whatsinaname
Skilled
Save 90% on Alpha Protocolâ„¢ on Steam
A bit late to the party, but I picked up the game for $2 on Steam the other day. It is still on sale at that price. It was an impulse purchase but it turned out to be a very fun game (with a few caveats).
The game is basically a spy RPG where the combat is a real time third person shooting mechanic. (A bit like Fallout 3).
The game has an extensive skill tree that lets you configure your character and take different approaches to how you play the game. I am two hours in and have been playing in stealth mode. Experience points let you level up various skill, as you would expect. You also have access to various black market dealers for your weapons/armour needs.
The game has a brilliant conversation system. It is a major part of the game and the fact that the conversation choices have a timer and the options are greyed out depending on the timer adds a nice mechanic to the conversations. There are various bits of intelligence you can collect during the game and build dossiers on friends/enemies/organisations. The dossiers give hints on what kind of conversation cues each character will react to.
The various missions in the game have multiple endings and your choices effect the world of the game and further interactions with others down the road. For example, I made a choice in the first mission that was morally dodgy and I saw the repercussions a couple of missions later when there was a news telecast that showed an event which was a direct outcome of my decision.
Now for the negatives. The graphics get very janky at times. The camera will spin around randomly. Player animations stutter. Getting into and out of cover is a bit jarring. If you can get over those, there is some brilliant gameplay here. Also, there is no quick save/load.
One thing you need to keep in mind is not to approach the game as an FPS. The first couple of missions (till you upgrade your weapon/combat skills) can be a bit frustrating. Don't expect every head shot to be a one-hit kill.
So, who has finished the game? Did you go for the psycho killer run or a stealth run? Have you replayed it to take alternate paths?