Alpha Protocol Preview

Yet another hands-on preview of Obsidian’s Alpha Protocol snuck onto the web this evening, and this time it comes to us via Play.tm.

You have a safe house to seek refuge. Here you can answer emails, customise your load-out and upgrade weapons. This is also where youll gain access to new gadgets to purchase as well as Intel for missions. Another cheeky nod to Mass Effect 2 is the collectable trophies you pick up from various missions that clutter the safe house, a nice touch that shows your progression in the story. You can also access the dossier system here to read character bios, information about certain factions. This is unlocked by finding files dotted around the game, purchasing intel as well as hacking. Yes, hacking. Yet another familiar nod to BioWares epic space RPG. The hacking is a little different however and a lot more challenging. One of the hacking styles gives you seconds to match up symbols on a screen while other symbols are constantly changing around it. It was very tough to see and was good fun spotting them out. You can bypass the hacking by using EMPs if you are feeling particularly baffled.

You can completely customise the way Micheal Thorton looks. You can alter his hair; give him a dashing beret maybe? A nice touch but it seems strange that Obsidian didnt take a more complete character customisation route or even the ability to be female. They say this has to do with how concentrated the story is around Michael but it is a real shame. The skills screen is almost identical to that of the original Mass Effect, something we feel could have been dramatically altered.