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I could probably just find out by trying it for myself, but when Leland asks who helped you and you have the option to tell him about G22 or deny that anyone helped you, does anything change based on your response? I've always gone the "gently caress off" route thinking I'll get some long-term benefit from it, and also because telling the bad guys about your friends is not how Michael Thorton rolls, but I'm curious about how that actually affects anything. I might do it next time I play; telling Leland about G22 and getting to tell Marburg that it was Parker who burned him are about the only things I've yet to do in this game.
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Nov 19, 2012 02:16
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 15:21 |
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There are a few blind spots like G22 thing, and I have a fairly easy time forgiving them given the amount of stuff the developers had to keep track of. The game obviously assumes you'll meet G22 in Taipei first, which is kind of odd since the plot reason to go to Moscow is "this is where the missiles that blew up the airliner came from" which is a pretty compelling reason to go there first. As I recall it feels like a decent introduction in Moscow, but then you meet them in Taipei and Mike goes "hmm, G22, I know these guys, they're fine. Welp, better kill them all." There's also not much difference with Steven Heck's dialogue when he doesn't like you, outside of a couple of lines. But the only people who will notice that are the lame asses who act like a professional around Steven Heck. Mina's dialogue in certain endgame scenarios is one I wish they'd caught though: If she likes you she comes to your apartment and confesses that she works for a super secret department and she was the one who cut you off so you'd have to fight Halbech. You then side with Leland, who tells you to kill Mina, and that you'll want to when you hear what she has to say. So you find Mina, and... she confesses that she works for a super secret department and she was the one who cut you off so you'd have to fight Halbech. It's weird that that slipped through.
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Nov 20, 2012 17:16
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Ceyton posted:More or less. The only truly atrocious part is the menu system for selecting your active skill/gadget and changing equipment
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Nov 21, 2012 06:08
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Man, what if EA had kept them working on it (24 was still on and popular, Quantum of Solace came out not long before, spy poo poo is popular!) and Mass Effect 2 and 3's development been handed over to another studio. Say, another studio who had already made sci-fi/fantasy sequels to Bioware games? What Could Have Been I can't help but wonder if this game had anything to do with Sega sitting on AP for like a year after it was done. Though I guess if they knew a more popular competitor was making a similar game they'd be more likely to release theirs ASAP. 2house2fly fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Dec 7, 2012 |
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Dec 7, 2012 17:42
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Chain Shot, Shadow Operative, hide from him until both are recharged, repeat. Remember to use steel core rounds for the extra damage. If he's still giving you trouble, load your last safehouse and travel to a different location. Do a mission or two in Rome or Moscow, go up a couple of levels, put points in Stealth and Pistols. Come back and wipe the floor with that rear end in a top hat.
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Dec 10, 2012 04:26
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I just found out a few days ago from the LP thread that there are two ways to do it, with two slightly different speeches. I just did it once to say I'd done it and never tried again, since it's not really integrated into the flashforwards; before that fight there's a scene where Thorton and Leland discuss Marburg in the present tense.
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Dec 10, 2012 05:45
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It's heartening to know that, while it wasn't a smash hit, AP didn't completely tank as much as I'd assumed it did. Good word of mouth and frequent appearances in Steam sales probably helped with that. It's also nice to hear that they'd like to do a sequel; I remember when the Eternity kickstarter video went up and AP didn't get mentioned in it, I thought of Compte's posts in this thread about how troubled the development was and wondered if they just hated the game completely and never wanted to go near it or anything like it again.
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Dec 17, 2012 20:52
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Wolfsheim posted:This is kinda nice to hear. Alpha Protocol is still slowly gaining an audience Sigh... what could have been.
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Dec 26, 2012 01:00
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Eurogamer retrospective on Alpha Protocol, largely positive. I guess I'm the only person in the world who enjoyed all three minigames and never had any more of a problem with combat than in the likes of Splinter Cell or whatever. Still, it's nice to see AP get some love from a fairly popular and respectable site, even if it is nearly three years overdue. Also I've never killed the gelato guy and now I really want to see the consequence for that that they mentioned. I thought that would just be one of those "miss out on dossiers/make it harder to find final mission" ones.
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Jan 6, 2013 18:14
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I'm playing through this game as a punching loudgun dude with enough points in stealth to get always-on Awareness, with the rest mainly in CQC and Toughness. This game is definitely not the world's best cover shooter, but punching dudes in the face never gets old. I went to Moscow first and Brayko was a tense fight rather than a Steven Heck and Chain Shot cakewalk. Ooh, also when I went to the Embassy I was expecting to have to fight my way in, since I smashed a wine bottle over Grigori's head and I'm playing aggressive/professional. I walk up to the entrance all tooled up in my finest armour, and the door guard says "Oh hey, are you the extra security we hired, what took you so long, Surkov's waiting for you." This loving game.
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Jan 22, 2013 07:56
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Don't go to Leningradski Trainyard.
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Jan 25, 2013 01:26
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There'll be the odd reference to the events of a previous hub as well. When I went to Moscow after Taipei Grigori commented on the outcome of my mission there, and in Taipei one mission had a couple of mooks chatting about what happened in Rome. One of my favourite consequence bits in the game: the end credits reveal that if Halbech's attacks in Rome and Taipei are successful the results actually work against them: if Madison survives the museum bombing she becomes a vocal anti-war speaker, and if Sung is killed the independence movement crumbles without popular support.
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Feb 9, 2013 07:36
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CommissarMega posted:IIRC, you have to (spoiling to be safe) side with Al-Samad in the end. when you meet him for the second time Shaheed will ask "are you sure you want to work against the US government?" If you answer Yes you'll get Westridge as a final boss. I don't know what else will get you that, apart from siding with Leland. Also, you can still kill Shaheed right after you say that, which I always did because the motherfucker blew up a plane.
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Feb 13, 2013 17:56
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It sort of feels like they didn't have time to properly test some conversations, and there were variations based on the amount of dossier information you had. So you could know about X already, or interrogate Y until he tells you about X, and the game lets you do both. There's another bit at the end of the game where Mina confesses to Mike that she was the one who cut him off from the agency, then later if you work for Halbech you can angrily confront her about cutting you off from the agency.
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Feb 26, 2013 02:48
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An even better way to deal with Parker is to find out his involvement in Marburg's past and tell Marburg about it. Marburg will not take it well.
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Mar 11, 2013 15:40
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I don't think the boss guy gives you anything except the gun. You get the glass eye or beret from Nasri. What I never got about Hong Shi is that you go into his mission knowing he's been doing business with Al-Samad (you even say "I'm a friend of the sheik" when you meet him) so how is finding out that he's working with Al-Samad a surprise when you find it out during the Triad mission? I guess just put it down to the fact that parts of the game didn't get the fine -tooth comb treatment they really should have.
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Apr 11, 2013 14:47
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That was how my first playthrough ended and it was amazing. Scarlet shot me, I saw Heck sneaking up behind her but figured I'd see how the situation played out. I convinced Scarlet to shoot Leland, then "Now Steven!" and he wasted her. Proper action movie ending. The only better one was when I managed to get Marburg walking away AND Scarlet shooting Thorton both at once. That's the Canon Ending as far as I'm concerned. Wait, did someone say that if your Rep with Marburg is high enough he'll kill Leland himself instead of walking away? Is that true?
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Apr 14, 2013 00:32
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I like it with the pistol, because it feels like it's simulating aiming carefully and lining up your shot, with the spread representing the jiggles you can get when you're a person under stress, behind enemy lines, etc. And you're more likely to be using the pistol as a stealth character so that's all appropriate. It's more irritating with the assault rifle, which takes just as long to line up a shot but could maybe have done extra damage or something to compensate, and can be tough to use for a more actiony character. Plus of course no weapon's unique ability even comes close to Chain Shot.
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Apr 25, 2013 01:52
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Also, unless you're ignoring weapon skills entirely, if you're being stealthy you probably put some points into pistols. And Chain Shot at a decent level will wreck Brayko's poo poo so thoroughly that I didn't hear the chorus of the song until my third playthrough.
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Apr 25, 2013 12:56
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They seemed to be hinting with the presidential run of Darcy's father that in a theoretical sequel the President would be aware of Alpha Protocol, and possibly have a grudge against Thorton. Anyway, is the code in the gelato shop meant to be out of date? The impression I got was that the code was valid but the gelato guy didn't care enough about procedure to memorise his response. That kind of lax attitude would explain why you can bluff your way in even without the handshake.
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Apr 25, 2013 18:49
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...what.
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Apr 27, 2013 04:33
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Its reputation for bugs is overblown. There are a couple, but Skyrim had more, which reviewers of that game didn't really mention much for some reason.
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May 9, 2013 05:35
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There's also a door inside the building that'll trigger that flag, but I don't know exactly where it is. Near the entrance and right at the top of a flight of stairs, if I remember right. Save before going through any doors that are right at the top of a flight of stairs.
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May 9, 2013 19:53
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I got all  at Suaving my way through that dialogue, having previously Suaved Grigori.Thorton: Sure sucks to be on guard duty out here in the cold, huh? Guard: Yeah dude, I'm freezing my balls off. Thorton: I'm here to see Surkov, he in? Guard: Yeah, he's working late or something. Thorton: Haha, classic Sergei. I'll just head in then. Guard: No problem, stop by the break room and grab a cup of hot cocoa. Or something like that anyway. How many games give you the chance to achieve your objective by having a friendly conversation? Not too many!
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May 11, 2013 20:12
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I think the fully-modded guns look hilarious, like someone's just jammed as much poo poo on them as possible to make them shoot better. It reminds me of Pew Pew, the laser pistol from New Vegas that someone clearly just taped a couple of extra batteries to and it does 5x damage. I don't know if the AP gun mods are realistic, but the thought of carrying some of those monstrosities into battle (I think one time I had a shotgun with a sniper scope?) makes me giggle.
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Jun 3, 2013 05:52
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I pretty much play on Easy or Normal; Hard is annoying because it just gives the enemies more hit points, making tranq ammo pointless because you can't down an enemy in one shot, meaning stealth-shooting is out entirely. I totally recommend starting over some time though; fans tend to oversell how different it can get from game to game(it's always the same basic plot after all, and there's only one or two missions you might miss out on) but you really can alter the feel and texture of what's going on to a very impressive degree. I keep meaning to start another playthrough, but I've played it through eight or nine times and I've basically done everything at this point. I might just look up what achievements I haven't got and go after them. I don't think I've bedded all the love interests in one game yet. 
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Sep 6, 2013 06:00
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I've not played The Walking dead but it's been interesting to hear about. The first episode or two, all the buzz was "best choice in a game ever" and I heard a good few "if Alpha Protocol was actually good" comments- I guess the similar conversation systems put the association in people's minds; by the time all the episodes were out the comments had shifted to "well it's no Alpha Protocol, but..."
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Nov 4, 2013 16:11
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There's merit to both its presence and absence, I think. You're playing a master of manipulation, and it can be hard to get across that you've successfully manipulated someone- with a dour rear end in a top hat like Marburg the difference between a neutral reaction and a negative one can be pretty small. "Reputation -1" lets you know you've had an effect. On the other hand it feels more "gamey" and doesn't help with immersion. I don't think the game would necessarily be better with them removed, but the option to turn them off (I think Obsidian's Project Eternity will have this option) would be pretty neat; sometimes when I play I just want to let poo poo happen organically.
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Nov 9, 2013 07:35
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My favourite thing was when I realised you could get combinations of ending scenes. The best ending is to beat up Yancy, then get Marburg to walk away, then get ambushed by Scarlet, then get her to kill Leland, then get Though I've also got a soft spot for agreeing to work for Leland, telling Marburg that Parker was the one who burned him, then telling Parker how I countered all his plans and turning him just in time for Marburg to kill him, then beating up Yancy, then betraying Leland and leaving him to get arrested. Just outmaneuvering everybody.
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Nov 18, 2013 16:28
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An easy way to encounter Yancy at the end of the game: tell Shaheed that you are willing to betray the US government. I'm not sure what else triggers it but I'm pretty sure that does. As for Leland, keep giving him professional responses and things you think he'll like to hear. Taking his job offer is well worth it.
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Nov 20, 2013 01:50
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I prefer to side with Leland(and then betray him) but one thing I really like about not doing so is the bit where Mike asks "Who was the mole?" and Leland says "who wasn't the mole?" It made me feel extra betrayed because on my first playthrough I thought it was one of the team (possibly different based on your reputation, which would have been awesome) and took forever to get that Alpha Protocol was entirely compromised. Also "I'm going to kill you. "Funny." "Not really."" Also Scarlet's surprise last-minute entrance, though it doesn't make a lot of sense if Sung dies, since apparently Mike still cost her the contract somehow. It's the perfect way to find out she was the assassin though, and of course getting Steven Heck to take her out is icing on the cake. "Pretty classy, I thought." OK maybe I don't prefer siding with Leland.
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Nov 20, 2013 18:11
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It's meant to be used with Stealth. Sneak into a room, pop out of cover, quickly activate Chain Shot. Five guys will be dead before they can even finish drawing their weapons.
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Nov 23, 2013 14:30
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It also thinks you killed people if you happen to go through that door while exploring during the mission. It's the first door on the right after you go up the stairs at the start. If you open a door near the start and it seems to lead outside don't go through it!
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Dec 8, 2013 17:41
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It's most definitely possible. The decision to kill Brayko can be made after you figure out that Surkov has been pulling the strings. Then you get the mission to go after Surkov, and as far as I can recall killing him is always on the table.
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Dec 14, 2013 21:44
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Chris Avellone's prominence kind of overshadows the other writing talent at Obsidian, so it's nice to find out who actually wrote certain parts of their games and know that, eg, Eric Fenstermaker and Travis Stout are names to pay attention to as well.
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Dec 18, 2013 21:01
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end boss spoilers: If Leland likes you he'll make a job offer, and if you accept there'll be a different end boss. The end boss is also different due to other factors I'm not sure of, but I think if you tell Shaheed you're cool with acting against the US government that should get you the non-Leland end boss even without taking the job offer. I prefer getting the other end boss because you get closure with Leland no matter what. I'm not sure about how to trigger the other stuff with Madison, but collecting all her dossier info and (I think?) talking to her and avoiding the romance scene with a high reputation will get her to talk about her father.
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Jan 14, 2014 17:09
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This is the only RPG I can remember playing where money didn't stop being an issue halfway through. Unless I'm playing to maximise profits (siding with Brayko and selling info to Halbech) I pretty much always have to sell off ammo or gadgets just to get me that little bit extra so I can afford the best armour, even at endgame. Also one time I hardly bought anything and ended up with over a million dollars; I decided that Mike would use that money to retire.
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Jan 21, 2014 17:56
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Basically: Leland learned about Alpha Protocol from Marburg and started using it to raise global tensions so his arms company could profit from the resulting cold war. The plans you try to stop during the game were dreamed up by Parker, and of course all of Alpha Protocol handled the Saudi mission. Who exactly fired the missiles is never stated, but the point is that Alpha Protocol did it for Leland, to ensure that all trace of Halbech selling missiles to Shaheed was erased, since they couldn't guarantee that Mike and Shaheed didn't talk. For that same reason, if Mike returned to Alpha Protocol he'd just be killed because he's a loose end. To keep him alive and able to act against Halbech's plans, Mina burned him. Based on how it's presented I think you were supposed to believe someone at Alpha Protocol was a mole for most of the game, then at the end you'd be hit with the revelation that Alpha Protocol was entirely corrupted from the top down ("who wasn't the mole?") So, Mike is mad at Westridge because Westridge is Alpha Protocol's boss, and he sent Mike to Saudi Arabia to clean up Halbech's mess, fully planning for Mike to die in the process. That's how Mike was used.
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May 8, 2014 14:47
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Crappy Jack posted:This is definitely one of those games I wish other games borrow from a bit more. Scuzzywuffit posted:Nobody knows that you (can) let Shaheed live though. It's specifically something you can drop on Parker as an example of poo poo he didn't anticipate. I can buy that Halbech wants to blow you up just to tie up loose ends, and that Shaheed knows them well enough to anticipate this, but it makes less sense if Mina sent the missiles. I don't think he knows about the existence of Alpha Protocol; he's always just making vague terroristy statements about America and Halbech. So to warn you specifically about the missile attack, he would have to 1) know about Alpha Protocol, 2) know that it had been infiltrated by the NSA (which Alpha Protocol didn't even seem to know), and 3) know that she was going to launch missiles dangerously close to the person she was attempting to work with for like, no reason. Hypocrisy posted:I thought that Alpha Protocol would have welcomed Thorton back if it weren't for Mina. I could have sworn Parker even says something like that. It's not like Thorton had any idea what was going on at that point. Scuzzywuffit posted:All right! I'm not sure why Mina thought I would be mad about that, given the missiley stuff that happened in Saudi, but that makes a lot of sense.
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May 9, 2014 01:53
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 15:21 |
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since Darcy presumably already knows the deal and is cool with it, they probably wouldn't have tried to kill him, and might have just not wanted to risk losing the son of a senator on a risky mission.
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May 9, 2014 14:00
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