It is all about Choice

This weekend I finished my first play though of Alpha Protocol. Suffice to say it was a short story. However, it is not really a short game. One of the big things touted about this game was that it is all about choice, and their are no bad decisions. Most RPGs that have any moral choices tend to favor "Good" over "Evil" choices. The Knights of the Old Republic series had a really big distinction between light and dark side. And it seems that Dark Side characters had fewer options in the long run then Light Side characters.

However, in Alpha Protocol there is very few (if any) really good v evil choices. I think the only good/evil choice I had to made was the level of lethal force to use on civilian guards that are shooting at you.

Still I think I may do something that I rarely get to do with a RPG and that is play it all the way though twice. I am already over halfway though the second run. And I am seeing enough differences to still make it fresh and exciting.

All in all it delivers as promise. An excellent Spy Base RPG. And anyone who enjoyed the Deus Ex series or the Mass Effect series will very much enjoy Alpha Protocol.

Now the But... :)

My criticisms of the game are general and to an extent would also apply to Deus Ex and Mass Effect as well. I have been of mixed mind on the FPS style RPGs. I personally prefer third person "turn-based" games in the vein of the old Fallout and Baldur's Gate games. Yes, I enjoyed Fallout 3, but I preferred the style of Fallout 1&2. I would consider Dragon Age: Origins also to be "turn-based." Loosely speaking any game where you can pause and queue up orders/actions is what I would consider "turn-based."

Second, as much as it makes perfect sense and was executed as well, I am also not a big fan of Hub-Based missions. It lacks the open exploration that I always enjoy. The mission maps are still fairly linear in that there is a start point and an end point even if there are a few different routes though the level.

These are part of the reasons why I am developing YAR the way I am. It will have the elements that I enjoy the most.