Alpha Protocol reviews

The Good Computer RPGs of recent years have been dominated by the likes of Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age and Mass Effect, so it's refreshing to see a game that isn't fantasy or sci-fi for a change. That fact alone would have interested me in AP. For once, the game's tagline (“Your weapon is choice”) isn't much of an exaggeration. Rather than just measure the player's behavior with some sort of alignment meter, AP tries hard to make the decisions in the game meaningful. The plot doesn't branch until close to the very end, but major and minor decisions the player makes will have knock-on effects, changing how other characters react to you and personalizing the story.

The Bad AP is a glitchy game. I was lucky enough to avoid any of the horror stories floating about, but I was frequently annoyed by how guards popped in and out of existence depending on where the PC is and whether I'd reloaded recently. Speaking of reloading, the game sometimes crashed for me when I tried that. The game just doesn't feel completely finished. In one of the Taipei levels, for example, it's possible to see holes in the landscape. In other places you get the impression that content was cut in order to get the game out the door (a la KOTOR 2).

The Ugly In terms of both gameplay and story AP is quite short (I finished it just over two weeks after buying it, which is a record for me; actual playing time is probably 20–25 hours). With the exception of the boss battles, the game isn't particularly difficult unless you use one of the more underpowered character builds (eg. gadgets) rather than the overpowered stealth/pistol combination. The boss battles have the artificial hardness of giving the enemy ludicrous amounts of hit points. The PC version is a lazy port from the console version (is there another kind?). The UI and how difficult it makes it to use your abilities is the worst offender, followed by the checkpoint save system. It doesn't do AP any favors that the game it's most likely to be compared to is Mass Effect 2, which is graphically superior as well as being a better shooter.

The Bottom Line AP is a good game, but it's not as good as it could have been, and it's definitely not as good as it should have been. Buy it if you're a fan of RPGs, but wait until it's been patched and/or the price drops.

It seems that Obsidian has run into some issues with their DRM, namely that the DRM provider has taken their site down. This means that you cannot regoister the game to play it until you apply a patch to remove the DRM.

You need to install the game and then download the 1.1 UK patch from http://www.gamefront.com/…o110-eur.zip

It took me a while to find that patch and I'm pretty damn annoyed, so I doubt very much that I'll even play the game through. If it's this much of a pig to even install, then playing might drive me around the bend.

Good luck to any and all who purchased this game.

I won't lie, the game had some technical issues and has some clumsy game mechanics, but once I got used to the narrative structure and the character gets some decent skills it was sort of fun.

There are multiple endings and some of them are amusingly nihilistic. It didn't take me too long to finish the game.

To get the game going I had to copy Alpha Protocol/ Game Saves and Checkpoints files into MY Documents and copy dat files into the checkpoints. For more detailed instructions with this problem read http://www.rpgwatch.com/…owthread.php?….

The lyrics to the grunge song at the end the game with a morally ambiguous endings is “Heaven help the red zone, for over seven years. If this cause to do it right, I don't know what it is. Cause I get tired of running and living life indoors. It always comes down to the money …”

The game is very good but has many problems.

The good: Pretty good graphics, splendid story with decisions that have an impact on the plot, variety of fun missions, feels like an action-packed hollywood movie

The bad: Stupid AI, many bugs, bad controls (unless if you have an xbox360 gamepad)

Overall the game could have been a masterpeice. Obsidian has released a few patches that fixed some bugs. Only buy this game if you've tried the demo and like it.

It could have been so much better.

The good (and it is very good!): There are no wrong choices. Your choices cause the story to go in different places but none of those places could be labelled “wrong” or “evil” or “will screw up your game” (but see below). The game feels just like a spy movie – I feel like I am James Bond or Derek Flint.

The bad: Poor graphics. Poor AI. Poor misison design – most missions can be done with stealth or with guns blazing but some missions require one or the other. A stealth character will find it difficult or maybe even impossible to succeed a “guns blazing” mission (American Embassy in Moscow, I'm looking at you). Variable voice acting (Albatross is excellent, Sie is awful).

My recommendation: Wait for some patches before playing.

I had high expectations of Obsidian and they have let me down. Again. After KOTOR II and this game, I'm not sure I want to buy another Obsidian product.

sometimes games are released with more problems than they're worth, this happens to be such a game where it takes a lot of work to get this to run. If you good it for patches, and general problems, it's easy to see what I mean from forums in America and Europe.

Also, AVG conflicts with starting it up, saying it detects a trojan, and googling this found many others experiencing that annoying issue. Just beware of this before purchasing.

Honestly all the talk about this game being bugged ect are way over done. Had to use an older version of physx to get it working (included on the dvd) but other than that worked pretty much flawlessly with only very very minor bugs.

Great Game, I really enjoyed it. Its a pity it was never more popular. Great role-playing opportunities with answers that matter.

Bad cover mechanics, annoying controls, stealth is nearly impossible, and it's buggy. You can't even play it until you have installed the 1.1 patch. Not worth it, even for $10.

I have found this game to be excellent value for money and have not any problems with this game . I would highly reccommend

You need to activate the game online and this proved impossible due to the site no longer existing. Eventually I found a patch (even that was a mission) that supposedly eliminated the need for the activation, but when I installed the patch the game still refused to start. Just gave up in the end. Only wasted $10 on it so no big deal… It would appear as if even the game makers have wiped their hands of it so I think that's all you need to know.

Well worth your ten bucks. But for gods sake play in hard mode!!! The lesser modes were made for ten year olds!!!

This game is good but not great. Could have been a bit better but it is worth buying on special.

It's quite annoying having to source for the patch when you assume that everything would play smoothly from the CD. I personally have heard promising things about the game especially since it is from the same creators as Oblivion and Fallout.. Only problem is that these games are notorious for being quite glitchy and Alpha protocol lives up to its ‘glitchiness’. Because I am too lazy to download a patch and I have other games to play, this one is still sitting in the corner.

This game could have been a really good game if it wasn't for..... the hacking the computer part it was just plain hard and boring,not to mention hard on the eyes(at least my eyes) Then there is the controls, it was hard enough to make a person turn with the right analog stick on the PS 2 while you move them with the opposite stick but try turning a person with a mouse in your hand. The times were you need to make a choice how to respond to someone, it didn't always give you enough time to read each choice let alone respond.. Having said all that I still played the game as far as I could till the computer hacking got in the way of me finishing the game.The story line was good and the fighting pretty enjoyable and I enjoyed the fact that there were options to how you responded to the different characters.With a little more time and tweaking this could have been a solid game.Maybe after a little Fallout New Vegas I will give it another shot..

I took a bit of a punt on this game after some average reviews but I actually found it refreshingly enjoyable. I'd sort of compare it to a cross between No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M's Way and Deux Ex. It's a combination of first person shooter, spy goings on and gadgets. The character can come across as pretty cheesy but if you accept it as part of the fun it doesn't grate as much.

Unlike many games that claim it your decisions do actually have consequences and makes you interested in the possibility of playing it through again to try some “what if's” which is quite refreshing.

Difficulty-wise it's about right for an average gamer. A couple of the boss fights are quite tough but the rest is not too bad. The mini-games can be as challenging or easy as you choose based on your skill set. Frankly without some skill/item choices they became quite challenging but are only for accessing extra information and gear so won't stop you from progressing if you can't or choose not to complete the tasks.

All in all, I feel that it's well worth laying a few $$ down for, particularly on special. It'll give you your money's worth of good fun entertainment.

I have personally really enjoyed this game. The story is pretty decent and the choices you make throughout the game have real impact on the way characters react to you. Researching your targets before missions and uncovering extra objectives and bonus information during missions is a lot of fun and actually impacts on the conversations you have. The graphics are decent when played at higher resolutions, although some textures are ugly. The controls can take a little bit to get used, the game may be better if played with an xbox360 gamepad, but once you are used to them the game starts to open up. Combat is the main downside to this game, although it can be a lot of fun if you approach it stealthily instead of all guns blazing. This is an RPG so expect to be a little frustrated when your shots dont aways hit their targets at lower levels. All in all this game is a lot of fun as long as you are willing to look past some frustrating controls and dont expect it to play like an FPS.

Very fun and addictive RPG. People keep comparing it to Splinter Cell. It is and RPG, Slinter Cell is an action game so you cannot compare them directly. It is like expecting your apple to taste like a banana.

The game plays very well, the story is complex and interesting the characters and voice acting is top notch. Multiple paths through the game with different outcomes based on your choices.

Very happy with this purchase.

(By the way, it has least intrusive DRM in many years. There are no restrictions on how many times you can install the game. You only have to activate it once online, thereafter no need to go online again.)

This game is bollocks. With spy games and shooters like splinter cell conviction and Modern warfare 2 out there this game just doesnt cut it. Unclimatic story line, sub par graphics, limited choices and a worse battle system then mass effect 1 this game like i said is a waste of time. All hype and no fight. Dont even rent it unless its like $3.50 a week or something.