I play modern games (Alpha Protocol)

By ArbitraryWater November 27, 2010 34 Comments

Hey all, with all the new releases and such, I really haven't gotten around to much old game playing. However, because I feel obligated (and because AP was made by Obsidian, who used to be part of black isle, who made or published some of the best RPGs of the past decade, so it's kinda connected), I've decided to blog about this game, which I finished around 20 minutes ago. Did I like it? Or was it a terrible mish-mash of poor gameplay and disappointing story contrivances?  Read on!
 
Well, that answer is obviously the second one. Alpha Protocol is a game that totally has its merits and its moments, but the problem is that those merits and moments are

all fairly slight when compared to the glaring issues that encompass that entire product, especially when you consider that Mass Effect 2 came out 5 months prior. Considering the stories floating around about this game's troubled development, it's obviously not all Obsidian's fault (then again, that seems to be a pattern. Was KotOR 2 not rushed to shelves when it could have used at least another 6 months of development? For the record, that may perhaps be the single most disappointing title I have ever encountered.) It's not that I don't think Obsidian is capable of making good RPGs (Not counting the obvious pedigree, NWN2 was a perfectly fine, albeit somewhat by the numbers CRPG, and I think that New Vegas is an actively better game than Fallout 3, extensive technical issues aside). I just think they lack consistency. But enough about the developer, what about the game?
 
First off, the story, and because I feel like building something up before I wreck it, I'll start with the positives. What it does right is make your choices feel like they have impact, and it pulls it off well (regardless of whether they actually have impact or not). I generally went out of my way to not piss people off, and that usually paid dividends with less people generally trying to shoot me.  At least, until the end when I kind of capped everyone I had the opportunity to. They all deserved it. The game also does a pretty good job at avoiding black and white morality, and acknowledging your prior actions when people speak to you. At no point did any of that feel particular or contrived, at least until the end when it all goes to shit. Maybe it was the way I rushed through the endgame, or the choices I made, but a lot of story threads that I read about (on "the internets") never cropped themselves up, and at the end I wasn't entirely sure what my Thorton had accomplished.  It left a bad taste in my mouth.
 

However, the ultimate problem with all these characters and story threads is that, for the most part, they're boring. Micheal Thorton, regardless of what dialog options picked, always kind of comes of as a bit of a dick, and the delivery of the voice actor doesn't help either. Not to mention, sticking to one particular role playing direction for Thorton usually is counter-productive, as that will always piss of at least one important faction. Your handler, Mina Tang never bothers to make herself a likable or sympathetic character, and as a result she was kind of just a droning voice in my ear (not to mention, as a romanceable character, she kind of sucks when compared to all the alien action that Commander Shepard gets). Some of the side characters are fairly interesting, such as the villainously professional Marburg (voiced by Jim Cummings, most notable in video games for being the voice of Minsc in Baldur's Gate. Also the voice of Winnie the Pooh), but for the most part the dullness and archetypal-ness extends to pretty much everyone you encounter. For well as Nolan North does the voice of the absolutley unhinged Stephen Heck, the character himself is entirely one sided and cartoonish. And then, the setting. I appreciate the modern setting, but the problem with all things set in "modern times" as well as all "espionage thrillers", is that they all kind of fall into the same story traps of evil shadow corporations (oh what a surprise. The main villain is totally an evil capitalist who is totally evil and capitalistic. And you find this out 1/5th through the story), unaccountable secret agencies, and so on and so forth. I did appreciate the part where there were no WMDs at stake, though, I'll give it that much.
 
However, something that isn't modern (oh snap. That was a transition), is the gameplay. Somehow, the shooting in Alpha Protocol makes the gunplay in the first Mass Effect look like Gears by comparison. Apparently, a trained special agent is incapable of hitting the broad side of a barn with an assault rifle, and when he does hit the enemies still all take forever to murder. The part where the enemy AI is totally retarded doesn't help either, occasionally rushing up to you and doing melee attacks for no reason. However, this retarded AI is more of a problem when you play stealth, as I did. It's erratic, unpredictable, and always catches you in the worst time. At least, until you unlock the power that makes you invisible. The ultimate version lasts 24 seconds and allows you to stab as many people in the neck as possible within its time limit. This kind of doubles as easy mode, but that doesn't make any of it actually fun. So, in conclusion, the gameplay is bad. Not unabashedly awful, but it's the same kind of bad that made Jade Empire's gameplay bad (A lot of this game is really "Jade Empire bad"). The best missions are the ones that are just roleplaying encounters because they don't involve shooting or sneaking.
 
In conclusion, it's pretty obvious that Alpha Protocol was developed as a direct response to Mass Effect. No doubt tired of being every other RPG company's bitch, Obsidian tried to put it's own foot forward and tripped into a spike pit... or wherever this metaphor goes. However, probably due to some sort of internal development struggle, and probably some other excuses too, it fails to reach the mark it aimed for, being generally Sub-Mass Effect 1 in pretty much everything (not to mention Mass Effect 2). And know what? That's a shame. The things this game does right are things that other RPGs haven't really managed to do. In some crazy alternate universe, I could see this game being totally jaw-dropping. Yeah. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go play some New Vegas. 
 
Next up: I don't know. Maybe KotOR? Maybe Icewind Dale?
 
EDIT: Oh yeah. Before I forget. The Boss Battles are universally terrible and should die in a fire. Take everything I said about the combat and multiply it by a factor of two (oh, so you are going to rush me and take half my health with a melee attack? Glorious) Especially the last one. Perfect examples of how not do design a game.

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