Obsidian’s quirky espionage RPG Alpha Protocol is the most recent to be de-listed from Steam. The game’s retailer web page confirms that it was faraway from sale on the request of the writer, Sega, whose rights for the game has expired. While not on the market, gamers who purchased it throughout its 9 and a half years of availability can nonetheless obtain and play it, and keys from different sellers ought to nonetheless work. While a lot maligned at launch and finest performed with a gamepad again when such issues had been retro, it was a sneaky RPG nicely value experiencing a minimum of twice.
While simply hypothesis on my half, the game’s elimination from Steam appears possible associated to Microsoft buying out developer Obsidian, and probably taking the Alpha Protocol rights with them. Hopefully which means that the game could return sooner or later, or — wishful pondering, I do know — get a sequel or different revival, however a minimum of not all hope is misplaced. While undeniably buggy, poorly balanced and with solely half-functional mouse and keyboard controls that rendered a number of mini-games nigh unbeatable, it nonetheless had rather a lot going for it, as Alice Prime explains here.
Released in the identical yr as Fallout: New Vegas, Alpha Protocol was Obsidian’s huge experiment in having a smaller however extra reactive story. It was an RPG wrapped round a sub-Metal Gear stealth shooter. Opening and ending sorties apart, its handful of missions may very well be tackled in any order, and your dialogue and fight selections would essentially alter each future choices and the way of us perceived you. It was attainable to persuade nearly each enemy to only take their cash and depart by the tip, or anger a nemesis a lot that he’ll abandon his mission simply to attempt to homicide you. It’s a game that needed to be replayed to be absolutely understood, as you’re solely seeing a fraction of the probabilities every time.
While Alpha Protocol can not be purchased straight from Steam, keys can nonetheless be activated. Gamesplanet are running a while-stocks-last sale, slashing it right down to £2.50/€2.81/$3.16. This could be your final probability to choose it up legit. I’d additionally suggest the PC Gaming Wiki’s Alpha Protocol page for an unofficial patch, tech suggestions, INI tweaks and workarounds for technical points. While I’ve not tried it myself, there’s a small re-balance mod on Mod DB that claims to scale back the bullet-sponginess of bosses. Probably a good suggestion.
