Obsidian and Sega believe they've struck gold with the original premise behind Alpha Protocol, an RPG that dismisses fantasy worlds, or sci-fi futures in favour of a gritty, geo-political present. Jason Bourne would be proud. Alpha Protocol is looking like Mass Effect meets James Bond, and we're promised a game of subtlety and intrigue, where conversation and plot are perhaps more crucial than guns and fists.​

The biggest risk we had with our concept being set in the present day and not some far away future or mystical land was the fact that we wouldn't have any crazy technologies or magic to call upon to make it game-y.​

Great effort was taken with the writing to make sure that we didn't fall into any of the traditional pitfalls. In fact, the story had to be written several different ways to take the player's decisions into account, making it quite the endeavour.
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When the player isn't buying, selling, in a dialogue, or researching intelligence for any upcoming mission, the player will actually be in a mission. The three basic ways to beat a mission is by stealthing through it, blowing away everything that moves, or using technology to hack their way around obstacles. The player can mix it up (and often will have to) to be able to get through the level.​