1801

ZING

But accurate.

1802

It helps when one of these games has a clearly-defined and much-beloved backstory, meeting the expectations of its audience, while the other game is some sorta halfassed “it is Splinter Cell, Deus Ex, Chaser, or Gears of War?” kinda deal. Mix all those together and I suppose that you get an “espionage rpg” in the same way that if you mix used cat litter, orange juice, and gasoline you get phở.

1803

Point still stands, but.

1804

I went Rome Moscow Taipeh. Rome definitely is the hub where you see the most differences. I didn’t notice all that much changing in Taipeh and Moscow, mostly I noticed a severe lack of good items in the store and a lot fewer intel options to buy and some changed dialogue of course. Taipeh especially seems to be a very rigid hub with few possibilities to change outcomes.
And the endgame of course is quite different.

1805

I was bummed when I heard “Turn Up the Radio” and reflexively activated chain shot to take out the boss. i only got to hear about 5 seconds of the song!

1806

I may have to give that a whirl sometime. I just found it too frustrating at first, but once I get the veteran character unlocked it will be cake.

1807

If you don’t kill him you can get his stereo system transferred to your Moscow safehouse; it plays “Turn Up the Radio”. I think you have to avoid using the 4th dialogue option that appears a few times in the post-victory conversation with him, because that can end it before he gets to the point of bribing you for his life.

1808

I need some tips or advice. First off, stealth games really are not my thing. I played all of the Thief games but never finished them because I liked killing everyone and some of the missions just got too tedious/difficult, for me, with that approach. Played a Splinter Cell or two, a long time ago. I recall that game having spots where you HAD to sneak, would lose if you were seen or whatever, I didnt like that and never finished them. Never played Metal Gear really, cant think of any other stealth shooters.

This game seems to heavily steer you towards the sneaky approach, and I am focused on Stealth and Pistols, went for Master Awareness first (5?) and I think I have 3 in Pistols and 2 in Sabotage right now, still very early on. I just dont have the patience to sneak around and also its very difficult for me to like leave a guard alive, behind me. I must kill them.

I have done the Nasri mission and am now on the airfield mission. I am not exactly stuck but what will happen is I will kill one or two guards and then get swarmed and end up having to run around chucking grenades or burning through those first aid kits. Its just not really fun, even though I usually dont die except to the occasional grenade spam if I get hung up on the environment.

So, should I focus on different skills or what? I found the combat easier in the PC version (mouse!), but I am drawn to the 360 version for some reason. Also I am playing on normal, I guess I could drop down to easy. What I am really looking for, though, are gameplay tips that will make me elite w/o requiring patience that I just dont have. These tips very well could exist earlier in the thread but its a ton of pages so I am hoping one of the AP advocates can indulge me.

Thanks!

1809

Dump all your points into pistol, and use the special ability. The only time you’ll probably run into more enemies than you can take down with a single chain shot is the embassy. Or ruins

1810

Yeah I am finding Chain Shot to be a godsend, but right now it only has 2 shots for me and the cool down is a long time. So I can use it but then there are a bunch of other guards all up on me. That Nasri mission, the only one I have completed, there were like 5 guards, who would all aggro on me when an alarm triggered, in a couple of different spots.

1811

Pistols with behind cover shot is probably the first key. I’m sure you take care of this already, but if you haven’t make sure you have gone to your equipment and silenced your pistol (along with switching to civilian attire: it’s the first truly quiet armor, and without that you give away your position inadvertently all of the time): be aware that tranqs to the head with a critical hit will KO most everyone without a helmet instantly, with the lethal bullets being a little louder and messier. The cover shot allows you to do that without exposing yourself, and that’s pretty crucial. You should have a better idea of where guards can trigger alarms (those radio box or wall console looking things they run to)…if you can interrupt that from happening as a priority, you can usually prevent alarms even when things go pearshaped. The best thing about AP is how most times you can “fix” a situation the hard way and still be a champ if you get the job done, unlike Hitman or Splinter Cell.

Other than that, the next big game changer is the stealth invisibility power (around level 6 of it, I believe). That will allow you to judo chop people in broad daylight, and get you from A to B much faster.

Other than that, I recommend doing the Lazo’s yacht mission in Moscow relatively soon and ending it as peaceably as possible (you’ll know what I mean) as that unlocks some really quality upper tier stealth gear, which is far better to wait for and invest in than to upgrade incrementally IMO (first the advanced stealth armor so you can use mods to make hacking easier, and then the UC 3 star pistol, as max damage is your top priority as your pistol aim will take care of itself). Also (and much less dangerous) an early mission would be the CIA listening post in Rome, which will net you a Mark 3 silencer for your pistol: same quiet as the mark 1 you got for free, but more damage.

Pistol and stealth should be your main priorities (sabotage at 2 is perfect), and I would consider aiming for cheap things like tech/brilliance (which requires specialization) which allows you to recharge all of your skills at once or sabotage for much more money from hacking. Don’t get a third expensive skill, aim for a cheapie.

Ten hours from now when you’re judo chopping a whole room in saudi with a basic recruit character without breaking a sweat, you’ll look back and laugh. Stealthily.

1812

I do have a silencer but what do you mean about the behind cover shot? I should probably have checked out the game by loading it up, but I dont recall a skill like that and a cursory gamefaqs perusal doesnt reveal anything either. Do you mean Chain Shot? I do have that but the first rank only, and its awesome, but the cooldown does not help when I am getting swarmed.

Appreciate the post though and I had you in mind when I mentioned AP advocates earlier. I really do like the game a lot and I am struggling to understand how it seems to have landed at the bottom of the 7-9 scale.

1813

I haven’t tried this myself yet, but I’ve read that placing a grenade at an alarm spot will neutralize anyone trying to trigger the alarm, but not trigger the alarm itself. I assume Shock would be the best choice, because it’s the quietest type of grenade.

If you think a situation might go bad, prep the area with some grenades in other likely chokepoints. Some things to keep in mind when placing grenade traps:

  1. IIRC there’s a limit of five devices active at once, and then the game starts forgetting about some of your traps.
  2. If you place a trap, then hit a checkpoint, then reload for whatever reason, your traps won’t be there anymore (360 version, maybe PC also).
  3. Your devices can hurt you if you don’t have Sabotage rank 4, so don’t stand too close to your traps when enemies are about to trigger them.
1814

The mouse is too sensitive in the level where you have to identify a person who is hosting a party in Rome. I bet this is another complaint of the game. If the mouse is sensitive, I’d imagine it is harder on a controller.

Anyway, this mission is pretty easy. It felt a lot like an afterthought after the tension-filled CIA mission. But it does give some variation to gameplay.

1815

Pistol Skill rank 5 gives you the ability to make a crit shot while still hiding in cover. Your aiming reticle is invisible until it’s actually over the target (annoying), but then it will appear and immediately start locking in for a crit shot. At this level of pistol skill the max range of a crit shot is 20 meters.

EDIT: The actual name of that skill is Improved Pistol Critical Hit (Advanced). Pistol skill ranks 2, 5, 11, and 13 are all versions of Improved Pistol Critical Hit, with most of them just increasing the max range of a crit, and decreasing the aiming time necessary.

1816

I liked the variation in gameplay too, and yes, the 360 controller is a bit fiddly when you have to keep a moving target centered for the ID.

1817

If you want to run and gun then go full SMG, just beware that one finale encounter will prove to be a pain in the ass.

1818

Any tips on the Brayko boss fight? I’m doing the standard stealth/pistol focus, and am carrying my silenced pistol and an assault rifle, and I just keep getting destroyed in this battle. I’ve managed to take out 3 blocks of his life, but he keeps catching me with his damned coke-fueled melee attacks, and I can’t seem to survive both taking out his henchmen and avoiding and fighting back against him.

1819

My first game I started as a Soldier and only put points into Submachine guns, Assault Rifles and Tech.

I did not attempt to sneak much, but was dropping targets left and right.

I liked setting off alarms because it meant:

More baddies to kill

Didn’t have to worry about time running out for picking locks/hacking computers. If it ran out, it ran out.

1820

When he goes melee mode, run!

Chain Shot is not a win button against this boss… unless you have a lot of it.

Keep in mind that “whittling” the mobster’s health away is not a winning strategy, since he has “endurance” that recharges itself. So, pick off the henchmen, stay in cover (using your own endurance to your benefit), then unload a full chain shot into his head (when he ain’t it coke mode), and follow up with as much damage as possible.

Finally, take advantage of the health kits at the side of the room. Hope this helps.