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Alan Wake 2 is a good game, but the jump scares are ass

Spyxos

Gold Member
I think I'm almost done with the game, I like it, but these jump scares just annoy me. They turn a very good game into just a good one. If they had appeared 1-2 times in the whole game, they wouldn't have bothered me at all. But that's how they're always used when the developers have no idea what to do.

Ah sure, have several jump scares built in again and again and again. They pull me out of the game and I just roll my eyes. It is a very cheap horror element and should ideally not be used at all or only in very small doses. I can't be the only one annoyed by them, can I?

slightly-unsettling-frame-from-the-latest-alan-wake-2-v0-2cf6fo344ikb1.png


12 Minute Video with all Jump scares.....
 

Aion002

Member
Damn... I skipped to a part of the video were the game had flashes of an angry old woman, probably constipated, trying to take a shit or complaining to a store clerk or something...

Snl Season 47 GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
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Con-Z-epT

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
But that's how they're always used when the developers have no idea what to do.

Compared to other games they actually use it in pretty good moments where you mostly very focused on the situation, making maximum effort of the jump scare itself. In my eyes, it is the atmosphere where the game excels over everything else.
 

Spyxos

Gold Member
Compared to other games they actually use it in pretty good moments where you mostly very focused on the situation, making maximum effort of the jump scare itself. In my eyes, it is the atmosphere where the game excels over everything else.
That wasn't my experience, of course there were moments when they were very effective, but also just as often when they seemed completely aimless.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
To me these Jump scares would have been much more effective if we had fight actual twisted monsters.

But once you figure out all you fighting is boring looking enemies then these jump scares becomes less effective.

I enjoyed AW2 but they still haven't fix my biggest criticism against first game, the enemy designs and variety just sucks.
 

Kazdane

Member
I can't be the only one annoyed by them, can I?

I haven't played Alan Wake 2 yet, but no. I personally hate jump scares, to the point that they anger me rather than scare me (at most they may startle me). You can see them coming from a mile away, don't add anything to the story or the atmosphere, and I'm yet to find the thrill of "hey we're going to give you an unexpected scare, let's see if your heart survives". Never saw the appeal or the fun in them. Now, psychological terror on the other side... (Alien Isolation I enjoyed greatly, for instance, the Xenomorph may jump scare you, but you know it's an actual consequence of the game, rather than some developer coding a jump scare for the sake of it. Funnily enough, the only time I was startled in that game was when a random pipe broke in some corridor).

The way I view it, if your game has a few jumpscares, fine, I'd rather prefer it doesn't, but I understand some people enjoy them. If it's filled to the brim with jumpscares, I'm not bothering at all.
 

Filben

Member
In contrast to other games like Dead Space where I saw them miles away coming because of music, sound and other clues like clear patterns and hence make them not working a bit, I don't see them coming in Alan Wake 2 and they do really take me by suprise and hence work for me.

Also I do think the way they're visually presented as flickering images from the Dark Presence it fits the narrative and doesn't come of cheap like , you know in cheap movies where innocent people sneak up totally unnoticed and scare the shit out of the main cast.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Man, I thought I was enjoying the game enough, but I'm at the half way point or a little passed that and just don't have a desire to continue at all. It's really odd. I haven't played it in 2 weeks now and just have no urge to get back in. I think I'm done.

I agree though, the jump scares were just.... weak. Honestly, I hate jump scares in general because they've become such a "cop out" to me in the horror genre. They're almost always predictable, and they happen so often in the genre that it's very desensitizing IMO.

Maybe I'll return to the game some day? I don't know. But I think I'm done with it for now.
 

Spyxos

Gold Member
In contrast to other games like Dead Space where I saw them miles away coming because of music, sound and other clues like clear patterns and hence make them not working a bit, I don't see them coming in Alan Wake 2 and they do really take me by suprise and hence work for me.

Also I do think the way they're visually presented as flickering images from the Dark Presence it fits the narrative and doesn't come of cheap like , you know in cheap movies where innocent people sneak up totally unnoticed and scare the shit out of the main cast.
I can't describe exactly why, but in Dead Space I almost wet my pants. Because I was so scared. And I could only play it during the day. I can play Alan Wake 2 in the dark without any problems and I can't even remember if I got scared at all.
 

analog_future

Resident Crybaby
I'm not usually big on jump scares but I thought they were great in AW2. They fit really well with the "is it real or am I dreaming?" vibe of the game.
 

Calverz

Member
At first I thought it was fine but then it did get annoying quickly. It was even worse because for some reason, it was stuttery as fuck on my pc. I later discovered that for some reason, the game didnt like being installed on a seperate nvme. So I installed it onto my nvme C drive and no issues. Despite that drive being slower in speeds lol
 

Senua

Member
Same as the original game, I don't love them but they don't pull me out of the game as such.
 
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