GB Feature: Alpha Protocol Interview

There really hasn’t been a whole lot of news about Alpha Protocol since the game’s most recent delay, so I thought I’d change that by tracking down lead designer Chris Avellone and systems lead Matt MacLean for a conversation about a few of the game’s moral dilemmas, taking a non-lethal route through the game, some of the lesser known gameplay mechanics, and more. An excerpt to follow:

GB: Aside from some discussion about lockpicking, we haven’t heard much about the game’s Infiltration skill line. Can you elaborate on the non-combat skills we’ll be making use of, and how they can directly impact a mission?

Matt: Every skill in Alpha Protocol provides bonuses in combat – though some skills are a bit more roundabout in their applications, and some skills mix non-combat bonuses and combat bonuses into the progression. Three skills that provide lots of indirect combat bonuses are Sabotage, Technical Aptitude, and Stealth.

Technical Aptitude includes a variety of passive bonuses to weapon performance and armor strength – representing Mike’s ability to customize and streamline his gear (this is in addition to bonuses you get from actual modifications added to your weapons and armor). While Sabotage makes your offensive gadgets more deadly, Technical Aptitude improves the efficacy of your medical gadgets and increases your range options – proving more gadget slots for you to either diversify your arsenal or try to see how many pounds of explosives you can take into a mission, and then try to beat that record. At its highest levels, Technical Aptitude is a force multiplier – the Brilliance ability allows you to use activated abilities from other Skills in rapid succession, allowing you to double the duration or impact of your other special moves.

Chris: Sabotage assists with tactically setting down mines to disable opponents and guard paths – and for stealth characters, it can give you Binary Invisibility at higher levels, which assists the player in remaining undetected by electronic countermeasures (cameras, auto-turrets). Mines do increased damage, have an increased range, and are generally more effective the higher your Sabotage skill becomes (Overclocking). Sabotage includes bonuses that make electronic bypasses, lockpicking, and hacking easier to perform. As there is often some sort of time pressure involved while doing these tasks (whether avoiding enemy patrols or being chased by them), the less time you need to bypass a terminal, shut down an alarm, or pick the back of a warehouse door so you can get to cover, the better. Not only are breaking and entering tasks easier with ranks of Sabotage, the cash payoff for hacking valuable data increases as you improve this skill. Put enough points into Sabotage and you’ll gain Remote Hack – the ability to perform electronic bypass and computer hacking actions at a distance – perfect for subverting enemy turrets and causing all sorts of commotion.

Stealth allows you to get into and out of an area undetected. With good timing and patience, you can slip into and out of a mission without a single person detecting you and avoid all the potential pain and anguish that alarms cause. Your ability (or inability, or downright refusal) to solve a mission covertly is often noticed by other characters (and yes, a few folks will like you for being reckless and pathological). Keep a low enough profile and some might not even know you’ve come to the area (usually resulting in Reputation increases as well as other inter-mission reactivity). The special abilities you get as a result of raising your Stealth are useful for solving missions the quiet way, or for solving missions the loud way with ambush attacks. An early Stealth ability is Awareness, which allows you to hear enemies in the vicinity and “see” their locations even if they’re not within line of sight (perfect for setting ambushes). After a few ranks are invested in Stealth, you’ll earn Evasion which you a brief “respite” if an enemy spots you, where you’re warned that you’re spotted and you have some time to get to new cover before they see you for realz. Rounding out the Stealth abilities are Silent Running (allowing you to sprint through an area unheard or, more commonly, rush up behind someone who’s back is turned to you and get your murder on… or choke them out into unconsciousness) and Shadow Operative (sets a timer that allows you to avoid enemy detection until you strike, which is perfect for taking out perimeter enemies one at a time and punching holes in their watchposts).