Awesome / Alpha Protocol

• Getting through the CIA bugging level without touching a single agent, setting off a single alarm or letting them see you. Badass ghost superspying never felt so good.
• Using Maximum Chain Shot on mooks, and watching six guys just fall down as if they hit a wall. Using it on a single Boss is just pressing the "I Win" button.
• A lot, but what about Falcon Punching and slamming the head of the Big Bad after having to listen to him to him debrief you for hours?
  • That part? Easily as satisfying as watching Anderson punch out Udina. That is how much of a jerkass Leland is.
  • The entire Leland debriefing, in fact, can become one if you side with Albatross in Moscow, as it becomes increasingly apparent that Leland has no idea G-22 exists, and Thorton dodges trick questions to make sure things stay that way - until they show up in person to stop your execution.
  • Especially if you make it seem as if your other allies, i.e. Heck, Hong Shi, SIE, etc. are the ones Thorton thinks will come save him; Leland responds to them with mockery, but he has no idea G-22 are the ones who are about to hit them. Thorton can also spare Shaheed, and thus throw Alan Parker's careful planning for a loop by keeping that wild card on the table.
• Sparing Shaheed then killing him near the end.
• The entire battle against Brayko. He's almost That One Boss, except that the music playing while fighting him is so freaking awesome.
• If Thorton has a low approval with Madison, she'll beat him over the head with a statue and then blast him with a shock trap. Watch it here.
• In the finale, when Leland protests that the government won't allow his involvement with Alpha Protocol to be unveiled, Mike's response is so crushing that it stuns him into silence.
  Mike: Alpha Protocol? What's that? They'll just deny it exists and shut it down.
  • Another slap in the face to Leland: if you have a Friendship with Marburg, and you use "Dossier" with him near the end once you have enough evidence that Leland has no loyalty to Marburg, at the ending sequence, Marburg will appear to Leland's initial delight, til Marburg walks away from him with a disgusted "Hmmph." Mike has a lethal smirk stating that it looks like Marburg has finally had enough of him.
• Completing the game on a Pacifist Run, without using lethal force. Think about it. Mike Thorton, alone, with limited support, is betrayed, cut off, and forced to fight police, mercenaries, terrorists, Deus Vult agents, G22 operatives, Triads and Russian gangsters, the Chinese Secret Police, CIA agents, and Alpha Protocol soldiers all armed to the teeth and willing to kill him. He stops terrorists, brings down arms dealers, puts a halt to assassinations and riots, gets captured and escapes again, and generally wages a one-man war that ends with (potentially) the collapse of Halbech, the destruction or exposure of Alpha Protocol, or Mike Thorton taking over the world. And he did all of this without killing anyone. ^note Well, Marburg Inc. requires killing Leland, but he had it coming.
  • Taken extra further when you are sent on the mission to take out the Triad defectors and you use nonlethal force on them. Despite only knocking all of the Triads out, you're still treated as having succeeded in the mission, apparently because you made the Triads return to Hong's fold by terrifying them with the fact that you could have used lethal force on them but apparently just knocked them all out to prove a point.
• Mike's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Marburg in Rome. Pull it off correctly, and Marbug's reaction is classic.
  Marburg: I will end you, Thorton.
  • Simply getting Marburg to fight you is a CMOA in itself without any kind of online help. Whenever you do it, it rocks. ^secret  The secret is in getting him to hate you with the fury of a thousand exploding suns. He is a man who appreciates professionalism and dislikes arrogance, but dislikes what he sees as incompetence even more. The biggest mistakes can come before even meeting him, by going to the NSA listening post first (like you're "supposed" to after arriving in Rome), completing a Stealth Run in the CIA (showing tremendous competence), or (worst of all) collecting dossiers related to him. If you're not careful, the first meeting with him in Rome will give you so much positive reputation with him that he will almost automatically be fawning over you for the rest of the game; you won't have nearly enough opportunities to antagonize him to get him to the level of dislike you need. Your best bet is to meet with him straight away after arriving in Rome (thus, being "unprepared" for him) or run through the CIA listening post like a bull through a China shop. Befriending SIE in Moscow is also helpful. You will have to choose to not save Madison during the Museum mission. And most important of all, throughout all the game up until you meet him, be familiar with the Suave button: Learn it, live it, love it, and press it like a goddamn jackhammer at every opportunity.
• As seen above, getting Marburg to quit Leland is equally awesome.
• In "Assault on Brayko's Mansion", if you used Albatross in the previous mission, when Mina asks you how you're going to get in, Mike tells her he has help. Cue G22 agents appearing behind him in the most badass, high-tech way.
• Beating Omen Deng at his own game through high stealth and martial arts scores.
  • Sparing Omen then not prying into his personal life.
• Agreeing to join Leland but having turned ALL your enemies into allies. Then betraying him, listing off everyone he once played or worked with, and blowing his face off with a mine, all while never killing a soul before now and being the master of stealth. There's a reason you sail off into the sunset: Cos you're awesome factor just increased.