The Charge:
Your weapon is Choice!
Opening Statement:
From Sega, and developer of cult-RPGs, Obsidian Entertainment (Neverwinter Nights 2) comes a new take on the action RPG. Forget outer space and fantasy kingdoms; Alpha Protocol is the world’s first tactical espionage Role player. Will it manage to successfully infiltrate your collection? Or will you be disavowing any knowledge of its actions.
"Who are you calling GENERIC!?"
Facts of the Case:
Michael Thornton has just been recruited by Alpha Protocol, an organization of rogue agents who operate outside the proper government channels and use whatever tactics they can to ensure global stability while furthering American interests. Mike’s inaugural mission takes him to Saudi Arabia in search of missing experimental missiles, one of which was used to knock down a civilian airliner. It’s up to Thornton to unravel a conspiracy involving terrorist groups, politicians, and the worlds largest weapons manufacturer, and with a mole inside the organization, he must trust no one in his search for the truth.
The Evidence:
I’m not sure what exactly it is that plagues Obsidian Entertainment. Born from the ashes of Black Isle, a name whispered with reverence amongst old school PC role-players, their output would never suggest they were responsible for legendary titles like Fallout 2, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment. They’ve spent the majority of their time clinging to the coattails of Canadian RPG powerhouse, Bioware. Hitting first with a sequel to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which saw its final act completely and savagely gutted to make a Christmas release date. They followed that up with an ambitious sequel to Neverwinter Nights, which arrived a technical mess, and still remains barely playable on cutting edge hardware. Whatever circumstances surrounded these noble misfires, be it Lucasarts’ aggressive development schedule, or Atari’s floundering fortunes, the guys at Obsidian seem unable to catch a break, unable to flex their ample muscles to the fullest. Perhaps with Alpha Protocol, their first attempt at a new IP, with Sega at the publishing reigns, their prospects could change?
No, not really. I’m really starting to think that Obsidian either has serious product management issues, or is otherwise under some unbreakable voodoo curse. Alpha Protocol comes out of the gate feeling like a collective of great ideas poured into a mold, and then cracked open before the clay has had the time to dry. The game, as a whole, feels raw and unfinished, like the developers reached the stage of development where a game is considered “feature complete” and then proceeded to dump the code to a gold master without any bug-squashing or quality assurance testing whatsoever. The game is hardly what I would call terrible, but for every idea that works, there’s an idea that is heavily compromised.
"Just call me Fisher!"
The gameplay, in a nutshell, is Mass Effect in a new skin. Built on the same engine, it’s as though Obsidian got their hands on the source code for Bioware’s Sci-fi RPG epic and replaced all of the art assets. Many of the faults that people addressed in that 2007 megahit are present here as well, and are considerably less forgivable almost three years on. The biggest bone of contention is no doubt the RPG-derived shooting mechanics, which rewards a bumped up weapon skill rather than a steady aim when it comes to landing headshots. Your targeting reticule could sit on some poor bastard’s forehead, only for the shot to whiz past him by several meters if your dice roll comes up “1”. For an international super-spy, Michael Thornton shoots more like an Imperial Stormtrooper.
Some will be able to rise above the crappy shooting, particularly those who stick with Assault rifles and pump their skills accordingly, but others will be immensely frustrated by their inability to hit a target, and pistol fans (like myself) will be tearing hair out in frustration as their silent killer is about as useful as a fart in a warm breeze. Hell, every weapon in the game outside of assault rifles is a useless effort. Shotguns are crippled by the fact that you have to be right next to a target, which makes it impossible to aim, and the sub-machine guns (which are duel-wielded for some unexplained reason) look stupid, and just spew forth a wall of lead that very slowly chips away at the health of even the lowliest of terrorist underlings. Sniper rifles pop up on occasion, but are usually a stationary affair that precludes you finding a lofty sniper perch and ventilating skulls. Once or twice I came upon a stationary sniper rifle only to find that I had no bitches to pwn.
Alpha Protocol doesn’t always rely on gunfights, thankfully. There are other alternatives, typically the stealth approach. Sadly, the stealth mechanics are about as weak as the gun fighting. Enemies seem to randomly be able to detect you on a whim (probably a result of comparing numbers under the hood like a bad guy’s perception vs. your stealth). Different body armour and load outs can make you a little tougher to detect, and if you can get close enough, there’s a neat option that allows you to either silently take down a baddie or otherwise knife his larynx out. Sounds great on paper, yes? Unfortunately, your silent take downs may randomly alert some dude in the adjacent room, separated by 10 inches of concrete, while dudes in the same room, mere meters away, remain oblivious to your presence, even while looking in your general direction.
What if Rambo were a Bond girl?
Yes, Alpha Protocol’s artificial intelligence is wretched. Whether you’re up against Arabic terrorists, CIA field agents, SWAT teams, private military bad-asses or fellow covert agents, they all follow the same set of arbitrary instructions: Run in circles, shoot, and die. Occasionally they dive behind cover, but it’s a pre-canned routine, they’d do the same thing if you were standing right behind them. Enemy awareness is busted, it’s as though everyone is wearing blinders and listening to Bell Biv DeVoe on their iPods while waiting for the one guy in the vicinity who actually has some sense of purpose to find you and raise the alarm, or otherwise get shot in the face/stabbed in the larynx by a covert agent. It’s as though every character in the game is hooked to a switch that has two settings, “docile” and “aggressive”. It’s the kind of “sneak n shoot” gameplay we got in 1998 with Syphon Filter on Playstation One. When you do raise an alarm, and oh, you will, it seems like everyone is automatically locked onto your location, and they come running like bees to honey. This in and of itself isn’t much of a problem, on easy and normal settings, bad guys are target practice, if you play on the hardest difficulty, shots are fired at random from bad guys who may or may not be in the room with you, and they will end your life in unspectacular fashion. After that, your corpse may either bounce around unnaturally or pass through a wall, floor, ceiling, or randomly placed shrubbery.
No, the technical limitations do not end at lousy henchman AI. Alpha Protocol is chock full of stiff animation, and technical glitches that have people passing through walls, walking on air, and otherwise defying the laws of gravity, physics, and common sense. On several instances, my Assault rifle magically belched brass shell casings even when it wasn’t being fired. Even after my still corpse hit the earth, and I sat slowly waiting for the prompt to reload from the last checkpoint, those 7.65mm shell casings kept ejecting from my rifle as though I were still standing upright in full on “Rock N Roll” stance. It doesn’t help that these stray bullets also clip through Mike’s body while he’s stuck in a run animation.
From a presentation standpoint, we’re looking at a mixed bag for sure. Menus are bland and utilitarian; they get the job done, but only just. The interface is likewise rather dull; full of nondescript icons that don’t always give a fair representation of your abilities. The game’s art design is bland and uninspired, with a bunch of plain, boring looking enemies that either lack any manner of personality, or have borrowed their charm from some crappy spy movie. Honestly, the character designs range from yawn-inducing to absolutely ridiculous (The pink-haired Russian commando or the Emo-teen hitman complete with running mascara come to mind). Michael Thornton is about the most boring frontman i’ve seen, and the miniscule customization options you’re given don’t help him improve any, at all. Then there’s the texture pop in that never ceases to make its presence known when you decide to hit menus in order to switch up an outfit or alter facial features.
Respect the beard!
That’s right, this is an Unreal 3 powered game, and about the only sign that alludes to that fact is the texture pop-in that plagued pretty much every Unreal 3 version 1.0 title. Lighting is rudimentary, the framerate is sluggish, textures are basic if serviceable, and everything is built with a minimal amount of detail, making for some mighty clunky looking characters and objects. Alpha Protocol may as well have been built on Unreal 2 technology. No, it’s not quite ‘Xbox’ ugly, but it definitely looks more like something that might have graced the 360 or PS3 in their early launch days. There are a few isolated incidents where Alpha Protocol comes close to matching some of the lesser U3-powered games out there, and on one or two occasions i did notice some genuinely sweet looking environments and effects. The biggest problem is that the whole thing suffers from screen tearing like a stray dog suffers fleas. Any panning of the camera results in disorienting tears as the “v” struggles to “synch”. If anyone were to want for a sample of the screen tearing issue that’s become pretty prevalent in this generation, Alpha Protocol is the new poster boy. Overall, if Midway’s WWII shooter, Hour of Victory didn’t exist, Alpha Protocol would probably take the ‘ugliest game powered by Unreal 3 Technology’ trophy.
Rebuttal Witness:
After all of that rampant negativity, you might be surprised to learn that does manage to get a few things right at the core.
For one thing, the game’s touted ‘Dialogue Stance System’ really works well, and as advertised. Again, think of Mass effect, but replace general comments with attitudes or emotions. Depending on the subject you’re conversing with, you can choose to be suave, professional, hostile, or courteous, and each Non-player character in the game reacts differently based on the stances you choose. Some characters have zero tolerance for bullshit, while others appreciate a hostile, stand-offish tone. The relationships you build throughout the game also play off of each faction you run into, and characters within each faction; become too close to one character, and you may find another won’t give you the time of day. Many of these characters become handlers for future missions, and depending on who’s got your back, mission parameters, storyline, and outcomes can change. It gives the game a sense of fluidity, characters who serve a major role in one player’s game may be mere footnotes in another. There’s really a sense that here, more than ever, your choices as a player really do have an effect on the outcome.
"Don't you ever call me Gabe Logan again!"
There’s an economy at work as well, that allows you to access a black market arms merchants and information brokers. Weapons are highly customizable, and different modifications do allow for a slightly more entertaining time when the guns come out. The intel you buy opens up new avenues for progressing through some of the games tougher levels. You can acquire weapon drops while in the field, or get rid of some of the more heavily armed foes in a region. It all feels authentic and logical, and here, Alpha Protocol really does a fantastic job of getting you to think like a spy. The espionage angle is taken that much further with a detailed e-mail and dossier system that gives you all sorts of tools and info. You can e-mail contacts (using the same stance system you use in conversations) and gather intel on factions and individuals that provides insight on how to deal with people when you run into them in the future.
When the game trades action for espionage, it actually succeeds rather brilliantly. There’s a significant amount of difficult choices, dialogue sequences, and safehouse shenanigans present in the game to really help take the sting out of the crummy action bits, and based on how you go about things, you may have less and less action to deal with. Play more like a spy, and less like Master Chief, and you’ll have a much better time with the game.
Closing Comments: There were many rumours circling around Alpha Protocol before its release, not the least of which was that Sega pulled support from Obsidian and basically put the brakes on development. Then they promptly delayed the ‘finished’ game for six months (possibly out of fear of Modern Warfare 2). None of it really makes a lot of sense, as given a bit more time in the oven, Alpha Protocol could have been a legitimate contender. As it stands, I want to love this game a hell of a lot more than i actually do, and I have no doubt that I won’t be alone. If you’re what one might call a hardcore RPG player and you’re looking for something a little a little off the beaten path, you may enjoy this trip through the world of international espionage. However, it will almost certainly test the limits of your patience with some insufferably frustrating combat.
The Verdict:
Platform: Microsoft Xbox360, Sony Playstation 3, Windows PC(Playstation 3 version reviewed)
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: June 1st, 2010
Rated: M(17+) for Mature
