Alpha Protocol Review

Here is my review for Obsidian's stealth/3rd person shooter/RPG hybrid, Alpha Protocol...
Alpha Protocol is labelled as the espionage RPG and that pretty much defines the game perfectly. The game plays much like any third person stealth shooter, with the exception that everything you do, from sneaking to firing your favourite gun relies on your stats, abilities and perks. Before you start thinking of Mass Effect though, it has to be said that Alpha Protocol really embraces the full RPG element. Spent all your stat points on stealth, tech and martial arts? Then you'd better avoid gun fights at all costs, because even with the pistol you'll have a hard time hitting your target.

Made by Obsidian, there is plenty of RPG experience working behind the scenes on Alpha Protocol, but not much experience with third person shooters OR stealth games so i guess it's not surprising that the game is rather disappointing. Technically speaking the game works as it should, but the whole concept of crossing an RPG and a stealth shooter just doesn't work.

Not helping the situation is Alpha Protocol's graphics. The look reminds me of Mass Effect 1, but things are not quite as shiny and i had many more issues with textures being slow to load. Cut scenes also tend to be on the poor side. Most of the conversations you have with people seem to be indirect and any cinematic cut scenes are often let down by graphical issues. It's great to have the evil guys standing at the back of a room talking, but when you zoom in and all the surfaces close to the camera become unfocused and horribly blurry, it doesn't look good.

The dialogue system actually seems pretty cool, but the characters you'll be talking to just don't seem entertaining. As a conversation takes place, you'll have to choose your response by pressing a button, but rather than the actual response, all you'll have to go by is an attitude, so buttons may be labelled as 'Professional', 'Suave', 'Sarcastic', etc. All conversations are also timed, so you'll have to select your response before the person talking to you has actually finished their sentence. There lies the problem though. Most of the characters i found to be boring and cliche, so i didn't really care how i responded to them.

The RPG side of the game is pretty in depth and tends to work well. Not only can you assign points to skills after levelling up, but you'll also earn perks that give stat bonus's for doing a whole variety of tasks, plus armour and weapons can be customised with different parts to change the stats. The problem is that while the RPG elements work well, they don't mix well with a shooter. If you've raised your stats to favour a specific style of gameplay, then you'll have problems if faced with a mission that doesn't allow you to progress the way you want. Most missions DO have numerous ways to progress, but every so often you'll be left with no choice but to enter a firefight or try to avoid guards.

Alpha Protocol was a bold idea and a good effort by Obsidian, but ultimately it just doesn't come together very well. The last thing on Sam Fisher's mind would be whether he put enough points into his stealth stat.

Visuals 4/10 - Graphically the game already looks outdated and texture load issues are very noticeable

Audio 6/20 - The music is decent and what you'd expect from the world of espionage, but dialogue tends to be dull

Gameplay 5/10 - The RPG and shooter elements work well on their own, but the two don't really mesh well together and this causes problems in terms of actually playing missions.

Overall 5/10 - Alpha Protocol is something new and different but that doesn't make it great. Proof that espionage and stat building don't go together.