Mission Impossible: Alpha Protocol Impressions

The entire time I was playing, I was constantly comparing Alpha Protocol to Mass Effect, and who could blame me? Dialogue trees and plot-relevant Good/Evil decisions abound, focus is centered around character leveling and weapons upgrades while safe-houses acted as nationally themed Normady’s for you to customize your character, weapons, skills, and gadgets. Any comparisons unfortunately detracted from the experience, as Alpha Protocol consistently managed to fall below expectations. I view this as a true shame, considering the amount of potential that shines through the iffy gameplay and intriguing narrative.

Taking on the role of a newly minted government agent Michael Thorton, players will delve deep into a world of political intrigue and international conspiracy to unravel the truth surrounding some sort of insanity-fueled calamity that is about to befall the world. Operating on two different timelines (one a few months after the game begins and another the time in between), Alpha Protocol seems to be aiming for a temporally befuddling narrative in more in the vein of the Jason Bourne films as opposed to the straight-shot Bond-buster flicks of yesteryear.

Most of the story depends on your choices in conversation, and as such a lot o weight is placed on how you interact with those around you. The conversation system is a variation on the contextual-choice based formula found in Mass Effect, but trimmed down even further and set against a timer that forces players to commit to a dialogue cue in under a few seconds. I can see how the timer really ups the tension and forces the player to really focus on the conversation at hand, but the actual dialogue choices (normally a one word theme along the lines of Aggressive, Suave, or Loyal) tend to be so vague that often the player will feel more disconnected than immersed. More often than not, I made my choice, only to find that the action veered wildly from where I had imagined it going.

And there’s the rub; if I choose “Aggressive”, I have no idea if Thorton is going to just intimidate a contact with veiled threats or physically beat the crap out of him. A game like Mass Effect provided just enough information on how the conversation would go so that you could make an informed call whilst weighing the consequences, while Alpha Protocol seems to operate by pressuring the player into playing Russian Roulette with their interactions. I also wished that the positive or negative effects each conversation encouraged was actually spatially integrated with the dialogue wheel; like how in Mass Effect dialogue to the left dug deeper into the story while choices to the right finished up the plot point quickly.

Ultimately, the game’s handling ended up being the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s equally metaphorical back. A targeting system that gives an entirely new meaning to hit or miss paired up with weapons swapping menus rife with counter intuitive navigation controls made for a controller flinging affair. I never really felt in control of Thorton, only burdened by his lack of skill in high-risk scenarios. Maybe things would have gotten easier as I leveled up one of his many ambitious skill-trees, but honestly it shouldn’t have taken that long for the shootouts and fisticuffs to grip me (NOTE: punching in this game apparently beats bullets if you mash the button enough. I don’t know whether that’s good or bad, seeing as how you are a super spy after all.).

The game also suffers from severe loading issues, the same shenanigans we saw in Mass Effect almost FOUR YEARS AGO. In this day and age, waiting a dozen seconds for a character’s face to come into focus is almost inexcusable, especially if i need to read their emotions to figure out whether or not they are morally bankrupt enough to launch a surface-to-air-missile at a loaded passenger liner. Environments appear varied and at first glance visually stimulating, but after a while they attain a certain cookie cutter effect that fails to deliver any character to the game’s universe.

For all of its faults, however, Alpha Protocol delivers in solid RPG mechanics in spades. Accessing an online black market at your safe-house gives you access to dozens upon dozens of new weapons and countless modifications that (theoretically) alter your weapon performance in specific ways. Silencers, stabilizers, grenade launchers and laser sites, all of these hi-tech thingamajigs will have completionist clamoring for the latest and greatest, while similarly customizable armor proves that a good defense is often just as important as a bullet spewing offense.

Earning a good reputation with each individual mission handler will score you unique power-ups, like “Constant Encouragement” which raises Thorton’s defense and stamina capabilities. As mentioned before, Alpha Protocol possesses a huge character optimization system that allows you to level up Thorton to suit your play style with awesome perks and the occasional power-up. I truly wanted to see some of the higher tier skills in action, but I just couldn’t put in the time to earn the required EXP.

When push comes to shove, Alpha Protocol fails to deliver on its designed promises. Combat is quirky at best, pulse-burstingly frustrating at worse while the plot flops in the face of awkward conversation mechanics. An elaborate customization system and fulfilling skill-tree can’t make up for the many broken aspects of this game, but if you want to see some unique additions to a the RPG genre that don’t involve gun-toting spacemen or magical dragons, then by all means pick up this title; just don’t expect to….you know….like it or anything.