So I Tried... Alpha Protocol

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never tried before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. I went for the PC version of Alpha Protocol.

What I thought it was

A third-person shooter with RPG elements. The screenshots don’t really show it to be anything fancy and the Steam information is little more than a blurb. It claims Splinter Cell, it looks Syphon Filter - though I did enjoy all three Syphon Filters, so that doesn’t exactly count against it.

What it actually is

To say I only had 30 minutes to play it, I’m actually pretty impressed. It wants you to sneak about - something I failed majestically at - as well as throwing in many elements I’ve enjoyed in games like Deus Ex. You hack alarm systems and computers, pick door locks and shoot people on behalf of the Alpha Protocol agency. I liked the challenge of hacking, where you have to locate two stationary passwords hidden in scrolling text - it was more difficult than I assumed. Lockpicking is so easy it makes Kingdoms of Amalur's lockpicking look like Mastermind though I’m hoping it gets more difficult as I progress.

Will I Keep Playing?

Yes indeed, the story intrigued me and the gameplay is pretty fun. Lockpicking and aiming are a little off - I managed to shoot through at least three men, damaging the wall but leaving them unharmed, several times. But apart from those, not even the graphics can put me off of wanting to carry on with this. I’m pretty disappointed that I enjoyed it, as it seems like it will take up a lot of my time. I’m actually going to eventually finish every game in my Steam library, if I keep writing these and enjoying the games...