Underrated. Huge potential but a massive lack of polish. "A Diamond in the rough" is what you call it.

User Rating: 8 | Alpha Protocol PC
Alpha Protocol is a third-person espionage RPG. You play the character of Agent Michael Thorton who is inspired and created in the vein of the three J.B's James Bond, Jason Bourne, and Jack Bauer and is reflected upon the choices you make.


Plot

The game starts off after a commercial airliner is shot down over Eastern Europe. Your character Thorton a field agent wakes up in an underground facility as a new recruit of a secret covert agency called Alpha Protocol. It operates without official backing of the US government and so works without the same obstacles or rules unlike official spy organizations which are not aware of its existence.

The story is told in flashbacks and you are sent on mission to recover the missiles and infiltrate the group that was responsible for the crashed airliner but the mission doesn't go as planned. You uncover questionable information about how a defense contractor called Halbech is selling weapons to the black market and your intended target fuelling conflicts and destabilizing regions to reap profits after business slowed down following the Cold War. In uncovering this sensitive information you become a threat that needs to be eliminated and are attempted to be killed. A conspiracy unfolds as you are turned rogue, along with the aid of a few friends you meet and one from Alpha Protocol you get the chance to get the bottom of this cover up that runs further deep than you thought with huge twists & turns. Your journey leads you among countries that are in vulnerable states where Halbech has influence in that could in turn unsettle the regions and spark a global war.


Gameplay

I have to be honest it didn't make a good first impression during the very opening stages I was starting to get regret my purchase but after the training and initial stages I was feeling ok with it and it started to come through and kept getting better as it went on but at the same it had its problems to go with which I will go over later on.

After the initial stages that set the scene the cities in the game you get to visit are
Rome, Taipei and Moscow in these places you get to undertake some unique missions and meet many varied, likeable & interesting characters along the way too many to name actually; with different personalities and agendas and including ones who you can forge close special relationships not strictly for romance which is nice but change the lives forever.

What I liked was the three regions are facing their own unique problems that if not resolved could destabilize the climate which kept the game interesting. The story I thought was good & complex. You will come across a lot of difficult decisions to make no choice can be wrong but they can very hard to make and have great consequences either way. This is definitely the games strongest feature the Choices and Consequences.

There are different factions and motives you get to meet and choose to side with. Your actions and relationships you make develop the story throughout the whole game and impact on characters likeability and how they treat you through a reputation system.

During my playthrough stealth while was nice to play around was flawed. Enemies could not spot you when you were literally right under their nose and would walk past you whereas other times you would be spotted from miles away despite being behind cover and having many obstacles in front of you. After that there was no way to lose them except use a special stealth ability I invested in called Shadow Ops which made me invisible temporarily. Stealth wasn't anything that unique such as relying on shadows, just sneaking by crouching or else your footsteps would be heard.

The gameplay is very much a mixed bag but it has some good elements such the special abilities you possess.

The shooting mechanics weren't that great but it actually should be treated like an RPG so you need to spend points in your weapons skills to improve accuracy & range and in addition to this the abilities you gain gives you a much greater advantage that outweighs any of the normal shooting mechanics by a big margin.

My own gripe was when you activated chainshot with the pistol the aiming reticule would be yellow but then the whole screen would filter yellow also making it hard to see where you are aiming at and getting crucial headshots at times. That was a bad design decision.

Leveling up is also similar to Mass Effect 1 where you have a number of skills to choose from to put points in and gain special abilities. There is a number of skills all designed to suit a style of play. You get to improve your character whether its stealth, melee, shooting or combine all different sorts to approach missions the way you want and be the type of special agent you want to be.

There is perk system that also acts as a fully integrated achievement system in tandem that rewards you with bonuses and buffs to your character stats for ALL of your actions you undertake reflecting the choices you made giving different strengths to your character. The perk system is actually built-in very well and records and rewards even actions you probably weren't expecting or realise. For example you can get a bonus for the way you approach missions and your style of play like whether you choose to evade enemies or leave no one alive.

You also have a PDA which is the interface that keeps tracks of all your stats, lets you view intelligence and objectives.

The conversation system is another strong point for Alpha Protocol. It gives you a number of choices to make from a radial menu similar to Mass Effect except the dialog choices are represented in different tones of stance such as Suave, Sarcastic and Aggressive that reflect the three J.B's. This is dubbed as the "DSS" Dialogue Stance System. Furthermore the dialogs are on a short timer so you have to make on the spot judgments in real time as you are having the conversation. It can be difficult to read what sort of response a character will judge you favorably by but that is the point. There is no clear choice or any sort of colour coding like in Mass Effect to highlight a negative or aggressive response; you go with the flow and how you feel. Due to this the conversation system along with the timer it works surprisingly to great effect. A lot of decisions have very strong lasting impacts not only immediately but also until later in the game so multiple play through are definitely worth doing.

A few other unique things to keep it in the spy game vein whilst staying in different regions you live in safe house to keep a low profile. From here you are able to acquire new weapons, armor and gadgets through your own special spy room and weapons locker. Here you can deal with black market arms dealers and other organisations to purchase different equipment, armor and weapons upgrades. Once again your choices and relationships can affect what weapons are available to you and how much they cost if you for example decide to eliminate certain dealers.

In addition to this you can also purchase Intelligence before starting a mission from your computer at the safe house using a special network called the Clearing House.
From here you can obtain various items and deal with arm dealers, information brokers and other organizations. These pieces of intelligence can range from hidden locations, specific map layouts, blueprints to aid you in your mission and let you plan ahead. The Clearing House has many different uses such as creating an alliance during missions. It can also buy you better armor/weapons for your allies accompanying you or reduced threat as you can create diversions to take enemies away or have access to security cameras to help you on easier route. Intel is not only restricted to these but it also let you compile dossiers on characters and factions. These dossiers not only give you information that let you create a broader picture but also insight on what sort of characters you will be dealing with and this can subtly inform you on what sort of choices could be favorable depending on the route you want to take.

It doesn't stop there Alpha Protocol also has adds another nice touch with emails which you can send and receive. The responses you make here also can affect your relationship with other characters. These emails can consist of further information as well as some nice banter and specific reactions to how you complete missions from your friends.

The decisions you make in missions also affect relationships differently on your friends where some may commend you for taking non lethal action against certain people or others may frown upon that and see that as weakness in you.

One of the other great things I thought about Alpha Protocol was not all of the missions required you to go in combat. There are conversation only missions and missions where you can choose to use stealth & non lethal takedowns completely which has its own benefits. Another example is scouting a Villa where you have to identify your target among many people at the end you get a choice to make that is left up to you.

There are few things to warn about. Alpha Protocol is not without its faults. There are a few bad design decisions, AI can be inconsistent and opening stages of the game won't make a good first impression so give it a chance at least until after the beginning stages. I didn't have too many bugs except for the camera swings and stuttering which I was able to minimise but not completely eliminate by editing one of the ini files. The hacking mini games I thought after the first few times became easy to get used to but the controls were clearly designed for analogue sticks. The lock picking was the same as I found it to be very easy and no challenge whatsoever having said that I was fine with both of them.

Presentation

Whilst the game is mainly a linear progression through mission levels you are still granted freedom on what missions you choose to undertake in any order and jump between different regions.
The environment interaction is limited to only where the game tells you it is possible. So for example you can't jump over any bridge, wall, or open a door unless there is indicator next to it saying yes it is possible here.

Character customization is limited to a few hair styles, eye colour, eye glasses, skin tone, facial hair and hats. These customizations can still be continuously changed at safe houses. Whilst none of these have any impact some characters actually comment on what you are wearing on certain missions reflecting the situation which was nice touch.

Visually the game isn't bad but nothing special either. The levels & landscape aren't too different from regions or as inspired with the exception of Taipei which has some nice settings and also houses one of the better and memorable set pieces of the game when battling a foe in a climax after a cat & mouse phase in a race to prevent the assassination of Taiwan President Ronald Sung who is giving a speech to a large audience in the backdrop (which is worth listening to in full) but things are not as straightforward. Character models are pretty good and so is the voice acting even if your character Thorton always manages to sounds smug.

The game did feel incomplete at certain parts. For example at your safe house after missions you can switch on the TV and watch the news about events that occurred from your actions. However after the first quarter of the game those news reports stopped and were instead repeating themselves. Later in the game however they came back for one mission where you attack a yacht that gets reported on the news yet some massive story events in comparison didn't get any recognition and had a gap in between. This while might sound minor did detract from the consistency in the game.


Final Thoughts

Alpha Protocol has its shortcomings; it wasn't released in a perfect state and had a lot more potential and could certainly have been more polished but it still remains a great RPG. Some people will get to really like it and some probably just won't be able to get into it and find it frustrating for understandable reasons.

It made a terrible first impression when I first started playing it but I grew to enjoy it a lot, and because it is a mixed bag I think it all depends on a persons experience on how it went. Alpha Protocol gives you one of the best choices and consequences in an RPG and is easily its strongest and best selling point.

Overall I think it was good game but its massive lack of polish, inconsistent ai along with some other areas let it down, if it was perfected and refined I think it could have been brilliant.
It has a blend of Mass Effect & Deus Ex, without the right execution. It has a few problems if can be looked past them then you'll have a very enjoyable experience.