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We need another game like Alpha Protocol

Abu Antar

Turn-based Poster
Patron
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,583
Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Never played AP. What's it like in comparison to Mass Effect? More C&C?
Clunky action/stealth gameplay. Good C&C.

You can als start without choosing any of the beginning "classes", and go in with zero skill points. If you complete that run, you can make a new run with a Veteran character with a lot of more skill points. You can kill everyone, or go pacifist.

Some people do not like it, but I played it twice, the second time immediately after beating it the first time, and things do change depending on your choices.
 

gerey

Arcane
Zionist Agent
Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
3,472
Problem is the clunkiness, since it holds back the rest of the experience. I have thought about it and never could figure an elegant way to marry skills/attributes and stealth in the framework of a third-person shooter/RPG hybrid. I guess one way to do it would be to increase the time it takes enemies to detect you the higher the skills is, or perhaps increase the speed at which the player can move while in stealth mode.

I think Obsidian should have taken a much closer look at the likes of Metal Gear (Solid) and Splinter Cell to see what worked and what didn't in terms of third-person stealth. Instead, I feel they put too much emphasis on the roleplaying aspects, when this is one game where a less stat-heavy approach would have benefited the overall design.

Also, I feel AP tried to be everything at once - Obsidian tried to make a game where you could be Sam Fisher, Solid Snake, James Bond, Jason Bourne etc., so the whole experience ends up feeling very unfocused.
 

Zed Duke of Banville

Dungeon Master
Patron
Joined
Oct 3, 2015
Messages
11,921
Never played AP. What's it like in comparison to Mass Effect? More C&C?
Alpha Protocol is a cover-based shooter with RPG elements in the form of character progression via skill increases and a considerable amount of dialogue-based C&C. However, the level design is terrible, the combat is clunky even for a cover-based shooter, and the writing is often cringy despite the oversight of Chris Avellone. Interesting as an experiment in C&C but not worth playing.

Despite being labeled "the espionage RPG" on the box cover, Alpha Protocol has hardly any spycraft and is not close to being an RPG.
 

Sarathiour

Cipher
Joined
Jun 7, 2020
Messages
3,264
I don't know if I would go as far as "not worth playing", but the gameplay is definitely too bad to recommend this. You might to give it a shot out of curiosity, it's not that long nor hard of a game after all.
 

Wunderbar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
8,818
Good armor + fists + pistol is the ultimate way to play this game. Ignore stealth, ignore gadgets, ignore janky guns - just beat people in melee, and occasionally one-shot bosses with a pistol.
 

Vlajdermen

Arcane
Joined
Nov 19, 2017
Messages
2,057
Location
Catholic Serbia
Never played AP. What's it like in comparison to Mass Effect? More C&C?
Alpha Protocol is a cover-based shooter with RPG elements in the form of character progression via skill increases and a considerable amount of dialogue-based C&C. However, the level design is terrible, the combat is clunky even for a cover-based shooter, and the writing is often cringy despite the oversight of Chris Avellone. Interesting as an experiment in C&C but not worth playing.

Despite being labeled "the espionage RPG" on the box cover, Alpha Protocol has hardly any spycraft and is not close to being an RPG.
Writing in games is always cringy, AP is one of the few that made cringy writing work.
 

Falksi

Arcane
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
10,593
Location
Nottingham
Ace game, way better than shit like Witcher 3.

Gameplay wasn't even that bad. Certainly wasn't good, definitely had moments of frustration, but I've played way worse.
 

Ryzer

Arcane
Joined
May 1, 2020
Messages
5,541
Ace game, way better than shit like Witcher 3.

Gameplay wasn't even that bad. Certainly wasn't good, definitely had moments of frustration, but I've played way worse.
Is this supposed to be a praise? " It tasted like shit but I tasted worse so it's okay." .
 

Harthwain

Magister
Joined
Dec 13, 2019
Messages
4,810
I never thought the gameplay was bad. But I played as hand-to-hand specialist with a silent gun and used stealth. Maybe that's why? C&C was top notch in terms of permutations though. It's a shame no other RPG picked up on that. It's also one of the very few games that have a certain spy atmosphere to them (despite not being really a spy game as such).
 

Falksi

Arcane
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
10,593
Location
Nottingham
Ace game, way better than shit like Witcher 3.

Gameplay wasn't even that bad. Certainly wasn't good, definitely had moments of frustration, but I've played way worse.
Is this supposed to be a praise? " It tasted like shit but I tasted worse so it's okay." .

Between good and bad there's something called "average", and Alpha Protocol allows you to play in such a way.

If that's all it offered then it wouldn't be of note, but said average way is serviceable enough to break up top notch C&C interactions. So overall, there's more good than bad if you play it right.

I get why people have gripes, but said gripes didn't get anywhere near killing the experience for me.
 

Gahbreeil

Learned
Joined
Feb 9, 2021
Messages
783
Location
Asarlaíocht
IMHO, buying the James Bond IP just for Alpha Protocol 2 would mean an actual polished gem of a game. The movie industry would sponsor the vidya, the vidya would be better based on the sponsorship. That's it. That's my own honest opinion.



This particular one would be cheapest. It's essentially a spin-off. Or, even better, a new likeness of James Bond as well as the new movie of a plot.
 

thesecret1

Arcane
Joined
Jun 30, 2019
Messages
5,847
Worth playing for the C&C. The gameplay is kinda poor, it's true, but it's not as bad as people make it out to be. Besides, if memory serves, it's fairly short too.
 

Percy

Cipher
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
632
Location
Cunt
This has been posted before in other threads about AP but this is the kind of content I want.

 

Nelka

Educated
Joined
Oct 28, 2019
Messages
480
Location
Wolne Wilno
Everyone who praises melee is praising Sawyer (he designed the melee system).
Not everything Sawyer touches turns into fail. Especially Old Obsidian-era Sawyer.
That's why we need him to get back to REAL gaming dev
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