ALPHA protocol

[Art Blade]

tempting, like: what happens if you choose "execute" rather than talk, and what happens if you piss everyone off you meet, and what you meant, what happens if you kill rather than subdue enemies.  :) But I know I can't do that for long, let alone through an entire game ;)

One thing that I need to mention about AP:

Low system specs supported. Due to the lack of extremely posh graphics. So that is actually a PRO rather than a contra point, people with less advanced machines are able to play a modern game. Consider that :) :-X

[Art Blade]

Ha, see.. staying cool and thoughtful pays off, "parting ways without a fight, SIE remains a potential contact and handler for future missions."  ;D

[JRD]

tempting, like: what happens if you choose "execute" rather than talk, and what happens if you piss everyone off you meet, and what you meant, what happens if you kill rather than subdue enemies.  :) But I know I can't do that for long, let alone through an entire game ;)

In games like that I tend to play through once as a good guy, doing my best to help and being, say, polite...  :-()

Second time around, I'm a mean motherfucker... I'll kill you regardless of what you've done to me, so don't help me... or help me and die anyway  >:D

Subsequent attempts would be a mix of the previous two... kill if I think I should or let live if I think I should!

Man... being God ought to be cool!  8)

[Art Blade]

I see the many opportunities the game has to offer which allow for many different outcomes, and that is just great. The last bit you wrote, decide whom to kill or let live, is what you do anyway. My "problem" is that I'm used to logic and reason combined with social skills which the game rewards big time. I don't know if it rewards brutal jackasses  ;D

For instance, I just played through a set of missions, which were caused by previous actions, building on each other. The reason for that set of consecutive missions is that (again) I spared a life. That initial mission debriefing contained a warning "potential enemies" (for letting them survive) but I managed to turn that situation into an advantage: I gained a new ally (who used to be a "potential enemy") and that new ally on top opened access to new arms dealer items.. :)

This game is awesome.  ;D

[fragger]

Interesting stuff, Art :-X And thanks for the info re: system specs :)

[Art Blade]

thanks and welcome :) The sys specs can be found at the beginning of my report where I quoted the installation message.

1) System Requirements
Minimum System Requirements:
Operating System:
Windows XP or Vista
Processor:
2.4+GHZ Intel or 2.0+GHZ AMD
Memory:
1 Gigabyte RAM (XP)
2 Gigabyte RAM (Vista)
Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce 6 series (6800GT or better)
ATI 1300XT or better (X1550, X1600 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)
Hard Drive Space:
12 Gigabytes
Sound Card:
DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers

NOTE: It may be necessary to update your hardware drivers.
Intel integrated graphics chips are not officially supported.

[Art Blade]

By the way, just a FYI, the graphics (again): The game is based on the Unreal engine which explains a lot. ;)

***

People, I can't get that silly grin off my face  ^+-+ I'm playing the endgame now. Depending on what you did (if you played it like me) there will be some rather amusing moments that are, how shall I put it, quite "mature."  ;) ;D

There have been quite a few occasions that made me admire the storytelling and I love the numerous moments I could change the chain of events, making things happen that seemed unlikely, not to say impossible. I'm glad I have kept saving after each checkpoint so I had the opportunity to test a few things and there are still a lot of undiscovered ways which I'm looking forward to check out.

One thing is certain: This game has a replay value that looks extremely promising, almost uncountable occasions to make choices that change everything. Until now I'm talking about conversation choices and decisions during missions but there are even more basic things that will have a great impact on the gameplay like how you choose to spend your AP points in respect of diversifying skills and making use of various gadgets or with respect to maximising your skills according to your fighting and weapon style.

It's been a while that I enjoyed an RPG so much. The last good ones were Oblivion and FO3, but they are quite different from ALPHA Protocol. This game is a political thriller taking place here and now, not some fantasy or sci-fi setting. Very interesting concept and very addictive.

In case you're uncertain, I think this game is what you make of it. If you give it a chance and accept its unusual or perhaps odd ways, you will be able to immerse quickly and have a lot of fun. The game and story to me is like "I really want to know what's going to happen next" depending on the choices I made and so on.. In a way it's not exactly linear as there are too many ways to change the outcome of various events. :)

[Art Blade]

I'm through  :)

Man, that was so much fun and entertainment.. excellent :-X

[Art Blade]

In case someone is interested in cheats, I'm just taking a look at my favourite cheats site.

http://www.cheatbook.de/files/alphaprotocol.htm

[Art Blade]

Just for comparison

old graphics (about one year before release) vs actual graphics.

Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol The Espionage RPG official [HD] video game trailer PS3 Xbox 360 PC

[Art Blade]

Actually, opinions voiced in the second vid are basically what I'd say about the game :) :-X

And the graphics aren't that bad ;)

[Art Blade]

:D No screenshots, irfanView doesn't register anything, PRNTSCR only produces a black image. I'm in the setup of the game still, maybe during gameplay.  >:(( :-\\

Strange, there is a folder called "screenshots" and there is a (one) screenshot with a date/time stamp matching my first playthrough. Although there is no way of mapping a key to it nor is a screenshot function documented, there must be a key. I remember that I once ran through all F-keys and that might have caused that lone screenie. After reading through various files in the game folders, I found an entry but no matching key.

In the spirit of OWG yours truly checked it out and found it.

F9 is the key! Unbelievable, but it produces BMP files with an incredible filesize of around 7MB and they are located on your OS/master drive. Nice. So that means.. cleaning up every now and then, batch-converting them into jpeg files so I don't litter my good old HD with silly amounts of massive pics. :)

[smg id=2498 type=link align=center width=400 caption="AP Michael Thorton"]

[PZ]

Well, at least you were able to discover a way to accomplish your desired task - funny how they seem to almost hide the fact that a game can capture stills or movies.

[Art Blade]

Not almost, they actually did hide it. I found it hidden in a file among a bulk of game files. The information wasn't even available on the net, all I found were comments like the ones I posted previously (black screen) and recommendations like "use FRAPS."

[Art Blade]

2nd playthrough commenced

[smg id=2499 type=link align=center width=400 caption="AP Thorton talking"]

Equipped with the experience gained during the first playthrough and still dwelling on fond memories of all the exitement and fun I had, I decided to start over. This time I chose to start as "Recruit" which gives you additional conversation options during orientation (tutorial). It was actually fun and one may receive special perks when using those recruit options. It will also unlock the "Veteran" option for future playthroughs (again, like recruit, it will only affect the orientation phase).

This time I enjoyed the tutorial and didn't miss out on stuff, unlike during my first attempt. Ahh, I'm rubbing my hands in anticipation of  new adventures as I am going to do some things differently. I also decided to erm, tweak my skills a little.. I already maxed all of them out (apart from those that go beyond upgrade level 10 when having to specialise, three skills can be maxed out up to upgrade level 15). Some extra cash doesn't do any harm, so I erm, inherited some money which miraculously boosted my funds. I'm more interested in the story than in slowly upgrading my stuff.

On we go  ;D

[Art Blade]

Something I do differently is how I deal with enemies. I focus on stealth and sneaking up on someone and take him out either using martial arts or with tranquilizer rounds from my pistol or throwing shock traps -- none of the aforementioned ways kill a person but they all serve well if you just want to incapacitate opponents. I'll still have to try flash bangs (deafening and blinding grenades).

For the first time I managed to finish a mission without setting off any alarm and without killing anyone. Stealth is taking quite some time but it also helps finding bonus objectives which then may be rewarded with some extra perks :)

[Art Blade]

I'm enjoying this. Stealth approach is interesting, because if you shoot someone in front of someone else's eyes, that'd be it -- alarm  ;) So I carefully pick each target and take them out one by one.. and then I can horse around unmolested.

[smg id=2500  type=link align=center width=400 caption="AP Thorton posing 01"]

[PZ]

Nice graphics!  :-X

Kind of reminds me of 15th century Italy  :-()

[Art Blade]

Hehe, I see.. AC2 on your mind :)

This here is in the Middle East, and yes.. as I said, the graphics aren't that  bad at all.  :)

[PZ]

Indeed - I love the AC2 graphics  :-X

[Art Blade]

Then you'd be fine with AP.

It's the Unreal 3 engine and I don't see much of a difference between AC2 and AP.  :)

[PZ]

Sounds like another one for the list of games I'd eventually like to play  :-X  ;)

[fragger]

Me too. I like the idea and technique of sneaking around and stealthily taking down enemies one by one. That was my favourite aspect of the old Deus Ex. I like to try to do that in FC2 as well on occasion, but it doesn't always pan out :-\\

Have fun on your second go-around, Art. If you're like me, you will - I always enjoy games more after the first -thru, when you can start thinking about doing things differently or better :-D

[Art Blade]

cheers :)
Enemies subdued:
38 tranquilized
14 electrocuted
83 knocked out
135 total. So far, no kills  :-X

Got to keep this one brief, bed time.. ;)

[JRD]

That`s definitely the kind of game I`d replay using the opposite technique I used on the first time around! I like to try the hard approach - stealth - at least once, maybe the first playthrough is so intense I would be eager to get to the end of the game and eventually go the noisy way. But my 2nd time around would be sneaking!