I was really excited for Alpha Protocol at first and I'm sure I would have been more merciful on it had it come out when it was supposed to. But when you push the release date this much and deliver a product like this, you better hope that your pre-orders don't get canceled. I canceled my pre-order and opted for a much better game.
I'm really happy about my decision to buy Red Dead Redemption instead of Alpha Protocol. I have had nothing but a purely fun time with RDR which can't be said for my time with AP. The texture popping is annoying but I was willing to overlook the game's graphics (since that is not what makes a great game) and even focusing on the gameplay I was not thrilled in any way. The combat is frustrating, the hacking minigames are eye-murdering, and overall it's just not a pleasant experience.
Everything sucks about that game except for being in those conversations and reading the emails/dossiers. But you know what? That's not enough to keep me interested. People say this game gets less bad after several hours with it (a-la Final Fantasy XIII) but frankly I have neither the time nor the patience to tolerate a bad game when I could be playing other games that are way better than this clusterfuck of a game.
Even with several delays, the game doesn't feel like a beta build. Instead it stays true to its name and delivers a game that is finished in terms of development, but is an alpha in terms of actual game design.