Thinking of checking this out and just wanted to make sure. Thanks!

I've finished it several times on pc without any major bugs or performance issues. Only problem I remember had to do with trying to patch the non-steam boxed version.

I have the Steam version and it runs great on my computer. No slowdown of any sort.

This game is really fun. I don't know why reviewers didn't care for it. I had so much fun playing the first time I went through it a second time.

I played it all the way through on PC a few years ago and it worked fine as far as I remember.

Although the game is definitely one of my favorite "guilty pleasure" games, to be fair, it really does have issues. On consoles it was buggy as fuck. Also, the game has quite a few balance issues. The mini-games quickly get near impossible, even if you spec to make them easier and playing a heavy stealth-based character just isn't viable in some of the missions.

What?! Unless you're talking about the lockpicking mini-game on ps3, where I imagine it might be a little tough if it's relying on the shitty ds3 triggers, I don't think any of the hacking/lockpicking stuff is ever particularly hard. especially considering that you can just quit them before time runs out if you see you can't make it. Or use emps.

And for all the things it gets wrong balance wise, it does a lot of smart things as well, like making your dialogue perks independent of the skill point system.

@cornbredx: @jsnyder82: @hans_maulwurf: Thanks!

@hans_maulwurf: @lawgamer: Is it true about the stealth path? I wanted to do go that way but I can't get past some sections w. that build?

Alpha Protocol is so damn good, I don't know what he is talking about stealth not being viable. The pistol is the strongest weapon if you spec in it, I cleared it without issues in full stealth.

It runs great. I beat it not so long ago twice back-to-back just to play as a suave professional agent first and after that as an unhinged maniac. The dialog system in this game is one of the best I've ever experienced. Just be warned that shooting is not that great and that it takes some time to get used to the stealth gameplay.

@liquiddragon: there are some boss fights, so just stealth won't do it. like @atwa said, going for the pistol is probably the smart way. Personally, I mostly went pistol and assault rifle or hand-to-hand combat

In my opinion you should fully upgrade shotguns. Spy with a shotgun is the most idiotic concept ever and I loved playing it that way =P

@liquiddragon: If you're going the no-kill pacifist stealth route like I did, some boss-fights will be infuriating. That said, stealth + chainshot makes the majority of the game trivial. Still a decent game, too bad it's unfinished in spots.

I seem to recall that if you died and did a "load from last checkpoint" or something (maybe a quick load?), it wouldn't load back in any enemies in the current "area" of the game you were starting. Which a) trivialized that section, and b) robbed you of the XP for killing them. If you progressed to a new "section" (aka new checkpoint), all future enemies would load in just fine.

It led to me just doing most missions in one long, iron man, no save scumming run, which was mostly a fun challenge, only occasionally frustrating. That was the only bug I really remember on the Steam version, no crazy graphical bugs or anything.

Also, yeah, pistols OP as fuck, if you max out stealth you eventually get like a zillion seconds of invis (and I think melee stealth takedowns don't break invis or something, it's ridiculous), and like half the skill trees aren't worth it, you can probably rapidly tell which ones.

@aktivity: No, I was hoping to avoid fire fights and mainly stealth kill my way through it. Sounds like that's viable. Thanks.

@bisonhero: This checkpoint issue doesn't sound so good. Hope they patched it.

@liquiddragon:

Buddy is way wrong; stealth is easily the most OP build in the game. You literally can turn invisible and sprint through levels one shooting guys in the throat. If you run into guys with shields your skills in pistol allow you to stop time and unload a clip into him which then allow you to melee him down to nothing. Its harder maybe for the first few levels but once you see the game running beneath its super easy.

Game's great, if a little rough in spots. Performance-wise, it's best on PC but all versions suffer from the same issues. Nothing game-breaking or progress-halting, though. Like most other people have said, spec for stealth and pistols. First couple missions might be rough but once you get into the groove of things, it's the way to go.

Stealth + Pistol will allow you to absolutely dominate in that game. Balance issues and some other odd problems aside, it really is an underrated gem.

Haven't tried on Win 10 yet, but I had no problems with 7 and 8. I've played through it a few times and I liked it a lot.

I dunno that you can't get past it, but there are some missions that feel like they force you into combat situations you aren't built for.

For example: There is a mission at an embassy to get some dude with information out. It's actually cool getting in with stealth, but once you get outside, the bad guys break down a wall with an APC and rush you with a ton of dudes wearing body armor. There is no way to avoid this encounter. A pistol does fuck-all damage to the armored dudes, and you need to protect the NPC during all of this. Of course, due to shitty AI he pretty much just stands around out of cover getting shot at, more or less forcing you to get in front of him and try to tank the incoming damage. It's bad.

I later figured out that the way they "want" stealth players to beat that mission is to pay for a sniper rifle drop on the roof pre-mission, which then makes the entire encounter trivial because you can head shot every enemy in about 3 seconds. Of course, you don't know that drop is critical until you play through the mission, and since I'd put my money into other things and couldn't afford it, I basically had to revert to a save a few missions earlier and save up. It sucked.

Basically, I think the problem is that combat always feels like a viable option whereas stealth, while great and fun when it works, was something the devs didn't always design level paths for.

I remember speccing heavily in stealth and having a ton of trouble with the boss fights (most of them will try and bum-rush you with melee attacks, so I hope you put some points into hand-to-hand) but there are totally parts that are trivialized once you get your sneaking skills high enough.

Alpha Protocol is a game I respect more than I like (in fact, I might go as far as to say I dislike parts of it a lot) but it's totally worth one's time.

I liked the game but was glad it was over. I literally decided to cheat engine through the game at a certain point because while I liked the stealth quite a bit, he gets repetitive halfway through the game, or at least I felt so.

I was mainly playing for the story and felt like it fell short. One of those games that just needed a few minor additions or changes and it would've been incredible, but because it fell short I was more disappointed in it