Alpha Protocol delay has allowed "under-the-hood" work

Speaking to VG247 US ed Stephany Nunneley at GDC, an Sega rep said that little cosmetic work has been done on spy RPG Alpha Protocol since it was slipped from last year, and instead the time has been used for background upgrades and "tweaking".

"Sega made a tough decision to have it out this spring," he said, speaking in San Francisco yesterday.

"If you'd seen it before, the visuals and the gameplay were rock solid back then. We used the time to do a lot of under-the-hood stuff and tweaking, things that you wouldn't notice unless you'd played it in terms of polish.

"It made for a better experience."

The anticipated Obsidian game was pushed into spring and then summer, causing much eye-rolling, until Sega finally stuck a June 1 date on it last month.

As Steph was told yesterday, the game is "the thematic flavour of this game is very much Bond, Bourne and 24. It's a modern-day espionage RPG overlaid with the depth and complexity of a few traditional Obsidian-style hardcore RPGs."

Looks mint. See the latest trailer here.