Alpha Protocol

[Sagacious-T]

I don't know. Uru seems to understand the gunplay. That's fucking impossible according to some people. So either A) He's lying, B) He's delusional, C) He really does know how the gameplay works and has learned to enjoy it, or D) I am an asshole

[Dincrest]

The sentiment reminds me of how critics pretty much slammed Wild Arms XF because "it wasn't like Final Fantasy Tactics."  When I played the game and wrote my review, I was surprised at how much hate that game was getting and I thought to myself, "Were these people playing a different game than I was?  XF was good."  I also remember renting SaGa Frontier for Playstation just to see how bad it really was, and I ended up really liking it.  I played it nonstop for 3-4 hours till a buddy called me to come hang out with him.  I thought to myself, "Were these people playing a different game?" 

I never played a Mass Effect game since I don't own a 360 (I own a PS3), so I wonder what I would think of Alpha Protocol.  I'm not 100% convinced to buy it on blind faith, but it will likely be a rental for me. 

[Ashtrot]

Nobody is comparing Alpha Protocol with Mass Effect. At least, I'm not.

People are just saying Alpha Protocol has broken and messy gameplay. Which it does.

[Uru]

I did, and I hope to god that people aren't seriously claiming that bullets hitting randomly within the circular reticle (the reticle itself being governed by your accuracy, stability, and recoil stats) constitutes action-RPG die-rolling...

It seems like it man.

Did anyone else get the "90's" vibe when you beat the game?

[Tsi Aileron]

The only problem I had with the game on PC was that mouse smoothing was on by default with no option ingame to disable it. After turning it off in the ini file, the rest was smooth sailing. No lag, stutter, or anything I've read about in some reviews.

Also, accuracy and such it determined by the skills, but it's not D&D. If you wait for your shot to steady it will always hit the target.

[Sagacious-T]

The only problem I had with the game on PC was that mouse smoothing was on by default with no option ingame to disable it. After turning it off in the ini file, the rest was smooth sailing. No lag, stutter, or anything I've read about in some reviews.

Also, accuracy and such it determined by the skills, but it's not D&D. If you wait for your shot to steady it will always hit the target.

But the combat is broken! How can this be..

[Ashtrot]

I finally finished the game tonight. A few things. Spoilers, because I hate the code tag:

-The storyline has so many holes you could drive a truck through it. Too many story threads are introduced, then dropped or never explained. For example, when Albatross is captured, it's never explained if/when you rescue him what happened to Sis, how he got captured, or if she's even still alive. Second of all, the Chief of Security at Halbech is played out as a cold ruthless guy you'd eventually need to kill, but after a shootout in Rome, he escapes and is never seen again. When you assault Alpha Protocol at the end, Westridge is never seen or heard from. Where did he go? Also, the ending was horrible. You get a mission complete screen and then the credits scroll. WTF?

-The biggest issue with the gunplay is that you're expected to approach it slowly and methodically, but the game plays out like any standard third person shooter. If you just stand there trying to focus your aim you get the hell shot out of you. It would've been a lot better if the enemies had to follow similar gunplay rules, but they can fire immediately and have near perfect accuracy. It's like if you were waiting your turn in a turn based RPG, but the enemies are operating on the rules of an action game and will hit you whenever they want.

[D-Rider]

For what it's worth, some of those complaints change depending on how you went through the game.  I know the Marburg thing ended a lot more violently for me. :P  That bit about Westridge was my biggest complaint about how the end went down, but I bet even that would change if I had done some things differently along the line.

[Uru]

I think if you played differently, the end  boss is westridge in one of the endings.

[Lazlowe1984]

I think if you played differently, the end  boss is westridge in one of the endings.

*SPOILERS*

If you join Leland when he offers you to join him,Westridge is technically your real end boss.

Here is what I did.I spared every possible ally and made Marburg a friend.Then I joined Halbech during the final mission then betrayed him.Good stuff.

*SPOILER END*

Anyway I liked the combat.It felt like an RPG combat system similar to Mass Effect.I enjoyed it.The AI was the real buzzkill for me

[XerNosam]

I'm so back and forth on picking up this game.  I had a stoked vibe for Alpha Protocol all through its dev (even though Obsidian history made me a smidge concerned) but the 'pro' reviews were so overwhelmingly luke warm I hesitated buying it.  Now more and more gamers are chiming in with their thoughts and I'm feeling better about possibly laying down cash for it.

I still have to complete The Witcher and ME2, so methinks I'll just wait for the first price cut on AP.

It's intriguing to hear folks talking about how it has the look of a 3rd person shooter but has the guts and mechanics of true RPG... with that I can see it being greatly misunderstood in the mainstream.

[Uru]

In all seriousness man, the game is pretty short so i would highly recommend that you rent it and beat it.