Another interesting item about the timed dialogue options, and in fact, the entire dialogue options throughout the game is that they vary more than usual from our standard RPG fair. Most of us are by now used to the dialogue trees common to most RPG games where if you don’t get the option you want in a conversation with a character, you can go back and cycle through the options differently to get the one your want. Or, you can try and trigger different responses or options by continuing to go back and rehash old conversations. In Alpha Protocol, this isn’t an option. You make a decision for Mike to say something, and that’s it, it’s said and you’re on to the next topic. This also means, much as we’ve seen with Heavy Rain or Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, that it’s not about a specific dialogue option, instead Alpha Protocol has what they call the Dynamic Stance System (DSS) which means you’re not choosing a specific for Mike to say, but instead a ’stance’ for him to take: Aggressive, Professional, Suave; though they may not be labeled as such in the game.
