Alpha Protocol - Retrospective @ Eurogamer

[aries100]

Eurogamer's Richard Cobbet has written a retrospective editorial about this game.
He thinks it has many faults, but acclaims the game for what it does:

Alpha Protocol was "The Espionage RPG", and for all its faults, it's easily the best spy game ever made. By that, I mean it's the only one that's set in the modern world, and that has a crack at the entire experience - the action, which, say, Spycraft lacked, the social side ignored by the likes of Goldeneye, and at least an attempt at a strategic element via a web of contacts, assets, betrayals and negotiations with friends and enemies that nobody ever really bothers with, but deserves to be important part of any fictional agent's life. Other games offered bits. Alpha Protocol did it all. The overall plot is fairly bland, though just to set the stage, it goes like this. Officially, the organisation known as Alpha Protocol doesn't exist.

More information.

 

[regomar]

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person that actually really liked this game. No idea whatsoever why this game get's the hatred it does. Excellent mechanics, great stealthy gameplay, neat gadgets, never glitched on me, great graphics for when it came out, pretty good story.

 

[DR490N]

No idea whatsoever why this game get's the hatred it does.

I know why I hated it :
- timed dialogues
- no quicksaves
What a waste due to two stupid decisions.

 

[Phonix]

I liked it to, but I wont agree the grrafic was good, it reminded me about CS, but that was not a problem fore me.

 

[Couchpotato]

I loved the game. It wasn't perfect but it was a very good rpg. That was the problem. People wanted to play like Mass Effect or a bond game but the game wouldn't let them. It had gasp dice rolls. No head shots for you.

Joking aside it was still good just destroyed by a few design decisions. I still replay it.

 

[JDR13]

Personally, I couldn't stand it. I know it supposedly gets a lot better after the first few areas, but I couldn't bring myself to play beyond Saudi Arabia. The game is ugly and clunky, and the modern day setting was uninteresting to me. I also really hated the HUD with all the floating markers on it.

 

[Crilloan]

Loved it.

Sad panda that there will not be a AP2

I think some people thought it was a shooter, and if you went in with that mindset you would miss the game.

C

 

[NFLed]

I enjoyed AP a whole lot, but I am glad it came out before Deus Ex Human Revolution because in my view the latter was similar but did most everything better. I would definitely look forward to an AP2 if there were such a thing.

 

[ChaosTheory]

I wanted to like it, but I agree, it was "clunky". I never really got past the tutorial. Maybe one day I'll try it again since it's sitting in my Steam library...

 

[Dajjer]

Alpha Protocol was "The Espionage RPG", and for all its faults, it's easily the best spy game ever made.

I have the physical game and the steam version. Can't quite get into the game but there is no way it's better than NOLF. Yeah NOLF was more a shooter than an RPG but NOLF sure got the sneaking around part absolutely right. But I would welcome both an AP2 and a NOLF3.

 

[JDR13]

I would welcome both an AP2 and a NOLF3.

I'd be happy just to see re-releases of NOLF 1&2 that are compatible with Windows 7.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

I finished AP, and I don't finish many games these days. I liked that it played more like an RPG than a shooter, which seemed to be the complaint or the mainstream folks whose interest was drawn by the game.

While I'm not big on shooters, I did enjoy NOLF, as I recall. Not sure if it was 1 or 2, but I still fondly remember the breakneck chase with mimes on tricycles.

 

[Dhruin]

It's a shame Monolith has not returned to NOLF - brilliant game.

I love AP; no other major game has a script with the number of branches and alternative paths. If I replayed it again, it would still surprise me.

 

[DArtagnan]

I disliked it because it was very confused about what it wanted to be. Visually and in terms of controls/polish - it was clunky and awkward. It felt like an RPG that tried to be an action/stealth game at the same time - but failed at both.

The writing was strangely cold and distant for the most part, which was a surprise - as I normally like Obsidian writing. The various attempts at "humor" were cringe-worthy more often than not - and the result was a very clumsy hybrid of bad mature writing and bad humor.

Certain boss fights completely destroyed the sensation of realistic espionage - with ultra-gamey mechanics. Worse than the fights in DE:HR - which is saying something.

The levels were annoying in their linearity and the way they closed off sections as you progressed. I seem to recall a horrible checkpoint save system as well? Not sure - but I remember feeling very put off by the approach to level exploration.

I can appreciate the branching dialogues and C&C - but it was definitely not enough to make it a good game.

As for feeling alone in liking it - I feel the same way about disliking it. I feel like I'm the only non-mainstream gamer who thinks it's pretty much a shit game. My sensation is that most "serious" gamers seem to think it's underappreciated and a diamond in the rough.

 

[Crilloan]

@ Dárt

The boss fights were truly horrible and destroyed immersion (wich is paramount for me), It was clunky and the camera were rather fucked up on PC.

Its saving grace for me were the setting.
I truly enjoyed being as far away from "gay elves and alcoholic dwarves" as possible. I am a fan of the first Bourne movie and to be able to move around in a contemporary world were great.

Its not obsidians greatest work though, could have used more polish and a clear vision on what they were trying to do.

Was it an RPG (as I played it) was it an RPG/shooter hybrid (as ME did much better)
Was it a shooter?

That uncertainty made it hard to sell, since some buyers did not get what they thought they would from it.

I still wish for more games with a similar setting.

C

 

[DArtagnan]

@ Dárt

The boss fights were truly horrible and destroyed immersion (wich is paramount for me), It was clunky and the camera were rather fucked up on PC.

Its saving grace for me were the setting.
I truly enjoyed being as far away from "gay elves and alcoholic dwarves" as possible. I am a fan of the first Bourne movie and to be able to move around in a contemporary world were great.

Its not obsidians greatest work though, could have used more polish and a clear vision on what they were trying to do.

Was it an RPG (as I played it) was it an RPG/shooter hybrid (as ME did much better)
Was it a shooter?

That uncertainty made it hard to sell, since some buyers did not get what they thought they would from it.

I still wish for more games with a similar setting.

C

I understand what you mean - though I'm not a big fan of the contemporary spy setting.

I'm also the kind of person who just can't get enough of fantasy and science fiction - and I don't even mind the clichés. I just want a setting that's done well.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

I loved AP. The modern setting was a breath of fresh air. The rpg mechanics were very sound and the story line was top notch. Its too bad that there aren't more games like this.

I think that this game is much better than ME.

 

[guenthar]

If people want other rpgs in a modern setting check out Boiling Point and White Gold.

 

[Trelow]

It's easily one of my favorite games ever.

 

[Pessimeister]

I think there's enough threads on the Watch that show some love exists here for the game.

Personally, I really enjoyed it and respect the design concepts that it was aspiring towards. I actually reject the assertion that it needed to be clearer with what it was trying to do; for me that particular stylistic ambiguity is part of its charm. It's an unusual blend of ideas and I think what it tried to achieve with the dialogue was also unique and interesting.

I like it much more for its choices and consequences than I did Mass Effect.

Perhaps it was just me that got a bizarre kick out of making Michael Thorton sport that huge bushy beard and attempt to give his choices as much paranoid and delusions of persecution as much as possible.