually trust, as we've bumped into each other on the RPG Codex and IronTower. I agree with you a lot of times, so nice to see you're positive about it. Do post some more impressions when you get to play further.

[Mr. Fob]

Alright been playing the game for a few hours yesterday with a stealthy character. I started over again after skipping part of the inductions by accident so I just did the first mission in Saudi Arabia.

This brings me to my first point: Playing the PC version I am not very happy with the save system. I understand that checkpoints instead of free saving might make the whole experience a little more thrilling but I still can

[jokerwoker]

I don't have the game yet, but from the liv feeds and videos I've seen, you CAN reload a previous checkpoint. So, if you messed up, just reload.

 

i don't recall if you can SAVE a checkpoint, though.

[Mr. Fob]

Yes you can save a checkpoint (although there is no hotkey but you have to go through the menu to do it.

There is however only one autosave, which saves after you step out of the induction. Since I had no manual save at the time I had to restart. Not much of an issue in this case but still, free saves would be better IMO.

[zkylon]

I've been playing the game for a short while now and so far, i love it. It's a little not-so-comfortable and i've ran across some stupid AI and more than a few bugs (though none gamebreaking) but so far it's pretty awesome. Only thing i mind is that even if the game runs at 60fps it stutters a little bit everytime i enter a room or move the camera fast. It led to me getting seen once so it's kind of annoying and it's my biggest grievance so far. Other than that, i still think the game looks great (even if the motion blur is off the charts and i had to turn it off), being stealthy is really fun and i'm surprised by how much more tense the dialogue is when you don't have all the time in the world to answer. Haven't ran across a chance to use my tech expertise but so far it's one of the greatest tutorials ever lol (yeah, i know, i'm totally biased )

[Rostere]

So I'm sitting here playing AP right now I'll return later with some kind of review-ish post...

[mothra]

my copy is in the mail and won't arrive before the weekend (damn) but thx for the first impressions, it sounds like i hope and feared what it would be:

- hope: awesome story, decisions and dialogue, nice settings

- fear: bad animations, bad stealth, bad AI, bad engine optimizations

which is sad, to be honest, I think they will loose alot of customers that mostly get encouraged by graphics to try out games even if they love them later for something else like the e.g. the awesome story.

[Agent Mike]

I already gave some impressions on the game yesterday in another thread,

 

The things i liked

 

- The dialogue system & the choices (reminds me of Deus Ex, which is my N

Edited May 28, 2010 by Agent Mike

[Lord2]

I just got through the customization part, and my experience has been horrible so far! The game doesn't run smooth at all, screen lockups/freezes etc, two BSODs, and then after some seconds it continues. My computer is more than capable enough to handle it.

 

The animations are all funky sometimes, AI is idiotic, tutorial level a... Took me 30 minutes or more to get through the computer-hack part - as it was slow to navigate down to the thing and it was confusing and hard. The graphics looks like an old PS2 game.

 

 

But to the good parts: lines and voice over so far, and the lines I have yet to experienced (before a freeze - I lose focus when one comes. Forgot what they were saying the minute before).

 

The choices are all cool to smash down or open a door, the talent system is awesome, that's how RPGs talent system should work, the dialogue system is... ok I guess, you have to pick almost before you have heard the dialogue. Not a second to think what they just said. The music is interesting, sets the mood fine!

 

This, better get some heavy patches. It feels like playing a beta. Despite all of this, I'll continue to play and finish the game - then I'll post a review or something.

 

 

It's a strange thing the game is not Windows 7 ready. The manual says XP or Vista. . .

 

- Hacking Mini game (ouch my eyes)

Good thing to know I'm not alone

Edited May 28, 2010 by Lord2

[Agent Mike]

- Hacking Mini game (ouch my eyes)

Good thing to know I'm not alone

 

Indeed, but other than that the game is fun and most of all you feel like a spy!

[edgarcuk]

I've been playing for 3 hours with an Xbox copy, so far here are my impressions:

 

- Superb dialog system and very good dialog animation or cinematics.

- Very good relation between skill upgrading and gameplay, I mean, pumping pistols does make it accurate.

- High replayability, so far I've done the first mission with 3 different builds.

- Immersion and interaction with others characters

 

On the enhancement side:

 

- the hacking is a little difficult for me (I need to use my glasses) but it would help to change the colour or the font of the passwords.

- the graphics are... sort of weird, I mean, Batman Arkham uses the same engine (unreal) and the graphics does look different, perhaps changing the textures might help...

 

Since I use cover and stealth a lot, it does work for me in the game, but trying to do the Rambo thing is difficult early in the game, I suppose once you upgrade the skills for the arm of your choice, it should be easier.

 

According to the reviews it seems that Obsidian is exceptional in creating the depth, content and mechanics of a true RPG, but at the time of the presentation, it is not good... as getting a new car with the latest Mercedes engine but inside a Ford Fiesta...

 

However, I'm very please with this game, it has fulfilled my expectations.

Edited May 28, 2010 by edgarcuk