Alpha Protocol Previews, Interview

Obsidian Entertainment’s Alpha Protocol is the subject of four more hands-on previews, as well as an interview with producer Nathan Davis.

The first preview is at Joystiq:

What makes Alpha Protocol so engaging is the potential for meaningful character growth. As helpful as these bonuses are, they can evolve rather significantly. For example, spending enough XP on the radar ability will make it persistent: no need to activate it and use it as a “power.” At the lowest level, each of these abilities have a refractory period, meaning players will have to budget them quite wisely. Maxing out the “lock-on” ability should, in many ways, make you as badass as Sam Fischer in Splinter Cell Conviction.

Then we have another at Kotaku:

Some of the dialogue sequences will be so lengthy that there are missions unto themselves. The Sega producer described them to me as interrogations that could last 10-15 minutes, full of choices not just about what to say but whether to, perhaps, hit the person being interrogated with a bottle. In the interrogation described, violence squeezes accurate information out, but causes the player’s victim to alert his friends and make a subsequent mission harder. Being smoother with the same guy will allow the player to make a pay-off and face lesser opposition later.

Followed by Digital Spy:

After each mission and dialogue section, Thornton returns to the safehouse, which is basically a plush pad replete with espionage accoutrement. This includes a computer terminal giving access to the email system, which reacts to events/actions in the game as with everything else. Replying to emails involves choosing from three main options – brief, cordial or snarky – with players able to read the responses before sending them. For example, one message from Thornton’s handler/fixer Mina asks whether he knows the password to a locked server. After selecting the snarky response, Thornton replies that the password is M1LFLuv3r. However, Mina fails to see the funny side, leading to one lost reputation point.

And MTV Multiplayer:

Finishing the game on Recruit unlocks Veteran. Here your skill points won’t be hampered and most everyone will be instantly intimidated with you. There will, however, be certain characters that want to make a name for themselves and will try to take you down to earn rep. Also, enemies are much harder in this mode and you’ll earn experience slower (an old dog, as they say…). Think of it as the “Very Hard” option.

With the interview finishing things off at Digital Spy:

The game features various colourful characters Рnot least the gun-toting blonde bombshell Sie Рand Obsidian was careful not to revert to the usual spy clich̩s of men in suits. While the team also tried to inject a sense of humour, it made sure to do this without trivialising the fractious world the game is based on.

“We are talking about serious things – terrorist groups, assassinations, blowing up bombs in public places – all these things are happening and somebody thinks they are doing the right thing. It’s a morally ambiguous world,” explains Davis. “The story itself and what is going on, we take that very seriously, and there are also some characters who take themselves very seriously. But within that, there is room for a quick wit and some fun. We never want to be outright silly with anything. We have some outlandishness but there is some real psychology behind that.”