With yet another driving scene in Alone in the Dark, I decided to put this game aside and try my hand at Alpha Protocol, another game that I got in the used bin for less than $15 this past summer.  While Alone in the Dark does allow me to skip that driving scene and go to the next part of the game (perhaps this being a silent acknowledgement that some of the game mechanics don't work that well), it feels a bit like cheating (and of course I won't get the achievement for completely finishing the chapter - who says that external motivations don't work? ;-)

In any case, Alpha Protocol, a Sega game, bills itself as an espionage RPG.  I tend to think of it like  Splinter Cell: Double Agent with a little extra on the character leveling up scheme (I guess this is where the "RPG" comes in). I have completed the initial newbie missions and now I am about to complete the first mission (saving the Taiwanese prime minister from assassination).  I have to say, even though this game is fairly easy (a ding that X-Play had against the game) it is quite fun and engaging (especially if you are one of those people who must try and collect every piece of cash and equipment that exists lying around in the same so you can better equip your character.

The only disappointment thus far is that it felt a little like bait and switch. In this game I become a rogue agent, much like Jack Bauer in some seasons of 24, and my initial hideout is a safehouse in Greece (mind you an undisclosed location in Greece). For a moment there I got excited that some of the story would unfold in Greece...but alas, it's Rome, Moscow and Taipei....booooo :-)  Of course, When I played Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six on my Mac (aaahhh...those classic days!) Athens didn't really look like Athens, so I guess it's all the same :-)