In the midst of my lack of connectivity to the social nexus, I've managed to beat Alan Wake in my free time. This is my first foray into Remedy's new now on hiatus series, and...honestly? I find it better than the original Max Payne in certain aspects.
Story
Alan Wake is another Remedy title that keeps me engaged and convinced to finish the story and watch the game unwrap itself. Learning more from the manuscripts and how it matched the eerie vibe with Wake's location, Bright Falls, is a very nice compliment. The game's packed with information from the simple NPCs in Bright Falls, to the Night Springs shows, etc. It rides the coattails of a Stephen King-esque romp in the very beginning, but in time Alan Wake unveils itself to be much much more.
Dialogue
I really like Alan's voice. Alan works well when communicating as a panicking skeptic and both as a narrarator. Outside of him and Barry...the voice acting is pretty shit. Dialogue is tongue in cheek and corny for most of the Bright Falls residents, but the voice acting gets downright poor at the end sections of the game. Speaking of Alan and Barry--though I do like the both of them, their dialogue degenerates from "WOAHMANSPOOKYHORRORTYPESITUATIONPANIC" to "Goofy buddy cop-esque horror parody." I also feel that the ad placements and blatant throwouts to brands and writer names (Fuck you, Nightingale) feels a bit too much and forced.
Presentation
Bright Falls is boring in the morning, but really eerie and unsettling in the night, as expected. It isn't scary, but it's enough to keep the player on their toes from what I've played.
Gameplay
I went through the game on my first playthrough on the Hard difficulty. Needless to say that the game was plenty enough of a challenge. Early on, things like flare guns to better lights and flashbangs felt like gifts to deal with the swarms of enemies. Midway, though, with it's abundance of the items and the same 5-6 enemies at a time, it felt a bit to easy to churn through and I didn't feel pressured to just book it to the light. The standoffs were one too many, honestly, and I would rather have the couple of puzzles every now and then to accompany it. The game felt like it was going from point A to B in the wrong way. Shooting was top-notch, though.
Overall, outside of Gameplay gripes, Alan Wake is right damn good. Tempted to jump into American Nightmare, or does the DLC for Alan Wake really that pivotal in the story?
(sorry if this was a bit too rushed in my afterthoughts. Writing outside in the cold isn't the best idea. :/)
Story
Alan Wake is another Remedy title that keeps me engaged and convinced to finish the story and watch the game unwrap itself. Learning more from the manuscripts and how it matched the eerie vibe with Wake's location, Bright Falls, is a very nice compliment. The game's packed with information from the simple NPCs in Bright Falls, to the Night Springs shows, etc. It rides the coattails of a Stephen King-esque romp in the very beginning, but in time Alan Wake unveils itself to be much much more.
Dialogue
I really like Alan's voice. Alan works well when communicating as a panicking skeptic and both as a narrarator. Outside of him and Barry...the voice acting is pretty shit. Dialogue is tongue in cheek and corny for most of the Bright Falls residents, but the voice acting gets downright poor at the end sections of the game. Speaking of Alan and Barry--though I do like the both of them, their dialogue degenerates from "WOAHMANSPOOKYHORRORTYPESITUATIONPANIC" to "Goofy buddy cop-esque horror parody." I also feel that the ad placements and blatant throwouts to brands and writer names (Fuck you, Nightingale) feels a bit too much and forced.
Presentation
Bright Falls is boring in the morning, but really eerie and unsettling in the night, as expected. It isn't scary, but it's enough to keep the player on their toes from what I've played.
Gameplay
I went through the game on my first playthrough on the Hard difficulty. Needless to say that the game was plenty enough of a challenge. Early on, things like flare guns to better lights and flashbangs felt like gifts to deal with the swarms of enemies. Midway, though, with it's abundance of the items and the same 5-6 enemies at a time, it felt a bit to easy to churn through and I didn't feel pressured to just book it to the light. The standoffs were one too many, honestly, and I would rather have the couple of puzzles every now and then to accompany it. The game felt like it was going from point A to B in the wrong way. Shooting was top-notch, though.
Overall, outside of Gameplay gripes, Alan Wake is right damn good. Tempted to jump into American Nightmare, or does the DLC for Alan Wake really that pivotal in the story?
(sorry if this was a bit too rushed in my afterthoughts. Writing outside in the cold isn't the best idea. :/)
