Alpha Protocol is an excellent game, very underrated and very overlooked even when it was originally released in 2010. You play as Michael Thorton, an agent for a black-op agency tasked with finding and recovering stolen American missiles in Saudi Arabia from a terrorist organization Al Samad. And then everything takes a twist. Your main weapon in this game is choice. From the very beginning, you have 6 ways to start off your character. Each background has different dialogue choices, different specializations, different perks and drawbacks. A more technically-minded player can exploit gadgets and security systems to his advantage, but will have trouble fighting hand-to-hand. A battle-hardened soldier will plow through enemies with his fists or guns, but won't be able to get all the info and data off computers because of his lack of tech knowledge. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Alpha Protocol offers you incredible value for your money. I am on my 14th playthrough of this game and still find new conversation options, new jokes, new items and secret areas, new character dossiers and info. It is a masterfully-crafted game, made to be played multiple times. The order in which you play missions affects who your allies will be, if you can have support or not in certain missions, and who lives or dies. The voice acting is stellar. Particularly Jim Cummings as Conrad Marburg does an excellent job of portraying possibly the best character in the game. Mike Thorton is a likeable protagonist, the other characters are realistic and representative of many real-life types of people. And this game was made before the politically correct nag squad cracked down on games, so some lewd jokes and risqué scenes will take you back to 2010 when our media was not as censored. And as a bonus, you have a Sega Saturn console in two of your safe houses! That was a nice touch! This game is an incredible value for the price. You will play it over and over, it's that fun. Play it!
Excellent game in the vein of a Thief: The Dark Project title, in which your strongest weapon is to be unseen. If you play Ghost of a Tale correctly, nobody need even know you ever left your jail cell. Charming world full of lore and stories and letters to find and read, building up a fantastic world of mice and rats and ferrets and frogs, very much inspired by classics like Redwall, Rats of NIMH and Brambly Hedge. Five stars, highly recommended, one of the best titles in the past 5 years to surprise me out of the independent game market.
