A Spy Tale Where Everything Is Less Than It Seems

Joe Juba — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:15:00 GMT

During the course of a single mission, Michael Thorton is betrayed by his country, framed by his superiors, and cut off from his support. This pivotal moment in the story is clearly where things go wrong for the super-spy hero, but I wish it were as easy to pinpoint exactly where Alpha Protocol falls apart as a gaming experience. The espionage-themed hybrid of third-person action and RPG leveling is a baffling cocktail of outdated design and technical problems, with only a handful of bright spots illuminating how good the game could have been.

The best spy stories have magnetic, capable protagonists you love to cheer for – just look at genre icons like James Bond and Jason Bourne. Michael Thorton is an unlikable idiot by contrast. Maybe it’s the fact that his personality is a collection of rote secret agent clichés, or the way tense situations elicit no reaction from him beyond dull resignation. Whatever the reason, I never warmed up to Thorton or thought he was cool, and I got more entertainment watching his failure than I did his success. Super spies should inspire excitement in an audience, not schadenfreude.

You could argue that Thorton’s lack of charisma was partly my fault, since Alpha Protocol’s dialogue system lets you steer conversations based on how you view the character. However, I refuse to accept any blame for his wooden performance. You aren’t given nearly enough opportunities to interact in a non-combat situation, and when you are, your replies are usually simply labeled “suave,” “aggressive,” and “professional,” so you never encounter responses that tempt you to deviate from a certain attitude. The conversations may seem similar to Mass Effect’s on first glance, but where that title keeps players engaged with constant choices, Alpha Protocol doesn’t put the system (and, by association, the characters) at the forefront.

The wedge between the player and the events makes it impossible to care about the generic “shady defense contractor out for profit” plot, and the gameplay does nothing to salvage your interest. Whether you choose to be a stealthy spy or a guns-blazing soldier, the mechanics are archaic and unaccommodating. You can’t vault over cover, you can’t block melee strikes (bad guys can, though!), and the enemy AI makes the dumbest James Bond minions look like rocket scientists. The bosses, on the other hand, are on the opposite end of the chump spectrum. Don’t misunderstand me – they aren’t smart. They’re aggravating and poorly designed. One left me speechless, since I couldn’t think of profanity foul enough to express my frustration. Throw in a lot of loading (sometimes mid-firefight), pervasive texture-popping, and a preponderance of dumb minigames, and you have a lack of polish that puts a nearly impenetrable wall up in front of your enjoyment.

Alpha Protocol’s jumbled mess of mechanics is tragic, because some aspects are genuinely well done. Thorton’s progression is handled excellently, allowing plenty of flexibility to tailor his skills to your style. The abilities you unlock as you level – like invisibility and auto-targeting – are satisfying rewards for your investment. I was also immensely impressed by how the narrative naturally conforms around your choices. Events flow seamlessly regardless of when you complete a mission, your chosen allies, and who lives and dies. Characters often reference your previous actions and allegiances, which is pretty remarkable considering all of the factors on the table. This adaptability would add to the replay value – if the other facets of the experience were good enough to warrant completing the game once.

With a history including games like Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights 2, the team at Obsidian Entertainment knows role-playing. Alpha Protocol isn’t necessarily a counter-point to that expertise; the RPG systems under the hood are solid. I just wish that I could experience them in the context of a compelling espionage adventure, not a last-gen third-person shooter.

Choices, Customization Add To A Spy's Life

Joe Juba — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:37:00 GMT

Have you ever considered the potential downsides of world peace? Sure, war and suffering would be things of the past. But on the other hand, super spies like Michael Thorton would be out of a job. Luckily for him, the world of Alpha Protocol is full of strife and international intrigue, and we recently saw even more of the features and conflicts that gamers will encounter as they steer Thorton into harm’s way.

As you unravel the conspiracy, one of your missions takes Thorton to a snowy compound in Moscow crawling with enemies – and potential allies. After you clear out the first wave of thugs, Thorton meets a machine gun-toting seductress named Sie in command of her own small militia. In the ensuing conversation, your responses impact your standing with Sie and her troops; if you adopt an aggressive and no-nonsense tone, she gains respect for you and will help you out. Conversely, if you act like a glib wiseguy, she loses patience and her troops may attack you. Either way, Thorton runs into Sie again later in the level, and if you insist on making her mad, you can participate in an optional boss fight against her.

Your choices in Alpha Protocol extend beyond different conversation options. As Thorton works his way through the base in Moscow, multiple gameplay paths present themselves, and players decide which one best suits their skills. One route favors run-and-gun tactics, ideal for spies skilled with machine guns. Another uses stealth tactics to avoid detection, and the third involves hacking through security to access sealed areas. Depending on how you have allocated your skill points, you have unique abilities that augment your chosen style. For instance, sneaky characters have the ability to run silently, while gun specialists have improved criticals or the ability to chain multiple shots together. The potential variation in player builds means that the game has a different feel based on your choices.

When Thorton isn’t surrounded by enemies or dodging gunfire, he spends his time in luxurious safehouses in exotic locations like Taipei, Rome, and Saudi Arabia. The safehouses essentially function as your hub for an area, allowing you to buy information and weapons, select missions, and customize your appearance. While the basic character model is always the same, players help Thorton build a disguise by equipping armor, hats, glasses, and facial hair that range from awesome to ridiculous. No one wants to hassle a dude with a lumberjack beard!

Alpha Protocol was initially slated to come out earlier this year, but with a new October release date, Obsidian has more time to tune the mechanics and ensure that this mixture of espionage and role-playing lives up to its potential. The game is already looking pretty good, so we can’t wait to see the results of a few extra months of polish.

Alpha Protocol - PlayStation 3

A Spy Tale Where Everything Is Less Than It Seems

Choices, Customization Add To A Spy's Life