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[Catastrophic lolcats]

I had no problems using a mouse in the game except for the sniper sections. The sniper sections have this really stupid mouse acceleration and low sensitivity that make it impossible to hit anything. Lucky I have a cheap puesdo-gaming mouse with a DPI button so I could just bump that up. It was still really painful though. 

it's really a shame Alpha Protocol is so broken. Riddled with bugs. Poor UI. Terrible PC controls. It really felt like Obsidian were out of their native waters trying to develop a cross-platform game/"RPG-lite". As usual with Obsidian games if it had a little bit more polish and wasn't released early it would be a million times better and an instant classic.

[Shadowlord]

Personally I think Alpha Protocol is a great game for $5. I really enjoyed it. You just have to be aware the save/load system is kind of FUBAR and don't try to save-scum in the middle of missions because if you do, it will respawn enemies and may reset some mission objectives. Only save at the beginning of missions, in your safehouse, etc. (Dying tended to be rare for me, except perhaps in boss battles, but wasn't so much of an issue usually)

(I played Deus Ex (many times) long before buying Alpha Protocol - They play quite differently, especially in that you are far harder to kill in Alpha Protocol, and have regenerating armor)

As for AI War, I have all but the very newest expansion, and never ever play it. I tried it when I got it, but it didn't seem particularly fun for whatever reason.

[Knight of Fools]

Alpha Protocol has some pretty wonky design decisions. It's like it was a game that tried to test out new stuff, but wanted to throw in some outdated gameplay decisions as well. Overall it's not a bad game, but its bad points really drag it down to mediocre in my book.

My biggest problem is the combat. In order to have any decent chance of hitting something, you have to hold still and maintain your sights on the target for a few seconds, a la Deus Ex 1. Holding it beyond that will give you a critical hit. If you like how this slow combat down and creates a risk and reward relationship, then this isn't such a big deal. If you're more of an action-y type person, this is a major downer. In either case it slows combat down a lot and punishes you pretty harshly for doing cool things typical of the spy genre, such as running and gunning.

Another problem is with the non-combat encounters. All conversations are on a timer. You must listen to the person's dialogue and choose a response within the allotted amount of time. This sounds great on paper, but in practice they rarely give you more than a couple of seconds after the person has finished their sentence to respond, and sometimes even less than that. It's frustrating when your character automatically suddenly starts popping dumb jokes when you wanted to play a professional spy.

The AI is also intentionally set up to be mind-numbingly dumb, sometimes intentionally. There are several occasions where you'll sneak up on a guy who's doing nothing but staring at a featureless wall. Other times, you'll be in a fire fight and one of your enemies will be "behind cover" with their head and shoulders sticking out. I recommend playing the game on hard for this reason, but be warned: Hard is hard in this game.

Other than that, the plot is mildly interesting. I haven't gotten too far with it, but after the fairly nonsensical beginning it seems to smooth out. You get a sense of progression with the skills you unlock, and a number of them can be combined to tear people to shreds and aid in stealth. You get a very strong sense of what you're developing your character for. Guns are also diverse, customizable, and fill a variety of niches (Even though assault rifles only fire in bursts).

So, overall a fair game that got hurt by some risky design decisions. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I think $5 is fair.

As for AI War, I have all but the very newest expansion, and never ever play it. I tried it when I got it, but it didn't seem particularly fun for whatever reason.

Same here. I launched the tutorial, got bored, and haven't touched it since.

[Shadowlord]

My biggest problem is the combat. In order to have any decent chance of hitting something, you have to hold still and maintain your sights on the target for a few seconds, a la Deus Ex 1. Holding it beyond that will give you a critical hit. If you like how this slow combat down and creates a risk and reward relationship, then this isn't such a big deal. If you're more of an action-y type person, this is a major downer. In either case it slows combat down a lot and punishes you pretty harshly for doing cool things typical of the spy genre, such as running and gunning.

The pistol and your fists/feet are your best weapons. This is generally not an issue with them, especially with the pistol 'skill' that essentially allows you to freeze time and queue up shots. I probably took out 60-80% of the enemies using melee rather than guns.

[Rolan7]

I really enjoyed Alpha Protocol, it felt like a fine spiritual successor to Deus Ex 1.  I loaded up on stealth and pistols and didn't have much trouble, I think I was on normal.  With high-tier stealth you can disappear during boss fights and ambush them (with, say, that very powerful slowmo pistol ability).

The timed dialogues were sometimes frustrating but in a good way: I felt like I failed to process the information fast enough.  The penalty is usually very light, like failing to maximize the bonus a certain handler gives you (and you switch handlers a lot in this game).  RP-wise I didn't mind *trying* to act professional and then making an awkward joke or threat because I was caught off guard by what the person said.  I think it was a nice effect.

Edit: I also liked how expensive tranquilizer rounds were.  I got to feel benevolent for buying them instead of upgrading my armor or equipment, and didn't feel any need to save *every* life like in other games. 

[TripJack]

AI War: Fleet Command (with 3 DLCs)

AI War is like any other game, some love it some hate it (I love it). Try the demo and see for yourself. The sale still has a week to go so there's no rush.

[Shakerag]

PTW.

[Tellemurius]

Well since you are lets post something

We got the Assassins Creed franchise on sale for the weekend madness.
You can buy all of the games for 40 bucks

Also the Canadian Indie Bundle is out with some favorites titles including
Dungeons of Dredmor and S.P.A.Z. for 5 bucks total.

[Squanto]

I finally caved in and bought the Assassain's Creed Bundle.  I no longer have my 360, and I never pleyed the first one so I considered it was worth it, especially with the new game coming out soon.

[Rolan7]

I played S.P.A.Z before the mercenaries faction or whatever, and it was highly engaging.  Good value for $5.  I haven't played it since but only because I have too many games and not enough time.  The zombies are a good mechanic and the story is adequate.

The first Assasin's Creed was a good game.  Fun mechanics, good story and atmosphere.  The main issue was unskippable cutscenes which destroyed the replay value, but they were all worth watching on a first playthrough (including MetalGearSolid-style interactivity, IE changing the camera angle to reveal things).

[Knight of Fools]

Is the first one worth playing if you've already played all of the other ones?

I don't know why, but my main concern is kill combos. If I have to sit around and wait for every single guy to attack me before being able to kill just one, I might get kind of annoyed.

[Lectorog]

In my opinion, the first is the best. If you enjoyed the others, though, it will probably feel much less smooth and much more tedious. It's still worth $5 and the time spent playing it, IMO.

There aren't kill combos, but you can still attack and counterattack.

[Shades]

In my opinion, the first is the best. If you enjoyed the others, though, it will probably feel much less smooth and much more tedious. It's still worth $5 and the time spent playing it, IMO.

The story is certainly better. The controls are not even close to as smooth or intuitive (which was especially bad as I had played prince of persia just before I played the first game the first time around, comparison is not good), the later two games fair better with doing what you expect but the game itself is more repetitive and just less interesting I think. I've not played the newer one (or III)

[olemars]

Only bad thing about AC1 is the repetitiveness of the nine assassination missions. They're really just background fluff for exploring the unlocked city section.

The cities are beautiful though, and fairly accurately modeled (except for that huge-ass gothic cathedral they plonked down in the middle of Accra).

[Untouchable]

Deponia is on sale for half price today. I'm always up for more point and click adventures but has anyone here played it before? If so, is it any good?