[Red Blaster]

What controller are you using? I was using a DualShock and had the exact same problem. Plugged in a 360 controller instead and had no trouble. It was really, really obviously made to be played with a 360 controller and 360 controller alone.

Found a solution to this. If you're using Motionjoy, upgrade to the latest version (6.0004 or whatever) and then go to options and change the threshold of whatever buttons you've got set to for LT/RT to zero (default is at 64 which means a considerable deadzone).

[CornBurrito]

Decided to play Recruit on Normal for my first playthrough. So far all my points are in pistols/stealth. I pick people off from a distance, or get in close and incapacitate them.

Such an awesome game so far. Can't wait to finish it so I can start my Veteran playthrough and just fuck shit up early on.

[OatmealMu]

Also, that lockpicking minigame is bullshit. When all three picks have the sweet spot towards the middle, it's all gravy, but if I find one fucking pick like the one in the far left: <--not my pic, I'm playing with controller I can't push the trigger with enough finesse to hit the right spot, no matter what I try. Fuck lockpicking! :P

I had this problem, too. I played through the game with a DS3 (with trigger add-ons) emulating a 360 pad. I had tons of trouble at first but eventually figured out the timing. In retrospect, I'm sure there's a way to tweak the trigger sensitivity, since I figured out how to adjust the left sticks' deadzone.

[SteelAttack]

What controller are you using? I was using a DualShock and had the exact same problem. Plugged in a 360 controller instead and had no trouble. It was really, really obviously made to be played with a 360 controller and 360 controller alone.

Yeah, DS3 via MotionInJoy drivers. It's just frustrating. I had a hard-ass time trying to ace the stealth tutorial.

Found a solution to this. If you're using Motionjoy, upgrade to the latest version (6.0004 or whatever) and then go to options and change the threshold of whatever buttons you've got set to for LT/RT to zero (default is at 64 which means a considerable deadzone).

You, sir, are a fucking BOSS. Lol. Thanks, I'll try it out tonight for sure.

[Valygar]

This game is awesome. Might be the first "RPG" in years I replay without waiting a lot of years. Lots of different options to complete the missions (except the final one, maybe), and the best conversation system I've ever seen.

And the repercussions of your actions actually having some effect is amazing. I'm comparing this game with Deus Ex:HR, and even if it's not as polished, it still has some areas where it is better.

I mean, i.e, you can do the 3 main missions in the order you want to. BUT they are not isolated, people from one place offer help in another if you've helped them and so on... I found that very rewarding and very well done.

The gameplay itself was nice as well, though the IA is a bit stupid. That and some turrets you can't really avoid without EMP's or hacking from a distance are my main concerns, but still, it's a beautiful game.

Note for future players: Invest on some weapon skill early on, at least so you get to chain shot advanced. You will need it for some bosses. I didn't have this on Taiwan, and it was very difficult (until I remembered I had 2 incendiary grenades, and used them as mines).

My story ended up a bit weird:

I had only slept with Scarlet, but I didn't know her secret. Mina offered to sleep with me, but I decided not to as I found her a bit ugly, and just a friend. At the end, I chose to speak with Alan Parker, and I think didn't uncovered the secret identity of Scarlet. Still, I chose to save Mina (since it was partly my fault she was captured), never heard again from Scarlet, killed Leland even while I was a pacifist most of the time (that guy deseved it), and escaped the Island with Mina as friends.. or more, not sure.

I'm so going to replay this as Crazy Mike with Heck as main handler and SIE as romance interest. I can't even wait.

About the conversation system, the only thing I found weird was that being friends with someone wasn't bad for other relationship. There were some antagonists, and you could achieve friendship/trust with both of them without problem. Usually people prejudge you if you are friends with someone they know, but this largely didn't happened here, they only judged your actions (maybe they are better than real people).

[jackdoe]

Just beat the game. It is definitely a fun, but mechanically flawed game whose flaws come right into the open during some extremely frustrating moments in the final mission. However, there is definite potential and a sequel will probably be awesome (but buggy).

Also, Mike Thorton VA has to go. He makes male Shep seem like a downright charismatic character in comparison.

[CrocMother]

So I just bought this game for $2 off steam...can't wait to try it out

[Tacitus_]

So I just bought this game for $2 off steam...can't wait to try it out

It's pretty nice if you can overlook the faults... I just started my psycho run. I'm going to answer everything with aggressive or cocky, etc and always choose to go for the bodycount. So far running up to people and blasting them to the face with a shotty is surprisingly fun :D
Getting close enough will oneshot them and then just gotta duck for a while and do it again.

[ArjanN]

Also, Mike Thorton VA has to go. He makes male Shep seem like a downright charismatic character in comparison.

Nah, Mike is kind of a douche no matter if you play him like a professional or a psychopath, but at least I felt he was intentionally written that way, unlike Shepard, who is just kind of bland.

[jim-jam bongs]

Yeah what the hell, Mike is a twat but that's the point. He's kind of a lovable douche.

Playing a recruit run at the moment so I went back to a stealth and pistols build, going non-lethal nice guy Mike. Best part is that I don't feel like I have to shoot Sis just to piss Albatross off. <3 Sis.

[Snuggler]

Yeah what the hell, Mike is a twat but that's the point. He's kind of a lovable douche. Playing a recruit run at the moment so I went back to a stealth and pistols build, going non-lethal nice guy Mike. Best part is that I don't feel like I have to shoot Sis just to piss Albatross off. <3 Sis.

Precisely. He's so smug and corny and I love it, especially when you're playing as "suave" Thornton.

I'm still mulling over my next run, but I think I'll go with no-bullshit professional Thorton since it's the only style I haven't used. I've done a stealth build and a brute force build so I might go with a hacking/gadget focused build.

[jim-jam bongs]

Precisely. He's so smug and corny and I love it, especially when you're playing as "suave" Thornton. I'm still mulling over my next run, but I think I'll go with no-bullshit professional Thorton since it's the only style I haven't used. I've done a stealth build and a brute force build so I might go with a hacking/gadget focused build.

I've probably finished it about ten times with different builds or attitudes at this point and I'm still finding things I haven't noticed before, everything makes such a huge difference. My advice for whichever build you take is:

- 1 point in Sabotage for the EMP bypass skill
- 2 points in Pistols for Chain Shot

Those are mandatory for any build in my opinion, just because having basic Chain Shot means you can cheese bosses, and the EMP skill means that even if you never put another point into it you can open everything in the game as long as you fill those gadget slots with EMPs. My last psychotic Mike was along those lines, with everything split across Toughness, Martial Arts and (maxed) Shotguns.

That isn't to say that you can't get by without them, I just find that the bosses are the least fun part of the game so having Chain Shot means you can sort of skip them.

[buhdeh]

I put pretty much everything into martial arts and pistols and the game was easy. Might be just me, but I thought the gameplay was really broken. I literally just charged at every enemy and kung-fu'd them to death; even most of the bosses. Hell, for the last boss, I was able to ignore all the enemies, charge straight at the boss and beat him to death.

I'm wondering how frustrating this game would be without chain shot. The Darcy fight looks like it'd be annoying as hell with the constant respawning enemies, grenades, and the instantaneous shield recharge on bosses.

Anyways I thought it was an okay game but I'm not in love with it like everyone else. I did enjoy the story/atmosphere though.

[jim-jam bongs]

The Darcy fight is really easy to cheese if you know how. Head to the tower on the left, use an EMP to bypass the locked door then use the conveniently placed Sniper Rifle upstairs to give him some new speed holes.

The one which is a really prick without Chain Shot is Brayko because of his phase 2 pattern where he gets in your face and wrecks your shit with a shiv. Now, if you make friends with Heck before fighting him you can get him to deliver a shipment of spiked coke to Brayko which makes phase 2 a lot easier. But if you look back through this thread, you'll see a lot of "OMG FUCK BRAYKO" posts from when the game first came out.

[amdnv]

Nah, Mike is kind of a douche no matter if you play him like a professional or a psychopath, but at least I felt he was intentionally written that way

Absolutely. I totally agree.

I'm wondering how frustrating this game would be without chain shot.

My character was an assault rifle specialist. He held his own...

[hemtae]

The one which is a really prick without Chain Shot is Brayko because of his phase 2 pattern where he gets in your face and wrecks your shit with a shiv. Now, if you make friends with Heck before fighting him you can get him to deliver a shipment of spiked coke to Brayko which makes phase 2 a lot easier. But if you look back through this thread, you'll see a lot of "OMG FUCK BRAYKO" posts from when the game first came out.

They could have made that fight entirely unwinnable without chain shot and I would have still loved it because of the song

[jim-jam bongs]

They could have made that fight entirely unwinnable without chain shot and I would have still loved it because of the song

It's awesome, I was sad that they didn't use him more. I really love how all of the Russian mob guys are perpetually stuck in the 80s in Alpha Protocol.

[zkylon]

Yeah what the hell, Mike is a twat but that's the point. He's kind of a lovable douche. Playing a recruit run at the moment so I went back to a stealth and pistols build, going non-lethal nice guy Mike. Best part is that I don't feel like I have to shoot Sis just to piss Albatross off. <3 Sis.

Being psycho Mike in this game is sometimes downright heartbreaking. Specially that one moment you posted.

[Snuggler]

Being psycho Mike in this game is sometimes downright heartbreaking. Specially that one moment you posted.

Being a total prick to Madison made me cringe. It's one thing to be ruthless against a mercenary or a criminal, but she's just an innocent woman. I chose to save her over the hostages just to fuck with her even further. I liked that Leland questioned my decision to save a woman who I seemed to despise.

[jim-jam bongs]

Yeah but she gets you back ;)

[hemtae]

Yeah but she gets you back ;)

You get the last laugh at the museum either way.

[jim-jam bongs]

You get the last laugh at the museum either way.

True, but I think her assaulting Mike is one of my favourite moments in the game. It's so totally out of character for her that you can really feel just how much you must have pissed her off for it to come to that.

[Bebpo]

Bad reviews and a bad publisher really hurt this game. Obsidian are left sucking dick for scratch when they should be given free reign to keep writing these beautiful stories and dialogues that are so rare in games. It makes me sad that we likely won't get a game as intricate as this any more. Truly a one-of-a-kind and this generation's Vampire: The Masquerade.

Pretty much. Obsidian made a breakthrough game in this generation with future-thinking approaches to storytelling and yet it's the next Call of Duty that will be remembered as leading innovating game design with it's latest ability to "shoot someone in the head".

[zkylon]

Being a total prick to Madison made me cringe. It's one thing to be ruthless against a mercenary or a criminal, but she's just an innocent woman. I chose to save her over the hostages just to fuck with her even further. I liked that Leland questioned my decision to save a woman who I seemed to despise.

Oh, i did the exact same thing, heh. I loved coming home to the "Asshole.", "Bitch." banter.

Still, shooting Sis was the tougher decision for me. Her look of surprise followed by Albatross revealing a few things about her past i hadn't found out in the first playthrough was hard hitting. Shooting all of them, SIE, Brayko, leaving Mina to die, i felt bad about them all. Having Scarlett betray me in the end was a nice touch. I really deserved it :P

[Grayman]

Oh, i did the exact same thing, heh. I loved coming home to the "Asshole.", "Bitch." banter. Still, shooting Sis was the tougher decision for me. Her look of surprise followed by Albatross revealing a few things about her past i hadn't found out in the first playthrough was hard hitting. Shooting all of them, SIE, Brayko, leaving Mina to die, i felt bad about them all. Having Scarlett betray me in the end was a nice touch. I really deserved it :P

one of my favourite touches was for my first few games I never knew Scarlet's full involvement.

[Dunlop]

I officially do not understand how hacking works in this game.

scroll on matching password with left or right trigger depending on side and then match it again? I constantly fail and now cant finish a mission

[SteelAttack]

I officially do not understand how hacking works in this game. scroll on matching password with left or right trigger depending on side and then match it again? I constantly fail and now cant finish a mission

Scroll left or right password with left or right analog stick, match them with left or right trigger.

[TheYanger]

I've probably finished it about ten times with different builds or attitudes at this point and I'm still finding things I haven't noticed before, everything makes such a huge difference. My advice for whichever build you take is: - 1 point in Sabotage for the EMP bypass skill - 2 points in Pistols for Chain Shot Those are mandatory for any build in my opinion, just because having basic Chain Shot means you can cheese bosses, and the EMP skill means that even if you never put another point into it you can open everything in the game as long as you fill those gadget slots with EMPs. My last psychotic Mike was along those lines, with everything split across Toughness, Martial Arts and (maxed) Shotguns. That isn't to say that you can't get by without them, I just find that the bosses are the least fun part of the game so having Chain Shot means you can sort of skip them.

I've gone through twice now, my stealth character ABSOLUTELY needed chain shot, but my run and gun character with assault rifles killed bosses just as fast, it wasn't any big deal. I killed a few with SMGs too just to try it out, and have been considering going martial arts just for fun. Chain shot is absolutely powerful, but only in the sense that it makes up for the fact that without it playing pistols would be almost impossible (I did the first few sections without it, and had to use my unskilled AR to kill bosses, it was BRUTAL).

[Labadal]

Nothing is more fun than pissing off Marburg. Btw, what I wouldn't do for a prequel with Marburg as main character. My favorite NPC.

Btw, anyone done no kills playthrough? I did one last time with hands being my "weapon" of choice. That was the most fun playthrough, desbite me messing up and having to reload every other minute.

[daviyoung]

Btw, anyone done no kills playthrough?

Lack of a quick save stops me doing this.

[Hank Scorpio]

They could have made that fight entirely unwinnable without chain shot and I would have still loved it because of the song

You know, you can get him to give you his sound system and strobe lighting shit if you make a deal with him and spare his life after the battle. It then shows up in your Moscow apartment and you can listen to the song all you want

[Grayman]

You know, you can get him to give you his sound system and strobe lighting shit if you make a deal with him and spare his life after the battle. It then shows up in your Moscow apartment and you can listen to the song all you want

! being evil but not psychotic has never been so good.

[XiaNaphryz]

Btw, anyone done no kills playthrough?

Gets ridiculously easy when you get enough stealth and pistol skills. Was still fun to do though.

[jim-jam bongs]

I finally finished a Recruit run on my current PC so I have Veteran unlocked again at long last. For the record it's 120 AP you get at the start of the game to build your character with, so you effectively start the game at level 12.

Also when you wake up in the Graybox there is an Easter Egg when you're on your PDA speaking with Mina. Her signal cuts out and the shopkeeper from the Gelato Shop in Rome appears on your PDA screen for a few seconds. Also, when he first wakes up he says "where the hell is my gear?" to reflect the fact that he's such a seasoned veteran that being without his gear for any amount of time is sheer torment.

That Recruit run was a lot easier than I recall it being too. I finished up at level 20 with maxed Stealth and Pistols and near maxed Martial Arts. Even ploughed all the ladies in one run for the first time too, I usually like to piss at least one of them off.

Btw, anyone done no kills playthrough?

Puh-lease, my first time through the game was no kills and no alarms. Like Xia said, high level Stealth makes a no kills run super-cheesy because of Shadow Operative. If you make the right decisions in the game you can end up with SO which lasts for ~30 seconds and takes just over a minute to cool down.

[Grayman]

the first time I ever played the game I did recruit, but i also stumbled on stealth and pistols because it seemed like it would be the most fun.

[zkylon]

Puh-lease, my first time through the game was no kills and no alarms. Like Xia said, high level Stealth makes a no kills run super-cheesy because of Shadow Operative. If you make the right decisions in the game you can end up with SO which lasts for ~30 seconds and takes just over a minute to cool down.

That, combo-ed with the Tech Spec skill that recharges your skills is just not fair against the poor bosses. Spoilery video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh7Ri4rBLMs (sorry for no sound, messed up in Fraps :P)

[jim-jam bongs]

Oh wow, yeah I'd forgotten about Brilliance too. lol that video is almost exactly what I did yesterday to kill Yancy too.

One thing I wanted to mention about my Recruit run is that I only wore Mike's street clothes for the whole game because it's the best "pure" stealth suit. Interestingly I had 120 base endurance from perks by the end of the game (including Constant Encouragement Rank II), bringing it up to 125 endurance with the 5 from the clothes. If I'd got Insurance Liability in addition to Tough As Nails (given for taking damage) I could have taken it even higher.

[zkylon]

Oh wow, yeah I'd forgotten about Brilliance too. lol that video is almost exactly what I did yesterday to kill Yancy too. One thing I wanted to mention about my Recruit run is that I only wore Mike's street clothes for the whole game because it's the best "pure" stealth suit. Interestingly I had 120 base endurance from perks by the end of the game (including Constant Encouragement Rank II), bringing it up to 125 endurance with the 5 from the clothes. If I'd got Insurance Liability in addition to Tough As Nails (given for taking damage) I could have taken it even higher.

Might want to spoiler tag that name :P Lots of new players from the Steam sale, you know.

Did you ever try beating the game as a full tech specialist? I'm downloading my Steam copy right now and i'm planning on seeing if it can be beateable just using grenades, and maybe some Kung Fu.

[jim-jam bongs]

Might want to spoiler tag that name :P Lots of new players from the Steam sale, you know.

Er oops, I'm usually really careful with that too. Sorted.

Did you ever try beating the game as a full tech specialist? I'm downloading my Steam copy right now and i'm planning on seeing if it can be beateable just using grenades, and maybe some Kung Fu.

I've done a heavy Sabotage build but always had a firearm skill to back it up. The problem is just that you can't carry enough gadgets into the field early in the game so you really need to make them count (Overclock every time etc). If you supplement with some kung-fu though I reckon that would do it.

My advice for power-perking your gadgets build is to fill every slot with the same gadget and empty them all every mission so that you get the perks related to that gadget as quickly as possible, then move on to the next gadget and do the same thing.

[Snuggler]

Maybe it's time for my fists-only run.

[jim-jam bongs]

Fists-only is a must-have-Chain-Shot build imo but ymmv. The Toughness perk which makes Mike instantly resurrect when he dies makes it a lot easier.

[The Stealth Fox]

This game is better than BF3. True story.

[jim-jam bongs]

What an odd comparison.

I like it.

[The Stealth Fox]

What an odd comparison. I like it.

This game won't make your PC catch fire or cause people to want the game to make your PC catch fire.

And you can be a jerk to characters and feel okay about it.

[zkylon]

I've done a heavy Sabotage build but always had a firearm skill to back it up. The problem is just that you can't carry enough gadgets into the field early in the game so you really need to make them count (Overclock every time etc). If you supplement with some kung-fu though I reckon that would do it. My advice for power-perking your gadgets build is to fill every slot with the same gadget and empty them all every mission so that you get the perks related to that gadget as quickly as possible, then move on to the next gadget and do the same thing.

I'd like to try a 0 firearms run in hard difficulty, maybe starting as a Vet. Might be impossible to beat some bosses, is what i'm afraid. I'd like not to have to put points into chain shot just for the bosses.

And you can be a jerk to characters and feel okay about it.

Doesn't shooting people count as being a jerk to them?

[SteelAttack]

Found a solution to this. If you're using Motionjoy, upgrade to the latest version (6.0004 or whatever) and then go to options and change the threshold of whatever buttons you've got set to for LT/RT to zero (default is at 64 which means a considerable deadzone).

Quoted just to properly thank you. It really worked. Setting threshold to zero on triggers actually fixed the problem with lockpicking. Now I only have myself to blame for being shit at lockpicking. :P

[jim-jam bongs]

This game won't make your PC catch fire or cause people to want the game to make your PC catch fire. And you can be a jerk to characters and feel okay about it.

All good points!

I'd like to try a 0 firearms run in hard difficulty, maybe starting as a Vet. Might be impossible to beat some bosses, is what i'm afraid.

Brayko is the problem. Make sure you do Taipei before Moscow so that you can pay Heck to poison his cocaine, because having to go toe-to-toe with him when he has his blade out is basically suicide, even with a higher level Martial Arts skill.

[The Stealth Fox]

Doesn't shooting people count as being a jerk to them?

Can you do it while telling them you killed your therapist?

[zkylon]

Brayko is the problem. Make sure you do Taipei before Moscow so that you can pay Heck to poison his cocaine, because having to go toe-to-toe with him when he has his blade out is basically suicide, even with a higher level Martial Arts skill.

No can do. Did Moscow last on my other playthroughs, so wouldn't be cool to play it in the same order. One thing i love about this game is its length. It's perfect for trying stuff and if it doesn't work, you can get back to where you were fast, so i don't mind if i get stuck. I can always just fly to somewhere else if i just can't beat him.

Can you do it while telling them you killed your therapist?

Oh totally, MT levels of doucheness are impossible to match.

[Grayman]

you can always fly there for just the meet and greet. I think that gets you the intel option.