Alpha Protocol

There are no correct answers or bad choices, there are only results. The life you knew before Alpha Protocol is no more; your past – erased. Forget what was and focus on the future as you traverse the globe and execute missions as deemed necessary. How you want to carry out the mission is up to you – use force, stealth or persuasion in order to get the job done…it doesn’t matter. Just remember, your actions have consequences, your decisions will shape the future, and what you do shapes who you will become. Choose wisely.

So what is Alpha Protocol? It’s a clandestine program that allows the U.S. government to deny covert operations. You play as Agent Mike Thorton, the newest recruit to Alpha Protocol, who’s being sent to Saudi Arabia to take out Shaheed, the leader of the terrorist organization Al-Samad, and to recover the missiles used to destroy a passenger airliner. But like every good spy story, nothing is ever as it seems.
Once captured, Shaheed reveals that he is a pawn of Halbech, a defense contractor, who is attempting to raise global tensions in order to sell weapons to the world.  In an attempt to destroy the evidence, Halbech bombards the location of Shaheed and Thorton.  Of course, this wouldn’t be much of a spy story if Agent Thorton didn’t survive, so Thorton picks himself up and spends the next 10-15hrs on a mission of truth, vengeance and maybe even a little humiliation.

Your Weapon is Choice

SEGA’s slogan for Alpha Protocol his ‘Your best weapon is choice’, and that certainly holds true. Alpha Protocol’s greatest strength is the story and the way the player can shape the outcome of events within the story. Now, not every choice has a game changing impact, some may be as simple as how to advance to a certain objective. Take, for example, the beginning of the game:  Mike Thorton wakes up in the infirmary after being drugged and taken to the secret location of Alpha Protocol. Seconds later you are prompted to pick up a PDA and are greeted by Mina Tang, the first of many characters you will meet.  After a bit of small talk, Mina asks Mike how he plans on getting out of the infirmary. At that point you are given a choice of four options as to how to go about your escape, with each one playing out differently. Do you set off the alarms and send the guards running to take you out, or do you try to stealth your way to the nearest guard and take him out silently?

There will be plenty of choices like this that will have a lasting impact on the story and how major characters react to them. For example, while in Saudi Arabia, you are given the task of tracking down a known arms dealer by the name of Nasari. Once you do catch up to him you are then presented with three options – extort, arrest or execute. Each choice has a different consequence. If you choose to extort, then you will gain some funds and have access to items on the black market. Arresting him gains praise from the higher ups at Alpha Protocol, and executing him has some rather interesting consequences of its own that I won’t spoil here.

The events in Saudi Arabia have left Mike Thorton as a rogue agent, on the run and looking for answers. The biggest choice facing the player at this point is where to go next – Moscow, Rome or to Taipei. This openness to the story progression is a great feature of Alpha Protocol and ensures a certain amount of replayability, but it does tend to fragment the story somewhat. Moscow will be the obvious first destination as it’s the location that the Halbech missiles were smuggled through on their way to Saudi Arabia.  Rome and Taipei are not nearly as obvious – in Rome an Al-Samad cell was activated, and in Taipei someone is planning an assassination of the current Taiwanese president. It’s not till much later that the big picture is revealed and shows how all the events are connected.

Of the three locations, Rome seems to be the most interesting. Moscow is fairly lengthy and does introduce quite a few interesting characters, but the events in Rome feel like they are more in line with the overall story of Alpha Protocol than those of Taipei. Even so, Taipei does have one the greatest characters ever in a game, Steven Heck, who is voiced by Nolan North.

One way Alpha Protocol fills in the information gaps is through the collection of intelligence dossiers. These dossiers can be gathered throughout the game and not only provide insight to the story, they can also provide information that can be used in conversations, or give hints as to how to defeat certain adversaries.

Conversations are a huge part of Alpha Protocol. Again, there are no correct answers, but a player’s reputation can dictate which characters will cooperate with Thorton. When a conversation is initiated, players will choose what’s called a ‘stance’, of which there are typically three – professional, suave and aggressive. At times when a dialog is triggered, those stances may be labeled differently based on a topic, but they still follow the same template.  However, there will be times when a fourth dialog option may be present.  For example, when playing through the game as a veteran, you will be presented with the ‘Veteran’ dialog option along with the normal three. Also, if the player has gathered sufficient information on a particular person, that too can open up a new dialog option that the player can pursue.

An Espionage RPG

Since Alpha Protocol is an RPG, players will have to choose a background – Soldier, Field Agent, Tech Specialist or Freelancer. The only difference between them is which skills are available to the player. The Soldier is weapon-focused, the Field Agent concentrates upon stealth and infiltration, and the Tech Specialist is centered on gadgets and electronics. If you prefer to customize your skills, then the Freelancer background is for you. The backgrounds mainly serve as a starting point for giving the player an idea on how they want to play the character of Mike Thorton.

There are, however, two additional backgrounds that players can choose:  ‘Recruit’ and ‘Veteran’. As a recruit, players have no experience or formal training, meaning no starting skills. Playing as a Recruit makes the game significantly harder, especially in the early going, but from a role-playing aspect, it’s very satisfying as a player gets to see Agent Thorton grow stronger and better during the course of gameplay. The Veteran background becomes available after finishing the game as a Recruit, and makes the game significantly easier.

As players accomplish their objectives, they will gain experience points and level-up. Each level gives the player 10 achievement points to spend on skills of their choosing. There are a total of 9 skills; each gives a variety of bonuses or abilities that can be used throughout the game. Also, each skill has 10 ranks of expertise, and after Saudi Arabia, players will be able to choose to specialize in three of them, increasing the rank up to 15. The background players chose at the beginning of the game has no affect on which skills can be learned.

Another way to gain experience and achievement points are through gaining perks for doing just about anything. Get a number of critical hits with the pistol and gain the ‘Pistol Marksman’ perk. Be a jerk and hang up on someone at least four times and gain the ‘Last Word’ perk. These perks also give bonuses to skills and abilities and discounts to weapons, gadgets and intel purchased from the black market. It’s a fantastic RPG element that helps shape the character of Mike Thorton as a player progresses through the game.

No modern shooter-RPG would be complete without a few hacking mini-games. There are three such mini-games – computer hacking, electronic bypass and lock picking. Of the three, the electronic bypass is the most entertaining. Players will be required to identify a number sequence through a series of maze like lines in order to rewire the device. The lock picking is pretty simple when using the mouse and keyboard; just move the pins in the appropriate position with the mouse and click the left mouse button to lock them in place.

The computer hacking mini-game, on the other hand, is a total nightmare when using the default mouse and keyboard setup. A computer will have a grid of numbers. At the top of the screen to the left and right are some stationary numbers that you must match up with numbers that are on the grid. To move the left group you must use the WASD keys, to move the right group you use the mouse. Using the mouse for this mini-game has got to be one of the most frustrating experiences ever in gaming. Trust me, if you have a wired Xbox controller, do yourself a favor and use that instead.

A View to a Kill

AP’s gunplay is extremely satisfying in the later stages of the game, as players invest points in skills and gain new abilities and buy better weapons. If people come expecting a run and gun third-person shooter, they will quickly become frustrated and quit. Early on, players will find it easy to miss pointblank headshots, experience difficulty hitting targets at all, and inflict frustrating little damage when a hit is made.

There are four weapon groups that players will have a choice of using – Assault Rifles, Shotguns, Submachine Guns and Pistols. Each weapon has its own targeting reticule and controls differently. The most effective way to take out enemies is with careful aiming accomplished by holding down the right mouse button or pulling on the right trigger of the controller. The longer the player aims, the more accurate and deadly the shot will be. As players increase their skill levels, they will be able to deal more damage, aim quicker and even gain abilities that will help facilitate the dispatching of enemies.

Not all weapons were created equal and there are a few balance issues with them. The assault rifles are potent no matter what skill level a player has, and become downright deadly late in the game. Also, the Chain Shot ability that players gain for using pistols is extremely powerful from the start. Chain Shot will briefly slow time down and give the player a specific amount of shots they can take once activated. It is so powerful that players will be able to end most boss fights with a single activation of the ability.

There is a cover system in Alpha Protocol that is slightly reminiscent of Gears of War. In theory, a player can walk or stealth up to a flat surface, like a wall or box, press the appropriate key and take cover. Once behind cover players can blind fire with weapons, aim out of cover, toss gadgets, and if close enough, run from cover to cover. There is, however, a slight problem in that the cover system is very sloppy and not reliable. For no apparent reason, there will be times when players will not be able to take cover, or when behind cover, players will be unable to aim or fire weapons or toss gadgets. It can be quite frustrating when this happens during intense fire fights.

There is also a stealth mechanic in the game, but much like the cover system, it sometimes just doesn’t work. There are a few factors involved in being stealthy: the noise a player makes, the sight range of the enemy and whether or not the player is moving behind cover. The biggest problem with trying to play through the game stealthily is the inconsistent enemy AI. Enemies will have an uncanny knack for spotting Agent Thorton behind cover or from some ridiculous distance. These shortcomings don’t make stealth play impossible, just very hard to do. But like many aspects in Alpha Protocol, when the stealth works it shows just how much potential AP has- just don’t expect to be able to sneak your way through the game like Sam Fisher.

Burn Notice

Alpha Protocol does however suffer from technical issues. From bugs, to glitches, to suspect AI issues, one could question whether or not AP went through any kind of quality assurance. Common issues that one will face include: mission objectives not updating correctly; players can become unable to move when exiting a turret; and players can get stuck on invisible objects.  All require a reload from the previous checkpoint.  Enemy AI is also absolutely horrid.  Enemies also have a tendency to freeze up and not do anything at all, or just get stuck on the environment.  To all of this, there are also just plain weird bugs.  For example, in one mission, I was standing too close to elevator doors and fell through the floor as the elevator went to the second floor!

Controls are not terrible, but they are also not customizable. The main problem is the mouse. There is only one setting to calibrate sensitivity, and players will notice that the default mouse look speed differs from the aiming speed. Again, another problem solved with using a wired controller.

Graphically, Alpha Protocol for the PC is not terrible, it just looks like a game that was released four or five years ago. The safe houses where Agent Thorton will spend his time between missions have some great views of the city and are littered with a lot of stuff that will give the player a feeling of actually living there. The environments, however, are lackluster and suffer from some bland texturing.

Overall, there are a few game-breaking issues with the game, but AP does a decent job of auto saving after major events, so players won’t find themselves having to replay large portions of the game. Still, the buggy release condition of this game is almost unforgivable.  Many of these bugs and glitches could be solved with a patch or two, but the enemy AI, on the other hand, may be beyond repair.