Obsidian's action RPG for SEGA revealed

via VideoGamer

The April issue of US video game magazine Game Informer features the first information on Obsidian Entertainment's upcoming action RPG Alpha Protocol. The game is in development for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC and SEGA currently has the game pegged for a spring 2009 release.

According to a poster on the Obsidian forums who's already got hold of the magazine, the game is set in the modern day and features plenty of espionage-focused action in the same vein as James Bond, Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer.

Players will take control of Michael Thornton, a fully trained but rookie operative whose world is turned upside down when a mission goes badly wrong and he is forced work off the grid.

The battle system is said to borrow elements from Mass Effect, with an emphasis on real-time gun play and high-tech gadgetry. The action will play out in a third-person perspective.

The player will also have 10 skills and 10 ranks for each, including enhancements to shooting accuracy and improvements in the way the character can judge situations. The Mass Effect similarities keep coming, with a deep dialog system promised that relies on the player dictating their character's tone in a conversation, such as cool, suave, brash and impatient.

It's a large game too, with missions taking place in countries across the globe. The magazine also promises plenty of subplots involving women - think James Bond.

Alpha Protocol is still around a year from release, but it's already sounding like one to look out for in 2009.