Alpha Protocol: The Espionage RPG

I had to write this review. There are so many commercial reviews on the web that do this game injustice. I have been playing this since the start of January 2011 after wanting to play something based around the wiki leaks stuff. TBH, I spend most of my time asking "how can people say this a bad game ?!!?!" Sure, there are a few bugs, but nothing that renders it completely unplayable. The story is brilliant - a mixture of 24, Zeitgeist, and other conspiracy/ spy stuff. It is in no way generic. I guess if you played this as an action game you would be slightly disapointed, but at its heart it is a traditional RPG with great story telling and plot changing descions to make. I have played other Obsidian games before and wasn't too impressed ( KOTR2) but this is fantastic. As the title of this review suggests, this game uses bad reviews to hide a classic of a game. The only thing that lets it down is that it received such bad press that I dont think there are any plans for a sequel :( .… more »

I had to write this review. There are so many commercial reviews on the web that do this game injustice. I have been playing this since the start of January 2011 after wanting to play something based around the wiki leaks stuff. TBH, I spend most of my time asking "how can people say this a bad game ?!!?!" Sure, there are a few bugs, but nothing that renders it completely unplayable. The story is brilliant - a mixture of 24, Zeitgeist, and other conspiracy/ spy stuff. It is in no way generic. I guess if you played this as an action game you would be slightly disapointed, but at its heart it is a traditional RPG with great story telling and plot changing descions to make. I have played other Obsidian games before and wasn't too impressed ( KOTR2) but this is fantastic. As the title of this review suggests, this game uses bad reviews to hide a classic of a game. The only thing that lets it down is that it received such bad press that I dont think there are any plans for a sequel :( . Also, when I was watching the making of for this game, alot of the speech sounded like they were talking in an echoy room - I can assure you this has been fixed.
Downsides are : Dodgy AI at times, Menus sometimes pop up for no reason.
Kind of like the child Mass Effect and MGS would produce if they decided to hook up and make babies :)

Firstly let me start by saying that at the time of writing I am only 3 missions in and first impressions are that this isnt a bad game, its just not (imho) what was advertised. I suppose that I should have listened to my sub-conscious when I saw it was been developed by Sega- a company not normally involved in RPG-esque titles.

You play the character Mike Thornton, who has recently been recruited into the Government organisation that gives the game its title. Your background determines your starting stats and can be anything from an ex soldier, CIA or just a plain ordinary guy. From here you are given the option to conduct training in the various activities likely to be encountered whilst out in the field, from disarming alarms, to hacking computers, to weapons and "gadget" training. Missions can be conducted in any order, and to a certain degree, your actions on the missions will affect the course of the game later on. Succsessful completion of mission objectives, disposing of… more »

Firstly let me start by saying that at the time of writing I am only 3 missions in and first impressions are that this isnt a bad game, its just not (imho) what was advertised. I suppose that I should have listened to my sub-conscious when I saw it was been developed by Sega- a company not normally involved in RPG-esque titles.

You play the character Mike Thornton, who has recently been recruited into the Government organisation that gives the game its title. Your background determines your starting stats and can be anything from an ex soldier, CIA or just a plain ordinary guy. From here you are given the option to conduct training in the various activities likely to be encountered whilst out in the field, from disarming alarms, to hacking computers, to weapons and "gadget" training. Missions can be conducted in any order, and to a certain degree, your actions on the missions will affect the course of the game later on. Succsessful completion of mission objectives, disposing of enemies and succsessful interaction with alarms, locks and computers all give experience points which in turn go towards levelling up to the next level, where points can be spent improving skills such as sabotage etc.

All sounds run of the mill RPG stuff, so why the 3 stars?

The problem with the game is that it just doesnt really work as an RPG. Its a kind of budget "Mass Effect" with little nuances thrown in. The computer hacking is nothing short of fustrating, trying to identify a specific line of coding in a sea of swirling, ever changing letters and numbers, which is timed to change every few seconds, so just when you have identified the location of the code, it changes, which has had me nearly throwing my controller at the screen on a few occasions. AI of the enemy is apalling, and as for the espionage side, It seems as soon as you enter a mission area, enemies come running towards you in a suicidal wave of lemmings. James Bond it is not. It just all seems a little unpolished and could have been improved with a little bit more dev time.

On the whole, its not a bad game, and interaction with the other characters in the game is well driven within the story, and I am convinced that this will have bearing on how it all pans out, however, there is too much going on in the game, that doesnt make it feel as finished as it should be. maybe with a bit more playing it will come together, but therein lies the problem, as there isnt enough incentive for me to finish the game with the points mentioned making it a fustrating experience. As a standalone shooter it would be mediocre at best, what with its rivals, and there are just too many more polished RPG titles out there for it to contend with.
Not at all what I was expecting, and I think it will disappoint others too