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Alpha Protocol

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Alpha Protocol totally slipped under the my radar (Ha, see what I did there? ;) ), until I saw it in stores yesterday.

 

I'm familiar with Obsidian's previous works, but the lack of any real hype, coupled with some not-quite-so-hot previews have made me cautious. Since there are no reviews yet, I'm asking here:

 

Who has it and how does it hold up? Impressions, people, impressions!

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It's not out here until the start of June, but I really want to get it. I won't be able to for a while, but I want it (along with other things).

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says Release Date: 28/05/2010 on GAME's website? am i right in thinking its spys+stealth+mass effect

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Not very hyped for this but it still interests me.

 

Will be fun to finally see Obsidian make a game that is not a sequel of someone else's work.

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Sounds mildly interesting. I'll add it to the rental list.

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says Release Date: 28/05/2010 on GAME's website?

 

No respect for release dates these days, eh. :p

 

Guess we'll have to wait for some real reviws to turn up. I sounds interesting... if it works.

 

From what I've gathered so far the graphics aren't really that great, but the game behind it is pretty solid.

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It's out on the 1st of June in the US and Friday here. I'm getting it, can't say we've had too many spy RPG's, My best chance of becoming Jack Bauer.

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Might want to reconsider...Dtoid gave it 2/10. Ouch.

 

Reviews seem to wildly differ. Eurogamer gave it 7/10 and Gamesmaster 83% but Bit - Tech gave it 5/10.

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:indeed:

 

"Perfectly lined up headshots can still miss" Huh...sounds like real life.

 

I can't help but feel they were comparing it to Mass Effect, because Mass Effect's mechanics are rock solid you know.

 

Bugs, unfortunate, but unsurprising knowing that Obsidian is Black Isle v2.0 and Black Isle always shipped with bugs.

 

Honestly, if I can point and shoot at people (which is looks like the game does fine to me, better than Fallout 3 without VATS even) then it's playable enough for a good story. There seems to be a deficiency of good stories.

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Might want to reconsider...Dtoid gave it 2/10. Ouch.

 

Yikes. Good review, this. Seems a kind of exasperated fit of rage at...a lot of things.

 

Game looks shit, anyway.

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Yikes. Good review, this. Seems a kind of exasperated fit of rage at...a lot of things.

 

Game looks shit, anyway.

 

You know, he brings up valid points that other reviews touch on. Reading the comments though, he just comes off as a complete moronic dick. Although, I suppose I'd be a huge twat if I had a following of people that hated every one of my reviews.

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Rather fittingly, this game is secretly amazing. Sure it's not much of a looker and it does have its share of obvious problems, but ultimately it's a crossbreed of old school Splinter Cell and Deus Ex with an involving plot and unparalleled granularity in its player choices; there's so much feedback and consequence, so many chances for divergence.

 

If the above appeals to you in any way then seriously, give this game a chance. I was completely indifferent to New Vegas before playing through AP, but if this is the sort of game that Obsidian can put out despite an obviously troubled development I've a fair amount of faith in their handling of a pre-established, more relaxed production.

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From what I've been hearing (from other fans of Obsidian) is that it's pretty much terrible and the reviews aren't joking. I still want to play it myself and hope that perhaps some patched make it more workable.

 

Glad to hear you're enjoying it though Aimless, and that it's helped your opinion of New Vegas.

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It's entirely "workable". If you're after a shooter then this isn't it, but once you get your head around the context of the guns they work fine. Take handguns, for instance: I read several reviews which called them worthless, but I chose to put points into them anyway and found that when you use them properly they're ridiculously powerful. The idea is that you train each shot, not point in the direction of your enemy and fire off several rounds: you wait for the critical reticule to hone in, then it's a guaranteed kill if you're aiming for the head. All the other weapons have slightly different mechanics, but the importance of lining up critical hits is a constant.

 

The difference between this and, say, the original Mass Effect is that the latter didn't just look like a cover-based shooter, it played the same as one albeit with lots of extraneous stats thrown on top that hindered the player's enjoyment of pointing and shooting. Whilst AP's combat could certainly be improved, its similarities to a standard third-person shooter are rather disingenuous: you aren't supposed to use the weapons as you would in any other game, they have very set roles and methodologies. Once you come to terms with that the game is far more enjoyable.

 

The game definitely isn't for everyone, but then I don't think either of the two games I drew parallels to — Splinter Cell and Deus Ex — are either. It requires a certain mentality and level of tolerance; it's antithetical to this generation in a lot of ways. Some people won't get on with it at all and that's fine, but... well, I suppose I just find it strange how games like the original Mass Effect and Fallout 3 can be lauded as classics despite suffering from almost the exact same flaws as this game; for the record I'd class all three as 7/10 games, each ridden with technical and mechanical issues. It makes me wonder if AP would be enjoying more positivity if it had been buoyed by the same level of hype building as those two games, although I appreciate that's more of a tangential, far reaching topic.

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It's a very easy game to criticise, a lot of things about it are fairly shoddy; the stealth animation might be the worst I've ever seen.

 

On the other hand the things it does well it pulls off better than any other game: its timed conversation system is a master stroke, the consequences of your actions leading to genuinely different experiences rather than Mass Effect's tactic of hitting the exact same beats with the player selecting what amounts to a tone of voice. If you appreciate ambition and intricate systems, or simply entertaining dialogue, £5 is a real pittance.

 

To put it another way, Alpha Protocol is the only game I can think of where the actions of one of the characters genuinely left me feeling betrayed. I totally didn't see it coming, and yet if I had done things differently...

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And now they're both reduced again! Although the Currys website is barely functioning.

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