Alpha Protocol Retrospective

Rebel Gaming has treated us to an extensive retrospective of Alpha Protocol, SEGA and Obsidian Entertainment’s unique spy-themed FPS/RPG that ultimately found its way to a divisive crowd of gamers. A sampling:

Alpha Protocol’s story has the unfortunate distinction of putting its worst foot forward. It begins with young buck secret agent Michael Thorton being sent out a kill/capture mission (unlike our Commander in Chief’s drone strikes, capturing is actually an option in this particular kill/capture op) targeting Ali Shaheed, the leader of Al-Samad, the terrorist group responsible for shooting down the passenger jet we saw in the opening cinematic. Nothing interesting happens in Saudi Arabia until the very end, and the missions leading up to it are the most poorly designed in the game, although you do get to exchange a few words with a balaclava wearing terrorist who inexplicably has the same voice as Dr. Claw in the old Inspector Gadget cartoons. When Agent Thorton finally catches up with Shaheed the ol’ jihadi scoundrel readily tells Thorton that he was given the missiles by Halbech, a massive U.S. defense contractor, but no sooner can Shaheed get the words out than missiles rain down from the sky, killing Shaheed and leaving Agent Thorton bruised but alive. Mina Tang gets in touch and tells Thorton that he’s been disavowed by Alpha Protocol, is presumed dead, and is officially a rogue agent. Thorton sets out on a globe trotting journey to uncover what Halbech and Alpha Protocol are up to, with Mina Tang secretly working as his handler while maintaining her post at the agency. In the beginning it isn’t clear why Tang goes to such lengths to help Agent Thorton, and honestly I’m used to so many people inexplicably offering help or asking for help in video games that I didn’t think to question it, but it turns out there’s a damn good reason, and Obsidian should be commended for going to the trouble to plug their plot holes.

Agent Thorton visits three cities in his quest to uncover the conspiracy, each with their own particular missions, characters, and objectives, and it’s here that Alpha Protocol really starts to take off as a game, even if it never really reaches cruising altitude. You can choose the order of the cities you visit, and I personally went Moscow, Taipei, Rome.

In Moscow you try to track the distribution of Halbech weapons, which Halbech is moving with the help of the Russian Mafia. You meet SIE, (pronounced Zee) a flamboyant ex-Stasi agent and member of the VCI mercenary firm who’s got that whole Bad Girl Appeal thing going on, Albatross, the leader of an elite, secret group of technocrats looking to influence world affairs, and Sis, Albatross’ mute, emo bodyguard. As the Moscow mission moves forward you’re forced to align yourself with either SIE or Albatross, though you won’t really get to know either of them very well, which I guess is an occupational hazard of being a spy. There’ll come a point where you’ll be forced to chose between saving them and executing your mission, a choice the game goes on to force upon you two more times, which is two times too many.