Alpha Protocol (2010 Video Game) User Reviews

A rough gem... it's Obsidian

[petra_ste · 8/10 · 31 May 2010]

Obsidian is an interesting developer: their games are ambitious and full of interesting ideas, but they often manage to shoot themselves in the foot with bugs and rushed releases (who could forget the great but truncated Knighs of the Old Republic 2?). Alpha Protocol, their new espionage action/RPG, is getting mixed reviews, but I wanted to give it a try.

I feel the dozens of trailers have already given away too much, so suffice to say the labyrinthine plot involves special agent Michael Thorton traveling to several locations around the world and dealing with a variety of missions and dangerous factions. Dialogues give you the chance to choose between different approaches: suave (like James Bond), professional (like Jason Bourne) and... angry (like Jack Bauer).

Graphics are not great but I found them perfectly functional - they certainly didn't bother me one bit. Enemy AI is... average.

Voice acting is EXCELLENT throughout - not a single weak link.

Story is gripping, characters memorable; Alpha Protocol features difficult choices with branching story lines and relevant in-game consequences (think The Witcher, only more). Allegiances change, people respect you or hate your guts, someone dies and someone lives, multiple endings... impressive.

The game reminds me of a mix between Vampire Bloodlines (remember Troika's swan song? They were just like Obsidian...) and Deus Ex, and I mean this as a compliment. You are given a mission, but how to deal with it is your choice.

Problems? First, Alpha Protocol isn't very long. I'd say the overall length is between 12-18 hours depending on how fast/meticulous you are. However, replay factor is high. Second, different skills and perks are fine *in theory*... but gameplay is unbalanced and easily broken. Just to give an example, at normal difficulty with medium/high martial arts and assault rifles competence you can bulldoze your way through most of the missions without using ANY special ability.

Sure, you can Splinter Cell your way into a building if you like stealth, but it's a self-imposed challenge; you can enjoy trying the various abilities (some of which are really cool) if you are curious, but there's no real NEED to.

The mini-games you face when hacking computers have received criticisms, but you can actually make them ludicrously easy (or skip them altogether) with the right skills/equipment, so no complaints from me here.

And yes, there are bugs. I personally found a couple of them, annoying but not game-breaking.

Overall, an ambitious game worth trying.

7,5/10

Great Concept, Weak Execution

[mwestern · 7/10 · 24 September 2012]

The first thing that I would have to say about this game is that I was drawn in by the characters. The story line, voice acting and general feel make it a good story, well told.

The playability and re-playability for the various outcomes is second to none. They have accomplished what so many other sandbox type (not that this is a sandbox game) games have not in that your choices really do have consequences. Even the route that you want your character to develop will make some obstacles very easy. I like the in game challenges and found them genuinely unique and at times challenging.

However, where this game misses is on some of its polish. The graphics seemed old. I grabbed this and played it as a used game and thought that it was one of the first to come out on PS3 and was shocked to find out it was a 2010 release.

The controls are difficult and awkward making game play difficult at times.

As for the various skills available, there is no real need to develop more than a few of them and as the other reviewer pointed out, there is no need to actually operate covertly because the pathetic AI leads to some fairly easy kills. I only had trouble with a couple of the bosses throughout the entire game.

In summary, worth the play because the story will suck you in but the difficult controls leave this not accessible to a novice gamer, which is unfortunate because the story is compelling enough to bring new gamers on board.

Not Bad Agent

[bostancieminmert · 7/10 · 18 August 2022]

Pros +Story +Choices +Long gameplay +Characters +Multiple game endings +Good voice acting +Privacy +Hacker +Character development

Minus -Too many bugs -Late loaded texturs -Boring main character -Failed animation -Gameplay with weapons

In short, Alpha Protocol is not a completely finished game, there are a lot of shortcomings, but they are not very noticeable.

The game has a system that allows you to harejet as you want, but this does not apply to most episodes.

But the game is not in a position to be played. Good characters tasks and choices bind you to the game.

Alpha Protocol gets 7 points from us.

Great game to play over and over

[chrismueller83 · 10/10 · 27 June 2010]

Alpha Protocol is a game that I have already played through about 7 times, and each time you can take a different route through the decisions.

You play as agent Mike Thorton. At first you are recruited by Alpha Protocol to track stolen missiles in Saudi Arabia, but then you are left by the US Govt to fend for yourself.

With the help of your agency contact, you circle the globe fighting different terrorists in an RPG style.

You can choose which missions to do in which order, and the way you speak to people has a big influence on how they treat you later.

Are you a good or bad boy?

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 2 August 2023]

No pun intended - choices and choices ... morally you have to kind of do them all to get all the trophies (and achievements I assume) ... something I had problems with. I was too nice on most occasions to be able to go for the worst ending possible and the according trophy for it.

All that said, I played this a lot ... because I loved the story and what I was able to do. Who wouldn't want to be a super spy ... crossed with Rambo ... well sort of. So you can be both and more ... and you can also romance people ... again a (wet) dream come true of sorts. Though do not expect this to be too explicit in its depictions of anything of that kind. I assume the graphics are quite ... well they won't have aged that well ... still if you are here for the story and do not mind (technical) flaws ... well this will satisfy you ... no pun intended once again.