Not every earth-bound occupation allows your individual choices to affect the lives of so many. Unless, of course, you're a gamer who happens to enjoy role-playing games, and by chance, have chosen to play a spy, as in Obsidian Entertainment's upcoming Alpha Protocol.

The game promises a great deal of freedom, with the ability to totally customise your character, and even choose your handler during a mission, which can affect the outcome of individual missions, and the game at large, as demonstrated in this briefing. Well, I lie - it's not really briefing, but if we're going to role-play, we can't just call it a tutorial trailer, right?

Download Alpha Protocol 'Tutorial' Video

While the roleplaying mechanics that are to feature in Alpha Protocol are bound to add an interesting twist to the typical RPG formula, (beyond the highly likely "Boots of Sneaking +3", or the maybe unlockable "Cloak of Invisibility") I can see game to be highly appealing. For the most part, all the trailers we've seen so far look solid, and given Obsidian's history and experience in the genre it looks like Alpha Protocol is shaping up to be a very good title.

No release date for the title has yet been confirmed, but it is expected that the title will release at some point this year. Alpha Protocol will be available for the PC, PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360. For more information about the game, check out our previous news coverage.