EndWeekGame: June 4

Andrei Dumitrescu: We have a review up. We've been putting up diary entries detailing out experiences playing as the prototypical Jason Bourne and James Bond characters. It's pretty clear that, while seeing its problems and bugs, we love playing Alpha Protocol, the one developer Obsidian and publisher SEGA billed as an espionage role playing game.

And the love does not stop when leaving the office. I might be asking for a black suit to use in game at work but I am taking another approach when I get to my gaming computer at home. There I morph into a more ruthless, loyal and trigger happy operative, akin to Jack Bauer of the recently ended 24 television series.

My new character, sporting dark shades and a full face beard with close cropped hair (the embodiment of a duty bound agent) knows that something dark is happening and is ready to take down all those who threat him directly but he believes that the United States government is the ultimate force for good in the world and will help him eventually get out of his pretty complicated situation. We'll see how he manages to survive the weekend. And in case anyone is wondering, I am still playing Neptune's Pride, despite the rather humiliating defeat I suffered after being betrayed by two allies in my last game.

Mihail Cernea: These days, I'll continue my adventures as Michael Bourne Thornton in Alpha Protocol. This will probably be the most underrated game of the year and I think this is due to some confusion. While it happens to have some elements in common with the Mass Effect series, it is a fundamentally different game.

If Mass Effect and its sequel were story-heavy shooters featuring some role-playing mechanics, Alpha Protocol is a purebred role playing experience hidden under a shooter cover. It seems clear to me that Obsidian tried to make a console game, but in the end did what they do best, that is a computer RPG and probably all the title's problems stem from this internal conflict.