Alan Wake's American Nightmare |OT| Not a lake, a primordial ocean.

ok, I'm gonna hit that Arcade mode hard and I need advice. What's the best way to get all three stars, etc.?
On what to pay attention? How to move? Etc. etc.

hartman01.jpg


TACTICS PEOPLE!
 
IvanI said:
ok, I'm gonna hit that Arcade mode hard and I need advice. What's the best way to get all three stars, etc.?
On what to pay attention? How to move? Etc. etc.

hartman01.jpg


TACTICS PEOPLE!
Click to expand...

i use the first wave to build up the multiplier a bit (say 4 or 5x) and to collect weapons - crossbow and revolver. the revolver packs a punch with a good amount of ammo and the cross bo can really kick ass when you have loads of taken as its both really powerful and you dont need to have removed the darkness from baddies before killing them.

tactics wise, make your way towards a light or ammo resuppy box so the are accessible when you need them. never et yourself be surrounded by taken, its not too difficult to sprint away so they are all coming, at least for a while, straight at you again - making it a perfect time to blast them all with a flare gun to the crowd. if notice a grenadier, pop him off first. the arent all that likely to kill you, but the radius of the nades will often just tag you enough to screw up your multiplier which is key to a big score.

big scores are a result of balancing a big multiplier with killing more taken. if you take it too slow building your multiplier up to 9 after each time you get hit, you wont have enough time to kill many taken. however, if you charge into battle constantly, killing taken left and right, you may find yourself on VERY difficult waves of enemies with lots of time left on the clock and ammo running low. its a balancing act depending on your skill with dodge and battle awareness. those that are great likely are killing a ton of taken as their multiplier doesnt drop often. however, if you are still struggling with being consistent with the dodge, you can still get a 3 star score by taking it a bit slower to keep the enemy waves easier and your multiplier higher.

last of all, make sure your multiplier is highest at the end of the round. when dawn hits, all taken that are after you you will be killed adding to your score. if you are on a higher wave of enemies, and with a high multiplier, this can be a drastic boost to your score
 
One thing to note about the grenadier on the nightmare levels. If you kill him, he will immediately spawn again. So it is best to use him to your advantage and lure any Taken chasing you into his grenades and kill him as the last enemy of the wave.
 
AW: AN is more of the same and I'm loving it; I wasn't expecting too much but it's been pleasantly awesome so far. It kind of reminds me of the setup that Dead Rising: Case Zero had.

Hopefully this is just a prelude to part 2.
 
Lima said:
One thing to note about the grenadier on the nightmare levels. If you kill him, he will immediately spawn again. So it is best to use him to your advantage and lure any Taken chasing you into his grenades and kill him as the last enemy of the wave.
Click to expand...

oh? didnt know that, but it makes sense. also, they dont seem great at chasing wake, so its pretty easy to place a large object or two between you and the nades will stop till you have a line of sight again

FoeHammer said:
AW: AN is more of the same and I'm loving it; I wasn't expecting too much but it's been pleasantly awesome so far. It kind of reminds me of the setup that Dead Rising: Case Zero had.

Hopefully this is just a prelude to part 2.
Click to expand...

the last line of the credits confirms it =)
 
op_ivy said:
oh? didnt know that, but it makes sense. also, they dont seem great at chasing wake, so its pretty easy to place a large object or two between you and the nades will stop till you have a line of sight again



the last line of the credits confirms it =)
Click to expand...

well in as much as the last line of the credits in Max Payne 2 'confirmed' Max Payne 3.

just finished the story mode, and off to play some fight till dawn.
 
I finished this earlier. I liked the game a lot, but it's too easy. I didn't die once. There's far too much ammo lying around IMO. Also, the puzzles aren't really puzzles. It's like being given the answers to a crossword and you just have to write them in.

The arcade mode is cool, but I wish it had online co-op. It could have been a COD:WAW Nazi zombies kind of experience which would have been fun with friends. I've played a couple of levels of it, but I don't think I'll be going back to it.

Despite these criticisms, I don't regret buying the game at all. It worked out to about £7-£8 and I got about 5-6 hours out of it (including playing the arcade mode a few times) and I found it a really fun game - it was just too easy. I would certainly recommend trying the demo anyway.
 
Gah, I do wish there had been less ammo. The challenge just isn't where I'd like it to be.

I do love now that Alan seems to have grown as a character and that his manuscript pages sometimes reflect on his past 'dick-ishness' (which I liked). Great stuff. I could also hear the announcer say, "Champion of Light" for the rest of my days, love it.
 
Grisby said:
Gah, I do wish there had been less ammo. The challenge just isn't where I'd like it to be.

I do love now that Alan seems to have grown as a character and that his manuscript pages sometimes reflect on his past 'dick-ishness' (which I liked). Great stuff. I could also hear the announcer say, "Champion of Light" for the rest of my days, love it.
Click to expand...

Just curious, are you guys playing on the normal difficulty?

There is a lot of ammo, but I really enjoy AW's combat even if it is a bit on the easy side. The light/dark mechanic is pretty unique IMO.

Also, the narration and manuscript stuff is awesome as expected.
 
FoeHammer said:
Just curious, are you guys playing on the normal difficulty?

There is a lot of ammo, but I really enjoy AW's combat even if it is a bit on the easy side. The light/dark mechanic is pretty unique IMO.

Also, the narration and manuscript stuff is awesome as expected.
Click to expand...
Yep, no difficulty change. I really like the combat, always have. It's just the maps are a bit small and the larger ammo cache kills some of the tension.
 
FoeHammer said:
Hmm, my bad. I just assumed there was a nightmare mode a la the original.

I wonder if they'll patch that in; It doesn't seem like it would be a huge undertaking.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it would be nice if they do! I'd be well up for another play through on a harder difficulty setting.
 
IvanI said:
http://pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/132898340370.jpg[/IMG]

Thank you very much, sir! Much appreciated!

Off to the demons we go!
Click to expand...

no prob - those were geared towards the normal ones though, not really nightmare - which i havent really worked out much of a strategy for yet aside from running like hell!
 
fight till dawn is good, but i am not yet good at it ;)

enjoying it though. the bailing hook guys are the ones that keep breaking my combos. not having any trouble avoiding grenades, it's those fast double tagging sons of bitches that keep screwing me over.
 
i'm still having trouble figuring out where good items are in most levels, especially the caves. ideally, you'd have a route that nets you the best weapons/ammo/health and stick to that, but i havent quite worked out what that would be in most cases.
 
Man, I'm so glad another Alan Wake game got made, from what I've played so far it's a really neat addition to the series and XBLA. Definitely agree on the increase in ammo though, there just isn't much tension and so far the game has been very easy as a result. Hopefully it just means Remedy will strike a better balance if there is indeed an Alan Wake 2.

Love the game's colour pallete, and it really looks great in general. The PC version should be lovely.
 
Complete ammo refill stations was indeed a bit too aracady and took away a lot of the possible difficulty.
 
Just finished off the Story mode there, really enjoyed it.

It just wouldn't be an Alan Wake game without a stand off with some Old Gods playing!
 
op_ivy said:
it took me probably about 6-7 hours with no radar and taking my time exploring and soaking in the atmosphere.
Click to expand...

about the same here. no radar, got all the pages... watched all the TVs, listened to all the radios... often didn't know where to go next. that's not counting fight till dawn mode.
 
Just finished it, really great, story was better than what I was expecting, though it didn't give me the spine shivering OMG moments like the first one, I hope they go back to that for AW2. Also it brought up a lot of questions in good old Alan Wake form. Overall very good and I can't wait to go back through and replay it, here's to us getting AW2 sooner rather than later!
 
ending was rather weak IMO
hope we havent seen the last of mr scratch! - i'm sure we havent
 
Just encountered the act 2 conversation freeze. Restarted the chapter, hoping that fixed it.

Really loving standalone downloadable semi-games like American Nightmare and InFamous: Festival of Blood. I hope this becomes a trend.
 
whats the deal with the arcade cabinet in the drive-in projector room? death really was it? a classic remedy title?
 
Marco1 said:
I wonder if AW2 on next-gen will follow the original plan to go open-world.
Click to expand...

It did not work for their first game, why should it work for their next? The hub-like structure of AN is a good indication of why Alan Wake was good and a more open aproach is not the way to go. A combination of both would be nice of course, but the linear narrating structure is what made Alan Wake what it is.
 
Incendiary said:
I spent like 4 hours today on the Trailer Park level trying to get Poetry in Motion. Like, seriously, I know the first 6-7 minutes of that map like the back of my hand now: what spawns in each round, where they spawn, where all the flares/flash-bangs/ammo locations are. I am perfect through the first 7 minutes and then it all goes to hell during a round with a splitter, a bird-man, and a grenadier. One of those three always gets me, or one of the quick bastards hits me right as I'm going to eliminate one of those. Dammit.

Also, I've gone back and played some of Alan Wake to pick up some achievements I never got the first time around, and man you can tell there's a huge difference in combat between this one and the original. American Nightmare is a lot, lot quicker. I think it's a good thing, to be honest.

EDIT: Another thing I've noticed is Alan took a trip to the gym between Alan Wake and American Nightmare. Wow the difference in sprinting is tremendous.
Click to expand...

Haha man you picked the hardest map for that achievement. I think Trailer Park is by far the most difficult out of all of them. Oil Field, son. Way easier to get that achievement. Just have to look out for the damn grenade guy as always. He's the one that will screw it all up.
 
Got a question for people who have beaten the game. Vague spoilers involving objects you can interact with.

Just started the third act and I found that the telephone booth outside the motel (which I had been checking every time knowing Remedy's fondness for interactive phones and such in Max Payne 1/2) has a recording you can listen to. Have there been objects like this I've missed in the first two acts? Obviously there are the TVs and radios, but have there been other ones that might not be as immediately noticeable?

I love stuff like that. <3 Remedy.
 
twice in a row i had my perfect no hit streak end right at sunrise :(
 
Just beat it now to finish gathering up those loose manuscripts. Great game and makes me long for more Alan Wake with a next-gen touch.
 
Well I have collected all the pages and finished the campaign and got to say that I loved the whole
time loop
aspect and not really encountered that for some time in a video game. I really hope that they steer more to the HP love craft influence with the dark presence, if it ever gets stronger in the world and start to shift reality.
 
ZombieFred said:
Well I have collected all the pages and finished the campaign and got to say that I loved the whole
time loop
aspect and not really encountered that for some time in a video game. I really hope that they steer more to the HP love craft influence with the dark presence, if it ever gets stronger in the world and start to shift reality.
Click to expand...

You got that too?
I thought it was only me that got a bit of a Lovecraftian vibe there near the end. Made me ooooh. I want more of that!
 
Elginer said:
You got that too?
I thought it was only me that got a bit of a Lovecraftian vibe there near the end. Made me ooooh. I want more of that!
Click to expand...

That's the impression I am getting now especially when Mr Scratch is referring the dark presence
as multi entities, “them and the big bastards”, so I am going for the impressions of old ancient gods, and their goal of wanting to go into the real world and seek utter chaos and warp reality as we know it.
I can see AW2's technology being able to add a lot more different style of creatures and other unique enemies.
 
Finished, and am quite happy with it overall.

Pros:
Combat is much less clunky
Combat is much faster
Combat is more varied with different enemies and weapons
Mr Scratch is a great antagonist
FMV is even better this time
Manuscripts much better this time
Better looking than Alan Wake (increased resolution, MSAA & better Alan character model, especially face)
No HUD mode is fantastic
Soundtrack continues to be great

Cons:
Side-characters don't look great
Scientist lady has a terrible voice actresses. Dire.
The loop mechanic is used one too many times. Got a little sick of it the last time around. Especially annoying Scientist lady.

Neither Pro nor Con:
I found a few moments/implications a bit disturbing.
Drug Rape?
I'm not saying mature topics like this should be avoided, far from it. Just was surprised by how disgusted I felt.
And then weird, because most of the FMV murders were kind of comical in a twisted way I enjoyed watching.
 
ZombieFred said:
That's the impression I am getting now especially when Mr Scratch is referring the dark presence
as multi entities, “them and the big bastards”, so I am going for the impressions of old ancient gods, and their goal of wanting to go into the real world and seek utter chaos and warp reality as we know it.
I can see AW2's technology being able to add a lot more different style of creatures and other unique enemies.
Click to expand...

That's what I got as well, and if that's the direction Remedy is taking the series I am SUPER hyped for that. With this base engine and the tech they've been working on with powerful hardware it's going to be amazing.
 
I ADORED the Groundhog Day conceit. I'm a big believer in getting to know small areas over a period of time in video games, so this was right up my ally. Super cool little experience. Props to Remedy.

Also, both title screens are super cool.
 
Just incredible. Probably 4-5th best story this gen after Bioshock, RDR, Portal 2, that's about it. Throw in V-sync and you just made a huge improvement for this gen Remedy. As for next gen that is great and all, but you really delivered on the one thing I wanted improved upon from Alan Wake. It helps so much when playing a game with this kind of story and atmosphere. One other thing I wanted improved as combat and man does it feel that much more fluid this time around. A+ job on XBLA and pretty much up there with Shadow Complex, Braid, and Limbo.

Bring on Alan Wake 2.
 
Rez said:
I ADORED the ____________ conceit. I'm a big believer in getting to know small areas over a period of time in video games, so this was right up my ally. Super cool little experience. Props to Remedy.

Also, both title screens are super cool.
Click to expand...

you should spoiler tag that
 
Just finished. Loved this game so much. Great to see Alan return and take on new Taken and Mr Scratch was a great bad guy. Really dug the story and I liked the supporting cast. Radios and televisions were great. Environments and atmosphere are fantastic, great visuals. Loved the Rod Serling-esque narrator and some of the comedic bits here and there. And the combat felt a lot better this time around. Enemy encounters felt more fun and balanced in comparison to the first game. Super-fun taking on the Taken.

Oh man, so many implications for Alan Wake 2.

I wonder what these Big Bastards are up to... doesn't sound pleasant. And I loved the time loop nature of the story, it was hilarious in a sick way. I like to think Alan did return to the real world... but only for a little while.

Is there any validity to the theory that if you play
Balance Slays The Demon by the Old Gods of Asgard backwards, it reveals a message that says ''It will happen again, in another town, a town called Ordinary.''
 
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
Oh man, so many implications for Alan Wake 2.

I wonder what these Big Bastards are up to... doesn't sound pleasant. And I loved the time loop nature of the story, it was hilarious in a sick way. I like to think Alan did return to the real world... but only for a little while.

Is there any validity to the theory that if you play
Balance Slays The Demon by the Old Gods of Asgard backwards, it reveals a message that says ''It will happen again, in another town, a town called Ordinary.''
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a nice big clue on where Alan Wake 2 will take place,
with a new location being Ordinary (quite the pun there). I wonder what variety in the environments we will have this time around? I am sure it will still use a lot of assets that Bright Falls had, them not using any of that would be insane.
But yes, I'm licking my lips to see a much more refined and further tech-advance Alan Wake sequel, especially with that facial (and animation?) technology they hinted from an Edge article a while back. Here's hoping they will show a teaser at E3!
 
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