At an appointment to see Obsidian's espionage-themed RPG Alpha Protocol at GDC, the producers kept coming back to the three B's: Bond, Bourne, and Bauer. Each super spy practices his own particular form of espionage, and the producers stressed that in Alpha Protocol, you can cater your experience to become just like any one of them.

To demonstrate, they showed me a scene from the game played out in two very different ways based the choices you've made -- and the choices you make as the scene unfolds:

The Bond Way

You find the door to your apartment ajar; suspicious, you enter with your gun drawn. As you peek into the bedroom, you find a female acquaintance asleep on the bed. You lower your gun and pause for a moment, admiring the graceful arc of her legs extending from the hem of her short skirt. She stirs, and you sit on the bed next to her. She says she tried to wait up for you but sleep surprised her.

You can tell the burden of the mission is weighing on her. She's in over her head. You move to comfort her. You love the vulnerable ones.

You pull her head to yours, your lips touch. The screen fades to black.

The Bauer Way

You find the door to your apartment ajar; suspicious, you enter with your gun drawn. As you peek into the bedroom, a flash of blonde hair catches your eye just as small sculpture catches you in the temple. You crumple to the ground, and through the spots in your vision you recognize a female acquaintance, readying another blow. You manage to block this one with your forearm. The pain shocks you to your senses, but before you can manage a "What the hell?" she starts berating you for your actions. She calls you a liar, tells you she doesn't trust you anymore. Everything she says is true.

You watch her walk out the door. From your skewed perspective on the cool tile of the floor, it looks like she's walking on the wall. Your head and arm hurt like hell, but you feel no regret. You know what you did and why you did it. You did it for the mission. At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

The Bourne Way

I didn't get to see this method during the demo, but it's easy enough to construct based on the conversation options available:

You find the door to your apartment ajar; suspicious, you enter with your gun drawn. As you peek into the bedroom, you find a female acquaintance asleep on the bed. You lower your gun and wake her. The mission calls; sleep will have to wait. You tell her the information you just discovered and inform her of the next destination.

If you had studied her face as she readied her bag, you would have noticed a flash of disappointment break through her steely resolve. Instead you stare at something else, or maybe at nothing at all.

As you walk out the door, you place your hand on the small of her back. It's an action without meaning. Your mind is clear. Your life is the mission. Everything you do, you do in the service of that.