Alpha Protocol is a modern day spy game that mixes a traditional role-playing game and a straight-up action shooter. The game, scheduled for release on June 1, 2010, has a thick plot that changes depending on the decisions a player makes. Even the smallest decisions can drastically alter the plot of the game and how the characters interact with you.

In Alpha Protocol you play a rookie CIA agent named Michael Thornton who is all wrapped up in a global conspiracy that has you interacting with a huge cast of non-player characters and the way you interact with them determines how they treat you. In one part of the game, Thornton goes back home to find a woman named Madison asleep in his bed. They obviously have a close relationship but everything in this game can change. As Thornton and Madison talk, dialogue boxes pop up so you can choose responses with a variety of choices depending on the situation and each response can change the plot and relationships between the characters. You can also skip the dialogue to go to the next scene in the game.

How you interact with the game’s characters will build up a reputation, which is unique to each NPC. If you interact with characters in the right way you build up your reputation of damage your rep as well. In a demo given by Sega, Madison and Thornton obviously were close to each other but in another demo of the game the relationship changed. This time Madison was hiding as Thornton entered the room and whacked him on the head twice and shocked him with one of his own gadgets. All interaction can change with all the non-player characters giving the game many possible consequences.

Although reputation and consequences are an important part of the game, the action sequences also play a big part. Powered by an RPG system that has you buying weapons or equipment with money you pick up, upgrading weapons with new accessories or ammo, and a robust skill system that lets you build Thornton into the kind of spy you want to play.

There’s nine skills you can train in all centered around weapons you use in the game, including pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, and so on. There are also specialized skills, such as stealth or breaking and entering, which you can upgrade as well.

You can keep upgrading your skills to get more proficient with that particular weapon or ability and after upgrading enough times youearn new skills to use in the field. For example, if you put enough points into stealth, you’ll eventually earn an active skill that will let you essentially move invisibly for a short amount of time. It can’t be used at a full run, of course, but it seems as if it will be valuable tool for those who are looking to play Alpha Protocol in a stealthy manner. So depending on the skills that you focus on improving, you can actually shape the kind of spy you want to be. A stealthy spy can actually get through the whole game without firing a shot and still complete their objective but there’s plenty of opportunity for combat too.

The game is played from a third-person perspective and the longer you aim the more accurate the shot will be. Using stealth allows you to sneak up close to the enemy and take them out quietly without drawing attention or firing a shot. Alpha Protocol is full of gadgets you would expect any international spy to have like electro-magnetic pulse grenades, radio mimics, incendiary grenades, and, of course, the ubiquitous first aid kits. Alpha Protocoñ looks like it offers the action of a shooter game with the thick, twisted plots of an RPG game that would keep the game interesting for a long time.

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