Alpha Protocol

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Format: PS3, Xbox 360 PC
Genre: Shooter/RPG

Bond with brains! Where do we sign?



We've been keeping track of Alpha Protocol ever since we first heard about the spy style action RPG game back in 2007. New games get announced all the time but what immediately piqued our interest was learning that Obsidian Entertainment (the team behind the Knights of the Old Republic II game) was at the helm for development duties. To the uninitiated, Obsidian's involvement pretty much means you're guaranteed interwoven stories, engrossing characters and loads of customisation options. Standard fare for either fantasy or even sci-fi RPGs but when have you seen this sort of gameplay in a James Bond setting?

In a similar vein to either KOTOR II or indeed the Fable games, Alpha Protocol promises open ended morality gameplay where the decisions you make will ultimately affect both the performance and appearance of your character. Gamers play a young secret agent who has somehow learnt the secrets to a terrible catastrophe that is about to befall the world. But in order for him to stop this chain of events he needs to cut himself off from the outside world and effectively go on the run - Bourne Identity style.

But it's not all run and gun action, how you interact with the in-game characters is equally important to both plot and character advancement. With a hotly hyped real-time dialogue system, the characters in Alpha Protocol will react to your agents each and every word. Caution and wit are needed as the stakes are high and the tensions mount in conversations that Obsidian promises will have players on the edges of their seat.

A thinking man's spy shooter? We'll know for sure in February.