While I’m certain Microsoft pays attention to those requests, I don’t think they really drive releases. I imagine that’s more around how difficult it is to convert, and whether there are any licensing issues before popularity. I mean you can look at any week’s releases and there will be people wondering why they did those - I was pleased as hell that Radiant Silvergun was made available on back compat recently but I can’t imagine too many other people voted for it.
Anyway, since habitually Microsoft announces new releases around 9am PST Tuesdays and Thursdays, maybe we’ll find out in an hour that Alpha Protocol is now backward compatible! I’d play it again, for sure.
I don’t know how bad the controls are on the XBox, but on the PC they’re awful. It tries to treat mouse input just like it would gamepad input. Sniper rifles are impossible to control, which makes one of the boss fights virtually impossible.
Stealth is hit or miss because (according to the RPG Codex) it’s a feature that was added into the game halfway through development. On some of the levels they never managed to make it a viable option. It’s also much more difficult in the beginning when your stealth skill is low. It works better once you get to Rome & Moscow.
It’s fine 99% of the time. It’s just in a few places like the hacking minigame and the sniper rifle that it’s a problem. But they designed a boss fight around that sniper rifle, so it’s virtually a game-breaking bug.
I only recall it being an issue with the minigames, myself. But I also don’t remember if I ever even used a sniper rifle. I think you could beat virtually everything with a pistol and a good skill in it.
There’s a section of the game where you have to follow some guy’s movements with a scoped rifle. I’m pretty sure the fov tweak mentioned above also messes with the scope.
EASY! Because the the branching narrative is among the best in the business. The story can play out in many different and surprising ways depending on the intel discovered, choices you make, how you interact with the numerous characters, the order you complete missions in, etc…Play it more than once and play differently each time and you’ll find just how different the game can play out.
In fact it is impossible to see and learn every single plot point in a single playthrough. There are multiple exclusives outcomes to several characters and/or factions based on how you play.
Beating all the games quirks, is a game unto itself. One of the reasons that repeated plays only get better. Once you get to the point where the interface is no longer an issue, it’s pretty fun. To be sure, there are some incredibly frustrating parts, and local knowledge of what to do, in what order, and with what skills, is a big part of the game. If you do those branching missions in the “wrong” order, it can be almost impossible to beat that escort mission for example.
It’s not just getting used to the game, it’s trying to find the “best” combination of skills and path through the game that I found engaging. It’s sort of like doing speed runs in a way.
But Obsidian cannot make Alpha Protocol 2 without Sega sanctioning it, because Sega owns the game, the intellectual property, and when I asked Sega it didn’t sound like an AP sequel was part of any kind of plan. But Sega almost didn’t own the IP. The real kicker in all of this - the absolute heart-wrencher - is Obsidian almost did. What scuppered it was Disney cancelling the Seven Dwarves Snow White spin-off Obsidian was making after Neverwinter Nights 2.
“When the Dwarves thing happened we were practically done with an agreement with Sega to do Alpha Protocol,” Feargus Urquhart says, “but what this cost us - Dwarves getting cancelled and that contract - was the Alpha Protocol IP. Having to get that contract signed right away… Originally we were going to own the Alpha Protocol IP.”
Obsidian’s best RPG? I can’t get behind that, but AP is a pretty great game. I played it twice, had to do a normal run and then an asshole run and, for maybe the only time I can say this and mean it, the asshole run is much better.
