- 5 years after it was yanked off stores, GOG's bringing underrated spy RPG Alpha Protocol in from the cold with fewer crashes and new achievements - 20 March 2024
Good news for those of still fighting the good fight, still holding aloft the proud banner of truth and justice, still committed to struggle for what's right instead of what's simply popular. Five years after it was unceremoniously yanked from sale, Alpha Protocol is back via GOG ... Read more.
- Visiting post-acquisition Obsidian to see how much has changed - 14 November 2019
I visited Obsidian Entertainment a couple of weeks ago for the reveal of the studio's first game for new owner Microsoft. If you remember, The Outer Worlds was published by Private Division, Take-Two's label for partnering with independent studios (Obsidian was independent when the deal was made). This was, then, a significant moment. The game itself was a bit of an anti-climax - Grounded, a small-team survival game with a Honey I Shrunk the Kids hook - but I still got an opportunity to nose around the studio and see what changed post-acquisition and since I visited in August 2017 . The answer, in a nutshell, is "not a lot", which is encouraging. Obsidian still resides in the same office block in the eerily perfect city of Irvine, California, and still occupies the same amount of office space. It's still a bit tatty, which I like, and the only real sign there's now Microsoft money behin…
- Alpha Protocol exfiltrates from Steam as publishing rights expire - 19 June 2019
Obsidian’s quirky espionage RPG Alpha Protocol is the latest to be de-listed from Steam. The game’s store page confirms that it was removed from sale at the request of the publisher, Sega, whose rights for the game has expired. While no longer for sale, players who bought it during its nine and a half years of availability can still download and play it, and keys from other sellers should still work. While much maligned at launch and best played with a gamepad back when such things were unfashionable, it was a sneaky RPG well worth experiencing at least twice. Update: Sadly, the reason for de-listing the game is as mundane as it gets. As reported by cheery RPS fan-site PC Gamer , Sega’s music licenses for the game had expired, and while Microsoft have purchased Obsidian, Sega still hold the Alpha Protocol rights. (more…)
- Alpha Protocol has been removed from Steam (updated) - 19 June 2019
Update: When Alpha Protocol was removed from Steam, Sega said the publishing rights for the spy RPG had expired, kicking off some speculation about Obsidian, now a Microsoft studio, getting the rights back. It turns out Sega still owns Alpha Protocol, however, and the statement was not accurate.  "Due to the expiry of music rights in Alpha Protocol, the title has been removed from Steam and is no longer on sale," a Sega spokesperson said in a new statement. An expired music license doesn't mean Alpha Protocol is gone for good, however. Alan Wake , for instance, reappeared on Steam and GOG after a year of absence when Microsoft renegotiated the music rights. It's not clear if Sega intends to do the same.  Original story: Alpha Protocol, one of the best spy games on PC , has been removed from Steam . The page is still live, but it's no longer available for purchas…
- The best spy games on PC - 12 April 2018
Spies come in many forms, so the best spy games on PC could be tense games about intrigue and infiltration, or high octane adventures starring a special agent. It would be good to see more games focusing on spycraft, espionage, and subterfuge, but we can make do with putting on some cool glowing goggles to infiltrate a base. Here are some of our favourite games starring awesome spies. Alpha Protocol A gloriously janky RPG from Obsidian that casts you as crack spy Michael Thorton. This was a brave attempt to combine Mass Effect style conversation and branching plot systems with a cover-based shooter. The combat side of things is a mess, so it’s worth looking up the different weapon classes so you know which disciplines to avoid (I found pistols worked well enough). It’s worth playing through the dodgy action to roleplay your favourite flavour of spy—pick your JB: Jas…
- Will Take-Two push loot boxes or microtransactions into Obsidian's new RPG? - 16 December 2017
Earlier this week, Take-Two's brand new label Private Division was named publisher of Obsidian's big and secret, in-development role-playing game . Take-Two, the parent company of 2K and Rockstar, is a big name, and what big names have been doing recently - Activision Blizzard, EA and Warner - is pushing loot boxes in their games . The question naturally followed: will Private Division push Obsidian to do the same? It prompted an official response from the studio as well as a very short video featuring the leaders of the new Obsidian game project, Leonard Boyarsky and Tim Cain. Read more…
- Revisiting Alpha Protocol, Obsidian's flawed but fascinating spy RPG - 9 February 2017
Alpha Protocol is peak Obsidian—or, at least, peak Obsidian before Pillars of Eternity set a new, more stable direction for the studio. It’s a wonderful mess, full of great ideas, but hampered by the sort of behind-the-scenes development troubles that plagued the studio for so much of its life. It was delayed multiple times, spent the early part of its production cycle with no project director or lead designer, faced numerous production issues, and, due to differences in opinion between Sega and Obsidian, had time consuming, pricey scenes cut.  All of this shows in the final product, and yet it’s still full of things that make it memorable. This was an ambitious undertaking, and the ideas shine through even as the execution is so obviously lacking.  The first, best idea is the setting. Alpha Protocol is an RPG about espionage, in which you play a Bourne-st…
- The Knights of New Vegas: How Obsidian Survived Countless Catastrophes And Made Some Of The Coolest Role-Playing Games Ever - 17 December 2012
Feargus Urquhart was freaking out. He and his team at Obsidian Entertainment were about to take one of the biggest steps in the company's history—launching a Kickstarter for a brand new video game—but something was wrong. The button to start up their crowdfunding page had turned grey. Nobody could click it. And the Kickstarter was supposed to launch in just thirty minutes. Luckily for Urquhart, he had contact information for Cindy Au, Kickstarter's community director, who he had chatted up extensively to prepare for their game-changing project. Au said it was a hiccup in the system, and sure enough, after just a few minutes it was fixed. The button re-appeared. They clicked it. Waited a few seconds. Then hit refresh. They'd already made $2,000. Fans have always oscillated between loving and hating Obsidian. They were warming to the game company again. 'DragonPlay Sounded Lam…
- Obsidian Will Help Develop Wasteland 2 If It Raises Enough Money - 30 March 2012
If Brian Fargo's Kickstarter-funded project reaches $2.1 million, it will be co-developed by Chris Avellone and the team behind games like Fallout: New Vegas and Alpha Protocol .
- Steam's Sega Sale Delivers $2 Alpha Protocol, Super Cheap Dreamcast & Genesis Games - 23 September 2011
For fans of all things SEGA, Steam's running killer deals on Alpha Protocol ($2), Aliens vs. Predator ($4.99) and the Total War series. Dreamcast and Sega Genesis bundles are just $7.49 each.
- Cheap This Week - 04/05/11 - 4 May 2011
Have you got the back-to-work blues? This might cheer you up: cheap games, and lots of them! The selection includes a revisited classic from yesteryear, a couple of flawed gems that might have passed you by and one of the hottest pre-order deals I've seen in a long time. If none of that tickles your fancy, there's more over at SavyGamer.co.uk . Here are this week's deals: Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror: Remastered , PC/Mac £1.98 After getting an iOS release late last year , the enhanced version of this classic point and clicker is now making its way to your desktop. This versions boasts improvements such as, "A new interactive digital comic from Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons, fully animated facial expressions, improved background and animation graphics, improved cut-scenes, high quality music, and a context-sensitive hint system and diary." There's also Dropbox integration for…
- Licence Revoked: No Alpha Protocol 2 - 7 July 2010
So – no Alpha Protocol 2 then. This perhaps unsurprising news emerges from a C&VG interview with Sega West’s President Mike Hayes, with the relative meaty bits torn free by VG247, the finest jackals of the videogame press savannah . Key quote: ““Let’s speak very commercially; the game hasn’t sold what we’ve expected, therefore we won’t be doing a sequel”. Well, that’d explain it. The interesting thing for me though is how important he positions metacritic, stating explicitly that an RPG needs an average score in the high eighties to be a hit. While that’s arguably not true , it puts the blame entirely on the game simply not being good enough. Good, yes… but not good enough. I actually bought it myself, but only have got a couple of hours in, bouncing off the surface and having trouble finding the will to return to it. Still – it’…
- Sega: No Sequel for Obsidian's Alpha Protocol - 6 July 2010
The Obsidian developed spy RPG Alpha Protocol will not be getting a sequel from publisher Sega. Speaking with CVG , Sega West president Mike Hayes told the outlet "Let's speak very commercially; the game hasn't sold what we've expected, therefore we won't be doing a sequel." Hayes believes the concept was "brilliant", but cited generally below-average reviews as one of the factors of the decision: "You know this whole thing with Metacritic where you have to be in the high 70s to mid-80s minimum - well, with RPGs you have got to be in the late 80s." Alpha Protocl suffered several major delays before finally being released on June 1 on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Obsidian, an independent developer, continues to work on a variety of games including Fallout: New Vegas for Bethesda and Dungeon Siege III for Square-Enix. Read More
- Average Reviews Mean No Second Helping Of Alpha Protocol - 6 July 2010
Fans hoping to experience the further adventures of Agent Michael Thornton will be sorely disappointed, as Sega West president Mike Hayes reveals that a sub-70 Metacritic average and slow sales rule out the chance for an Alpha Protocol sequel. Alpha Protocol was a solid action role-playing game, but its more glaring flaws brought it to its knees, netting it a Metacritic review average in the mid-60's on consoles (the PC version scores a little more than 70.) According to Mike Hayes, speaking to CVG, this isn't enough of a score to warrant a second look at Obsidian's spy game. After pointing out the game's low sales, Hayes explains. "The concept was brilliant, though," he added. "You know this whole thing with Metacritic where you have to be in the high 70s to mid-80s minimum - well, with RPGs you have got to be in the late 80s. Whilst we had a good game, I don't think we had a game that…
- Weighing Morality in Gaming - 30 June 2010
Philosophers and Theologians have been debating the mechanics of moral choice for millennia. Debates have ranged from the popular "nature or nurture" to total freedom of the will, to some modification that sits between these extremes. Video games have only recently begun to consider the nature of moral choice as an integral piece of a game's mechanics. Developers have started to craft experiences that will allow the player's moral and ethical choices to affect the context of their gaming experience. This enlargement of player empowerment is in some ways a logical next step from the existing paradigm of physical empowerment in game environments. There are few developers, however, that have made the transition from merely allowing the player to affect the physical world to enabling him or her to influence the people and events in that world with more than a gun, sword, or spell-book. Of t…
- Wot I Think: Alpha Protocol - 4 June 2010
If you haven’t read my experiences with the first couple of hours of Alpha Protocol , it’s worth reading those first, since I’ll be building on top of that. That done, here’s Wot I Think: (more…)
- Skip Alpha Protocol's Foreplay, Go Right To The Sex - 3 June 2010
Don't feel like playing through Sega's new espionage role-playing game, Alpha Protocol, to get to The Good Stuff? You might be better off that way , getting your Alpha Protocol satisfaction by enjoying its naughtier bits through YouTube. Not only does this interactive cut scene from Alpha Protocol give you a taste of the kind of spy sex developer Obsidian Entertainment is capable of, it's also a guide to unlocking certain achievements. This is relatively tame stuff—Alpha Protocol's players don't have to take their clothes off to have a good time—with the only potentially offensive moment coming after the restrained intimacy. It's not the sights and sounds that are salacious, it's the description of the odors . Wait for it.
- Alpha Protocol Review: Not Quite The Omega - 1 June 2010
Sega and developer Obsidian Entertainment conspire to bring you Alpha Protocol, the espionage role-playing game. Is it Mass Effect meets modern-day spy thriller? After stumbling upon a global conspiracy during a failed mission, agent Michael Thorton finds himself on the run from the very country he vowed to serve. Betrayed by his superiors, Thorton's only choice is to enact Alpha Protocol, going underground to reveal the insidious plot. Since its first public appearance, the gaming press has been comparing Alpha Protocol to BioWare's Mass Effect, citing numerous similarities, from the game's RPG progression to its branching dialog system. With those comparisons come expectations that few games could possibly live up to. Is Alpha Protocol up to the task? Loved Characters With Character: This was originally going to be a discussion on how much I enjoy a game calling me by my real name, bu…
- An Hour With… Alpha Protocol - 31 May 2010
We had hoped to bring your our Alpha Protocol WIT by now, but a series of unfortunate circumstances means that it’s much delayed. You might even have your own Thoughts to Wot below. So here is a description of the first hour or two, which isn’t a very pretty sight. I’m absolutely sure things much improve after this, especially now I have the game in a state in which I can play it at all. So yes, this is especially negative. No, this absolutely is NOT our review of Alpha Protocol, and anyone who says it is gets a dead arm. (more…)
- Alpha Protocol Trailer Astonishes and Confounds - 21 May 2010
You might expect this new Alpha Protocol trailer named "A Lover, Not a Fighter" to feature awkward in-game sex scenes and you would be correct. Less expected, however, is the pumping soundtrack of women moaning protagonist Michael Thorton's name over footage of him firing bullets into the faces of ne'er-do-wells. Coming from Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian Entertainment and publisher Sega, Alpha Protocol has gone gold and will arrive for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Europe on May 28, with the North American release following on June 1. Watch the video on Shackvideo . Read More
