Alpha Protocol

Reviewed by Falconer on Dec 15, 2010

This review was done on the 360 it can also be brought on the PS3 and PC.

Alpha Protocol Boxshot

Alpha Protocol is an amazing game. Obsidian have taken the best elements of a lot of my favorite games and blended them into a gem every gamer should try. The game has taken the stealth and QCQ from MGS, the dialogue options from Mass Effect, the hacking, lock picking mini-games are a lot like New Veags, multiple endings and different each time you play through (it's long too), it has GTA4's shooting/cover system, a level up system somewhat like Deux Ex and they added in their own stuff as well and made it great!

You play as an agent brought in from one of many backgrounds you get to chose at the start to join Alpha Protocol a term used by the CIA for an Agent of whom has gone rogue. For my first play through I chose the harder Recruit option because it unlocks the awesome Veteran Background. You are sent on assignment in Saudi Arabia to kill a terror leader. Unlike most games you don't actually have to kill him the choice is yours how you proceed and even if you follow orders. Money has to be procured on sight and if this means stealing from bank accounts, blackmail or taking the cash off a dead body you can. This game shows a true seance of grey morality to explain would spoil the story but suffice to say the decisions you make will be a lot tougher than deciding what to ware.

You can also decide what to ware, buy guns change your appearance (skin color, beard, eye color clothing face hair & hair) all a lot like the original French/English movie the Day of the Jackal (Not the rubbish Bruce Wills one) You can steal or buy weapon mods on the Black Market and there are more of them that in New Vegas!, hack, receive and send E-mails, use a PDA to access intel on the go and some other things I'll let you discover on your own. You can train in Close Quarters Combat, use a flying fox gadget on any inclined wire or rope, plus a ton of stuff more.

You get to chose your missions and the story will change based on the order you chose. Mission area's are full of intel and secrets waiting to be discovered and while not in an open world game they are large and explorable. If you want to go in guns blazing you can, but you can also try stealth, hacking security programs, diplomacy depending on your reputation, put down traps and more. To do these things you will level up and chose your unlocks from many different attributes (See Bellow).

The exception of the skills is of Speech as you are all ready keyed by the story as being a master of manipulation, however you can buy and hack intel and open up more options with some NPC's once you know their psych history. The conversation system is really well thought out choosing between different emotions in your answers you can come off Aggressive theY button, Swarve/Seductive the X button(depending on the sex of the person you are talking with), Professional the B button, Dossier(if you did your research) and Attack if you think their Gard is down the A bottom. If they start to like you you can gain friends, allies or even romantic partners though sex scenes are just a black screen. Relationships can cause negative affects, you can make enemies of friends or friends of enemies. You could make a friend and start a war or make an enemy and avoid one vice-versa applies to. See Bellow picturefor dialogue options.

Graphics are good though I would suggest turning off the motion blur from the options. Sound is great and it is needed to hear Gard's coming and spy on conversations.There are plenty of gadgets to find and buy based on your contacts. The game has a perk system like New Vegas but they are earned through actions and would be spoiling if I told you.