14 DAY TRIAL // First off, I am saddened to report that the clothing options in Alpha Protocol do not include a high tech two-piece suit with matching reinforced kevlar shirt, the only way a true James Bond wannabe would head into battle. I hope that the developers at Obsidian or some intrepid PC modders think about this omission and add a suit to the game as soon as possible allowing me to blow up stuff in true Goldfinger style.
Saudi Arabia is where missiles were fired at a civilian airliner and where leads related to the weapons are to be found. It's also a place where heat is omnipresent, making it rather rational for the jump move to be restricted to certain areas, and where the computer room at the safe house requires quite a bit of backup to keep the link back to base active. It's also a place where bullets matter more than words, with all the missions built around getting info and taking out as many bad guys as possible.
My Bond-like play means that I tend to choose the suave answer most of the time, which results in a nice email exchange with Mina, one of my handlers, and in a patch up of relations with another agent. Bond needs a few more toys to make short work of the challenges Alpha Protocol throws his way so I extorted a weapon smuggler in order to upgrade my assault rifle and get some more health kits to use.
The big surprise in the Saudi chapter came at the end where my character faced off against two bosses in some fairly cringe worthy sequences. The first is a lieutenant who likes to stay up on a bridge and needs just three sustained bursts of fire from the assault rifle to fall, while the second involves a Stryker military vehicle (I wonder how a terrorist listed sheik managed to get their hands on one) and three missile launchers.
The final battle is over so quickly that you have to wonder why Obisidian bothered modeling the military hardware and the area itself. It would have been more satisfying to plow through a larger area filled with foot patrols under the threat of the ultimate target fleeing if the alarm is raised. And something along those lines would have certainly led to more of a spy feeling. At least the dialogue that ends the chapter makes that letdown of a fight worth it.