Nathan Davis ('Alpha Protocol')

The world of espionage is rather an overdone subject in entertainment. This murky field of subterfuge, dark glamour and, of course, murder is just perfect fodder for producers of video games and blockbuster movies. However, an RPG experience has yet to feature in the modern day spy game, but Obsidian Entertainment wants to change that with Alpha Protocol. Mixing third-person action with RPG mechanics, the game will allow players to solicit information, subvert dark forces and earn cash from all things espionage. Shaken or stirred, it's your choice. So Digital Spy broke cover with Obsidian's Nathan Davis to reveal the conspiracy behind Alpha Protocol.

In the game, players take on the role of rogue agent Michael Thornton who has left the Alpha Protocol agency for some reason which will no doubt be explained in the main narrative. During the around 25 hours of gameplay, players will meet a host of curious and dangerous characters while navigating the murky world of modern-day espionage. In the conception stages of development, Davis says that the team took inspiration from the three JBs - James Bond, Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne. However, he also points out that Thornton is his "own dude" with his own personality, which is further developed by the individual approach of each player.

Essentially, the headline feature of Alpha Protocol is in its reactive world. While neither the action nor the graphics will necessarily blow people away, the thing that is really exciting about this game is the fact that here is a world where the ripples of each decision taken by the player really have resonance beyond the immediate surroundings. In this, the way a player approaches a non-playable character (NPC) will affect not only what they receive from that interaction, but also influence future NPC interactions and events in the missions.

As outlined in our preview, the game features a central conversation mechanic in which three main styles can be taken - suave, professional and aggressive - which are linked to Bond, Bourne and Bauer respectively. Davis says that the team made sure not to "outright disadvantage" any one approach, but rather give players the chance to play their own game. Almost all NPCs in the game can be allied with or killed, meaning that "most players will have a very different experience dependent on the choices they make". Indeed, Sega hopes that the forums will buzz with gamers sharing their individual experiences in approaching the missions.

Davis adds: "I been working on this game a long time and you would have thought that I would have found everything in there but I am still finding things that surprise me."

A major aspect in choosing the world of espionage was that this would enable more 'shades of grey' in terms of moral choices. As Obsidian is keen to move games away from simple good guy/bad guy decision making, the "morally ambiguous" world of spying fit perfectly with this aim; after all, the average spy has more skeletons in their closet than most.

"One thing to bear in mind is that virtually every choice you make in the game will have a certain level of consequence to it," says Davis. "There is not a good and bad choice as everything is more or less equivalent, but they each bring very different consequences. We also want to enable players to play the personality that they want to play."

The game features various colourful characters - not least the gun-toting blonde bombshell Sie - and Obsidian was careful not to revert to the usual spy clichés of men in suits. While the team also tried to inject a sense of humour, it made sure to do this without trivialising the fractious world the game is based on.

"We are talking about serious things - terrorist groups, assassinations, blowing up bombs in public places - all these things are happening and somebody thinks they are doing the right thing. It's a morally ambiguous world," explains Davis. "The story itself and what is going on, we take that very seriously, and there are also some characters who take themselves very seriously. But within that, there is room for a quick wit and some fun. We never want to be outright silly with anything. We have some outlandishness but there is some real psychology behind that."

Despite a series of third-person action sequences with the usual mix of guns and guts, at its "core" Alpha Protocol is an RPG. Obsidian certainly has the pedigree for creating such games after doing just that with the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights franchises. For Alpha Protocol, the team has not only introduced a comprehensive levelling-up mechanic for Thornton's abilities, but also ensured that collecting information from conversations and dossiers is an important part of gameplay. In this, no dialogue or recorded information is simply there as filler, meaning that everything is linked to the story and everything has genuine weight.

"Obviously Alpha Protocol is real-time game with combat mechanics but it's primarily an RPG," explains Davis. "I think there is a precedent for RPGs with action elements, you could go back much further than just Mass Effect or Fallout to something like Baldur's Gate; pretty much any RPG has action elements unless it's just straight turn-based game. Everything we do from our story to our gameplay mechanics are very much intertwined with an RPG mechanic."

When selecting the colour palette for the game's four main locations - Taipei, Rome, Moscow and Saudi Arabia - Davis explains that the team took inspiration from films such as Syriana and Traffic for the monochromatic look of Moscow, compared to the vibrant colours of Taipei and the sandy yellows of Saudi Arabia. The title will not feature any vehicle sequences, rather it will the focus on infiltration-based missions. This approach meant that the team considered a free-roaming structure, but in the end decided that the desired level of reactivity would prove unachievable in this model.

Davis remarks: "One of the Sega producers in the US likes to say that it is open-story versus open-world. What you will see in the game that you won't see in many open-world games is the level of reactivity. Because we know exactly what you have said and all this other stuff, we are able to react to those things and we are able to create unique storylines. Open world gives you a lot of options but it also gives you a lot of imitations in terms of what you can do in the game."

Not only will this reactivity hopefully provide some compelling experiences on the first playthrough, but it will also generate multiple options for subsequent playthoughs. Even though statistics gained from one campaign cannot be carried over to further games, beating the main campaign once opens up the recruit difficulty level. This involves players starting off with zero stats on the RPG mechanic, which provides a significant challenge when taking on the missions (and also unlocks the rather confused recruit dialogue responses). Beating the game on Recruit unlocks the Veteran mode, in which players start off with level five on every RPG stat and also get to use the veteran dialogue.

"With such a focus on story and characters, Davis says that the team "never considered" introducing a multiplayer option for the game. Instead the focus has been on creating a "complete single-player experience" without hampering the desired level of reactivity. One of the biggest challenges, though, was in producing the reams of dialogue and supporting character animation. After the rather hefty script was agreed, the voice actors had to perform conversations in multiple different ways - ranging from friendly to super aggressive. It was then up to the cinematics team to create the myriad animations to match this.

"They have been working pretty much around the clock on this. I don't know how they do it, they are there all the time, working every weekend," says Davis. "We didn't want just generic facial models, we wanted lots of expressions and they just went overboard with every scene and get everything perfect. They have done incredible work and are really committed to making this a special game with as much quality as we can get."

Alpha Protocol will be released in Europe on PS3, PC and Xbox 360 in October.