Metareview: Alpha Protocol

While we may have found Alpha Protocol to be a "technical nightmare," it doesn't mean we should all just close the book on it. No, other outlets surely have opinions on Obsidian Entertainment's "Espionage RPG" and we'd be remiss if we didn't bring them into the discussion. Let's get to it!

• CVG (8.4/10): "Alpha Protocol's a technical turkey but it's also a gripping, innovative and deserving of both success and a sequel. It might look like a dog, but dig deep and you're in for an undercover treat - it's a stonking feeling when a game we were expecting to stink turns out to be a revelation. If you've any interest in RPGs that also deliver explosive action, don't let this double agent slip through the net."

• Eurogamer (7/10): "Like Worcester Sauce, Alpha Protocol's separate ingredients might be slightly unappetising, but they come together in a quietly effective manner. Unlike Worcester Sauce, it will certainly frustrate you more than it should, and in between the deathlike character models and bizarre misapplications of things like depth of field effects, it will struggle to convince you the team had enough time to finish it up."

• Videogamer (6/10): "Despite its myriad of shortcomings there's a moderate amount of fun to be had with Alpha Protocol. It's a game that's more enjoyable than it probably should be, a game that's better than the sum of its parts. There's a lot of potential hiding under the flawed shell, and although Obsidian has failed to coax it out this time around, I hope somebody does the concept justice in the future."

• Destructoid (2/10): "Alpha Protocol, to its slim credit, has its basis in noble and ambitious ideas, and those ideas are even well executed on the whole. However, while the ambitious stuff hits the mark, the bog standard gameplay has suffered beyond measure. You can build the most magnificent castle in the world, but if the foundations are made out of wet feces, everything's going to crumble and fall apart before your very eyes. Alpha Protocol is a castle that's collapsed in crap. Proof that even the most accomplished of visions are worthless if the fundamentals aren't in place."

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