History VideoGame / AlphaProtocol

* AnyoneCanDie: Though very very few deaths are plot-mandatory, play your cards right (or wrong, depending on your point of view), and the only people from the character page left alive at the end will be [[spoiler:Mike, Steven, and SIE or Albatross/Sis.]]

* BilingualBonus: The yacht in one of Moscow's missions is named "Pobeda" (victory in Russian) with first two letters dropped out, leaving "Beda" (trouble or disaster in Russian). This is reference to the ship from cult Russian cartoon "Captain Vrungel's adventures".

** [[spoiler:Admittedly Chiang Kai-Shek was also not the founder of the Republic of China, but rather their ,longest serving president. This would make more sense if the scene took place at the Sun Yat-Sen memorial]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are several hints before TheReveal of how [[spoiler:Chinese Secret Police officer Omen Deng is actually a Taiwanese double agent and good guy. Firstly, his dossier (even at 33%, the initial level) reveals that his nationality is Taiwanese; the second and third hints come in the form of the 2nd and 3rd (especially the 3rd) dossier pieces of him. The last hint is when you are fighting him in the memorial hall near a statue of the Republic of China's founder; he comments "Here, before the eyes of our nation's founder, you will die"; an astute player might realize that if Omen was really a Chinese agent, then this is something he should not be saying near the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial.]]

Though for the Taipei case, ''no matter what'' your choice China and Taiwan will move closer to war. It'll just vary in cause. As to Rome, there is a subtle hint that the results of [[spoiler: defusing the bombs]] isn't ''quite'' in line with Halbech's goals: [[spoiler: they were aiming to institute tougher anti-terrorism laws ''in the EU''. The ending for Madison dying talks about Senator Darcy using Madison's death to push for tougher anti-terrorism laws ''in the USA'']].\\

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are several hints before TheReveal of how [[spoiler:Chinese Secret Police officer Omen Deng is actually a Taiwanese double agent and good guy. Firstly, his dossier (even at 33%, the initial level) reveals that his nationality is Taiwanese; the second and third hints come in the form of the 2nd and 3rd (especially the 3rd) dossier pieces of him. The last hint is when you are fighting him in the memorial hall near a statue of Taipei's founder; he comments "Here, before the eyes of our nation's founder, you will die"; an astute player might realize that if Omen was really a Chinese agent, then this is something he should not be saying in Taipei.]]

** The game never explains the mysteries behind the NSA agent in Rome; he is clueless to the passphrase and rather gullible if you attempt to play your cards right (implying he is an UnwittingPawn), but later conversations with Marburg and Leland if you kill the agent ("You added an NSA agent to your bodycount in Rome") confirm that he was one (perhaps unwilling, or perhaps the passphrase simply hadn't reached the agent at that time).

** While Hong Shi hasn't got enough screentime to really call it a catch phrase, he does like saying "a man in my/his position".

* CosmeticAward: Beyond just the X-Box Achievements, your personal room will have trophies in it from Mike's adventures, based off of his choices in the past and who likes or dislikes him. For example, one of your earliest objectives, an arms dealer, gets you his beret if you arrested him rather than letting him go. Mike usually has something snarky to say about his collection pieces when you examine them.

* CycleOfRevenge: {{Invoked}} by Albatross after the mission at the US embassy as the reason why he's glad you ddn't kill anyone.

* DamageSpongeBoss: Played completely straight with the bosses in the game (which, as described in the above trope, is a bit of a [[GameplayStorySegregation weird thing for the story]]) by making them capable of surviving 20s of SMG shots, 5s of consecutive headshots with a pistol, you name it. A potential threat to the suspension of disbelief a realistic game like this depends on, it doesn't match well with the style of this game to have to fight enemies that just run up to you, ignoring the 2 assault rifle clips to the face you just gave them, and just beat the everliving crap out of you.

** Most of your abilities are justifiably within the range of human limits, such as concentrating really hard so you can snap off a bunch of precision shots in an instant, but the Stealth skillset full-on lets you become ''invisible'' for short periods of time. You can abuse this to punch a a small group of people in the throat right in front of one another to take them all down.

** There is no ending in the game in which [[spoiler:Michael is arrested or killed]]; therefore, he becomes one if you play as a SociopathicHero (killing civilian authorities and recklessly executing the wrong or amibguously-wrong people).

** "No Compromise, No Mercy": [[spoiler:Mike exposes both Halbech and Alpha Protocol leading to the disolution of both organizations.]]

However, the after-effects for [[spoiler: saving Madison instead of defusing the bombs, and stopping the riots instead of saving Sung]] seem to partly, if not fully, reverse the impacts: [[spoiler: if Madison is saved, she'll [[DueToTheDead hold a candlelight vigil to honor those killed in the bomb attacks]], [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight and would campaign against the anti-terror laws imposed in the wake of the bombings by claiming they infringe on personal freedoms without actually providing safety]]. The aftermatch of stopping the riots is more of a BittersweetEnding, or even an outright DownerEnding, as Taiwan defuses the tensions with China by [[KnowWhenToFoldThem denouncing Sung's ultra-nationalist movement, and planning to just surrender its sovereignty to China instead of triggering a war]].]]

* OptionalSexualEncounter: There are four romance-able characters in this game. You get a perk for sleeping with each one and a different perk for having slept with all four. Alternately, you can get other perks for refusing to sleep with some of them individually and for sleeping with nobody. Your choice.

%%* TimeForPlanB: KillItWithFire.

* NotSoDifferent: Marburg is a bitter, betrayed Thorton 30 years later. Thorton points this out to Marburg's annoyance - or pleasure, if Thorton has gained his approval.

* BadBoss: [[CrazyAwesome Heck]] may be one for [[TheWoobie poor]] [[ButtMonkey Wen]].

* FamousLastWords:
** [[spoiler: Leland's "What?", after he learns that Mike has planted a mine on him, if you betray him at the climax of the Halbech ending.]]
--->[[spoiler: '''Leland:''' ''What?!'']]
--->[[spoiler: ''(BOOM!)'']]
--->[[spoiler: '''Thorton:''' ''Terrible'' last words.]]
** [[spoiler: "I will ''end'' you, Thorton."]]
** [[spoiler: "Go to Hell." "Not the best I've heard, but..."]]

** If you level up his martial arts skills, you also have the option to take out your pistol (or [=SMGs=], or Assault Rifle, or Shotgun...) [[NoRangeLikePointBlankRange and shoot your opponent point blank,]] right after you've punched them in the face. Or, even better, you can shoot opponents while they are down. Both are great ways to tell a person to fuck himself. [[KickTheSonOfABitch And you're thinking about Marburg now, right?]] It's an excellent boss-fighting technique too. Marburg, for example, is stunned by the point-blank shot longer than it takes to execute. Meaning you can kill the son of a bitch without even giving him a chance to breathe.

-->'''Albatross' e-mail''': Killing someone, be it an ennemy or not, increase the risks of the authorities investigating us and a loved one's vengeance.

The game received mixed reviews. While its innovative story and dialogue systems were praised, some found fault with its gameplay, graphics, and/or lack of polish. Sales were soft enough that Creator/{{Sega}} has no plans to release a sequel. [[Creator/ObsidianEntertainment Obsidian]] [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110277-Obsidian-Would-Like-to-Make-Another-Alpha-Protocol-Game have tentative interest in making a sequel]] or SpiritualSuccessor back in 2011, but nothing has come of it yet.

The game received mixed reviews. While its innovative story and dialogue systems were praised, some found fault with its gameplay, graphics, and/or lack of polish. Sales were soft enough that Creator/{{Sega}} has no plans to release a sequel. [[HopeSpot However]], [[Creator/ObsidianEntertainment Obsidian]] [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110277-Obsidian-Would-Like-to-Make-Another-Alpha-Protocol-Game have expressed tentative interest in making a sequel]] or SpiritualSuccessor, so who knows? Although this would mean that they need to get approval from Sega officials.

* AmericaSavesTheDay: The plot follows Michael Thorton, an American agent, as he stumbles across a global conspiracy to kickstart a ColdWar for reasons unknown and resolves to put a stop to it. [[spoiler: This is subverted and eventually {{Deconstructed}} when it turns out that the conspiracy is American-made, and Alpha Protocol is willingly part of it. In fact, Alpha Protocol has never been working for global interests, merely ''American'' ones, and Alpha Protocol has been bought out by Halbech to essentially operate as a PMC rather than the espionage organization they're supposed to be.]]

* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Marburg sits with Mike at an outdoor cafe in Rome to give him one last chance to stay out of his way. Nothing is actually eaten, though.

* TheWarOnTerror: The reason why Thorton was sent to the Middle East in the first place.

* ArabOilSheikh: Ali Shaheed.

* MasterOfNone: Inexperienced players want to avoid this, especially if not playing with the bonus AP from the Veteran background. A generalist build is doable but [[SelfImposedChallenge very difficult]] if you don't know what you're doing. On the flipside, completely neglecting the other aspect will end poorly; stealth/technical builds need some investment in combat skills for the unskippable bosses and combat builds need some investment in technical to pass some puzzles.

* WhatTheHellHero / WhatTheHellPlayer: Kill people or do overt actions, and you ''will'' get yelled at by various people for it, most commonly Mina if you're killing civilians or American agents, Albatross if you're being way too loud and obvious, or Madison if you're being a jerk to her. On the other hand, SIE or Steven will gleefully praise you for going on murder sprees.

* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Where the Hell Is Alpha Protocol]]: Deliberately invoked. No key personnel working for Alpha Protocol know where the "Graybox" base is, no matter how trusted they are. If you want to go the base or leave it, you get sedated for two full days while your body is transported. It's inefficient, but it makes the organization practically mole-proof. Presumably the ones doing the transporting aren't being told the truth about who they're picking up or dropping off, and presumably the very top guys at Alpha Protocol know where the base is, but that's about it. [[spoiler:Leland, meanwhile, knows exactly where it is because Halbech built the whole compound. Obviously, the contractors responsible for its construction would know where it was, even if they wouldn't know what it was for.]]

* AltumVidetur: Latin shows up a couple of times. First off, Alpha Protocol has a PretentiousLatinMotto, ''Quo Nemo Sequi Potest'' which is loosely translated as ''Where No One Can Follow.'' Next up, [[TheMenInBlack Deus Vult]] is Latin for ''God Wills It.''

* FiveBadBand: The Halbech[[spoiler:-Alpha Protocol unification]].
** BigBad: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Henry Leland]]
** TheDragon: [[EvilCounterpart Conrad Marburg]]
** TheEvilGenius: [[spoiler: [[AwesomenessByAnalysis Alan Parker]]]]
** TheBrute: [[spoiler:[[CowardlyBoss Sean Darcy]]]] and [[spoiler:[[TheSpymaster Yancy Westridge]]]]
** TheDarkChick: [[spoiler: [[FriendlySniper Scarlet Lake]]]]

** EVERYONE in the active part of VCI. One of their requirements for joining is "dishonorable discharge from army."
*** Special mention goes to SIE, who could best be described as a German, female, middle-aged VideoGame/DukeNukem.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Halbech are bad guys. Alpha Protocol [[spoiler: are also bad guys]]. None of your allies are saints either, and the only one who isn't using you and doesn't betray you if you play him right is [[spoiler: a BloodKnight HeroicComedicSociopath who's just in it to blow stuff up]]. That said, some characters are less evil than others, the closest being Albatross and G22.
** And don't forget [[spoiler: Madison St. James, who was just trying to do the right thing.]]
* {{Blackmail}}: When you get data on Halbech's misdeeds, the most profitable use of it is to politely ask a Halbech executive to pay up in exchange for not blowing the evidence wide open. Roughly $15,000, 3 times the cost of sending it to the black market.

*** All of the arcade machines are a BrandX of some real life game. There's one for Pac-Man, Mario Bros., Frogger, Asteroids, ect.

*** Most sub-variants of the four above depend on who is Mike's handler for the final mission and who rides off into the sunset with him. It could be [[spoiler: Mina, who will show up by default if you romanced her, or Scarlet if you romanced her but not Mina (and also depending, of course, on whether they lived or died). Steven Heck will pop up if he's been selected as your handler and the criteria for the other two haven't been met; he can save you from being sniped as well. Failing all that, Mike will ride the boat home alone, talking to himself.]]

*** Many of the "Veteran" stances indicate that this version of Thorton simply does not have time to deal with rookie crap; he demands a fast-forwarding of the orientation process and his very first line in the game upon waking up is "Where's my gear?" rather than a confused "I can't believe they drugged me!"

** After Marburg's SadisticChoice in Rome, pretty much every character in the game treats [[spoiler:letting Madison die to defuse the bombs]] as the more moral choice, but the epilogue reveals that it actually did more to further Halbech's goal of passing tougher anti-terrorism laws. Similarly, [[spoiler:saving Sung from assassination]] leads to China and Taiwan moving closer to war.
** Though for the Taipei case, ''no matter what'' your choice China and Taiwan will move closer to war. It'll just vary in cause. As to Rome, there is a subtle hint that the results of [[spoiler: defusing the bombs]] isn't ''quite'' in line with Halbech's goals: [[spoiler: they were aiming to institute tougher anti-terrorism laws ''in the EU''. The ending for Madison dying talks about Senator Darcy using Madison's death to push for tougher anti-terrorism laws ''in the USA'']].
*** However, the after-effects for [[spoiler: saving Madison instead of defusing the bombs, and stopping the riots instead of saving Sung]] seem to partly, if not fully, reverse the impacts: [[spoiler: if Madison is saved, she'll [[DueToTheDead hold a candlelight vigil to honor those killed in the bomb attacks]], [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight and would campaign against the anti-terror laws imposed in the wake of the bombings by claiming they infringe on personal freedoms without actually providing safety]]. The aftermatch of stopping the riots is more of a BittersweetEnding, or even an outright DownerEnding, as Taiwan defuses the tensions with China by [[KnowWhenToFoldThem denouncing Sung's ultra-nationalist movement, and planning to just surrender its sovereignty to China instead of triggering a war]].]]