Alpha Protocol: It Really Is All About Choice

As I've argued before, Mass Effect 2 has changed our expectations for action RPGs. When the original Mass Effect came out, for example, it's clumsy, stat driven combat may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but it was generally forgiven. But now that the series latest entry is a shooter, everyone wants action RPGs to be twitched based.

Well, not everyone.

Obsidian Entertainment must have missed the lecture on modernizing the RPG, because they created Alpha Protocol, its espionage RPG, as clunky and stats based. And not unlike the original Mass Effect, the first few hours of the game can be trying. You use that cool gun or attempt to be stealthy, and try as you might, it just doesn't work like you want it to. And that's because it doesn't depend on your skill as a gamer as much as on the stats that drive the entire system.

As I implied above, using stats instead of skill is not something everyone is happy with. And as game genres converge and the game market expands, developers move towards the lowest common denominator in hopes of selling enough copies of their latest game to make a profit. A noble pursuit, to say the least, but one that can be in conflict with what at least some gamers want.

And I fall into that "some" category. I am one of those people who waited a long time for Alpha Protocol, hoping all the while that it would be stats driven. I didn't want a shiny action RPG with lowest common denominator combat and streamlined character development and inventory. I wanted a game that would offer the clunky RPG greatness that can make games fun and replayable.

And on this front, Alpha Protocol delivers. Yes, you start the game and wonder why stealth is so difficult. You try to use the pistol and shoot and shoot and people just don't die. But as you interact with NPCs, gather intel, go on side quests, and get involved with the story and the systems that drive the underlying game play, you are compelled to complete missions in satisfying ways.

And this is where Alpha Protocol excels. For example, it gives you subtle feedback, letting you know how your interactions with NPCs are going. When you get +1 for choosing a dialogue option with your handler, endorphins fire off and you feel rewarded for your hard work in establishing the relationship. And when a mission goes bad and that relationships starts to deteriorate, you definitely want to somehow save it.

The fact that the stealth and combat are stat driven just reinforces this. If you really want stealth to be an option because an NPC won't be happy with a spy who's trigger happy, you'll have to pump points into the skill or you'll always suck at it. The character development system, their related skills, the dialogue system, NPCs, the in-game black market clearinghouse, and the missions are all interrelated. They depend on each other and affect each other.

And few games form such a tight bond with all of its game play elements. Even fewer games provide such a tight feedback loop, letting you know how relationships are building, how missions are evolving, and how missions resolve. This is made easier because of the game's setting, or course. It wouldn't make as much sense in a fantasy RPG, for example. How would information flow so easily without in-game e-mail and Internet access?

But regardless of the setting, Alpha Protocol does a lot right. And while other games may have snazzier graphics, a better third person camera, and more polish, I haven't seen any other RPG that delivers better on giving you, the player, choice. And ultimately this is the most compelling aspect of the game and the component that makes it so fun.

And in the end what we as gamers want is to have fun. But we sometimes also want challenge and the feeling that we are involved in something deeper than just a shooter. And sometimes to get that you sacrifice that streamlined game play and are forced to think a little harder about how to make things happen the way you want them to. But the only way for that to happen is if you are given choice.

Alpha Protocol does that. It gives you choice.