I've just watched the Gametrailers review and I am incensed. I'm angry enought that I had to come, register to this forum immediately and let my inner fanboy loose.
Alpha Protocol is one of the best games I have ever played. I've played it for a total of 18 hours, though this includes starting the game over 3 times because I wanted to try out the branches of the dialogue system and get a feel for it.
The only thing that isn't as good as other games that have far less content is the graphics. Frankly, however, I'm sick of vapid games that are very pretty but offer no content. Alpha Protocol is all content all the time without any of the time wasters like Mass Effect 2's planet scanning, baby, and I am LOVING it. In fact, the only way I can describe Alpha Protocol in terms of other games is if Fallout 3, Mass Effect 1&2, Gears of War, Hitman Blood Money, Deus Ex and Metal Gear Solid had been spliced together into a game that is more than the sum of its parts. Alpha Protocol is their evolution, the culmination of 15 years. Sure, graphically it's on par with GTA4 and we forgive open world games alot because of their content. I'd argue that there's more content and a deeper and better storyline in Alpha Protocol than in GTA4, particularly since you have choices in Alpha Protocol. While they're both different games it's grossly silly to give GTA4 a 10 for storyline but Alpha Protocol an 8.
Enemy AI is better than the vast majority of games. Enemies use cover, use grenades intelligently, attack in sweeping patterns and react to return fire without being omnisentient. Gears of War might present a tighter third person shooter package but Gears isn't an RPG with a deep and enguaging multiple choice storyline. It doesn't even have as many levels, or the most awesome melee mechanic I've ever seen. The enemies are also a real challenge on normal and you MUST adapt your tactics and gear for a mission.
One of the things that Alpha Protocol does better than all the other games mentioned is that it never annoys me with gameplay. For example, when you kneel in most games behind cover but you want to stay mobile (usually because of grenades) so you don't attach to the cover, you have a clear line of sight when you aim so you pull the trigger and epic fail because the gun is pointing at a wall even though you have the reticule lined up on a perfect headshot. Bonus points if it's a stealth game and you just gave away your position despite equipping a silencer. I don't know about anyone else but I can stretch my imagination enough to imagine that, despite the limitations of the game itself, a soldier can aim around a corner or over a barrier and not point his weapon at a wall and take a shot like a total dunce, the problem being a limitation to the figure's animation rather than the situation.
Also, it's a good thing that Michael Thornton is a badass. He needs to be. I'm maxing out toughness, stealth and martial arts to become the ultimate ninja currently but I'm eager to play again with another paradigm. I particularly like being able to stab an enemy in the throat with a quick jab and knock them out without the usual omnisentient alarms going off. I REALLY like that I CAN take out three guards in less than a second without raising an alarm because that's what I love from spy movies.
The critic that did the Gametrailer's review has no idea what he's talking about. His complaints flat out aren't issues with the game, except for the graphics which I would class as medium-good and can be forgiven because the gameplay is so fun it hurts and the storyline is transcendental - the dialogue is flat out the best in any game I have ever played, which includes Mass Effect (voice acting lets mass effect's script down in places, particularly male shep) and Baldur's Gate 2. The web of intrigue is denser than Metal Gear Solid's with the added benefit that you shape it rather than having it dictated to you. If GTA4 can get a 10 for storyline, Alpha Protocol is up there at 20 with MGS, BG2 and the KoTORs.
Speaking of story, the characters are sublimely realized. Sie is perhaps the best NPC ever created for the sheer ludicrousness that the game manages to pull off without breaking suspension of disbelief... ok, Minsc beats her by a hair but Sie's prettier.
Alpha Protocol is a 'must own'. It is what RPGs should be while the rest of the pack are faffing about with their linear gameplay and shallow, one track, storylines while concentrating on graphics and forgetting that they actually have a storyline. I can only make the conjecture that Obsidian spent its budget on game development rather than bribes.
I just noticed that Gamespot gave it a 6. Frankly, unless my conjecture is true, i don't understand it.
In case nobody can tell, I love this game and everyone should buy a copy who can. I think I said it already but it needs to be said again. The critics know nothing, ignore them, they only love pretty games that will bore you to death.
