Alpha Protocol (2010)

This game is soooo frustrating. Despite the clunky controls and unwieldy RPG elements there is a good stealth game and a very intriguing tale to be told here... but then inexplicably, the game will mercilessly punish you for picking the spy skill tree.

This is my second attempt to play through this game and for the life of me I could not remember why I hated it so much... until the boss fights come up. Glitchy cover mechanics, dozens of meters to read, and controls that make you feel like you were piloting a Sherman tank blindfolded but what really and I do mean really bakes my noodle... you let people pick the spy skill tree but that tree is completely useless in a straight up firefight which apparently is what every boss fights devolve to. Why give me the option to sneak around, and use tech and subterfuge if none that is useful in progressing through the boss fights!!! Booo this game!!! Boo!!!! Somebody call Sam Fisher and show this Rookie how it's done!!!

Before CD Project Red, Obsidian Entertainment was the only developer that understood how to make games where the player's actions actually do have consequences.

Alpha Protocol, the game that also popularized if not invented, the timed dialogue choice which was later seen in Telltale's The Walking Dead, was a narrative wonder with a unique contemporary design. An espionage RPG where the player could act in the manner of the 3 JBs: Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer and James Bond

Alpha Protocol, while heavily unpolished, does remarkably not distract you from enjoying what it actually is: a narrative revolution with almost poetic writing, godly voice acting and different gameplay. Not great, but different

A 2020 Review - Alpha Protocol (PC, 2010)

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Score: 6/10

Mediocrity Score: Mediocrity on a Good Day.

While taking it slightly out of context - Christian Donlan with Eurogamer describes it best, "[Alpha Protocol is] a contemporary super-spy mod of Mass Effect...".

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Tags: A few words or tags that come to mind are: entertaining, anticlimactic, buggy, bittersweet.

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Avg. Time to beat: 13 hours

Quickest Speedrun: 1 hour, 39 minutes

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Retail Price: $15

Lowest Historical Price on Steam: No longer available on Steam. $1.49 was the cheapest last time it was available.

Lowest Historical Price outside Steam: $0.99

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Ten years after its release, Alpha Protocol still sneaks by with a passing grade. A spy thriller, action role-playing game from Obsidian Entertainment casts Michael Thorton as the spy protagonist. Diving deeper into the world, you'll be split between safe houses in Taipei, Rome, and Moscow where you'll execute various missions. While I found this title to be quite buggy and shallow in some respects, it still managed to entertain and amuse its way into my recommended list - even if narrowly. Many accounts have detailed the many missteps between Obsidian and Sega, but ultimately lack of direction and organization is what led to this release not being more of a slam dunk. Alpha Protocol has entertaining gameplay and the narrative, characters, and dialogue hold up well. Unfortunately where it sags down is in its lack of depth. Many components or aspects of the game either feel shallow and unfinished, or appear to be directly lifted and shifted in from other games (like Mass Effect in terms of leveling up, skill progression, and combat). I feel much today about this game as I did the first time I played it. And In a way, it's satisfying to see that my opinions on some things don't change through the years. I just wish in the case of Alpha Protocol, they weren't so bittersweet.

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Pros:

• Character progression and leveling are rewarding and leave you excited to play further.
• Shooting the AI like fish in a barrel. It's also a barrel of fun.
• Reputation system makes conversation and dialogue choices all the more interesting.
• While minor - cool thematic settings, locations, and safe houses. They breathe some extra life into the game.
• Great and fitting characters. While there are some exceptions, most play their part well and add an extra bit of intrigue.
• Unique concept we don't see enough of. Spy action RPG.

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Cons:

• AI is absolutely dreadful and brain dead.
• Unfulfilling ending conclusion. Especially with the characters outside of Michael.
• Dialogue options can feel shallow and limited. The responses based on options can be a bit off.
• The main character, Michael Thorton. I just don't like him.
• Bugs & Crashing are a present and occurred numerous times.
• Limitations of stealth and the options to employ it.

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Concept: A spy thriller, action role-playing game starring Michael Thorton as a special agent and our main protagonist. Working for a secret government agency, Alpha Protocol, Michael takes on missions from various safe houses around the world conducting covert operations. It is dialog and choice heavy, and it does feel like your choices have an impact on the narrative - even if it's minimal. A big part of the combat is the use of gadgets, active skills, stealth, and tactical coverage. I'll hand it to Obsidian for thinking outside of the box and coming up with a lot of really interesting ideas for gameplay, freedom, and pacing.

Graphics: Dated by 2020 standards, but not uncomfortably so. Nothing is wowing, but it holds up well enough for a game that started development some 14 years ago. Although if memory serves me right, this wasn't too wowing in 2010 either. The good news is, it is not very graphics demanding and can be played on budget gaming systems. Michael's face, expressions, and animations could have been better. Michael, in general, could have been better, graphics aside. The ragdoll death physics are amazingly exaggerated and makes watching Michael die even more enjoyable.

Sound: Voice acting is done well, except for Michael who is often very stiff and bland sounding. I've had breakfast cereal with more personality. SFX audio overall is sufficient. Alarms are constantly going off in the game, and while they have at least localized the noise somewhat, it is very annoying none-the-less. The soundtrack was average with the most notable track being played on the main menu screen. I'm not sure that it is bad, but it sounds strongly early to mid-2000s and quite campy.

Gameplay: Character customization allows for some flexibility within the different skill paths you can choose from throughout the game. Unfortunately, the game is not long enough to permit enough points to play an effective jack-of-all-trades, so stack up only 2-3 skills. Alpha Protocol employs a series of minigame challenges for accomplishing certain tasks like lockpicking, bypassing, and hacking. Unfortunately, these are mostly annoyances. Bypassing is an atrocity against gaming, especially in the later levels. One of the most disappointing aspects of the game was the amount of bugs and fatal crashes. Enemy AI is dreadfully bad and exemplifies what not to do when designing enemy combatants. Combat reminds me of Mass Effect. Aiming and bullet spread are overly interpretive and frequently seem amiss. A decent portion of the cover does not protect you and will get you quickly killed. It again makes you, the professional secret agent spy, look less like James Bond or Jason Bourne and more like something Leslie Nielson or Steve Carell would be cast to play. Clumsy, amateurish, and down-right careless often describes what Michael Thorton must look like to the enemy shortly before he kills them.

Entertainment: Alpha Protocol is such an odd experience in that I found it entertaining and wanted to keep playing but on a component level, I found a mess of problems across the board. I think the entertainment in Alpha Protocol ultimately boils down to getting more stuff so you can kill more bad guys, rinse and repeat. Multiple weapons, armor, and gadgets; Lots of which can be upgraded or modified in some way. As you level up and your skills refine, you can really feel the difference in combat and gameplay. It does get a bit repetitive at the end of the game which felt appropriately long. Overall I found the game to be quite entertaining. All issues aside, I still enjoyed Alpha Protocol and would recommend it. Just keep your expectations realistic if not low.

Replayability: Obsidian has provided reasons for you to replay like different dialogue choices, or different character builds. Multiple replays are a must to catch all of the content, especially the other perks maxed skills can provide. Plus, one playthrough you can be a professional by-the-book spy who plays it safe and the next playthrough you can be a suave womanizer who offends everyone and abides by no rules. Both playstyles can bring you to the finish line.  The problem is that I don't find any of it compelling enough to go back through. I don't see that there is any missed content that I'd benefit from obtaining. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun game, but I didn't find its lore or story captivating enough to go back through so soon.

Cheats??: Unsure. I did not seek out any as easy mode was a breeze as is.

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Characters: The cohesion of characters, settings, and scenes are all an above-average amount. The over-arcing story wasn't that interesting to me, but the progression in relationships and subplots kept me curious and entertained enough to power through. They work well together and help hold up the game when it becomes repetitive and wears thin at points. Unfortunately, this comes crashing down in its conclusion when the majority of the characters are unmentioned in any way that felt satisfactory. I found Michael Thorton to be a rather stiff and annoying character, which is why I opted to dress him like some pro-fisherman southerner who's a NASCAR enthusiast. If my character is going to act like a second-rate spy, why not go full tilt with it? Strangely, Michael seemed less stiff and weird after adding the pro-bass-fishing reflective shades. I honestly think it has something to do with his eyes. Something about them is wrong.

Systems & UI: Alpha Protocol provides a reputation and dialogue positioning system which impacts your relationships with characters throughout the game, as well as directly within live conversations. Some of this becomes a moot point as many of the characters are never seen again and don't get any kind of fulfilling follow-up at the end of the game. While there are choices in dialogue, I found in most situations a professional-stance wins. Humorous, suave, flirtatious, or aggressive can be risky moves. Even if the others bring negative reputation, sometimes the cringy awkwardness of your character failing socially is quite enjoyable. Alpha Protocol employs a series of minigame challenges for accomplishing certain tasks like lockpicking, bypassing, and hacking. Unfortunately, these are mostly annoyances. Alarm and door bypass minigames are downright miserable and should have been removed from the game. I found lockpicking to be simple but fun and hacking to be a nice challenge.

Character Progression & Leveling: Character progression and leveling up are a genuine pleasure in the game. It feels like a treat each time you advance your existing effectiveness, improve a skill, or add a new skill/power. It makes running back into combat or another mission all the more alluring so you can check out the new stuff you might unlock at the end. The combat itself, while greatly flawed, is still very enjoyable and fun to try and perfect. Character customization and focus allow for some flexibility within the different skill paths. Unfortunately, the game is not long enough to go for a jack-of-all-trades build. I'd suggest focusing on 2-3 skills, with two of those being your weapon classes, and the third being a mix of stealth, sabotage, and technical aptitude.

Dumb AI: Shamefully bad AI. It's a mess. Some stand in-place glitched out, some stand in-place out of cover shooting at you, others run around aimlessly occasionally hailing gunfire your way, some lob endless grenades towards you, and for the strangest reason some enemy AI, with a pistol in hand, will charge you head-on to punch you just once, and then will begin shooting you at close proximity. It is horribly ill-fitting for a spy game that takes itself pretty seriously. Stealth is super inconsistent. Sometimes you can have a whole gun battle between a few guys and no alarm trips. Step on an eggshell, and the alarm goes off.

Bugs: One of the most disappointing aspects of the game was the amount of bugs and fatal crashes. Perhaps it is due to the advances in technology and drivers versus the age of the game, or maybe it is because the game has always been this way - either way I ran into many issues. The game crashing and freezing is most common. Getting stuck in the map or body physics-related were also frequent. Luckily, the vast majority of the game crashes were while exiting the game to the menu or exiting the game to the desktop. So, minimal risk/impact. Admittedly, the body or ragdoll physics are mostly hilarious. One enemy combatant died in a doorway that another enemy closed at the same time. The dead corpse got stuck in a weird starfish position just convulsing and wiggling around stuck inside the door. I laughed really hard at this. Also, every time Michael does is pretty enjoyable simply due to the over-exaggerated physics. Especially when it's death by explosion. I know, it shouldn't be praised but I'll be damned if I didn't say it made me laugh.

Conclusion: Alpha Protocol is almost exactly how I had remembered; good but not great. A lukewarm, bittersweet, "so close" kind of game. It got some things right, but did a lot wrong - or sometimes even really wrong. Part of what makes Alpha Protocol good is it taking a different approach in being an action spy RPG adventure that has a skill map and leveling up involved. Very standard fare for modern fantasy games, but not for action games and certainly not any spy ones. It's just such a cool and refreshing genre and idea. Unfortunately, that alone is not a sufficient selling point to lure people into playing. It had a rough time during development and had to be majorly redone in parts. I think it shows through in many spots, but for the most part, holds up. I'd fully support either an HD re-release or a new title in the series.

If you're wondering where Alpha Protocol can be purchased, sales for Alpha Protocol halted in Summer 2019 due to expired licenses for music within the game.

If you have any interest in gaming history, I strongly recommend the following article which provides back story and interviews with the developers about the making of the game. It's quite a fascinating read that highlights why some aspects of the game seem so messy or poorly thought out.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-09-06-the-making-of-alpha-protocol-obsidians-secret-best-rpg

Thanks for reading!

NB: I deleted my original rambling review. I'm going to try to put part of my criticisms in a separate article.

Intro

Alpha Protocol is a game that has aged poorly. It came out in the same year as Mass Effect 2 and Fallout: New Vegas (also by Obisidian) and compares poorly to both. Like many other games by Obsidian, Alpha Protocol feels unfinished and suffers from some core design flaws.

The Good

I really enjoyed the game for the first ~95% of it. The dialogue is probably the best part. Your choices have concrete results. And there's lots of choices, which is great. Stealth works well and i love the "panic button" skill that automatically hides you. Combat is a bit clunky but i've always enjoyed Deus Ex' notion that you need training to properly use weapons.

The missions structure, similar to Mass Effect 2, works really well. At the end it of each mission it lists everything that happened and even shows you the enemy's medical bills and "orphans created" (apparently all enemies in the game are single dads). There's an e-mail system to fill up the space between missions, like missives in Obsidian's more recent game Tyranny. It's an amusing system that allows you to build relationships, gather intel and make money.

Item customisation works well and keeps things interesting. The same goes for skills, which are actually creative instead of the usual boring +x bonuses. The game usually gives you multiple options how to bypass obstacles (a la Deus Ex) which i always appreciate.

The Bad

AP was clearly designed for consoles. This means unwieldly menus, clumsy controls and checkpoints. There's only one checkpoint during missions so if you take the wrong door you're stuck.

While the dialogue system is one of the best aspects of the game, it suffers from being timed and vague. If you're not fluent in English you might pick the 'wrong' option. And even the option that seems 'right' might not be what you wanted because they're condensed to a handful of words.

There are only a handful of women in the game and they're all awful in their own way. Three can be romanced (ugh) by picking the "right" dialogue options (ugh) which gives you a skill reward (ugh). Two are damseled at some point and the third one seems to become a victim too. Aside from them there's the teenage enemy ("she's a mute") and the 'tough' German who walks around with her bra sticking out of her shirt. There isn't a single normal woman in the game, not even as an enemy.

The game clearly wants you to play as a spy. There's extensive stealth options and pistols (only weapon with silencers) are overpowered. But at multiple points it punishes you for going this route. There's a terrible escort mission, a chase and bosses that can't be dodged.

The boss battles are all awful. You have to fight a vehicle twice, both are 'find the single-use RPGs' battles. Human bosses can take far too much punishment so good luck if you you don't use pistols. The penultimate boss fight is one of the worst ones ever, it literally made me punch the wall. Not only does the fight punish you for picking stealth, it's also buggy and stupid. One time the boss disappeared. Another time i got a CTD when loading. And every time you load it puts you right in the sights of his sniper rifle...

Conclusion

Alpha Protocol is a fun spy game that's definitely worth playing. It has a bunch of flaws but you can live with those. Just make sure you quit when you have to fight your former colleague because everthing turns to shit at that point.

EDIT: More details about its flaws can be found here.

If it was set in space this would have been another Mass Effect game with all it's pros and cons.

Story wise the game will not shock you. You play as a member of a super secret US cell called Alpha Protocol. You're send on a mission, betrayed, you go rogue and go on to prevent another world war and take revenge on the people that betrayed you. Sounds pretty much as every other Bourne/Mission impossible plot but as a game.

Visually it's pretty similar to the first Mass Effect - though set in modern times. The age is showing a little bit but it's not tragic. Game is completely voice over and I believe the protagonist is voiced by same person as Mass Effect protagonist which does field weird. The illusive man also makes an appearance as his face does feel re-used.

Game play wise it's a little different with more focus on stealth. The shooting feels pretty similar - 3rd person cover based standard shooting. It wasn't bad. Stealth can play a big role if you wish to - while it's not super solid - it is a valid option if you have patience for it. I for most part of it didn't - which didn't matter all that much although I did draw attention to myself which affected later missions.

The game is divided into missions which you access through the safe house which serves as a hub. You don't get to experience walking different areas in order to progress story, talk to people etc. You progress it by talking with people over the tv or by traveling directly to the mission location from the safe house. While most missions require a lot of shooting there are a few that are just face to face conversations.

The conversation system is same as in Mass Effect. You get four types of responses which affects how the conversation will go and how the people you talk to will feel about you.

And now to the strongest part of the game. The consequences of choices made. This game really makes you feel like your choices matter. They affect a lot of future events and how they play out. Probably my favorite part is you can execute some of the antagonists mid-conversation and be done with it. Makes for a very personal experience of the game.

Overall while it's not Mass Effect it wasn't a bad game. Had some fun with but wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it.

A fantastic story, let down by clunky gameplay. I loved the freedom of choice when it came to interacting with the various characters and how I took on missions, but by the end of the story I had a sour taste for this game.

I would have loved for the action side of things had played out more like Mass Effect, where you knew if you aimed at something, more often than not your shot would land. With Alpha Protocol that is not the case, as it seems to work on a mixture of where I had allocated my skill points (understandably) and dice rolls, which I grew increasingly frustrated with when gunfights played out so poorly.

Boss fights were not interesting in the slightest and in the end the only thing that got me through to the finale was the intrigue for how my story played out, despite not liking the main protagonist in the slightest. In my opinion he was very poorly voice acted, which felt out of place in comparison to the rest of the cast.

If I had to make a suggestion for how you should play this game, then I would definitely encourage people to take the stealthy approach. Though, unfortunately there are cases where you are forced into a combat situations, so make sure to place some points in your favoured weapon type.

Sadly, despite enjoying the story and knowing there are other choices I could make and other endings I could achieve, the lack of enjoyment I got from actually playing the game will steer me away from replaying it in the future.