Alpha Protocol is an espionage-based action/role-playing game that looks to flexibility of storyline as its main hook. The real goal of Alpha Protocol is to create a world/scenario that will result in very different outcomes based on how the player behaves in the storyline; not JUST in the ending, but all through the experience.

The backdrop for Alpha Protocol is a world overshadowed by a huge conspiracy of power brokers, and navigating the web of interactions between these various characters and towards a satisfactory resolution will provide variety in method, development and goal. For instance, killing an arms dealer early in the game will (obviously) remove him from the deeply branching plotline — but you have NO idea whether he was destined to be a major player, or if he really was just a gun-peddler. This could, in fact, CHANGE based on whether or not you kill him, bribe him, take him prisoner, etc. No matter what you do to him, you MAY have just made an enemy of his boss, or you may have just created a power vaccuum that the remaining characters (known and unknown) will move to fill. The overall world of espionage in Alpha Protocol is highly nonlinear, though particular "leads" can be chased down to satisfactory resolutions of their own as long as they hold a player's interest and have room to grow. A minor character that "owes you one" could turn out to be a huge asset down the line, and the player's control over the world in which this contact moves will be unprecedented if the developers have anything to say about it.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the choices that are available to players are the general extraction of morality. Gone are the choices between "I am a selfish bastard" and "I am a goody-two-shoes." Gone are the decisions between "I'm saving the world" versus "Hey, I could get killed." Alpha Protocol operates far more firmly in the world of standard espionage tactics and allows you to choose any given stratagem for any given opponent and situation — with the results falling where they may. Knowing next to nothing about the plot, I highly doubt that players will REALIZE if they happen to be playing an "altruistic" plotline, save that killing everyone and everything is typically an options, and that's rarely good for ... you know ... THEM.

Speaking of killing, you as a player will have three generic skillsets at your disposal. They are stealth based, action based and tech based. You can strike like the action hero, the ninja or James Bond on your way to your end-game, and your skills will develop appropriately based on what tactics you choose. The way you behave determines what skills you'll be purchasing (where "skills" are loosely defined as "the badass things you'd see a spy do in a spy movie") and what upgrades to those skills will be available as you gain power. I was sad to hear that there wasn't SPECIFICALLY a seduction set of skills, but I'm assured that you can still score with the ladies, as that's inevitably something that spies do. Drat, I was already plotting my tech-spy who relied on his purple hat and stylish cane to attract women ... who were undoubtedly valuable, ummm, intelligence assets. Yes, that's it.

Regardless, Alpha Protocol looks to attract players who hate being railroaded. The flexibility in plotline is uniquely pronounced, and the variety of gameplay that this provides could create a great deal of replayability for who enjoy the "dominoes" effect that their actions have on a highly variable universe. Look for Alpha Protocol in early 2009 on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and PC.