Obsidian Entertainment built a spy RPG that trades in consequences. Every conversation with a diplomat or a CIA agent changes the story of Michael Thorton, the government agent who must cut himself off from his colleagues to stop a war. It is a bold design, and it is also a game that frustrates more than it impresses.
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PC, Xbox 360, OnLive Game System
- Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
- Publisher: Sega, Sega Europe
- Genres: Shooter, Role-playing (RPG)
Trailer, via SEGA Europe.
Thorton and the Agency
Thorton is a new recruit at Alpha Protocol, a clandestine United States agency with unlimited resources. The game opens with his first assignment: assassinate Sheikh Ali Shaheed, the leader of the Saudi Arabia-based terrorist group Al-Samad. Shaheed claims Halbech, an American defense contractor, provided him with the weapons and target. Thorton neutralizes Shaheed and recovers intel, but his position is struck by missiles and he is presumed dead.
He survives with the aid of his handler Mina Tang, who warns him that the agency has been infiltrated by Halbech operatives. The conspiracy runs through three locations: Rome, Moscow, and Taipei. Thorton can visit them in any order, and events in one place influence interactions in another.
The plot is a cold war with a private marketplace. Halbech’s plan is to raise global tensions and force the world into its trade network. Thorton’s job is to stop it before it turns into a new cold war.
Three Ways to Play
At the start, players choose Thorton’s agent history from three paths: Soldiers, Tech Specialists, and Field Agents. Soldiers focus on heavy firearms. Tech Specialists have an arsenal of gadgets. Field Agents encourage stealth. There are also Freelancer, Recruit, and Veteran options for custom builds.
Players customize Thorton’s appearance: hair, eye color, costumes, hats, and glasses. Missions begin at a safe house, which serves as a hub for selecting missions, buying weapons and intelligence at the black market, and using the weapon locker.
The core of the game is its dialogue stance system. Players choose from three tones for every conversation: aggressive, casual, or diplomatic. The choice of tone matters more than the words themselves, and the game tracks the consequences of every stance.
The Fighting Is the Weak Link
From a third-person perspective, players can confront enemies with firearms, gadgets, martial arts, or stealth. Missions typically start at a safe house, which serves as a hub for players.
Weapons can be extensively customized. Players can add a scope to improve shooting accuracy and use phosphorus ammunition to burn enemies. Armor boosts Thorton’s endurance during missions. Non-lethal means are also available: Thorton can use tranquilizing guns to knock out enemies, or stealth to evade cameras and security measures.
The combat is where Alpha Protocol stumbles. The game’s stealth mechanics are broken, with enemies spotting Thorton through walls or ignoring him entirely. The cover system is clunky, and the game’s pacing shifts from tense to frustrating in seconds.
A Cast Worth Noticing
The main cast is small but well used. Josh Gilman voices Michael Thorton, a highly skilled secret agent newly recruited into Alpha Protocol. His colleagues include:
- Mina Tang (Adrienne Wilkinson), his handler
- Yancy Westridge (Gary Anthony Williams), his superior
- Alan Parker (Michael Bell) and Sean Darcy (Andre Sogliuzzo), veteran Alpha Protocol advisors
Thorton meets Madison Saint James in Rome, whose help leads him to the private security firm Veteran Combat Initiative (VCI). Conrad Marburg, Halbech’s former security chief, is planning a false flag operation to blow up a museum.
The voice work is strong, and the writing leans on character moments rather than exposition. That choice works in short stretches but wears thin when the game asks for patient reading of text boxes. Thorton’s relationship with Mina Tang is the emotional anchor of the plot, and the game leans on it to carry the weight of its political intrigue.
Rome, Moscow, Taipei
The three locations can be visited in any order, which is a strength and a weakness. Players who want to see Taipei first can do so, but the game’s plot is not built around that freedom. Some events are locked behind choices made in earlier missions, which forces a second playthrough to see every branch of the story.
Rome introduces the VCI and the museum plot. Moscow deals with the missiles routed through that city. Taipei involves Taiwanese President Ronald Sung, who is under threat of assassination. The structure is flexible, but the execution is not.
Alpha Protocol was released in 2010 for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360. The game’s development began in March 2006, when Sega approached Obsidian for a new intellectual property role-playing game. The concept of an “espionage RPG” came from Obsidian co-founders Feargus Urquhart and Chris Jones, but no one was assigned to lead the project until early 2008.
The project drew inspiration from Jason Bourne, James Bond, Jack Bauer, and films like Syriana, Ronin, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Sega participated in development, supporting a plot rewrite by Chris Avellone and sending quality assurance and cohesion strike teams to catch plot holes.
What Works and What Doesn’t
The game’s strengths are its dialogue system and its ambition. The tone choices carry real weight, and the branching story is genuinely different depending on how Thorton handles each mission. The customization of appearance, weapons, and armor gives players a reason to explore different builds.
The weaknesses are systemic. The stealth is broken, the cover system is clunky, and the pacing shifts from tense to frustrating in seconds. The game’s writing leans on text boxes, which slows down the experience and tests the reader’s patience.
The combat is not satisfying, and the game’s difficulty spikes without warning. A mission that goes well can turn into a wall of enemies that Thorton cannot fight, run from, or talk past.
A Split Between Ambition and Craft
Alpha Protocol is a game of two halves. The story is better than the systems that deliver it. The dialogue choices and the branching plot are a genuine achievement for the genre, but the shooting and stealth mechanics hold it back.
Thorton’s journey is a lonely one, and the game makes that loneliness feel real. The handler Mina Tang is a constant presence, a voice Thorton can trust even when he cannot trust anyone else. The final mission, where Thorton makes his final choice about loyalty, is the most compelling moment in the game.
The game’s ambition is ahead of its execution, and that gap is the source of most of its problems. A game that asks players to weigh loyalty against duty should feel tense, not broken.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
