Unlike in some RPGs-even the sainted Mass Effect games, which AP very much resembles-the talking in AP maintains the feeling that you’re actually playing a game, that you’re one wrong word from doom, that there’s no unsaying the wrong thing. It works really well, and generates a lot of tension. This is Alpha Protocol’s centrepiece, an organically flowing conversational system that relies on players choosing and overall “stance”-aggressive, professional, flirty, etc.-rather than explicit dialogue selections.

We all know that money-scrounging and nerdish obsessing over gear and stats are the real heart of role-playing games, but the public face is, you know, the playing of a role. Pinned down by armed guards in a Taipei hotel? Do not even think of taking the direct route out! Check that broom closet first there’s probably a duffle bag of Triad cash in there, and that sweet assault rifle I’ve got my eye on isn’t going to buy itself. So-called “role-playing elements” are now common to every game genre-everything from skateboarding games to pony simulators has you monkeying with stats and levels and whatnot-but AP is the real thing, right down to the obsessive tossing of every nook and cranny for unattended gold pieces. That said, I had a great time! Couldn’t put it down! This is because I am-and have been since childhood-a stone sucker for the RPG gameflow, which Alpha Protocol serves hot and fresh and in an exciting new package.

The plot is almost a parody of the globetrotting, triple-crossing modern spy genre, and the half-decent script is too often roughed up by voice talent that come across as either under-directed, miscast or flat-out terrible. The core infiltration action is a solid seen-it-before shooter that ranges from adequate to excellent when its not being rendered completely infuriating by hiccups in the cover system and moments when the hidden dice-rolling of the role-playing game mechanism decrees a perfectly lined-up shot to be a miss. The question is, did they manage to chew it? I’m going to cancel this metaphor before it gets really gross and just say “mostly.”Īlpha Protocol is one of those games I found myself quite enjoying, despite its flaws. Have to give developer Obsidian Entertainment credit: They took a really big bite with Alpha Protocol, a blend of third-person stealth shooter, international espionage techno-thriller and conversational role-playing game.

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