Support NeoGAF

[Windom Earle]

Look here, sweet baby, I am Sam Lake! You might remember my one and only facial expression from Max Payne—because, let’s be real, it’s the only one I’ve got. And since Remedy can’t make a game without stuffing it full of my self-insert nonsense, Alan Wake 2 has become my personal playground. You wanted a tense, immersive horror experience? Too bad! You’re getting my goofy mug in every possible scene , shattering any sense of atmosphere like a brick through a window.

Acting? Oh no, sweet baby, that’s not my thing. I deliver the natural charisma of a malfunctioning animatronic, yet I insist on shoving myself into pivotal roles like I’m the next coming of Hollywood. And because I know I don’t have the voice to back up my wannabe hardboiled persona, I bring in James McCaffrey to compensate—because nothing says gritty like outsourcing all my actual presence to someone else.

But let’s be real, my true dream? I want to be Kojima. I want to be a mysterious auteur, a larger-than-life visionary who gets showered with praise for it. The only problem? Kojima can actually pull it off.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Alan Wake 2 was meh, but this will always be Max Payne to me. This is my childhood mousepad right here.

 

[ozz ex machina]

Alan Wake 2 and Max Payne 1 and 2 are all incredible.

I'm very glad we have people like Sam Lake making games. Plenty of other generic slop to lap up pal.

 

[amigastar]

He's the goat. Great Writer also.

 

[HRK69]

I hate the guy

With his stupid face

 

[mansoor1980]

 

[mayham2199]

Alan Wake 2 was meh, but this will always be Max Payne to me. This is my childhood mousepad right here.

I can see why people think AW2 was meh but I personally loved the shit out of that game. Got the plat which was really that hard. Can't wait to see more from this company I'm just hoping FBC doesn't hurt them to much because I think that's going to flop hard. The PS+ and GP money should help at least.

 

[mansoor1980]

 

[mansoor1980]

 

[nowhat]

So, a weird thread.

But as a Finn, I must note that his actual name is "Sami Järvi". ("järvi" being "lake" in Finnish). So the name is both kinda cool, and very lame.

 

[Fbh]

He seems like a nice guy but I don't really like his work.
Haven't played Alan Wake 2 but I thought the narrative was one of the weakest parts in Alan Wake 1, Quantum Break and Control.
In fact the biggest reason why I haven't played Alan Wake 2 is because I've seen people say it's very story heavy and the actually gameplay is just meh.

 

[Windom Earle]

To add to the OP: After initially hating it, I gave AW2 another chance when I recently got my new GPU. I am actually liking it. Saga just sucks and the beginning of the game is not fun.
It is worth playing but Sam Lake is dumb.

 

[Hudo]

Can't wait for Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake as well as Control 2.

 

[ozz ex machina]

To add to the OP: After initially hating it, I gave AW2 another chance when I recently got my new GPU. I am actually liking it. Saga just sucks and the beginning of the game is not fun.
It is worth playing but Sam Lake is dumb.

Out of interest why does Saga suck for you. I was always shocked seeing the anti woke people freaking out about her when she seemed like one of the most grounded and normal characters ever. Completely likeable to me. I think she makes maybe one "ugh men" line in the entire game.

 

[mdkirby]

Nah I like him, and the things he makes. They aren’t the most profitable or most mass appeal, but he doesn’t give two shits, he’s a story teller who has a clear vision of the stories he wants to tell, and then makes it happen, in his way, and to his vision. He has fun doing it too and is passionate about the things he makes. Manages to also punch above their weight with good budget constraints. Gotta respect that shit among all the soulless bloated budget corporate slop.

 

[ChoosableOne]

I like Sam Lake and I will always remember him with this performance and of course as Max Payne. Alan Wake 2 is one of the best survival horror games out there. His touch in games makes them special. Just look at Max Payne 3 vs. 1-2—they turned it into a generic action shooter without him. I have great respect for this guy. We need more games from him and his team.

 

[GudOlRub]

I liked Alan Wake 1, enjoyed Control but never understood all the fanfare around it and I adore Max Payne 1, 2 and Alan Wake 2 so Sam is okay in my book.

And I've also read some gossip saying it was Sam who gave Rockstar the idea to shave Max's head in Max Payne 3, if true then he's also based for triggering an entire fanbase before it was cool.

 

[Redneckerz]

 

[Windom Earle]

Out of interest why does Saga suck for you. I was always shocked seeing the anti woke people freaking out about her when she seemed like one of the most grounded and normal characters ever. Completely likeable to me. I think she makes maybe one "ugh men" line in the entire game.

I don't really hate her, she is just pretty boring and bland, too perfect. Jesse in Control was a much more likable and well written character IMO, also a better voice actress.
Also the race swap of Saga kinda ruins my ability to take the her seriously.

 

[Wildebeest]

Sam Lake is much better than Kojima and I don't even like most Remedy games. Anyway he obviously wants to be Stephen King not Kojima.

 

[Sooner]

Being John Malkovich

 

[N0S]

MP remakes better deliver. Remedy's business model is just bad all around.

 

[Hudo]

I liked Alan Wake 1, enjoyed Control but never understood all the fanfare around it and I adore Max Payne 1, 2 and Alan Wake 2 so Sam is okay in my book.

And I've also read some gossip saying it was Sam who gave Rockstar the idea to shave Max's head in Max Payne 3, if true then he's also based for triggering an entire fanbase before it was cool.

What actually triggered me about Max Payne 3 is that no other game by Rockstar even came close to its gunplay. Playing RDR2 or GTA5 after having played Max Payne 3 feels like a downgrade in many respects. I don't know why Rockstar aren't using anything from Max Payne 3.

 

[Griffon]

Max Payne 1 and 2 were good. But everything else beyond it were jank.
Clunky stories and bad gameplay.

The remakes better be good.

 

[Filben]

lol

I love Remedy, theirs and Sam's approach to story telling and I really liked AW2.

But this made me lough

 

[Moses85]

Look here, sweet baby, I am Sam Lake! You might remember my one and only facial expression from Max Payne—because, let’s be real, it’s the only one I’ve got. And since Remedy can’t make a game without stuffing it full of my self-insert nonsense, Alan Wake 2 has become my personal playground. You wanted a tense, immersive horror experience? Too bad! You’re getting my goofy mug in every possible scene , shattering any sense of atmosphere like a brick through a window.

Acting? Oh no, sweet baby, that’s not my thing. I deliver the natural charisma of a malfunctioning animatronic, yet I insist on shoving myself into pivotal roles like I’m the next coming of Hollywood. And because I know I don’t have the voice to back up my wannabe hardboiled persona, I bring in James McCaffrey to compensate—because nothing says gritty like outsourcing all my actual presence to someone else.

But let’s be real, my true dream? I want to be Kojima. I want to be a mysterious auteur, a larger-than-life visionary who gets showered with praise for it. The only problem? Kojima can actually pull it off.

 

[mrMUR_96]

Remedy games have their flaws, but they have always have such strong character and identity, so I'm really happy they exist and Sam is clearly a big reason for that.

 

[Chittagong]

Sam is a legend and visionary and these days his games are more fun than Kojima’s

 

[Toots]

Sam Lake is a cooler guy than kojima, druckman and barlog combined (i know its not that hard).
Max Payne at the time was the best.

 

[mrMUR_96]

I like Sam Lake and I will always remember him with this performance and of course as Max Payne. Alan Wake 2 is one of the best survival horror games out there. His touch in games makes them special. Just look at Max Payne 3 vs. 1-2—they turned it into a generic action shooter without him. I have great respect for this guy. We need more games from him and his team.

I was agreeing until the MP3 part, MP3 was very different from 1 and 2 but Rockstar nailed it with their own approach too. MP3 is severely underrated and honestly one of the best TPS games of all time imo. The gunplay is just superb.

 

[ChoosableOne]

one of the best TPS games of all time

Maybe it has better/refined gameplay, but it doesn't come close to the first two games in terms of atmosphere, story, and tone.

 

[mayham2199]

I was agreeing until the MP3 part, MP3 was very different from 1 and 2 but Rockstar nailed it with their own approach too. MP3 is severely underrated and honestly one of the best TPS games of all time imo. The gunplay is just superb.

I loved it also. The only thing I hate is everyone speaks in Portuguese and I can’t understand it. Listening to the enemy talk was one of my favorite things about the original games.

 

[captainnapalm]

It's pretty funny that Remedy brought in Sweet Baby and the end result was that ridiculous scene where those two black people in the diner act like they've landed in some kind of racist red neck horror show, while Bright Falls suddenly has the same racial demographics as modern day New York. Oh and the main character calling some a white asshole.

I'm still on the fence about the game as a whole - I think it has some good stuff but it's also quite a poor sequel to the first game, which had a much stronger sense of time and place and felt like a more complete adventure.

Also Lake's face really doesn't go well with McCaffrey's voice. Now the Max Payne in Max Payne 3 - he goes well with McCaffrey's voice.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Didn’t realize he was the writer for Control, I really liked that game. It was basically SCP: The Game, and I’d love for the sequel to lean even harder in that direction.
AW2 was a weird one for me, some great highs, some low lows, the game was all over the place.

 

[Hollywood Hitman]

I loved AW2 even tho I wanted more Wake, it was a good game the ambiance and atmosphere was spot on... It played well and there were times I honestly felt I was playing season 4 of Twin Peaks, loved it.

 

[64gigabyteram]

yeah man you said it! Those pretentious fuckwits at Remedy can't make anything original!

Goes back to playing Call of Duty and Overwatch 2

 

[Hohenheim]

Alan Wake 2 was the best game in 2023 and Sam Lake is the coolest dude in the industry.
The dude makes some seriously good art. Parts of AW2 was next level.

 

[CGNoire]

Your Insane. Everything this guys made other than Alan Wake 2 has been Stellar.

 

[SJRB]

I asked Grok about Sam Lake:

 

[fatmarco]

He's simultaneously fallen off as a writer/creative visionary while his ego has sky rocketed.

Control had a good story but awful characters and dialogue. AW2 had awful characters, and the story, while it had some good moments, was needlessly convoluted, indulgent and dramatically less interesting than the first game. Additionally, AW2 had worse gameplay and structure than almost every Remedy game outside of maybe Quantum Break.

Finally they didn't even bother to conclude or meaningfully progress the story to the character we actually cared about. Alan Wake is fundamentally in the same place he was at the end of AW1 by the end of 2. 13 years for that...