Silellak
Cipher
This was always my impression too; supported by Avellone himself, no less:hoochimama said:Not obsidian that had an idea for a real world spy game and then shopped it around?.
Destructoid: Alpha Protocol, from the looks of things, is a dyed-in-the-wool spy game, complete with gadgets, intrigue, and cheeky sexual liaisons. What drove the decision to make a spy-themed RPG, and has it been more challenging to create a roleplaying game around spies rather than aliens or knights, as is the usual case?
Avellone: The idea came from our CEO, Feargus Urquhart, and our tech director, Chris Jones. Both of them wanted to do an espionage shooter-style role-playing game, and the team took those parameters, and then carried the vision into the creation of the Alpha Protocol you're seeing trailers for now. We ended up adding some more visually compelling elements to the initial direction (Alpha Protocol takes place in the real world, but we've embellished the world and its inhabitants to give it more of a Kill Bill style as opposed to "super gritty and realistic"). We also played around with the character and his role in the adventure more, but ultimately, it's not far from the initial proposal.
It's been a great opportunity to stretch our legs in a modern day setting. From a game design standpoint, it's been pretty exciting, and it's nice to present the player with "real life" challenges and conversations that have more context in some respects than fighting dragons or orcish invasions. Don't get us wrong, we love doing fantasy and sci-fi, but sometimes the real world context can be more compelling for the purposes of role-playing.
Source: http://www.destructoid.com/interview-chris-avellone-on-alpha-protocol-142906.phtml