Review Archive

To enjoy: lower standards

Developer: Obsidian
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Spy-RPG
Platforms: PS3 / X360
If you like: Mass Effect, Hitman: Blood Money, Splinter Cell: Double Agent

Not every game is created equal. We as gamers should understand that. Sometimes you just need to lower your standards for a video game to break you in. Alpha Protocol is one of those titles. You let the dated graphics, poor animations, un-inventive UI, and clumsy cover system slide, and everything left is great. OK, great is a bit strong. How’s good for a term?

The comparisons have been made. And much like Mass Effect, the bad comes with some good. The strongest off that “good list� being AP’s conversation system. Unlike Bioware’s space opera, this system keeps the conversations moving naturally with the helping hand of a timer bar. Decisions will be made regardless of your button press, so keeping focus is a must. Every choice you make twists the story branches, at every corner, and slowly this became my main motivation to finish Obsidian’s Spy-RPG. Character interactions begin to bleed into each other and every action you make seems to effect someone, somewhere, somehow.

It’s not that I didn’t have fun with Alpha Protocol, because I did. The constant gaining of perks and stat upgrades keeps the game progressing nicely and the entertainment value up. The real problem comes during the late game, where my ability to overlook most of AP’s problems began to fade into frustration and a cry for a finale. Lock-picking and keypad bypassing start off a neat mini-game for an extra 25 XP, but later become a frustratingly impossible task; which doesn’t make sense considering for the last 20 hours I must have picked 200 locks and bypassed 100 keypads. Boredom also builds up from the mission structure and it’s repetitive nature. If the game was only 5 hours shorter…

I commend Obsidian for being optimistic. But most of the time, games that are overly-optimistic fall far short from the standards set in the “big leagues�. It’s going to take a gamer with some low standards to fall head over heels for Alpha Protocol. Those who do, will undoubtedly have a great time throwing Mr. Thorton into sticky situations, e-mailing contacts, and slicing the throats of evil weapons dealers. The real question is “ how long will that enjoyment last?�

In my first 12 hours of Alpha Protocol I was as good as a spy could be and loving the banter that came out of M. Thorton’s mouth. A few hours later, I realized he was no “Bond�. He was nothing more than a cliché with an arsenal of weapons and a few good perks up his sleeve. If the game had only ended there at that moment, I wouldn’t have felt the wrath of a poor cover system under stressful situations. Or witnessed one of the lamest endings of 2010. If only every game were created equal. (B)

 

 - Jeffrey d