Alpha Protocol, the RPG stealth-em-up shooter has finally arrived after spending a few extra months in production. But has the wait been worthwhile for Obsidian to iron out the kinks, in order to give players an awesome new title worthy of the developer’s history?
Alpha Protocol puts you in the boots of Michael Thorton, an undercover secret agent working for a government agency that doesn’t officially exist. The story is well thought-out and very engaging, which allows the games RPG elements to sparkle throughout the diverse scenarios throughout the game. The story is progressed through missions, which are selected via safehouses scattered across a multitude of countries. Each safehouse stands as your haven for briefings, character customization and weapon supply.
Completing missions earns you experience points where you will level up and allocate the points to any of the twenty different skill traits available, which include SMG handling, Pistol handling, Sneaking, Health and others. The higher classed your character becomes, the cost of levelling up increases. Certain skills, when improved, will give Michael special abilities such as ‘awareness targeting’, so that enemy AI can be located within the area.
There are many different ways to approach a mission, incorporating the many different gadgets and gun ammunitions available, the possibilities are almost endless. Most of the time, it would be at your advantage to take a more silent approach, although there are a few missions which are almost impossible to complete without alerting the enemy.
The gameplay has some very delightful sweet spots. The fluid cover system which allows the player to move easily in and out of cover to take complete advantage of those stealthily situations, also gives you the ability to blind-fire in a heavy gun fight. This adds some great pacing and action to the missions.
Every conversation in Alpha Protocol will allow Michael to choose between a set of attitudes, which are Suave, Aggressive, or Professional. These will always be your first points of decision, which will determine your approach to the dialogue and your next reply. From then on, other conversation options will appear that will be more relevant to the encounters at hand. The way you approach each individual and end the conversations will change their attitudes towards Michael, giving you a slightly different story and outcome. This can result in AI assistance in missions, gun discounts, vital information and further experience points.
The game requires you to solve puzzles that include hacking computer terminals to gather information on objectives, lock-picking safes in order for you to require funds for purchasing new weapons, accessories, armour, extra information that will assist you in future objectives, and overriding alarm systems to switch off cameras and laser sensors. All three methods are quite unique and sometimes very frustrating. It does however improve the gameplay and difficulty as when a mistake is made, the allocated time to solve the puzzle is decreased and an alarm sounds.
Outfitting Michael with the large array of guns, equipment, armour, weapons and modifying the armour and guns is vital to how you will complete each mission. Each group of guns can be modified with extra magazines, cartridges, silencers and more which will affect the recoil, damage, handling, aiming and loudness. Michael’s’ armour strength and flexibility can be improved by purchasing accessories that can be equipped in one of the many available slots.
While the game itself has all the gadgets and fancy weaponry, the presentation is not out there to compete with the big guns, but has some visually attractive flair with its smooth motion blur and realistic lighting.
Alpha Protocol is a very good action RPG title with inventive gameplay mechanics, above par graphics, an awesome selection of weapons, a wealth of skill upgrades and an immensely engrossing story.
