Xbox corporate vice president (CVP) Kareem Choudhry is reportedly leaving Microsoft after spending more than two decades at the company. The departure of Choudhry comes during a period of change within the Xbox division and uncertainty among fans regarding the future of the console manufacturer.
Obsidian's espionage RPG Alpha Protocol returns to store shelves after four years in license hell
20.03.2024 - 14:39 / rockpapershotgun.com
It's deeply frustrating and disappointing when games get pulled from store shelves due to licenses expiring, and too few ever return. So it's great news that almost four years after Sega stopped selling Obisidian's fascinating spy thriller RPG Alpha Protocol on Steam due to music rights expiring, it has returned to sale on GOG. I'm always surprised that Alpha Protocol hasn't reached serious cult classic status because, as much as parts are distinctly wonky, the globetrotting sneak-o-shooter fizzes with ideas for intense dialogue, branching plot, and reputation systems with consequences. You do feel like a spy going up against the world, backed up only by shifty allies and a ridiculous pair of giant sunglasses.
Alpha Protocol is the story of Michael Thorton, a secret agent who you are honour-bound to give a big beard and silly sunglasses as soon as it lets you into character customisation. As is a common job hazard, he ends up kicked out and hunted by shadowy forces, scrabbling for allies as he fights impending disaster. It's a jolly old genre romp, made quite surprising by how your story develops through the game.
It's not a game where you can do everything right. So much of what you do and say can have consequences, and you're rarely able to understand what they will be. This is good. Alpha Protocol is a spy game and Mikey is some poor fool tossed into a deep sea with political and personal currents he does not understand. Everyone has their own agenda, and wants to use Mike to pursue it. So as you sneak and shoot and hack and chat around, you're building and losing reputation with a range of spies, mercenaries, and terrorists who might help or hinder you. This is made more intense by timers ticking down during dialogue options, pushing you to act without fully considering consequences. These consequences might also not become fully clear until a fair while later, or even until you discover other plot paths on another playthrough. You can't game the system (unless you've played it before or are following a guide, obvs), you must become your own Michael Thornton and follow his instincts. It's a great experience, and still a welcome contrast to how so many other RPGs handle choice and consequence.
Alpha Protocol is also offputting and frustrating, mind. Thornton starts out so inept that he's barely able to shoot a gun straight, so please do trust me when I say you can eventually become the world's most absurdly overpowered secret agent/mass murderer. It really does have one of the worst hacking minigames too. And being an Obsidian game from 2010, yeah, it could be pretty buggy.
"It's not a brilliant game, but it's one packed with imagination and inspired ideas," John Walker said in our Alpha Protocol
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