The best thing about this tiny little teaser-ish trailer for Sega's spy-action title Alpha Protocol? Looking back over my life, they could have played this clip before I started any job I've ever had and it would be completely appropriate. This business changes you. You never know who to trust. Do they really want regular tacos, or do they want tacos supreme? I couldn't tell you Mike. Also of note, almost every job I have ever had ended with me standing on the upper floor of a skyscraper with broken windows as a combat helicopter flies by. It's uncanny.

Obsidian Entertainment's Alpha Protocol isn't just similar to BioWare's Mass Effect in terms of interface, font, design, gameplay, and graphics - it's also got a sexy side. Agent Michael Thorton will have a bevy of ladies at his disposal throughout his mission, and depending on how he treats them he could very well get lucky with some, if not all the lovely ladies.

"It all depends on how you treat them," Rucinski said. If you have a strong relationship with female characters, they may help with missions. However, he told me that some of them are "bats-t insane" and can get you into trouble. "One may ask you to assassinate a high-level person," he added. "Maybe that's not something you want to do, but she's really hot. But there are obvious repercussions."

See? These are the sorts of decisions guys named Michael have to deal with every day. We don't want to kill, but the ladies are so hot! Alpha Protocol will let players get busy with women via Mass Effect style cutscenes, with achievements for being a total manslut as well as just saying no repeatedly. Achievements for having sex? Fox is going to have a field day.
'Alpha Protocol' Will Have Plenty Of Sex Scenes, 'Ladies' Man' Achievement [MTV Multiplayer]

Up until my visit to Sega at E3 this week, all I had seen of Obsidian Entertainment's spy thriller action RPG Alpha Protocol was a few screenshots. Yesterday I got a chance to see a demo of the game in action, and I can safely say that fans of BioWare's space epic Mass Effect should be extremely pleased. In fact, had the Obsidian folks at the demo not denied it, one could easily assume the two games were using the exact same engine, with a few tweaks in place to freshen things up a bit.

Rookie CIA agent Michael Thornton finds himself betrayed by his superiors and hunted by the U.S. government after a mission goes awry. In order to get to the bottom of a conspiracy, Michael initiates the Alpha Protocol, going undercover to clear his name and besmirch a few others in the process.

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Obsidian Entertainment says it's found the right mix of action and RPG, balancing subtlety with "over-the-top" visual style, and weighing realism carefully against the "abstraction" of fantasy elements.

Alpha Protocol, though billed as an "action-RPG", sounds a bit weighted more toward the former than the latter, aiming for a happy medium that hopes to make RPG elements accessible to twitch fans, while still adding the depth to please RPG purists. Not only that, but the team's touted a heavy emphasis on character interaction and player choice.

It sounds like a a tall order to fil, but when the developers' pedigree includes projects like KOTOR 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2

The Obsidian team held a conference call today to answer tons of questions about the game. Is it challenging to do a modern, realistic RPG (especially with Star Wars and NWN in your rearview)? How do the action elements balance with the RPG elements, and just how much influence will the players have? What kind of man is hero Michael Thorton?

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It may be an action RPG, but it looks like Sega and Obsidian Entertainment's Alpha Protocol will be a bit heavy on the action side, unless of course the high-flying performance above is from a cutscene...which is more than likely. Still, these shots are much more lively than the previous set, which more like stills form a movie set than anything resembling a game.

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Sega Gamer's Day earlier this week in San Francico stuck to a "blockbusters" theme, reminding the visiting press that they had just launched a video game based on Iron Man and that another based on The Hulk was coming shortly.

Despite the theme, the games shown after the short presentation were distinctly, movie-themed free featuring, two both the upcoming RPG and traditional Sonic titles, Samba De Amigo, Golden Axe: Beast Rider, Valkyria Chronicles and Empire Total War.

While they didn't show it, Sega of America unveiled a brand new IP, a "spy-action" role-playing game for next-generation consoles called Alpha Protocol. The game, a modern day RPG is being developed by Obsidian for Feb. 2009.

The show wrapped up with a quick teaser video showing off what appeared to be a very slick, high-resolution glimpse of Aliens: Colonial Marines.

In the incredibly short video a camera pans away from a clutch of Alien eggs as a voice, obviously the voice of a Marine talks in the background.

One of the eggs breaks open unleashing a young Alien and you can hear the marine say:

"Wait a minute there's movement, looks to be some kind of bug or something..."

Sega promised to have the game at their booth during this year's E3.

Sega has released a quintet of screens for Obsidian Entertainment's espionage RPG Alpha Protocol, five in-game shots curiously lacking in explosions, car crashes or aliens. Yes, it's suspect. One actually looks like a Home screen cap. They do, however, feature glowing eyed super soldiers, so we're positive they're from a video game. It's also somewhat curious how instantly reminded we were of Mass Effect, given that Obsidian was responsible for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights 2, picking up where BioWare left off. Not sure what that implies.... Anyway! Gallery time!

The name, it could do with some work, but the premise, well, it's downright intriguing. Developers Obsidian, who brought us KOTOR II, are at work on Alpha Protocol, a game they're describing as an action-RPG and which will be appearing on the tried and tested triumvirate of PS3, 360 and PC. You play the role of a James Bond-type character, who plays his way through an RPG (it's got skill classes, etc) flush with Mass Effect-style combat sequences. It's also got Mass Effect-style dialogue (though you can only ever speak to an NPC once), with the added bonus of James Bond-style romancing, with alluring, deadly ladies across the globe ready and available for conquest. Excited? Don't be, you've got to wait until at least Spring 2009.
[via Game Informer Magazine]

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