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LTTP: Alan Wake

The Hermit

Member
man, I really don't see anything on this game... very linear, so linear things start getting predictable.

I don't know, I really don't like this narrative driven games with shallow gameplay.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
It's a flawed masterpiece, IMO. If the combat was a little more interesting/varied it'd be game of the generation, without doubt.

As is, it probably is game of the generation anyway.

Setting, episodes, music, credits, amazing atmosphere and effects, the feeling that despite its Stephen King alike pastiches it was doing something different with the medium. Add in the radio shows and TV episodes and the general depth and immersion and it's obviously very special.

There's a feeling that lots of care has gone into its development, despite its troubled gestation and that the team knew what they had was special. I wonder how it would have turned out had Remedy set out to make the game we got rather than plans changing while at work.

The first time the chapter credits rolled I was blown away. I sat and listened to every song when each chapter ended, just enjoying the atmosphere.

Alan Wake and Remedy are one of the things that really sold Xbone to me. I just hope we get an Alan Wake 2 sometime. And that he's got a different outfit.
 
I was really hyped for this game when it came out, and while I think is was a really solid adventure, the story was definitely worse than it could have been IMO. The beginning presented a lot of potential for the story, and the setting and atmosphere definitely added to the experience. But as many of the secrets started to reveal themselves I became more and more disappointed.

Many moments hinted at some sort of amazing twist, where I gasped and said to myself "OMG if this is what think it is, this is going to be awesome" but then the game showed its cards and the result was more "meh" than what I had built up in my mind.

I can't fault the game for what it gets right, which to me is what many people think is the weakest point and that is the gameplay. I thought it was a very solid mechanic and the battles where definitely tense.
 

Superflat

Member
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.

I found myself enjoying the daytime stuff more just because I knew there wouldn't be any firefights. Daytime stuff looked gorgeous too.

Unfortunately I found the gunplay to be competent but not all that fun or varied after the first few encounters. Enemies just rush and become more bullet spongey (flashlight spongey?) and numerous as the game goes on. I also just found them goofy. Way more encounters than necessary and the story/game length itself seemed a bit bloated.

The environments and fairly compelling narrative were the best things I took away from it. The best looking lived-in environments in a game, save for TLOU which came years later.
 

BeberMan

Neo Member
Definitely one of the games I'll remember for a long time. Everything about it was interesting, and I actually like the gameplay. Night Springs is one of the best things ever!
 

Sojgat

Member
It's a flawed masterpiece, IMO. If the combat was a little more interesting/varied it'd be game of the generation, without doubt.

As is, it probably is game of the generation anyway.

Setting, episodes, music, credits, amazing atmosphere and effects, the feeling that despite its Stephen King alike pastiches it was doing something different with the medium. Add in the radio shows and TV episodes and the general depth and immersion and it's obviously very special.

There's a feeling that lots of care has gone into its development, despite its troubled gestation and that the team knew what they had was special. I wonder how it would have turned out had Remedy set out to make the game we got rather than plans changing while at work.

The first time the chapter credits rolled I was blown away. I sat and listened to every song when each chapter ended, just enjoying the atmosphere.

Alan Wake and Remedy are one of the things that really sold Xbone to me. I just hope we get an Alan Wake 2 sometime. And that he's got a different outfit.

If it had American Nightmare's vastly improved combat, I'd find it hard to argue against for game of the generation.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
If it had American Nightmare's vastly improved combat, I'd find it hard to argue against for game of the generation.

American Nightmare still has issues to be fair though. In the Horde mode I normally die because the ammo/weapon pickup animation is so slow and clumsy.
 

-SD-

Banned
I stopped playing after a few levels because the gameplay was so monotonous. Was kind of bummed to see Remedy release a game like that.

I played the PC version with mouse and keyboard controls.
 

Zweisy1

Member
Definitely one of my games of the generation. Loved it even more than Max Payne 2 which is also one of my all-time favorites.
Remedy just puts so much love and care into what they make. I found the combat mechanics fun and polished and the game just oozed personality.

It was also refreshing to see a high profile game with third person shooting mechanics that didn't resort to a damn cover system like almost every other game this gen.
 

Lupin3

Targeting terrorists with a D-Pad
I love it, but the game itself is sometimes no more than just ok. Still, great experience!
 

Sojgat

Member
American Nightmare still has issues to be fair though. In the Horde mode I normally die because the ammo/weapon pickup animation is so slow and clumsy.

Weapon and enemy variety add so much, and the combat mechanics were tweaked in a number of clever ways. The time it takes to change weapons I consider part of the gameplay balance, it's just that the on screen prompt for picking up items is far to finicky. You have to be standing in exactly the right place or it won't register. Remedy should have loosened that up a bit.
 

quetz67

Banned
Got a 360 only to play it - loved it.

(Have the PC limited edition lying around, thinking about playing it on my wife's Acer V3 (760m). Will it be easy to install PS3 controller or should I just get an xbox 360 windows controller?).
 
Like most of the people in this thread , I loved AW. It is one of my favorite games that i own and the DLC add to the greatness of this game.

I'm a proud purchaser of the collectors edition (gotta love the box that looks like a book, which contains a book)
 

D-e-f-

Banned
Liked Alan Wake a lot, and American Nightmare was pretty fun too, if a little samey. Was great to hear some more Poets of the Fall in the soundtrack too (after "Late Goodbye" way back when in Max Payne 2).

Really bums me out that Remedy have gone first-party, though. The wait for Alan Wake to hit PC was bad enough, so I won't be holding my breath for Quantum Break.

You shouldn't. MS owns the QB IP, unlike Alan Wake which belonged to Remedy all along. I really hope Remedy get some kind of support to make Alan Wake 2 after that...

Man those nighttime forest sections ... anyone who as ever been in an actual forest at night when it's pitch black knows what I'm talking about.
 
Finally started trying to get this out of backlog. After Episode 4... I'm hooked. The gameplay allows for some creativity which is nice. I know people find the gameplay repetitive and I understand that feeling, but I think it's worth it to push through the first few episodes.
 

D-e-f-

Banned
Finally started trying to get this out of backlog. After Episode 4... I'm hooked. The gameplay allows for some creativity which is nice. I know people find the gameplay repetitive and I understand that feeling, but I think it's worth it to push through the first few episodes.

I loved the gameplay and especially the shooting. The combat mechanics are amazing for this type of game. It's always creates tension when you have to first materialize the enemies with the flashlight before you can even hurt them with your weapons. Then it's almost always so dark you can barely see where they are and then there's the sound ...
 

Guy.brush

Member
Hate to admit it, but I actually installed an ammo trainer for this and American Nightmare.
I really liked the atmosphere, story but I loathed having to redo scenes because of typical survival horror ammo scarcity.
Liked both games though, even though the gameplay to me felt flawed and repetitive. (although less repetitive thanks to the ammo trainer :)
 

ArjanN

Member
Hate to admit it, but I actually installed an ammo trainer for this and American Nightmare.
I really liked the atmosphere, story but I loathed having to redo scenes because of typical survival horror ammo scarcity.
Liked both games though, even though the gameplay to me felt flawed and repetitive. (although less repetitive thanks to the ammo trainer :)

There's plenty of ammo, even on nightmare difficulty.
 

Kydd BlaZe

Member
Was one of my favorite games on 360. Loved every minute of it.

Recently double dipped on the Steam version. Game is absolutely STUNNING on PC.
 

CHC

Member
Wow the universal praise for this game is a little surprising, but personally I loved it too. Somehow I remembered it being more polarizing but I guess time has been kind to Alan Wake. The action was quite repetitive but every time I see anything involving the Pacific Northwest I just want to boot this game up again and give it a go. I played it only once with a good buddy of mine in a couple afternoons, so a replay plus DLC is in order.
 
Just completed the DLC too now. Wow, what an experience. I feel like each episode brought a new and fun element or challenge. I especially liked the level design of The Writer. Great game. I'm pretty excited to see what American Nightmare is all about. Quantum Break just shot up to the top of my most anticipated Xbox One title list as well.
 
Heard good things about it, played it, loved it.

Will now buy anything Remedy day one now.

Showed great ambition for a videogame and pulled most of it off. A ton of respect to those guys.
 

Reallink

Member
My most prominent memory of this game is that it looked full blown Standard Definition on the 360 and stands as the very worst IQ of the entire "HD" generation. Shame cause it had some fantastic locales and ambiance.
 

MonaKyshu

Banned
i quite liked American Nightmare, Mr. Scratch is one of my favorite villains this generation

and the second i realized the whole jumping through time and replaying content aspect i immediately disliked it, but then it grew on me pretty fast
 

SRTtoZ

Member
I loved it and still do to this day. Beat it on 360 with 100% all pages, nightmare etc, then bought the entire franchise on Steam and beat it, its a shame that the cutscenes are such low res though. DLC worth it, but not pivotal to the story or anything.
 
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