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It even has a bonus debriefing paragraph.  Something along the lines of 'during the firefight a water tower collapsed, killing personnel stationed atop it. Agent Thorton denies knowledge of this incident'.
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Oct 9, 2011 06:28
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Insert name here posted:Literally the only reason I know this is because I saw it in a pre-release dev walkthrough of the level. I would have never tried it otherwise. Maybe I'm too used to video game tropes, but seeing that big tank there was just screaming for me to shoot it. I don't remember how it looked exactly, but it felt fairly obvious at the time. Edited for spoilers
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Oct 9, 2011 06:29
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poptart_fairy posted:Something along the lines of 'during the firefight a water tower collapsed, killing personnel stationed atop it. Agent Thorton denies knowledge of this incident'. You know how I learned about that thing? After clearing out the area, I idly thought, "hey, I wonder if I can shoot this gas ta--oh"
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Oct 9, 2011 06:29
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ToxicFrog posted:Wait, there's a route other than the balcony? You can just turn around after entering that room and go through the door the guard and camera are watching. If you have high enough stealth, you can sneak through easily. Otherwise, you got to melee your way through 4 or so guards with guns. That's what I did every time previously cause I didn't realize the balcony option existed. 404notfound posted:Maybe I'm too used to video game tropes, but seeing that big tank there was just screaming for me to shoot it . I don't remember how it looked exactly, but it felt fairly obvious at the time. I figured it would explode. I just thought it would be like the other tanks in the game which produce a minor explosion. The guards are high above it, so I never really bothered to shoot it.
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Oct 9, 2011 07:03
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Bought this for two bucks on Steam. I had a hell of a time getting it to work, and it's still not 100%, but it's a fun little game so far. I just finished Saudi Arabia and went to the Rome safehouse. The conversation with Scarlet on the plane was hilarious, at least the way I played it out (suave and then casual). I don't even remember exactly what he said, just that there was a lull in the conversation that Mike filled with "Mmm... yeahhhh..." that was the funniest combination of  and  I couldn't help but laugh my rear end off. I think I'm really going to like this game. My only complaint is that I feel like I was forced into using the Assault Rifle when I wanted to focus on shotguns. The pistol is just so inaccurate over any distance, and the shotgun is too, I needed something to give me reach. Of course this wouldn't be a problem if I were playing the stealthy character I wanted to, but it seemed after the first mission I was setting off tons of alarms and slaughtering everyone instead of sneaking successfully.
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Oct 9, 2011 15:48
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Torsade de Pointes posted:This might be just a coincidence, but I learned something interesting during the final Moscow mission Before having Brayko knife him, I choose the professional response with Surkov. He said there is a file on his computer that has all the information he has on Halbech and that the file was called Jacob. This is also the name of a file that Parker has you retrieve from the medical bay during your bonus training op. Parker tells you this file contains information on the location of AP. Holy poo poo. That's the craziest thing since the Heck Supremacy. Surkov is Halbech's dealer in Moscow, right? Was he supposed to sell that information? I guess they were already planning to close up shop, so some genius figured there was no reason not to give away the location. But what reason would Parker have to give it to him, or to steal it from Alpha Protocol and give it to Halbech, who had some reason to give it to him? Anyone want to volunteer for a playthrough where you don't do the training mission but do track down Surkov?
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Oct 9, 2011 15:59
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Brettbot posted:My only complaint is that I feel like I was forced into using the Assault Rifle when I wanted to focus on shotguns. The pistol is just so inaccurate over any distance, and the shotgun is too, I needed something to give me reach. Of course this wouldn't be a problem if I were playing the stealthy character I wanted to, but it seemed after the first mission I was setting off tons of alarms and slaughtering everyone instead of sneaking successfully. The shotgun is an amazing close-range weapon and you'll be doing a lot of your fighting at close range; if you want to focus shotguns, do so and bring along an assault rifle as your backup weapon for sniping. Rifles are actually pretty good even without any points in them, so "the weapon I actually have points in, with a rifle for backup" is a pretty common loadout. Shotguns are not, as a rule, compatible with stealth, though. If you do want to try being stealthy, wear light or no armour (heavier armour is noisier, making it harder to sneak) and drop points into the Stealth skill to get Silent Running and Shadow Operative, which are the true bread and butter of a stealth operative. Trying to stealth Thief-style (ie, avoiding or knocking out everyone without using SR/SO) will drive you insane. And of course if you're stealthing, the pistol is your weapon of choice (being the only weapon type that can have an integrated silencer and nonlethal ammo). As for the pistol being inaccurate - it's perfectly accurate if you line up a crit first (which you should be doing with any weapon). Putting points into the pistol skill will increase the range at which you can do so, and by the end you can basically forget about your backup rifle entirely.
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Oct 9, 2011 16:05
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ToxicFrog posted:The shotgun is an amazing close-range weapon and you'll be doing a lot of your fighting at close range; if you want to focus shotguns, do so and bring along an assault rifle as your backup weapon for sniping. Rifles are actually pretty good even without any points in them, so "the weapon I actually have points in, with a rifle for backup" is a pretty common loadout. Yeah, my idea was to go silenced pistol, Sam Fisher-type sneaking, and bring the shotgun as a backup for when things go loud. And it mostly worked, until I got into a big open room where people got alerted. Then they all kept their distance and flanked me and threw grenades, while I had a shotgun with no range and a pistol with no accuracy. Then again this was all in Saudi Arabia, so maybe I just gave up on it too soon. I looked ahead and saw the shotgun gets a perk where every hit is a Critical, that looks pretty cool.
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Oct 9, 2011 16:45
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Brettbot posted:My only complaint is that I feel like I was forced into using the Assault Rifle when I wanted to focus on shotguns. The pistol is just so inaccurate over any distance, and the shotgun is too, I needed something to give me reach. Of course this wouldn't be a problem if I were playing the stealthy character I wanted to, but it seemed after the first mission I was setting off tons of alarms and slaughtering everyone instead of sneaking successfully. Stealthing is difficult at the beginning, when you have very few skills. Wearing no armor is basically better than wearing armor at the beginning. Even the first stealth armor is noisier than your street clothes, though it provides much better protection and more items. There's also very few missions which can be done without anyone seeing you. Don't worry too much about trying to be Sam Fisher. Stealth as much as you can, but if you get spotted don't sweat it. There's basically no negative consequences for getting spotted beyond having to deal with a few more people. In fact, there's a perk for setting off a bunch of alarms. Pistols are probably the best weapon, but you have to put points into it. Take your time to aim and use chain shot liberally. Also, you can line up head shots from behind cover with enough points invested. The AR is probably the best weapon with no points invested and is great for distance shooting. All the weapons have their uses, it just takes some time to get the feel for how to use them properly.
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Oct 9, 2011 16:55
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Brettbot posted:Yeah, my idea was to go silenced pistol, Sam Fisher-type sneaking, and bring the shotgun as a backup for when things go loud. And it mostly worked, until I got into a big open room where people got alerted. Then they all kept their distance and flanked me and threw grenades, while I had a shotgun with no range and a pistol with no accuracy. Then again this was all in Saudi Arabia, so maybe I just gave up on it too soon. I looked ahead and saw the shotgun gets a perk where every hit is a Critical, that looks pretty cool. That's the shotgun's activated ability, Room Sweep; activate it and for a while every shot is a crit, without needing to charge it up first (which you do by aiming, and which you should definitely be doing). The shotgun passives are mostly increases to damage, stability, and recoil control, and reductions in how long it takes you to charge criticals when not using Room Sweep. The SMGs', incidentally, gives you a infinite ammo for a while, the rifle's gives you auto-aim (yeah, it kind of sucks), and the pistol's lets you freeze time and line up several shots. Saudi Arabia kind of sucks regardless of your skill set, because none of your skills are high enough to really be interesting (unless you're playing Veteran, anyways). In the long run, pistols+stealth is generally considered easymode to the point of being borderline cheating; between the ability of pistols to let you line up criticals through cover and freeze time, and the ability of stealth to see through walls and turn invisible, you can steamroll everything in your path.
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Oct 9, 2011 17:09
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(spoilers for Marburg) Mina sends you an email about a "DV" server at Alpha Protocol. Don't remember which response I picked, but this time she sent me a reply saying that DV stood for Deus Vult, and was an earlier iteration of Alpha Protocol. Marburg's people are also called Deus Vult. Does that mean they're really the old Alpha Protocol, or do they just happen to have the same name?
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Oct 9, 2011 17:16
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Sam. posted:(spoilers for Marburg) Does that mean they're really the old Alpha Protocol, or do they just happen to have the same name? Coincidences? In Alpha Protocol? Not an option.
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Oct 9, 2011 17:50
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Sam. posted:(spoilers for Marburg) Mina sends you an email about a "DV" server at Alpha Protocol. Don't remember which response I picked, but this time she sent me a reply saying that DV stood for Deus Vult, and was an earlier iteration of Alpha Protocol. Marburg's people are also called Deus Vult. Does that mean they're really the old Alpha Protocol, or do they just happen to have the same name? I think Marburg just chose that name for his bodyguards cause the name has sentimental value to him. Same reason he chose to bomb the museum with the crusades exhibit. Marburg was in Deus Vult, but he was burned like Thorton. I doubt there's a connection beyond that, but I guess you never know for sure. It's a similar situation with G22. There's an earlier iteration of AP that was called G19, I think. There's no information available if the two are actually related or not.
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Oct 9, 2011 17:59
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Even after finishing the game, I don't want to read the spoilers and wish I hadn't read the ones I did.
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Oct 9, 2011 18:00
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Dominoes posted:Even after finishing the game, I don't want to read the spoilers and wish I hadn't read the ones I did. Just play it again. After your 2nd, you'll have seen some new stuff, then you read all the spoilers and see what there still is left to see, so you can make sure to get the rest on your 3rd.
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Oct 9, 2011 18:05
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Dominoes posted:Even after finishing the game, I don't want to read the spoilers and wish I hadn't read the ones I did. This is why I say you haven't "finished" the game until you've played it at least a couple times.
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Oct 9, 2011 18:17
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This loving game... I guess I missed a dossier every other time I've played, because this is the first time I'm reading about how Mina's probably working undercover for the NSA. I never had a clue who she was working for, I just assumed it was G22.
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Oct 9, 2011 18:17
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This is the only game I've ever played through more than twice. The length is perfect for multiple play throughs in order to see each ending. Played as smooth stealth guy, arsehole gun guy and suave karate guy. Worth every ££.
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Oct 9, 2011 18:19
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Torsade de Pointes posted:It's a similar situation with G22. There's an earlier iteration of AP that was called G19, I think. There's no information available if the two are actually related or not. Where does it say that?
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Oct 9, 2011 19:17
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Stop reading spoilers, idiots!
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Oct 9, 2011 19:22
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I was going through old magazines and cleaning up today when I randomly came across a GameInformer from December 2010. The big article is "The 30 Characters Who Defined A Decade", and there's a sidebar for "Characters Who Missed Their Marks". The main article doesn't have too many surprises, but the sidebar has this to say about Michael Thorton from AP: "In games like Mass Effect, player choice affects the story and how players interact with the world at large. The same goes in Alpha Protocol, though the results are uniformly dull. Whether players choose to run into a situation with guns blazing or take a more stealthy approach, Michael Thorton does it while simultaneously sucking the energy from a room. The fact that he can make missions such as infiltrating a terrorist-filled boat completely boring is a testament to how poorly this supposed super-spy is implemented." Anyway, just thought it might be interesting to add another example of how every critic completely misread the game. The other "Characters Who Missed Their Marks" are Dante from Devil May Cry, The Rookie from ODST, Tingle from Majora's Mask, and Shadow the Hedgehog.
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Oct 9, 2011 19:48
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A Strange Aeon posted:"In games like Mass Effect, player choice affects the story and how players interact with the world at large. The same goes in Alpha Protocol, though the results are uniformly dull. Whether players choose to run into a situation with guns blazing or take a more stealthy approach, Michael Thorton does it while simultaneously sucking the energy from a room. The fact that he can make missions such as infiltrating a terrorist-filled boat completely boring is a testament to how poorly this supposed super-spy is implemented." Sounds like someone only used professional responses. Also Tingle is brilliant, so they're an idiot there too.
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Oct 9, 2011 19:54
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A Strange Aeon posted:I was going through old magazines and cleaning up today when I randomly came across a GameInformer from December 2010. The big article is "The 30 Characters Who Defined A Decade", and there's a sidebar for "Characters Who Missed Their Marks". The main article doesn't have too many surprises, but the sidebar has this to say about Michael Thorton from AP: Yeah, I was almost annoyed enough to write an angry email about that. I do think I posted it here, though.
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Oct 9, 2011 20:01
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A Strange Aeon posted:"In games like Mass Effect, player choice affects the story and how players interact with the world at large. He can't even get one sentence out without being wrong.
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Oct 9, 2011 20:03
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Torsade de Pointes posted:This might be just a coincidence, but I learned something interesting during the final Moscow mission Before having Brayko knife him, I choose the professional response with Surkov. He said there is a file on his computer that has all the information he has on Halbech and that the file was called Jacob. This is also the name of a file that Parker has you retrieve from the medical bay during your bonus training op. Parker tells you this file contains information on the location of AP. And if I remember correctly, both refer to Jacob's Ladder, which is the missile system used to shoot down the airliner.
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Oct 9, 2011 21:10
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Sam. posted:He can't even get one sentence out without being wrong. Amen to that. I've been describing this game to people as "modern day mass effect where your choices actually mean something."
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Oct 9, 2011 21:20
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Agreed, I love the poo poo out of Mass Effect but your choices are mostly window dressing. The only things they really change an ending to is in side missions which have no real bearing on the rest of the game. It is cool to see a character turn out differently to another player's game or turn up in the second game due to what you did, but it's no match for AP where characters I barely spoke two words to end up being central to the games of others.
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Oct 9, 2011 22:18
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I'm really enjoying this game but I am experiencing some really bad texture clipping problems especially with mike's armor. Is there a way to fix this? It seems to be getting worse the farther on in the game I get.
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Oct 9, 2011 23:28
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Sam. posted:Where does it say that? Stuff about the AP program You have to get 100% of the dossier for the organization. The last paragraph says "The information in Westridge's file is correct. If Alpha Protocol is uncovered (and it has been, several times, in a chain that looks like it dates to the early 1950s), the program is erased and begins anew under a different name and a different code for "rogue" agents. Previous names of the agencies include "G19" and "Deus Vult." John Dough posted:And if I remember correctly, both refer to Jacob's Ladder, which is the missile system used to shoot down the airliner. I had forgotten the name of the targeting system or whatever was called that. That's probably why the file is called Jacob considering Surkov helped get the missiles shipped to Shaheed. Perhaps the file Parker has you get has AP's location because he had the missiles shipped from Alpha Protocol to Russia and then to Saudi Arabia?
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Oct 10, 2011 00:31
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Whelp I finished this game and apparently I didn't have even the slightest idea what was going on the whole time apparently Omen Deng was an double agent and not evil? Apparently Suchev was a douchebag and used me WTF? Also why didn't I get an option to cap Scarlet Lake in the dome after she told me she was the assassin?
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Oct 10, 2011 08:36
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Finished the game and would like to be added to the list of people who were pleasantly surprised. I never was looking forward to the game, and when it came out the middling reviews kept me away from it, but during that two dollar sale on steam who the gently caress wouldn't buy it. I did and it was more than worth it. Sure the gameplay was toilet water compared to most modern games, but it wasn't hard (I used pistols and stealth). But drat the games story was so satisfying, just about every choice I made put the story in the direction I was hoping it would go towards, up to the very end. I ended up being the cool bad rear end dude that I wanted to be, no lovely and half-assed surprises or twists in the way. And at the end of it all, even though I was certain it wouldn't happen, I got to ride off into the sunset with my face on. Maybe I was just lucky with the decisions I made, but god drat everyone should buy this game.
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Oct 10, 2011 22:49
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I just completed my first play-through and it was absolutely spectacular. I feel like I cheated the system for only paying 2 bucks for it. I particularly liked how dialogue scenes became such an integral and intense part of the game, almost a tactical conversation simulator. It was all really well done. I was also surprised at how interesting and complex the political thriller aspect of the plot was. Plus, sneaking around and taking down bad guys with martial arts is awesome. Cheers to everyone who praised and recommended the game in this thread.
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Oct 11, 2011 02:20
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Saucepan Man posted:Finished the game and would like to be added to the list of people who were pleasantly surprised. I never was looking forward to the game, and when it came out the middling reviews kept me away from it, but during that two dollar sale on steam who the gently caress wouldn't buy it. I did and it was more than worth it. Sure the gameplay was toilet water compared to most modern games, but it wasn't hard (I used pistols and stealth). But drat the games story was so satisfying, just about every choice I made put the story in the direction I was hoping it would go towards, up to the very end. I ended up being the cool bad rear end dude that I wanted to be, no lovely and half-assed surprises or twists in the way. And at the end of it all, even though I was certain it wouldn't happen, I got to ride off into the sunset with my I say this all the time, and I apologize for doing it again, but you're gonna have your mind blown with how drat different the game is on a second playthrough. Give it a try when you can.
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Oct 11, 2011 02:23
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Talorat posted:Whelp I finished this game and apparently I didn't have even the slightest idea what was going on the whole time apparently Omen Deng was an double agent and not evil? Apparently Suchev was a douchebag and used me WTF? Also why didn't I get an option to cap Scarlet Lake in the dome after she told me she was the assassin? It's all in the dossier secrets. You find that Sukhov is the actual Halbech contact by letting Brayko live and tell his side of the story. Deciding to spare Omen Deng instead of killing him lets you find out that he is actually a double agent.
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Oct 11, 2011 02:38
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Finished the game this weekend my first time as a pistol stealth and was feeling both invincible and badass. The I started a Recruit with AR and some toughness and feeling also invincible and badass. Man this game is really incredible in design and variation. Every map is nicely setup to let you feeling like you have a couple of ideas you can explore. It isn't even just "Stealth Left, Action Right" but several different stealth routes and several action routes or ways to plausibly mix them up. Then there's the story and dialogue work, which is probably unmatched. Jesus, I started the game reloading checkpoints when I messed up or chose something that I considered negative but they really wrote the story that capitalizes on the "no bad choices". Even in my second playthrough as a flippant murdering psychopath, I expected to be shorted all kinds of story and opportunity because of the wake of bodies but the story nicely conformed to my serial killer and felt full and not lacking. This game makes me sort of not like Mass Effect now. So, big thanks to all that gave this game props enough for me to try it out. Biggest surprise in recent memory.
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Oct 11, 2011 07:05
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What does Veteran actually change? I know it gives you a lot more starting points, a few dialog options, the ability to do both options in Breyko's mansion) and the Gelato guy at the start, but is there much else?
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Oct 11, 2011 10:38
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Finished the game today, a solid 8 I'd say. I didn't kill anyone except Leland, managed to turn both Marburg and Parker over to my side. Was pretty great being all and besting people with my knowledge. "About Omen Deng... I know all about him, I talked to him. Shaheed is alive too, btw."I didn't save Mina however, because I thought I had to choose between stopping Westridge and helping her. And I also managed to miss Scarlet. I think this hosed things up somehow, because I didn't get to meet my handler, Albatross, even though I had the objective. Maybe that was some unrelated bug. So the whole thing ended a bit  with Thorton leaving on the boat alone. Still, this Thorton prefered doing things on his own.I didn't really mind the gameplay that everyone seems to hate on but on the other hand I didn't find the story, which everyone seems to love, that amazing in itself. There were also a bit too many instances of "sure you can sneak if you want. Oh, but wait here's a story triggered alarm!" But, yeah, definitely will do another playthrough. Heck needs a Bro. :iamafag:
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Oct 11, 2011 19:06
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Captain Scandinaiva posted:Finished the game today, a solid 8 I'd say. The story really isn't that amazing. It's okay. It's a pretty generic spy thing with some fun characters. The thing that everybody loves is that on your second playthrough, when you're doing things totally different and trying all kinds of new approaches, the story still feels "right". It doesn't feel like you're missing out on things, and you're seeing plenty of new stuff that you didn't even know was there.
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Oct 11, 2011 19:14
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Captain Scandinaiva posted:Finished the game today, a solid 8 I'd say. Albatross or SIE won't show up on the boat no matter what. The ending was a little rushed. Also, did you watch the credits? The actual story isn't what most people gush over, though it's not bad for a video game imho. What I assume impresses most people is how reactive the game is to your choices. For this, you really need another play through where you act in a different manner. Also, another cool part is being able to discover a lot of neat information on characters and their motivations that you might have not found previously. Edit: beaten
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Oct 11, 2011 19:21
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Captain Scandinaiva posted:There were also a bit too many instances of "sure you can sneak if you want. Oh, but wait here's a story triggered alarm!" It's not really supposed to be ghosted, sneaking in this game is mainly another combat skill.
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Oct 11, 2011 19:36
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