A lot of people never played "Alpha Protocol".
And neither did the critics. Not really. I remember when this game out there was nothing but bad press about the game. I seriously was considering NOT picking up the game because of the constant bad press, and all the critics saying how awful it was.
And then, low and behold, I said, "Hell with it." I love RPG's, and the critics were criticizing the game because it wasn't a "Call of Medal of Duty Honor Heroes Black Ops" shooter.
So I figured, worst case scenario, I get a story I like and that's worth the price.
Well, it's awesome, and for those RPG gamers like myself who want a little action with their story, I highly recommend you check it out.
(Just me praising a great game on the flip.)
Ok, I'm an eighties freak. So when THIS was playing during one of the boss fights... ah hell with it, I was in heaven.
It's all the little touches that make this game so much fun. Like the fact that there's more than one way to play through it. You can be a complete and utter asshole, ala Jack Bauer. You can play it suave like Connery. (My personal favorite), or you can do the ultra professional secret service guy and do your little dance about duty and honor. Yer choice.
Did I mention I went to acting school with the lead voice actor on this? Sorry, Couldn't resist that one. Josh Gilman. Was really cool in school, and I am both insanely jealous of him and serously happy for him.
Oh, and did I mention one of my favorite parts? You don't have to kill... ever. Yes it's your mission... but amazingly, you can actually play through this shooter using tranq darts, unarmed combat, and numerous other devices to render folks unconcious. (Albiet in extremely painful to look at ways...) Plus lots and lots of romantic banter, ala every single spy movie ever...
Anyhoo, back to the main point, which was I don't really think the critics bothered playing this one. Nearly every review I've read of it is extremely nitpicky. For a pre-alpha copy, (Which was what critics get to review on) there were surprisingly large numbers of bug reports in the reviews. Now, I must admit I did get an opportunity to talk with the creators of this one after playing it, and apparently there were bug-fixes right up to the night before release. This one was extremely ambitious, on many levels.
Of course, at some point, the critic consensus was made that "THIS IS A BAD GAME". Much like the washington bubble, the critic bubble is pretty fricking nasty. It comes to conclusions based off rumor, speculation and in many cases, who pays the most.
So, seriously, if you have the Eight bucks, pick this one up from Steam. It's cheaper than a DVD of a Bond Movie/Bourne Movie/Bauer DVD, and you get to check out all three versions of the script for cheap.
Plus, I like games where you don't even have to kill the bad guys.
4:36 PM PT: Just a minor note: This game also features a wonderful performance by the Incomparable Courtenay Taylor. http://www.courtenaytaylor.com/ Just because she's awesome and deserves more work.