Tendo City

Apparently so! My copy should get here by Saturday, or maybe Monday, so I'll give you guys some first-hand impressions, but some of the guys from another forum I frequent are really in love with it.

Quote:In terms of character building and story, it's brilliant and the affects on the story and situations based on that are incredible. It's one of the deepest games I've ever played in that regard. The characters are also fleshed out quite well, not only from personal encounters but by the excellent email system.

Quote:I think it would be easier to ask, "what don't I like about AP?" because then I'd just say...occasional weak graphics and buggiest game I've ever played. Everytime I play for 5 hours I hit at least one bug per hour. Also I think there are some mandatory alarms in the game (not 100% sure on this) which is frustrating if you are going for a perfect no alarms, no kills run like I am.

Everything else about the game is perfect. The only wrpg I've ever played that has been this good has been Fallout 2. It's not just that the story/character relations is amazing next gen stuff that blows away every game ever made. The gameplay is SO GOOD. If you play stealth like I am and try to get through every stage without being seen and not killing anyone, the game is better than MGS or SC in pure stealth gameplay. The guards can see further (though their scope is narrow), the level designs are great puzzles, the objectives are varied and the skills are awesome. Even the hacking mini-games are fun in this. Love the shooting mechanics as well from a stealth perspective. Having to get close and line up a shot makes it tougher and more fun than MGS/SC because you can't just tranq some guy from before he can even see you. You actually have to get close up where it's dangerous and sneak around him or finding a hiding spot close by and snipe him off.

Quote:It is better as an RPG and storyline wise, basically because there's a massive amount of choice in how things play out.

Quote:If you play this by trying to avoid combat, then you'll get the most out of it since it utterly sucks as a shooter. It's becoming one of my favourite games in years. There's a mission where it's just talking, and it's one of the best missions I've played in the game so far. Everything just flows almost seamlessly and never feels like say.. Dragon Age.

Quote:I'm glad I kept my order because I'm enjoying this game a lot.

I'm playing total stealth and nonlethal, as in, I haven't fired a gun since the tutorial. The action is hilariously jank fun if you play it as a stealth game. It's on par if not worse than a lot of old PS2 stealth games; I don't mean MGS2 and Splinter Cell, like someone mentioned above, it's more like the ones that came from Japan to cash in on the craze. At the start, stealth was walk up to enemy, hit button, they go down. Now I'm going invisible, I can run and they don't hear a thing, and I have a gadget that creates a sound anywhere I point it, so I can just aim at a far wall and take out an entire room in seconds. This isn't hyperbole. At one point I wanted to open fraps and take a video of how bad the AI was, but it actually helps make stealth more enjoyable, at least. The tiny bit of shooting I tried in the usual bad RPG shooter stuff where you point, aim, and end up shooting eight feet to the left.

That's all the action stuff. The conversation system and how you affect the story is what I'm really liking. The conversation system is better than most games, I think. I can see people not liking how everything is on a timer, but it's never two dudes standing around not saying a word or repeating dialog. I won't do a good job explaining, so I won't too much, but I will say that it does a very good job at making you feel like what you matters. Even the fact that I'm playing stealth and not getting detected, or the orders I do mission despite them being non-linear, and other seemingly minor things impacts conversations.

and yeah, the game is pretty funny.

Quote:Having good times.

My character is full on Bourne, so it's stealth and martial arts. The perks are cool to use in combat, at least in the sense that they help making the combat a bit more....or a bit less shitty.

I've met some characters now where the dialog with them has been interesting. Not much aside from that has changed from my last impressions, i'm guessing that having -100 hype for the game has helped so far, and i'm enjoying it.

So, basically, if you want a deep RPG and don't mind some jank, get Alpha Protocol NOW.

Deepest? Depends on your definition of depth I think... in combat, most certainly not even close. In story and options? It does sound like one of the better ones. I mean, it is Obsidian.

....jank?

Yes, out of all that, I'm focusing on the very made up sounding word.

The game does sound interesting.

Did you just tell me to check your Beck-tionary?

Got my copy in the mail today, I've played it for about 2 hours or so and I'm loving it. Still in Saudi Arabia killing A-rabs in the desert, which most people agree is the low point of the game, so I'm really looking forward to what's in store for me after I finished up this last mission here. There are a few things that bug me like random framerate drops, mouse smoothing [boooooo!], and the quirkiness of the combat, but outside of that I really don't have any problems with it. I like creeping around in the shadows and karate-chopping guys in the throat or using the sound gun to lure enemies away from the prying eyes of their compatriots.

This time I'm playing stealth and being a respectful professional, but I'm going to do the opposite of that next time I think.

Pretty much loving this game. It's got some quirks and I've come across a few situations that really frustrated me, but the game's flaws are greatly overblown by the gaming press [not that this should come as a surprise].

... Beyond what I said about the combat, the modern-day military spy theme also is part of why I've never been too interested in following this game... I like a few spy things, it's a better setting than generic modern-day military stuff at least, but I really do much prefer fantasy, etc. settings.

I finally beat Alpha Protocol today, the last mission was really long! I think it took me over an hour, while most of the other missions are probably twenty minutes as most. I really like this game, it had some things that frustrated me but that's hardly uncommon. I think the reason the reviews are so low is because reviewers thought that it was something that it wasn't and because the console versions are buggier than the PC version, because AP is certainly deserving of better than 5's and 6's, that's for sure.

What I like most about the game is just how much of an impact your choices make and how many choices there are. Obsidian really went all out in the department, so it's really a shame that every part of the game couldn't have been that good.