Alpha Protocol Preview

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Written by BuckGB on April 23rd, 2008

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Well, no more. Not if Obsidian have anything to do with it. The developing house is of outstanding pedigree (formed from the ashes of Black Isle, the creators of RPG touchstones Fallout and Planescape: Torment) yet of late they've been known only as the developer who delivered the botched ending to KOTOR II and the guys that made a worthy game that went largely unnoticed (Neverwinter Nights 2). Now though, with their own world to play with and a remarkably fresh take on the genre, they're on the offensive.

Yet what Obsidian want to stress more than anything is that Alpha Protocol is a role-playing game. You'll have multiple missions open in different hubs around the world (locations currently being bandied about include Taipei, Rome, Moscow and Saudi Arabia) and you'll be able to flit between them at will - each one containing one overarching operation and a cavalcade of minor missions leading up to it - be they stealing sensitive data on a hard drive, tailing suspects or extracting information from grumpy NPCs through bribery, diplomacy or murder most foul.
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A higher rank opens up different options and perceptions, while almost superhuman secret-agent abilities are on the menu too - working on a use and cool-down' basis during the action. The example that Obsidian conjure up when prompted is, amazingly enough, heightened reaction times that let you assess situations in slo-mo before letting rip with a six-hit chainshot to decimate a room full of gun-toting terrorists. It's a mundane example, true, but Alpha Protocol's over-the-shoulder chase-cam action does seem to be a step up from your average RPG. Combat will have you running and gunning, taking cover or sneaking about the place - but that's not to say you won't be able to build your character towards the hand-to-hand fisticuffs recently in vogue.
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In a lot of role-playing games (*cough* Oblivion *cough*), the people you meet retread the same conversations again and again - mostly accompanied by a frown or a smile depending on what armour you chose to put on that day. Not so with AP - where first impressions count. Meet someone and act all gruff with them and they won't be all that impressed for a fair while - unless they're a sexy woman who's been designed to want to play rough and might like that sort of thing.

(Essentially, the player chooses a '˜stance' for Thorton (suave, professional,
or aggressive - although the actual breakdowns branch a great deal from this) and then Thorton responds appropriately - and amusingly,) explains Rucinski, having selected his own internal suave stance. (The dialogue system is also set up so that you can't repeatedly have the same conversation with an NPC to try to find the '˜best' answer or all the information available. This means that if you are a jerk to a person you will get a reaction the next time you talk to them. It reinforces how important that first impression is.)

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