Developer: Ultimo Ratio Games
Release Date: 8 October, 2024 (EA)
Platform: Windows
Genre: FPS
By Chris Picone, 25 June, 2025
I'm honestly not sure what to think about Alpha Response. On one hand, it's the work of Gooseman from Counterstrike fame. And, according to the Ultimo Ratio website, the rest of the team is also super experienced, claiming work on titles such as Rainbow Six and Call of Duty. And don't get me wrong, Alpha Response definitely shows promise. It's a great concept, and if executed well, will be a great game. It's just really, really obviously in Early Access right now. Very Early Access, like it probably shouldn't be in the hands of reviewers yet early - which is alarming because development apparently began back in 2021.
Aesthetics
All the audio's fine and the voiceover work is suitably dramatic (and reminiscent of Counterstrike) but the visuals are a bit of a let-down. It's not that they're bad exactly, just that - for a game looking like it wants to aim for realistic aesthetics - they really aren't up to 2025 standards. The character editor's pretty minimal which I don't particularly care about but I know that'll upset some people. The rest of the game's not too bad in the sense that the levels are well-designed and full of detail and there are plenty of smoke and fire and strobe lights and other effects. There are also AI civilians around the place, which you have to be careful not to shoot. None of it's bad, it's just that it looks like it came out a few generations ago.
Gameplay
This is where Alpha Response hopefully shines. The concept is great: It's a co-op game. You play as part of a police squad, the rest of the squad being made up of other players, and have to work together to complete missions against AI enemies. There's a decent range of enemies too. Other than shooters, there are grenadiers, suicide bombers, heavy gunners, riot shields (for some reason?), and even helicopters and dogs. There are only two levels at the moment but they're both reasonably large and very well designed. There are also a few different mission types. The ones I've played so far are "escort the VIP," "bomb defusal," and "protect the cash." There are a few weapons to play with and I'm sure more will be added. Also, you can occasionally drive some of the vehicles, although as far as I can tell that's only to travel from one mission area to another. It's a strange game and I'm not sure where it's going. What troubles me at the moment, though, is that the AI is terrible. But it's in EA and the team have a year to fix it.
Verdict
I'm not willing to pass a final verdict yet. As I said, Alpha Response is full of promise. I'm mildly alarmed at where it's at right now knowing how far along in development it is, but maybe that's just how things go sometimes. It is still in Early Access, it is still being worked on, and maybe it will eventually shine - but it's also only supposed to stay in EA for another 12 months and I just don't know if that's going to be long enough.
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