Great Video Games

The year is 2009. Hundreds of innocent passengers and crew are killed after a commercial airliner is shot down over Eastern Europe. The culprit? A high-tech U.S. defense missile which had somehow fallen into the wrong hands. As government agent Michael Thorton, you have been chosen to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Become the spy of your choosing in a modern-day conspiracy plot. As you progress, decide how to develop abilities such as devastating physical combat moves, customization of your weaponry, and the use of ingenious gadgets and traps. Stay vigilant though – the cast of Alpha Protocol will react intelligently to your every move, resulting in the most exciting and unpredictable role-playing experience ever created.

User Reviews about Alpha Protocol

The game has its flaws. Personally, I found the stealth element far more engaging than any stealth action game I've played before, and I've played a couple of the Splinter Cell games, and Assassin's Creed. You have to think quickly, respond to your surroundings, and use your skills strategically. The character sheet has a great deal of depth, and I think this game system would translate very nicely to PnP or a sequel.


The loot and the gear you can buy seem balanced pretty well.

While the plot has its problems from a strictly critical viewpoint, there are plenty of surprising twists, and a fair share of intrigue, not to mention the remarkable range of choices you have in many parts of the game. You cannot skip any dialogue or movie sequences, however I find myself rarely wanting to, even after playing through for the second or third time on a mission. The real time dialogue works really well. The system of influence on characters is fun and intuitive, although I wish it came into play more often and had a little more development. The dialogue is well done in performance and writing, at least insofar as it keeps my attention pretty well. Overall it holds my attention quite well, even when I'm being irked.

The save system uses checkpoints. This doesn't combine very well with a combat system that, while generally pretty unique and fun, has definite irritating qualities. I frequently needed to reload on normal after making some major or minor error, forcing me to go back to the last checkpoint. This is both good and bad, good in that it shows how dynamic the game environment is and how much your tactical choices make a difference, bad in that is the most repetitive and frustrating aspect of the gameplay.

Bosses zoom around the level supernaturally and hit you for ridiculous damage on normal difficulty. In many boss fights there is a weakness of some sort, but typically I'm driven to exploiting a certain bug to avoid the frustration of dying and reloading repeatedly for the same boss fight. You can die *very* quickly fighting a boss. It makes me loathe boss fights.

In general the combat is very rewarding, and requires you to think on your feet and act fast. Something I didn't notice about Splinter Cell or Assassin's Creed, at least not for me. Also, cover is important but cover isn't arranged in obvious ways, and you need to improvise as best you can. The AI also tries to get you out of your cover, which would be a good thing. The problem being, the enemy has an infinite supply of grenades and is generally trying to push you out of cover, which is pretty easy to do - and it takes a very long time for your armor to regenerate, which might be a result of how the RPG stats work.

To bring another game into the mix, Mass Effect 2 combat was a lot more polished, a lot less interesting, unique, and dynamic. That goes for Mass Effect 1 combat as well, and to some degree for Splinter Cell and Assassin's creed combat, although AC has a very nice dueling mechanic.

Somewhere between Bioware and Obsidian is the perfect RPG developer. I would say this game isn't real high on replayability, especially that you can't skip dialogue, but it's awesome for a first time playthrough and a shame they won't get a chance to refine this gameplay and story developing technique, which rival earlier RPG's.

I rate this game five stars because I love the game. From a critical standpoint, I would give it three or four. -- Original and fun gameplay and story

Many industry reviews of this game came down to it being a fairly fun game with more ambition than achievement. One can easily see the goals they were reaching for, but for some reason they fell short in the final product. Perhaps the victim of another title rushed out before it was ready.

Alpha Protocol has an interesting concept. Mixing Mass Effect style RPG elements with the spy and espionage genre is compelling. The problem is that for a game seated heavily in both of those categories, it is awfully light in each. For a spy and espionage game, you spend far too much time running around shooting things and blowing them up in what seems like repeated variations on the same activity level after level. Worse, the end of the game is a frustrating ratcheting up of difficulty not built at all around the spy and espionage aspect, but flat out hard-core first-person-shooter rampaging. When your each the final level, you'll wonder why you wasted your action-points pumping them into things like "stealth" and other spy traits, when you can't even hide. Half of the final level is the painfully over-used videogame cliche of shooting down a chopper with missiles. It's ridiculous.

If you go into the game scoping out a more action oriented character, you will find yourself disappointed. For the first 90% of the game, you'll want as much stealth ability as possible. Not because a spy doesn't use guns that often, but because the gun-play is fairly awful. There are far worse examples in games, but focusing on a more military character will short-change you without your stealth skills. It's easier to just use the fairly ludicrous mechanic of walking up to people with your uber-stealth skills that somehow make you invisible even when you're face to face with them and break their necks, instead of having a gun-fight across the room.

The dialogue isn't horrendous, but the faux Mass Effect dialogue interaction seems poorly thought out. You can almost see the depth they were shooting for to begin with, but at some point they decided "every character likes one type of interaction and hates the other". So, you always want to press "B" for certain characters to make them like you. Always press "Y" for others. Alwyas press "X" for some others. Don't mix it up or you'll regret it.

Worse, the dialogue options are timed and vague. Take too long to choose and it'll choose for you. But what should you choose? You don't see examples of what you'll say. you just get "Suave" or "Blunt" or "Aggressive". Often, it almost seems like what you choose won't even matter and will result in the same dialogue, anyway.

The quality of the story has come under attack, too. Admittedly, it's a little weak. However, it's nothing worse than you might find in your typical spy thriller movie or even a Bond film. There are no shocking twists or epic tales, here. Just an average spy story. It doesn't add anything to the game, but I don't see that it detracts from it, either.

In the end, it's a decent looking, decent playing, decent storied, decent experience. That's about all I can say for it -- decent. It isn't bad. Play it wrong and it can be damn frustrating. It just isn't superb, either. Unfortunately, they've already indicated that there will be no Alpha Protocol sequel. That is unfortunate, because this game has something going for it and a refined iteration could be a hit.

If this had a sequel, I'd buy it on launch day. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it at the release price right now, but if you can get it when the price has come down, it shouldn't be missed. At half price, you'll definitely get your money's worth. And if you like the story, you might find it worth replaying (there are multiple possible endings as well as different possible relationship outcomes within the game).

I think this will be a game on a number of people's "remember fondly" lists in a decade. As well as their "games which deserve a sequel" list. I wouldn't be surprised if this one is dragged out again after a few years and we hear rumors of "re-entering the Alpha Protocol franchise". -- Alpha Protocol is a solid 'good' game that is worth checking out.

im going to mnake this relatively short so here goes...

all the reviews saying this game is an rpg and not a shooter are the ones that really matter. i think too many people wanted to compare this game to some mindless (in my eyes anyway) shooter. it is not a shooter and no, it doesnt have the gameplay level of a shooter. this game is a unique rpg experience that PLAYS like a SHOOTER. in a gaming landscape where the next game is just the same old cookie cutter game just being retitled and hyped up it is nice to see someone try something pretty fresh. the story was pretty good and the graphics are not nearly as bad as everyone makes them out to be. sure, the game isnt perfect but im a very picky gamer and i found this game to be quite enjoyable. if youre a big fps shooter fan who is obsessed with graphics you wont like this game. however, if youre an rpg fan who is tired of the same ol thing this game is for you. -- rpg that plays like a shooter.

This is a game that has suffered more from poor advertising then poor game play. I found the game very fun and not at all broken. I agree that it gets a little twitchy at parts. However if you go into the game expecting a RPG it is not at all disapointing. I think the reason it has had such bad press is people expected Halo and it is much closer to KOTOR in game play. The RPG elements are great and alow for a great deal of control over skills, looks and personality. I like the timed mini games as they add a element of suspense and hurry to the game intrensic to all good spy movies, i.e. 'red wire, green wire'.

My major problem with the game is that it is to level based giving it a Doom like feel. Also the levels are set out in such a way that you feel like a rat in a maze, your only options are going from point A, to point B. This being said you have a lot of choice in how to get through the maze and your choices will alter later major plot events which leaves you guessing at the consiquensces of your actions throughout.

Finally if you are a fan of Call of Duty or Halo this game may not be enjoyable for you it is based to much around RPG tactical skill and not on pure personal ability. If on the otherhand you enjoy complex plot, and Deep RPG elements you may find yourself as addicted to the game as I am. I'm not saying that one is better then the other just that this game requires a strong prefrance for RPG over shooter. -- Bad Press, Great Game

This is the best game I have played in a long time. There are so many options for weapons, armor, gadgets, and how to upgrade your character. It takes thought to do this because you can't upgrade everything all the way in one playthrough. The music and the whole feel of the game reminds me of the bourne movies which is great.

In the beginning, you don't have many skills so it is hard to shoot so I understand why people can get frustrated and hate the game. You are supposed to upgrade your skills. That solves that problem. I don't know why they think it should be a shooter when the front of the case clearly says "The Espionage RPG".

The graphics can vary; they are not great but definitely not terrible. The worst graphics are usually in the cutscenes. The cover system is not the best but it works when you get used to it which doesn't take long. I have not experienced any glitches so I cannot comment on that.

I don't know what is wrong with the critics. I see no reason why this scored so low with them other than they expect beautiful graphics and easy shooting from the get go. Maybe I just like being a spy more than a spaceship commander, but Alpha Protocol was more fun than Mass Effect 2 for me. How do graphics even matter if you are having fun? It is a game. It's a shame the critics killed the sequel because this deserves a much higher score than most of them gave. I hope someone else decides to make the second one and don't dumb it down. Just polish it more. Give them their pretty graphics so they have no excuse not to love it. -- Great spy fun. Not a shooter. Critics are wrong.