Alpha Protocol Interview
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Destructoid: When we saw the game at E3, we were told that there would be no true "good" or "evil" in the game. How does this work, especially in a genre that usually requires there to be a nefarious villain pulling the strings?
Avellone: I think a game requires a challenge and an opponent, but in the world of espionage, it's more in keeping with the setting to have shifting loyalties, and people that respect you more for the work you do and how you carry out a mission rather than simply your alignment scale. For some, it's patriotism guiding them, for others, the world of espionage is a business, where you don't burn bridges when your "enemy" can help you achieve your goals. Enemy of my enemy and all that.
Over the course of the game, we've worked that into our reputation system -- depending on how you carry out missions, how much you've researched the people you interact with (dossiers and intel), and also depending on which actions you've taken (because enemies can research you as well), you gain positive and negative reputation with the people you speak to. This ranges from them hating you to liking/respecting/romancing you, and there's different benefits to the positive and negative accumulation of reputation with characters that work to your advantage. The reason for rewarding both scales is because we didn't want to penalize the player for playing a certain way, just show them different consequences, which I think is more fun in the long run. As an example, having a negative reputation with some characters may make them vulnerable in boss fights, or they may grant you different handler perks if they dislike you but are forced to team up with you in a mission. There's more, of course: in the world of Alpha Protocol, there aren't any bad/good choices, just choices -- and their consequences.
