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Disclosure Alert: Alpha Protocol: Episode 30: Chain-Letter Terrorism

November 12, 2013
Aldowyn is Dumb/ Alpha Protocol/ Disclosure Alert/ Shamus Young/ THIS TOOK TOO LONG!

In this episode, we muse about the nature of life, shock traps, and tea. Also, some chick gets shot.


The e-mail in this game really is a missed opportunity. Since the game doesn’t really allow for Thorton to really keep up casual conversation with a lot of his contacts, this could have easily been a way to build up (or maintain/reduce) Thorton’s rapport with somebody well after you’ve completed the hub they were featured in. It also would’ve given them a chance to flesh out the world a bit more through newsletters, spam, and the like. (Yes, I know that Thorton’s e-mail is top secret and encrypted, but Rule of Funny allows it.) It’s a shame, really.

I actually really like the mission in the warehouse. It’s a short section that establishes a few facts that become relevant in light of things we learn in other missions. Stealth and combat are both viable options, and some light hacking is involved as well. Anaphysik is correct, though, that it would make more sense as an introductory mission than one in the second half of Rome.

It is interesting to note that had Spoiler Warning actually started an Alpha Protocol season, we would never have started Disclosure Alert. The whole premise of this show is that “Spoiler Warning won’t do Alpha Protocol, so we have do it ourselves.” If they do decide to do AP in the future, I’d be curious to see how their commentary lines up with ours.

The “shallow way” that Shamus was playing games back then is exactly how I’ve been playing games lately. My Twitter is afoul with many many games I quit in the middle when I got bored of them.

I love how, in a matter of a one minute side conversation, we completely tear apart the very notion behind Rome’s storyline. It is very much in the line of Bond villainy seen in many spy movies. Part of me wonders if that’s the point. The other half wonders if I’m giving the game too much credit. With Alpha Protocol, it’s sometimes hard to distinguish between what was intended and what was a quick rewrite. This is one of those times.

Really, once we get out of the broom closet, the plot to Rome doesn’t make sense. Still, I can’t help but adore it for being over-the-top Hollywood-style. As I keep saying in these posts, AP feels like a homage to spy movies of all sorts. This is a Bond-style plot, so it fits. Moscow and Taipei are also ripped straight from spy movies. I want to say this is intentional, but truthfully I don’t know for sure.

True story, an alternate title for this episode was “Michael Thorton Comes Out of the (Broom) Closet.”

Also, here’s a clip of the “Shock Trap” scene we were talking about in this episode (Skip to 3:06):

2 Comments

  • Reply
    anaphysik
    November 12, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    True*r* story: Cloud's original title was "Came Out of the (Broom) Closet"

    But then we decided that Spoiler Warning references must happen 😉

  • Reply
    anaphysik
    November 12, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    That e-mail is so infrequently brought up in the game is particularly criminal because of /the loads/ of writing that went into it. Seriously, with every single piece of intel having an e-mail, some of them quite long (basically the non-[dossier, sniper dead drop, map] intels all have substantial e-mails), plus all the main e-mails… That's a lot of work into world-building that just gets ignored :/
    (I didn't even notice that intel e-mails were a thing until the second playthrough, and I'm the kind of guy that looks for EVERYTHING to read.)

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Disclosure Alert: Alpha Protocol: Episode 27: Roman Charges May Apply

July 12, 2013
Aldowyn is Dumb/ Alpha Protocol/ Disclosure Alert/ Josh Viel/ technical issues

In this episode of Disclosure Alert, I scream, you scream, a Gelato shop owner screams, when we shoot him for ice cream. That’s how the old saying goes, right?
Then, we talk to an anonymous person… who turns out to be Marburg and call a totally random chick that we’ve never met before a bitch.

As anaphysik points out, the gelato shop owner made a very brief cameo in the first episode. Because we are using the Veteran background, which is only unlocked after beating the game on Recruit, we got a special introduction sequence where the drugs administered to Mike made Mina looked like this guy on the PDA. This variation is only available as a Veteran, likely because otherwise it’d be a minor spoiler.

Aside from that, the other noteworthy things about this mission is that it provides foreshadowing for the reveal that Mina works with the NSA and it has a lot of comedic potential, especially with “horse porn… all over your computer”. And then you can pull the trigger for no reason. I always thought it would be cool if games gave you the option to try to kill every person in the game. It’d be like the Renegade interrupts in Mass Effect 2/3, except they are there for the entire conversation. I don’t even care if some particularly skilled NPCs are powerful enough to stop you, I just the option would be pretty cool. If anything, this game shows that something like that could lead to some pretty great moments.
NPC: Could you get me 10 of this thing?
Player: *draws gun and fires*

I really like the conversation with Marburg. Like many others before it, there are quite a few different ways it can go down. Depending on what you do, Marburg can think of you as a friendly rival, a bitter nemesis, or anywhere in between. The discussion also changes a fair bit depending on whether or not you obtained a lot of dossier information on him. Lastly, your relationship with SIE matters to him, because Marburg and SIE both hate each other. (Likewise, SIE will like you if Marburg hates you and vice-versa if you meet her in Moscow after this.) It’s another fine example of the game at it’s best.

And yes, I needed to point out the whole “mercenary” thing. Considering the person who is guest starring in these episodes, I felt compelled to. (Although I honestly probably would have anyway.)

God, I love these interview segments. They really are a great way to frame the narrative. It allows the game to comment on what you’ve done and then gives you a chance to respond and possibly justify what you did. It also helps to give you insight into the mind of the big villain. As for the comparison to Dragon Age 2, I never played that game so I’ll let Aldowyn and Josh handle it.

To be fair, Josh was totally right to call me on “except a solid gameplay experience”. However, the point I was trying to make was that this is a game where the player interactions with the story matter a lot more than any of the “gameplay” sections in it. In fact, I think the game would’ve been better if they gave you more dialog and less gameplay, because the gameplay segments really do feel artificial at times. Sadly, I don’t think a lot of people besides myself would go for it, and others would accuse it of “not being a video game” because reasons. Sometimes I really hate the culture surrounding my favorite hobby.

I also concur with what Josh said at the start of the Contact Madison mission. When I first played through the game, I honestly only had a bare-bones idea of what was going on. It took a 2nd and 3rd playthrough to really get a sense of the plot, and this is coming from someone who can easily understand Tetsuya Nomura’s way too overly-complicated storytelling in Kingdom Hearts.

I still find it hard to believe that the one, totally random stranger that happens to suspect that her employer might be less than ethical JUST SO HAPPENS to be Alan Parker’s daughter. It’s such a long shot that it’s pretty baffling. This becomes important later on, but it just seems like it’s too out there. On the other hand, I like how the game let’s you be suspicious of her, because quite frankly I would be in that position.

And #AldowynIsDumb again for forgetting his Pistol. Oh well, it only made the next episode more interesting.

4 Comments

  • Reply
    anaphysik
    July 12, 2013 at 5:45 pm

    "Sadly, I don't think a lot of people besides myself would go for it"

    And me. Very much me.

  • Reply
    anaphysik
    July 12, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    "This variation [with the gelato shop guy] is only available as a Veteran, likely because otherwise it'd be a minor spoiler."

    More likely because it would make /no fucking sense whatsoever/ on your first viewing of the game (Veteran normally requires at least one playthrough to unlock, though if you don't mind ending spoilers, you can grab an endgame Recruit autosave and unlock it that way (which I did after my first normal playthrough)). It's not a spoiler, it's just an in-joke.

    —

    "foreshadowing for the reveal that Mina works with the NSA"

    We all kinda totally goofed on this during the episodes, but Mike totally knows that Mina is actually a NSA plant in Alpha Protocol (her cover being that she *used* to work for the NSA). That's from her fourth dossier entry, which we found at the CIA listening post. The endgame reveal is actually what Mina's specific involvement in the Desert Spear mission (the one in Saudi) was.

    —

    Also, there's a highly relevant Stolen Pixels comic about what Josh brought up: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/stolen-pixels/7753-Stolen-Pixels-206-Whose-Side-Am-I-on-Anyway. Actually /discussing/ the ever-evolving situation with a handler/secretary/analyst/etc. would have been pretty awesome – and could have been what Mina's role on your team was all about, but they pretty much dropped the ball on that idea :/

  • Reply
    2house2fly
    July 12, 2013 at 7:24 pm

    Ah, it wouldn't be a spy pastiche if a completely random character didn't turn out to coincidentally be another character's close relative. Plus it's the one-in-a-million unexpected wrinkle that the big Master Planner couldn't possibly have accounted for, one of many ways you can own him at the end of the game 😀

  • Reply
    Anonymous
    July 12, 2013 at 9:52 pm

    I really like how Marburg's personality as described in his dossier translates into the reputation system. He's quick to judge and a sloppy judge of character, and as such it's very easy to sway his reputation one way or another.
    Though I've heard others say otherwise, in my experience you don't have to get Marburg's reputation especially low in order to have a shot at killing him, nor do you have to complete his dossier. The important thing is that you're predominantly suave, both before and when you talk to him. True to the game's attention to detail, the way that Mike taunts Marburg during their final battle is determined by how much of his dossier you've completed; if you've fully completed it, Mike will specifically mention Deus Vult, whereas if you haven't completed it, he'll make a vaguer reference to Marburg being abandoned by the U.S government.

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Disclosure Alert: Alpha Protocol: Episode 3: Sweeping Up the Park-er

February 12, 2013
Alpha Protocol/ Disclosure Alert

In this episode of Disclosure Alert, we continue on to the game’s last orientation: The Stealth Orientation.

One interesting fact worth noting is that the Stealth orientation is almost the complete opposite of the Gadget one. While the scored section of Gadget training can be completed without actually using any of the gadgets (it only asks that you take out the guards, meaning Martial Arts can be used to take them out), Stealth requires a little bit of hacking and lockpicking along with the assumed skill in sneaking to get a high score.

The proctor of this exam, Alan Parker, is also an infinitely more interesting and important character than Darcy. While Darcy’s roles in the game could be easily done by any other character in the Greybox, Parker is vital to the way the story plays out and the backstory of quite a few characters in the game. As he so confidently points out, his role in Alpha Protocol is one of the most vital. He specializes in analyzing and tracking world events and deciding the most appropriate action with which to deal with them. Also, when Alpha Protocol gets discovered, he’s the one who shuts the whole thing down and starts it up again. While Westridge is officially the leader of the organization, it can be said the Parker is the guy who is truly in charge.

His importance is even extended into his side quest. Unlike the other two side quests, you get a bit more than money or reputation from his quest (in fact, you can lose reputation with Parker, as we did, for screwing it up). You get intel and information which can be quite interesting and useful for the upcoming missions in Saudi Arabia.

Lastly, we talked a bit about Tranquilizer rounds. This is another reason why I strongly recommend Pistols. They are the only weapon-type that gives players a non-lethal option to deal with foes, although it is also possible to use Martial Arts for that. It is astounding how imbalanced the weapon skills are in this game. While the other weapons are indeed decent, the Pistols offer much more in terms of combat ability and versatility, which is ultimately what you want. Also, as it turns out, Aldowyn’s lack of sneaking skill is not entirely his fault. Since we are playing Veteran, we were given combat armor when opening the locker. That armor has low noise reduction, so guards could hear us coming from a mile away. Recruits gave civilian clothes with high noise reduction, so they are actually better at sneaking in this segment than Veterans. While you can fix this by not opening the locker and/or using Silent Running, it was pretty dumb of Obsidian to make that appearance anything put cosmetic. Seriously, while I love those guys, they can be particularly daft at times.

As my final remark (I know I already said lastly, but whatever): Since Aldowyn has been having a particularly difficult week with 3 tests and 1 project and I have been having internet troubles of late (I hear the storms been causing similar problems all over New England), we haven’t actually recorded this week’s episodes and it will cause a delay in our posts. Since this show just started and has already gained so many viewers, it is distressing that we are having these kinds of problems so soon. We hope you understand and appreciate your patience. 🙂

3 Comments

  • Reply
    Aldowyn
    February 12, 2013 at 10:05 am

    Well, now FOUR tests and a project… *sigh*

    I see your point for sure. Pistols aren't OP just because they're highly accurate and damaging (assault rifles hit faster and have longer range), but because of how versatile they are and how well they combine with stealth (low fire rate and low range don't matter when you can get close and only need one shot)

    Also chain shot. If it wasn't for chain shot and how it seems required for the bosses (I'm going to TEST that theory, btw), I'd say the guns were somewhat reasonably balanced.

  • Reply
    newdarkcloud
    February 12, 2013 at 10:07 am

    As someone who used Assault Rifles in their first playthrouh, Chain Shot isn't need, but it's DAMN helpful. We'll discuss this later.

  • Reply
    Aldowyn
    February 12, 2013 at 10:10 am

    As for my sneaking ability, I TOLD YOU IT WASN'T MY FAULT!

    I don't see why they didn't A: Give you a choice of armor to wear as a veteran or B: Default it to civvies. Wearing the armor but having civvie stats would be just as bad.

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