Alpha Protocol: The First Three Hours
This spy RPG is silent, but deadly.
August 24, 2009 - Obsidian's Alpha Protocol hasn't been getting a ton of buzz, but perhaps that's because no one's had a chance to play a significant portion of the game. Well, that's changed. I had a go at the first few hours of Alpha Protocol recently, charging my way through the Saudi Arabia missions. There are a lot of promising things in Alpha Protocol, but a few troubling issues as well.
Let's start with the good. Alpha Protocol is a stealth-action RPG full of character and item customization. You awaken confused and without memory of how you arrived in this unusual facility. Your "escape" (in quotes because it's all just a test) gives you a quick primer on the controls. After the first half hour or so, things really open up. You have control over your character's look, adding goofy beards and berets as you see fit. While you can't change every aspect of your face, there's a decent level of customization, though the best are those that lean towards the ridiculous.
The real fun comes in upgrading your character's stats, customizing weapons and picking your gadgets. Every character has nine stats: Stealth, Pistols, Submachine Guns, Shotguns, Assault Rifles, Sabotage, Technical Aptitude, Toughness and Martial Arts. Each time you gain a level, you earn points to distribute amongst these stats. Not only does a higher stat mean you are better at something, but each provides bonus abilities. Level 3 of Stealth, for example, adds the Silent Run ability, which makes your footsteps inaudible for 10 seconds. Level 11 of Sabotage earns the Remote Hack ability, which is as useful as it sounds.
Alpha Protocol can be played as a stealth game, a straight up shooter or a mixture of the two. How you choose to level up your character largely determines how you'll tackle missions.
Guns are upgraded through the black market. Each weapon has its own set of stats, which you can affect through purchases. A silencer on a pistol makes it a great stealth weapon, but reduces its damage. A modified choke on a shotgun barrel greatly increases its accuracy, but also causes more recoil. Different dealers have different items and your relationships with each changes pricing and availability. It's a smart system that isn't as intense as a loot-drop game like Too Human, but still manages to take some of its best elements.
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Check the latest videos of Alpha Protocol in action.
After getting through basic training, you can head into the field and take on the missions in Saudi Arabia or you can stick around, talk to some folk and earn bonus training missions. It's here that I got a real sense of the conversation system. It borrows heavily from Mass Effect. But where BioWare's RPG had selecting emotional reactions, Alpha Protocol asks you to consider how you are manipulating the conversation. There are three main options, each suggesting a different tone for your response. The idea isn't to play a character's emotional range, it's to find the best way to get a reaction from the other party. That reaction may be to make them angry or to sweet talk them or to simply annoy them. Each NPC has his or her own persona and you'll need to figure those out in order to get the conversational advantage.
The conversation elements are really the most interesting part of Alpha Protocol and tie in to a complex web of alliances. You are not good or bad, you're a spy and will always fall in the grey area. But sometimes you need to make tough choices. Do you let a mass murderer go in hopes his friendship will lead you to an even bigger threat? Do you kill someone who's committed atrocities but is willing to give you a discount on weapons? Again, it's not that you're good or bad for making these choices; you're just doing your job.
The missions are less spectacular than the setup. Most are fairly linear and while the objectives may change, the approach seems the same. Sneak your way across an area to get to the target. Or you can run and gun. Or, more likely, you can try stealth until you're spotted, then kill folks.
Along the way you'll come across several mini-games, including a very simple lockpicking mechanic (balancing tumblers) and a computer hacking game that's easy to solve. Some earn you items you wouldn't normally get, others help you progress further. You can also use some of your gadgets for assistance, like an EMP charge to short out a camera system.
For all the promise I found in the set-up and conversations, I came across an equal number of issues in the field. Keep in mind, this is still an early build, but as it stands this is not a very attractive game. The AI is pretty simple-minded and it's not always clear when you are fully in cover. But the troublesome aspect is that the game is incredibly buggy. Normally I'd give the benefit of the doubt to preview code such as this, but I feel I have to give it mention due to Obsidian's development history. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights II are both games with some great ideas, but also tons of bugs. Seeing so many glitches in Alpha Protocol makes me more than a little nervous. Hopefully the next build I play has many of these issues ironed out.
Alpha Protocol definitely has some good elements to it. I like the dialogue system and the impact relationships have on the narrative, but I'm certainly not overwhelmed by the actually gameplay. The next month (and the impending review code) should be very telling of Alpha Protocol's success. Fingers crossed.
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