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Mr Reasonable
Completely Unreasonable
This OT might have had more effort put into it than the remaster.
Captain Toad
Banned
Hugare
Gold Member
Awesome OT
lol, this is true
More geometry is cool, but they've made some questionable choices with textures
Why not using AI to upgrade textures without changing their look, ffs
On Reddit people are reporting tons of bugs. I experienced some finicky lighting sometimes, but eh.
I'm enjoying the remaster because I love this game. But it could have been much, much better than this.
lol, this is true
More geometry is cool, but they've made some questionable choices with textures
Why not using AI to upgrade textures without changing their look, ffs
On Reddit people are reporting tons of bugs. I experienced some finicky lighting sometimes, but eh.
I'm enjoying the remaster because I love this game. But it could have been much, much better than this.
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TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
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Old_and_Slow
Member
I like the movie poster vibe of the OT/OP. Great job.
Just ordered a physical today, hoping it arrives by Saturday so I can spend my weekend playing this wonderful game again.
Just ordered a physical today, hoping it arrives by Saturday so I can spend my weekend playing this wonderful game again.
Ev1L AuRoN
Member
This was the game that made me get a 360 back in the day. Great atmosphere and suspense. It has a lot of nostalgia for me, but I don't think I'll reward that cash grab with my money. The game is not very old, but I think this version don't add enough for me to buy it. Really want to support the franchise, but I think the game deserve more.
SCB3
Member
This was one of my Legit favourite games and after playing the first Episode, yea I remember why, the only issue I have is the shoulder swapping thing, but I can work around it, so far so good
Though I am shocked no one picked this up for a TV series, its really built for it, very Twin Peaks ish.
Also, the DLC for Control touches on AW right? I still need to go back and play some more of that.
Though I am shocked no one picked this up for a TV series, its really built for it, very Twin Peaks ish.
Also, the DLC for Control touches on AW right? I still need to go back and play some more of that.
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Agreed, I do think this deserved a complete Remake with the Control Engine.
But I've never played the original so I can't really complain about how much of a Remaster it is.
But it looks good so far(playing the PS5 version)
The character models could be better, but everything else looks great imo.
And it cost me 23 quid (physical) so I really can't complain.
Also the Dualsense triggers work really well with this game, I can't imagine playing it without them.
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Dusktildawn48
Member
The way it auto swaps non stop? Yeah, that drives me bonkers.
Sidney Prescott
Member
Really excited about this coming to Playstation. I played it a long time ago when I had an Xbox 360 and it was one of my favourite games.
Always been itching to replay it.
Always been itching to replay it.
Derktron
Banned
Barakov
Gold Member
I'm up to episode 3. Seems like a slightly better version of Alan Wake. All of the good and bad is still there. Texture wise the faces are better but even though Alan's face looks more like the actor it seems kind of....I don' know, off?
Still I'm enjoy my time with it. I'd say get the PC version on steam for half the price if this is your first go with this game.
Still I'm enjoy my time with it. I'd say get the PC version on steam for half the price if this is your first go with this game.
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TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
rofif
Can’t Git Gud
I think the original looked closer to the actor. New one looks weird and even the light hits this guy face weird
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Really?
Xbox any chance?
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Yeah that was me, I thought the original looked exactly like what it is, a 360 title displayed in high Resolution
I wouldn't say the textures was worse, they definitely better as the original are an eyesore.
But maybe I wasn't looking close enough
I'm sure you can pick them out.
My only complaint is the character models outside of Alan are still of 360 quality but a little better.
nowhat
Gold Member
I played this on a 360 some decade ago, but looking back I must have done so half asleep in the middle of the night (or completely baked - it may be both, there seems to be some correlation) because I remember very little of it. Some more major plot points, but mostly that there were things I liked (especially the presentation and atmosphere) and things I didn't (combat being a major one). A quite mixed experience overall. As some still keep gushing about this, I decided to give it another and more throughout go on PS5, just finished the main game.
The gameplay graphics look like what you'd expect from a (then very impressive-looking) game from few console generations back that has received a minor facelift. Or few shots of Botox from a used syringe in some shady back alley, as may be the case here. Increased resolution and 60fps is of course appreciated, but clearly it is an older game. Also whether some of the lighting changes are actually an improvement is debatable, but on the whole, it's fine by me, it does what it needs to. And performance has been solid, which is always nice.
The cutscenes are a whole another matter though. They target 30fps (and currently can have some serious stuttering, hopefully that gets patched) which is not ideal, but I can live with that. The character models and especially animations can look quite "retro", to put it politely. Given how much emphasis there is on the narrative in the game I would have expected both to receive much more attention, but alas this is not a Bluepoint-level remaster, let alone a proper remake, so that gets a pass too. This means there can be some unintentionally hilarious moments though. But what gets me is the faces, or rather the skin. I'm no graphics expert so I can't say if it's the textures, skin shaders or whatnot, but the way the skin reacts to ambient light just feels completely wrong. The skin shouldn't be able to "pick up" some of the tones it does. Maybe it's just me, but it looks really off-putting and can also look like the face should be a part of a completely different scene than its surroundings.
The combat, I get why Remedy wanted to do something different. Typical third person combat with automatic weapons and bazookas wouldn't be appropriate here, and using light as an integral part is fitting both thematically and visually. But I just don't like the implementation, I find the combat very messy for lack of a better term. The aiming is not that great under ideal conditions and when fighting only a single enemy, but with enough action on the screen it becomes quite literally hit-and-miss. Regular flares do an especially good job at blinding enemies while also obscuring them from the view of the player. Having L1 function both as dodge and run is just a bizarre design choice - it can be unreliable to initiate running with enemies around, and when you manage to do that, there's no visual cue to tell the player that you're running out of stamina. Alan just breaths a bit harder for a little while before crashing, which you likely won't hear because of all the other sounds from the combat. I found the combat tolerable at first, but towards the end of the game it just got tedious and boring. At no point after an encounter did I think to myself "wow, that was an epic battle!". Quite often I thought "welp, I'm glad that's over with".
I have nothing against linear games and I think not making this open world (as was the original idea) was the right call. But "linear" doesn't mean it should be "almost on rails". Here the game shows its age as well, most of the level designs are fundamentally very basic. "Wide linear" is a more recent buzzword, but surely the concept has existed much earlier, I would have preferred that approach. It's easy to determine where you should be going even without the checking compass, and while there may be some obstacles in getting from point A to point B, more often than not it's just some menial busywork like retrieving a nearby key or starting a generator. Not that moving some platforms around is that much more satisfying. Of course you can take some detours (usually in a very limited fashion) if you're so inclined, but that raises the question "but why?" - and the game doesn't do a very good job answering it. You can hunt for supplies of course (although the game is quite generous with them, if you want a refill for your flare gun it's often right around the corner), beyond that... there are the collectibles, naturally.
I don't think every game needs collectibles, but if you're going to include them, they should have at least some payoff. I quite liked the radio and TV shows, but you don't need to go out your way to find them, they're found pretty automatically along with the main story. Beyond that there's reading signs (I suppose some context to the world), knocking down can pyramids (something to do at least) and collecting coffee thermoses (if you aren't a trophy hunter or have really severe OCD there's absolutely no point to them). Personally those don't offer much motivation for exploration. Of course there are the manuscript pages as well. They are connected to the main story and may also hint about upcoming events, but while I tried for a long while to maintain my interest in them, they are just not that great in my opinion. I doubt Alan will receive a Pulitzer any time soon.
...and that was an intentional segue to the story and writing. The writing can be very heavy-handed at times - or in other words, it's Sam Lake. This is more of an observation than criticism, he has a rather distinct style that fits here reasonably well. At the same time, he's not the most versatile or eloquent writer out there, and that shows as well. The story, ehh, it's alright. I didn't hate it or anything, but it didn't blow my mind either. I guess what gets me most about the story is that it's just such a huge wasted opportunity. The premise (that Alan can affect reality with his writing) would allow for all kinds of really weird shit, but in the end what's in the game is all quite tame. Grounded even, in a way. One could argue that instead of a complete brainfuck (which I would have preferred) the game is going for that Twin Peaks mystery vibe, with a little town and the eccentric people in it, but that's really not the case either. Most of the town and its inhabitants are completely ignored, and the few ones you interact with don't really have much of a personality beyond a name and occupation.
So, this remains a mixed experience for me. I wanted to like it more than I did. But at least I tried - still have the DLCs left, maybe I'll enjoy them more.
The gameplay graphics look like what you'd expect from a (then very impressive-looking) game from few console generations back that has received a minor facelift. Or few shots of Botox from a used syringe in some shady back alley, as may be the case here. Increased resolution and 60fps is of course appreciated, but clearly it is an older game. Also whether some of the lighting changes are actually an improvement is debatable, but on the whole, it's fine by me, it does what it needs to. And performance has been solid, which is always nice.
The cutscenes are a whole another matter though. They target 30fps (and currently can have some serious stuttering, hopefully that gets patched) which is not ideal, but I can live with that. The character models and especially animations can look quite "retro", to put it politely. Given how much emphasis there is on the narrative in the game I would have expected both to receive much more attention, but alas this is not a Bluepoint-level remaster, let alone a proper remake, so that gets a pass too. This means there can be some unintentionally hilarious moments though. But what gets me is the faces, or rather the skin. I'm no graphics expert so I can't say if it's the textures, skin shaders or whatnot, but the way the skin reacts to ambient light just feels completely wrong. The skin shouldn't be able to "pick up" some of the tones it does. Maybe it's just me, but it looks really off-putting and can also look like the face should be a part of a completely different scene than its surroundings.
The combat, I get why Remedy wanted to do something different. Typical third person combat with automatic weapons and bazookas wouldn't be appropriate here, and using light as an integral part is fitting both thematically and visually. But I just don't like the implementation, I find the combat very messy for lack of a better term. The aiming is not that great under ideal conditions and when fighting only a single enemy, but with enough action on the screen it becomes quite literally hit-and-miss. Regular flares do an especially good job at blinding enemies while also obscuring them from the view of the player. Having L1 function both as dodge and run is just a bizarre design choice - it can be unreliable to initiate running with enemies around, and when you manage to do that, there's no visual cue to tell the player that you're running out of stamina. Alan just breaths a bit harder for a little while before crashing, which you likely won't hear because of all the other sounds from the combat. I found the combat tolerable at first, but towards the end of the game it just got tedious and boring. At no point after an encounter did I think to myself "wow, that was an epic battle!". Quite often I thought "welp, I'm glad that's over with".
I have nothing against linear games and I think not making this open world (as was the original idea) was the right call. But "linear" doesn't mean it should be "almost on rails". Here the game shows its age as well, most of the level designs are fundamentally very basic. "Wide linear" is a more recent buzzword, but surely the concept has existed much earlier, I would have preferred that approach. It's easy to determine where you should be going even without the checking compass, and while there may be some obstacles in getting from point A to point B, more often than not it's just some menial busywork like retrieving a nearby key or starting a generator. Not that moving some platforms around is that much more satisfying. Of course you can take some detours (usually in a very limited fashion) if you're so inclined, but that raises the question "but why?" - and the game doesn't do a very good job answering it. You can hunt for supplies of course (although the game is quite generous with them, if you want a refill for your flare gun it's often right around the corner), beyond that... there are the collectibles, naturally.
I don't think every game needs collectibles, but if you're going to include them, they should have at least some payoff. I quite liked the radio and TV shows, but you don't need to go out your way to find them, they're found pretty automatically along with the main story. Beyond that there's reading signs (I suppose some context to the world), knocking down can pyramids (something to do at least) and collecting coffee thermoses (if you aren't a trophy hunter or have really severe OCD there's absolutely no point to them). Personally those don't offer much motivation for exploration. Of course there are the manuscript pages as well. They are connected to the main story and may also hint about upcoming events, but while I tried for a long while to maintain my interest in them, they are just not that great in my opinion. I doubt Alan will receive a Pulitzer any time soon.
...and that was an intentional segue to the story and writing. The writing can be very heavy-handed at times - or in other words, it's Sam Lake. This is more of an observation than criticism, he has a rather distinct style that fits here reasonably well. At the same time, he's not the most versatile or eloquent writer out there, and that shows as well. The story, ehh, it's alright. I didn't hate it or anything, but it didn't blow my mind either. I guess what gets me most about the story is that it's just such a huge wasted opportunity. The premise (that Alan can affect reality with his writing) would allow for all kinds of really weird shit, but in the end what's in the game is all quite tame. Grounded even, in a way. One could argue that instead of a complete brainfuck (which I would have preferred) the game is going for that Twin Peaks mystery vibe, with a little town and the eccentric people in it, but that's really not the case either. Most of the town and its inhabitants are completely ignored, and the few ones you interact with don't really have much of a personality beyond a name and occupation.
So, this remains a mixed experience for me. I wanted to like it more than I did. But at least I tried - still have the DLCs left, maybe I'll enjoy them more.
01011001
Banned
every game that isn't complete trash nowadays will be called a masterpiece by someone...
Alan Wake is good, I love it, but calling it a masterpiece really is a stretch bigger than the CfA2 Great Wall
MrFunSocks
Banned
Loved this game on the 360, played through it again via BC, but this remaster doesn't scream needed to me. Seems like it was probably done just to get it on PS5 for all the people that have never played it.
Feel Like I'm On 42
Member
Remaster was absolutely needed ^^ as the games incredibly low res on xbox one bc. If you're a console gamer it was needed. 4k/60 fps is a huge upgrade over 720p/30..
Feel Like I'm On 42
Member
Masterpiece in b-rate psychological horror atmosphere. It really is in those respects. It absolutely nails the vibe it's going for.
Impotaku
Member
So far i'm really enjoying it it's been so long since i played the x360 version i can't remember exactly how it used to look, so far i don't have any complaints. Then again i'm not some super anal graphics whore either so i don't have unrealistic expectations. For £23 it's providing some early fun pre halloween entertainment so far, the only thing i'm dreading is the thermos hunt LOL. Man how much coffee does Alan really need?
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Yeah I don't get the complaints either, but I never played the original.
It's no PS5 game but outside the character models it looks like a nice PS4 title.
And if you're played Remedy's other games it plays very similar imo
SkylineRKR
Member
Original PC version does look better. Especially the faces and the lighting looks to be more natural.
But for console, well I played AW last year on Series S and its a sub 720p (540p, 4x MSAA in fact) 30fps game. Its very janky and really blurry. Its hard to recommend it instead of the remaster. Though the original did feel eerie because of the very gritty and foggy looks, like SH used to do.
But for console, well I played AW last year on Series S and its a sub 720p (540p, 4x MSAA in fact) 30fps game. Its very janky and really blurry. Its hard to recommend it instead of the remaster. Though the original did feel eerie because of the very gritty and foggy looks, like SH used to do.
Fake
Member
Most of Alan Wake fans played at first on Xbox 360 and if I remember right Alan Wake 360 suffer heavily from black crushes.
Wizz-Art
Member
I did call it a masterpiece and the best game I have ever played, it proudly stands at the top of my all time games list. Nothing comes close to create so much atmosphere as Alan Wake does and it's so well written and paced excellent there is no dull moment.
Playing it in the dark with the volume of my surround system cranked up. Walking in the woods, hearing those sounds every step you take, it's insanely tense and immersive when you realize that you are even holding your breath just so you could focus better on the sounds and where they're coming from. For a 2010 Xbox360 game it was Insanely good and I wished they did a remake rather then a remaster.
I hope there will be a sequel on the way because there's so much more they could do with this mystery story and with the current gen they can go absolutely crazy with things they wanted to do with this one but couldn't because of hardware limitations.
To me the ending of Alan Wake gave me goose bumps and is the most memorable ending in any game I ever played over the course of 30+ years of playing games. Rarely I'm invested in a game like I usually am with really great movies or TV shows, I could "binge play" it but I'd rather take it slowly 1 episode a playing session works the best for me. It's such a genius game and this remaster just remind me of that fact after 11 and a bit years.
Playing it in the dark with the volume of my surround system cranked up. Walking in the woods, hearing those sounds every step you take, it's insanely tense and immersive when you realize that you are even holding your breath just so you could focus better on the sounds and where they're coming from. For a 2010 Xbox360 game it was Insanely good and I wished they did a remake rather then a remaster.
I hope there will be a sequel on the way because there's so much more they could do with this mystery story and with the current gen they can go absolutely crazy with things they wanted to do with this one but couldn't because of hardware limitations.
To me the ending of Alan Wake gave me goose bumps and is the most memorable ending in any game I ever played over the course of 30+ years of playing games. Rarely I'm invested in a game like I usually am with really great movies or TV shows, I could "binge play" it but I'd rather take it slowly 1 episode a playing session works the best for me. It's such a genius game and this remaster just remind me of that fact after 11 and a bit years.
Fake
Member
Maybe they put a strong montion blur, is there any option in the menu to disable?
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Yes there's an option for that
SCB3
Member
Yea I just turned it off, seems a bit better,
Come to think about it, I have the same issue with Avengers as well, I can't play that for more than a few hours without feeling a bit weird
Fake
Member
Devs are to blame here because a powerful montion blur can do motion sickness even on the people with no historic of eye sickness.
There are games that really fail in that departament, so vary between games. I was never a fan of montion blur myself.
funkygunther
Banned
I got this but it’ll sit on my shelf for a while but I loved the original, played it a few times on PC and 360. Bit annoyed that the remaster doesn’t come with the American Nightmare fever dream though.
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