Alpha Protocol Review

When Obsidian Entertainment first announced Alpha Protocol in 2008, it piqued a lot of interest. Not because Obsidian were making a new RPG, but because it would be an RPG based around stealth and espionage. It seemed like an incredibly daring concoction of genres, and it certainly went away from the more traditional realm of RPGs. The title was originally meant to come out late 2009, but it was blighted by a series of delays which gamers were assured happened because the studio wanted the game to be 'very polished' upon its release. Well, it's finally here and it looks like it probably could have done with some more polish.

The plot in Alpha Protocol probably won't surprise most people. Players take control of an agent named Michael Thornton, who has been assigned to a government agency called Alpha Protocol. However, as expected, the agency doesn't officially exist, which gives the government full deniability if something goes absolutely pear shaped. And go pear shaped it does, as Michael's first mission, which he's assigned after spending about 5 minutes in the programme, goes bad and Michael becomes a rogue agent that's being hunted by his old agency and his country.

From here, the game becomes a lot less linear. Players are given three locations to choose from (Rome, Moscow and Taipei) and they can undertake missions in their regions as and when they please. They can also switch between the various locations if they wish, and the dialogue with characters throughout missions will reflect exactly what Michael's been doing. The problem with the story, is that it offers something ironically unexpected - almost no plot twist. Surely that's an absolute must for a game based around espionage, but the plot twist that does happen seems so insignificant that it could almost not even happen.

Fortunately, the story is salvaged by some fantastic dialogue between the characters. Each conversation has numerous points throughout where Michael can answer in different ways, but there's a timer present which means players don't have too long to think about their answers. Unlike in other RPGs, where players can take as long as they want to answer, the system in Alpha Protocol actually makes it so everything flows - it feels like a proper conversation. Conversations can also be stopped instantly, and taking different routes will unlook more or less information. Chosing the correct way to speak with certain characters will also change their disposition rather quickly and their demeanour becomes quite apparent as conversations progress with these characters throughout the story. The relationships Michael forms also impact the gameplay, as perks are granted based on the strength, or weakness of a relationship.

The gameplay, unfortunately, isn't very strong. Players can either choose to play through as a stealthy operative or one who goes in all-guns blazing - neither is overly effective though. This is mainly because the gameplay is so unpolished. Sneaking up on guards wouldn't be so bad if the game felt like it was actually built with this in mind, but it really doesn't seem that way. Going in firing dozens of rounds equally wouldn't be so bad if the gun combat were half decent - it's not. It makes this aspect of the game incredibly frustrating, and the best option is to simply make a walking battle tank who is a supreme martial artist. That way, the poor gameplay mechanics can simply be ignored, and the game can be progressed relatively easily.