Thursday, May 30, 2013

Disclosure Alert: Alpha Protocol: Episode 21: Having a Blast

So here we are in the Moscow finale. I apologize both for the delay and for the massive degree of failure that ensued during this recording session. However, I'm not sorry for the accent. I will never be sorry for the accent.



I like the choice between Albatross and SIE, at least in theory. It would be a meaningful choice both for Mike as a character and the player in terms of gameplay. Sadly, it's a little disappointing how disturbingly similar both versions of these missions are. Aside from the permanent perk you can for the choice between them, it honestly doesn't matter at all. The only things that change are superficial.

If we hadn't have smashed Grigori's face in at the bar, then the guards in this area would be less armed. However, their increased security could have worked to our advantage. Since we were a Veteran (this also works for a Soldier) we could convince them that we're there to protect Surkov with our knowledge of (Alpha?) protocol. The weaker guards can be swayed by anybody. Again, "no bad choices" was a guiding principal when designing this game, and it shows. We could also use the door on the side to sneak in, but it's glitched so that the game automatically assumes you MUDERED THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYONE if you do that.

In order to get the Albatross version of this mission, picture bigger dudes in combat armor being your enemies in this mission, because that's exactly what happens. I do like how SIE and Mina argue with each other over... everything. It shows how opposite the two of them are. Still, this is overall a bit of a letdown, which is even more of a shame since this mission was part of the marketing for the game.

I've noticed that as we continue, Aldowyn has been getting more and more blood-thirsty. I don't even need to tell to shoot people anymore. He just does it. I guess it's just something that happens to LPers.

This "Protect Surkov" mission is one of the missions people come to me with when saying that this game is terrible. Honestly, it's hard to refute them. It terms of play, Moscow is the worst hub in the entire game. Taipei has a terrible plot and Moscow has terrible level design. Despite these flaws, I do really like the game. Goddammit Obsidian, why do you have to be so flawed?