Despite of all the stick this game has been getting, it may still be hugely entertaining for you.

User Rating: 7 | Alpha Protocol PC

At least if you're a certain type of player that is.

The graphics are ok, but some of the animations are downright dreadful. So purists and estheticians, this is it for you.

Another huge issue is the gameplay itself. The game claims that no matter what path you choose, you can't go wrong.

This is true, but only because the game is generally too easy and not because it's well balanced. You have to play to the game's strengths to get some enjoyment out of the gameplay.

That means leveling up stealth and pistols (+ silencer). This allows you to stay undetected through most of the levels as you will be picking of enemies with headshots from cover in quick succession while the other enemies are looking away.

The huge advantage of this approach is that you'll rarely experience the stupid combat AI.

You'll at least get some excitement out of trying to stay undetected, sneaking from cover to cover and so on...

Boss fights are going to feel unfair though, because they are rarely geered towards stealthy characters. Still, you'll get by.

If you level up machine guns and play it like a shooter, you'll just blaze through the levels. This is okay for a second playthrough, because it get's you to your goal quicker, but it gets mind numbing fairly quickly.

If you can deal with all that, you're pretty much set, because everything else is well done. The story and atmosphere are probably among the best in gaming. The espionage scenario is underused anyway, so Alpha Protocol feels fresh.

All the characters are interesting and deep. Don't judge a book by it's cover!

The way you interact and affect other characters and by extension the story is the other strong point of the game. You can ally yourself with almost anybody you encounter. The variety in which you do that is satisfying as well. You'll answer e-mails and hold video conferences besides meeting in person. Missions are diversified as well, because objectives change fairly often as you go.

There's also tremendous replay value, if you want to experience all the conversations with the characters and possible twists of the story.