Gave it a Shot

[Riknas]

Alright, typically I write large posts, but I don't really feel that its necessary here.

 

So, I recently purchased Alpha Protocol as my friend said he bought it, and that we could try playing it together. That said, my friend is about as reliable as my mother. Which...is also very unreliable.

 

Ultimately, I played it by myself. My first thoughts were thinking of all the reviews of how broken this game was, and I was thinking the whole time, "I want to like this game...I really do. I hope it doesn't suck? Does it really suck?"

 

I found myself ecstatic playing it and seeing all the different mechanics they implemented. The precision shot was great, stealth was really fun working with as well as the enemy awareness system (In the end I found myself always needing to have the Master Awareness skill, good god I'd be a wreck without it). One thing I thought was absolutely awesome was the cover mechanic that allowed me to "highlight" a cover location for Thorton to run to as stealthy as possible, that was really useful and cool.

 

The Dialogue Stance System was great, and I really liked the idea that I was given tough choices, but I still had to make them fast. Playing KOTOR, Dragon Age, and even Mass Effect I often found myself playing a "Static Character" and that most choices were pretty easy to make, with only a couple that actually made me stop and think.

 

In Alpha Protocol, I felt I was given lots of hard choices that made me want to think, and then almost immediately after reloading to see what the other results were.

 

Obviously there were bugs that really screwed some of the mechanics up at times, but nothing was particularly game breaking, and I didn't notice many until after reading about them on the Wiki. Sega's denial for a sequel is unfortunate, and I think it's a very weak logic train. The main reason the game didn't sell well were because of the mistakes, the sometimes frustrating gun-combat and various glitches with the cover system. A sequel removing all the bugs an glitches on its own would be more than enough for an Alpha Protocol to do well. Still, it's true that Obsidian has a track record that made it infamous for not being able to do everything they wanted when making a game.

 

There's so much story in the dossiers and the different groups (Like the VCI and G22) that we could delve further into, which would be wonderful. Overall, great game. And the press release from the Obsidian CEO saying they WANT to do a sequel still gives me a bit of hope. I feel guilty for not buying the game earlier to help encourage more.

 

Thanks for the game Obsidian!

[Hassat Hunter]

I feel guilty for not buying the game earlier to help encourage more.

 

Thanks for the game Obsidian!

Join the ever-increasing group...

[Karl the Unfettered]

I'm proud to say I preordered it months before it came out, and I never regretted it. But it's good to see people finding it for themselves and seeing how great it is beneath the bugs and grime.

[bradleypariah]

I guess I'm one of the fortunate few that the game never bugged out for. I never understood why on Earth someone would dislike that game. I F'ing love it.

[qaz156]

Same here. Absolutely no bugs in my experience... On top of that, I was so so sad when it ended. It was my favorite gaming experience by far this year.

[Raithe]

It was a great game, it had its flaws, but overall the joys certainly overcame them. I didn't have any bugs mess up my playthroughs... although the hacking could be a little irritating at times..

 

Hell, AP was what brought me into the Obs forums here back before it got released..

[Labadal]

I only had the enemies disappearing bugs on a level or two, but other than that I had no bugs in my two playthroughs. My favorite game of this console generation.

[obliviondoll]

I've had a handful of minor glitches, but the worst has been a couple of times where I was either a) not in line of sight, or b) invisible, and the alarm was still raised for no apparent reason. Or the times a hacking/lockpicking attempts cuts off 3 - 5 seconds early and sets the alarm off for no reason.