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Mediocre Critical Reception
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0 10 12 1 |
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 Excellent  Good  Mediocre  Poor |
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Platform: |
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Xbox 360 |
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Genre: |
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Action Role-Playing |
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Developer: |
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Obsidian |
ESRB: |
Mature |
Release: |
June 1, 2010 |
Publisher: |
Sega |
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Critic Reviews The following reviews are used to calculate the overall reception for this game. All applicable scores are converted to our simplified rating system based on the specifics offered by each publication or the tone of each review. You can read more about how we do this here.
May 28, 2010 - Good - Alpha Protocol isn't a terribly long game. That's not actually a bad thing, though. So much of the dialogue and story changes depend on your choices that it's absolutely worth revisiting at least once after the credits roll.
July 1, 2010 - Good - In an industry that demands the delivery of promises and return on producer investment - where trying and failing are not an option - [Alpha Protocol] does its best and tries out some truly interesting ideas. Even though Alpha Protocol's best won't be enough for everyone, those drawn to a compelling story and the possibility of a new kind of RPG will find this mission worth signing on for. [Issue #6, p.50]
May 28, 2010 - Good - Obsidian can't really compete with the bigger boys in the RPG field, then, but it's carved out a little space to call its own. With ambition instead of budget, and integrity instead of polish, in the end the choice of whether to persevere or not is pretty easy to make.
June 2, 2010 - Good - For a game that's been through numerous hurdles, Alpha Protocol's a solid rental. The way the story and relationships change depending on your choices will keep you hooked, and warrants at least two play-throughs to see what might have been. However, just be aware that you'll have to put up with some problems.
May 28, 2010 - Good - While its obvious Obsidian poured their hearts and souls into the game, especially its RPG elements, it would have benefited from more polish than passion. There's plenty of reason to recommend Alpha Protocol, but for many, its easy-target shortcomings will no doubt cast a dark shadow over its better ideas.
June 1, 2010 - Good - While its story, characters and conversations are interesting and fun to play around with, Alpha's third-person shooting - which makes up the bulk of the game - is not. It's a far cry from terrible, but we'd been led to expect much more.
May 28, 2010 - Good - Those long, revelatory conversations among friends about the many different ways games like Fallout 3, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins can play out will be among our most cherished memories of this generation. Alpha Protocol isn't good enough to sit in such esteemed company, but it might just be a more reactive and personal narrative experience than any of them.
May 28, 2010 - Good - Each of the three play styles - stealth, gadgets and guns - become tedious if you doggedly stick with where your skill points have been spent. But if you're able to keep changing your style, and can forgive the attention-breaking idiocy of the enemies, you'll see there's potential here for a great sequel and series. It's just a shame they didn't nail it on the first attempt.
June 10, 2010 - Good - Alpha Protocol isn't a bad game, it just often happens to feel like one when you're playing it. There's a distinct impression that whenever Obsidian rolled up to a design crossroads during development they ended up invariably choosing the wrong path. Alpha Protocol is poorly designed and rough around the edges but it's also engrossing, charming and inventive.
June 7, 2010 - Good - Alpha Protocol does one thing really well, and it may be the absolute best game in the genre for what it does. The fluid and engaging plot is designed in such a way that you can have completely different and surprising outcomes to a lot of plotlines. Unfortunately, aside from the one thing that it does really well, everything else in the game ranges from mediocre to broken.
June 1, 2010 - Mediocre - Alpha Protocol can occasionally - even often - be lots of fun due to its unusual cast, and its innovative use of RPG systems under the surface will satisfyingly dictate the many outcomes the player can get, but ultimately it just doesn't work as a whole.
May 27, 2010 - Mediocre - Alpha Protocol still works in the strictest sense and there's still doses of fun to be metered out from individual kills, accomplishments and a few standout moments - but on the whole it doesn't have the focus or quality you'd expect of a modern day RPG.
May 28, 2010 - Mediocre - The team at Obsidian Entertainment knows role-playing. Alpha Protocol isn't necessarily a counter-point to that expertise; the RPG systems under the hood are solid. I just wish that I could experience them in the context of a compelling espionage adventure, not a last-gen third-person shooter.
May 31, 2010 - Mediocre - It could have been a lot worse, but for all its worth, the game simply doesn't deliver enough of an experience to keep the player wanting more. A dull experience rife with technical flaws and badly-combined mechanics.
May 28, 2010 - Mediocre - Alpha Protocol's ambitions are commendable, and if you're a role-playing fanatic, you'll enjoy investigating its intricacies. It's unfortunate that its various ingredients are so undercooked. The flaky cover system, the mediocre production values, the fundamental blemishes gone unchecked--these elements add up quickly and drag the experience down.
May 28, 2010 - Mediocre - Alpha Protocol's minute-to-minute action should have been on par with the traditional RPG stuff, but it's nowhere near close. It's hard to recommend it to any but the most patient. If you've got a high threshold of tolerance for busted gameplay, the extracurricular stuff can redeem the experience. But that's a big if.
May 31, 2010 - Mediocre - If you decide to play Alpha Protocol, just know that your main enemies over the course of its 15-or-so hours will be its collection of misery-inducing technical issues and the clash between its action and role-playing elements. There are parts of Alpha Protocol that I feel are totally amazing and absolutely worth seeing, but you'll have to trudge through a lot of very disappointing stuff just to see it.
June 1, 2010 - Mediocre - The most frustrating thing about Alpha Protocol is that there clearly is a decent game hidden away here. But a general lack of visual polish, coupled with clunky gameplay mechanics, means Alpha Protocol is a missed opportunity.
June 1, 2010 - Mediocre - A more rounded cast of characters could have helped out immensely because it's difficult to build up any emotional investment with the stereotypical personalities wrapped up in this twisting tale of conspiracy and global domination. Imbalanced skills, glitches, dim-witted enemies, and repetitive encounters further undercut the entertainment, making Alpha Protocol a game you can safely pass by.
June 15, 2010 - Mediocre - If you only play through Alpha Protocol once you'll probably think its storytelling is well done and be able to forgive the terrible game mechanics because of the tale it weaves. The problem comes when you play it again and realise that Obsidian are fantastic magicians and know how to cover up their storytelling failures.
June 8, 2010 - Mediocre - Each glimmer of hope that you see through the cracked venir of graphical glitches and all to regular system crashes will spur you to play your way through the game and maybe even try it again to explore some alternative character choices. Still, you will be haunted all the way by the game that could have been had Obsidian been given more time.
May 28, 2010 - Mediocre - Despite its myriad of shortcomings there's a moderate amount of fun to be had with Alpha Protocol. 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.
June 4, 2010 - Poor - It's a game in which you're free to choose your own path, as long as you're prepared for an arduous hike and don't stray too far off the safety of the trail. And in the end, just as all paths lead to the same destination, my thoughts always arrive at the same conclusion: This deserved to be so much better.
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