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

B

bj00rn_

Banned
Remedy: I'm very disappointed by the way you implemented DRM on this game.

My wife was trying to play this game with her tagname on the same Xbox that I bought the game on, but when we booted up the game she could only play the "trial" version of the game.. I don't get it.

I mean, I can't recall any other of my games having this kind of odd restriction. What are you trying to accomplish by doing this kind of thing?
 
J

j0hnny_385

Member
bj00rn_ said:
Remedy: I'm very disappointed by the way you implemented DRM on this game.

My wife was trying to play this game with her tagname on the same Xbox that I bought the game on, but when we booted up the game she could only play the "trial" version of the game.. I don't get it.

I mean, I can't recall any other of my games having this kind of odd restriction. What are you trying to accomplish by doing this kind of thing?
Click to expand...

DAFUQ?

First time I'm hearing this. Can anyone confirm/deny this?
 
P

PetriRMD

Neo Member
bj00rn_, there should not be any 'special' DRM implementation (AFAIK, all XBLA games have the same DRM solution). Maybe there's something wrong with your local cache?
 
B

bj00rn_

Banned
Thanks for the replies everyone. Yeah, there may be something screwed up with my system. I'll look into it. Sorry for blaming the devs :)
 
O

oatmeal

Banned
Gone through the second chapter now, I'm playing it as slow as humanly possible. Taking days off between sessions.

I'm really enjoying it. I'm glad it's kind of easy, it's letting me get into the atmosphere a bit more rather than worrying too much.

I'm not very good at arcade, I hit one of those splitters with a flare gun and didn't realize that it was a splitter...not a good idea.

I do worry about going back to the first AW, which I still need to do on Nightmare. Being able to run longer is so much better.
 
C

CyReN

Member
I enjoyed it, just didn't like the
repeating areas
over and over that much, became somewhat of a overkill towards the end. Loved that psycho song and think the game is well worth the $15.

8/10.
 
O

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
fyi, don't have anything in your dl que when playing this game. as soon as the download completes it gives you the trial message and kicks you back to the title screen. i found out the hard way in the midst of a fight till dawn game :(
 
T

Truant

Member
Remedy, I'm really loving this. I hope the next Alan Wake game will have the open/hub world feel to it - it really complements the combat.

So far this is better than AW1.

A few niggles:

1. I don't know anyone who plays with the default camera side. You should let us pick. I constantly have to click the stick to change to my preferred side!
2. Image quality is still kinda bad. The mechanic girl's hair, especially. That's some dithered bullshit I hoped we would be past right now.
3. The AW series could be a bit deeper in terms of systems. Some sort of level, perk, inventory management or anything that would give the player a sense of progression and better incentive to explore.
 
S

SlickVic

Member
Enjoyed this a lot. Probably took me a shade over 5 hours to get through, which felt pretty reasonable to me for the $15 price. As for the game itself, I admit I initially was annoyed when I found out you
had to go through the same areas again
, but I felt they varied the objectives each time just enough to save it from feeling too monotonous. Loved collecting and listening to the manuscripts, and thought Mr. Scratch made for a good villain (
loved that scene with him dancing to The Happy Song
). While I'd probably prefer to see a proper sequel next, I certainly didn't mind the small story format of American Nightmare, and would be open to seeing them do another one of these. Can't wait to get some more Alan Wake.
 
D

daevv

Member
Just got the "Poetry in Motion" achievement after a few days of attempts. Turns out it was rather simple.

Use the Oil Field map, Kill one of the first 2 Taken, keep dodging the second till you build your multiplier to 9. While dodging collect some flares and flash bangs, the flare gun, Magnum (top of the map from starting), Combat Shotgun (bottom of map from starting). Kill the second taken and head to the corner of the map (to the right while facing the Combat Shotgun case). Hold up here and kill the waves as fast as you can with the Magnum. Use the Combat Shotgun on the big chainsaw guys, raven Taken, and splitters. Kill that grenade bastard as fast as possible. When your getting close to the last guy in a wave and low on ammo start heading towards the resupply. That way you'll be close to the resupply when you kill the last guy and have a few seconds to get it before the next wave. At the 4:00 mark start using the flare gun when they are grouped together. I got 100k and the achievement before sunrise.
 
J

j0hnny_385

Member
Arcade talk a bit...

So I've been trying to get 3 stars on all non-Nightmare maps and here's an interesting, accidental tactic I "discovered".

At the very end of one of the maps, I was around ~40.000 points with ~10sec to go when I got another, huge wave. It was filled with enemies and those two big guys with chainsaws.
I was at 9x multiplier and I ran as hell whacking them as much as I could when the timer touched 0, they all "evaporated" and suddenly I was at around 80.000 points. w00t!

So...trying to get a 9x multiplier at the very end and deliberately keeping as much of them as you can before the sun hits seems like a good idea to massively boost your score.

Thoughts?
 
Xander51

Xander51

Member
Truant said:
A few niggles:

1. I don't know anyone who plays with the default camera side. You should let us pick. I constantly have to click the stick to change to my preferred side!
Click to expand...

The camera is intelligent and will swing around and try to maintain a nice-looking composition of the scene. So, there's no true "Default side." Play around with Alan's movement and the camera movement for a bit and you'll see it in action.
 
D

daevv

Member
IvanI said:
Arcade talk a bit...

So I've been trying to get 3 stars on all non-Nightmare maps and here's an interesting, accidental tactic I "discovered".

At the very end of one of the maps, I was around ~40.000 points with ~10sec to go when I got another, huge wave. It was filled with enemies and those two big guys with chainsaws.
I was at 9x multiplier and I ran as hell whacking them as much as I could when the timer touched 0, they all "evaporated" and suddenly I was at around 80.000 points. w00t!

So...trying to get a 9x multiplier at the very end and deliberately keeping as much of them as you can before the sun hits seems like a good idea to massively boost your score.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I've done this a few times and it works. I have even kept one Taken alive and used him to boost my multiplier to 9 then with 20 secs left, kill him, and dodge the new wave till sunrise for a nice score!
 
C

CadetMahoney

Member
bj00rn_ said:
Thanks for the replies everyone. Yeah, there may be something screwed up with my system. I'll look into it. Sorry for blaming the devs :)
Click to expand...

This may be something where you download the trial then use an unlock key. Then the bug happens.

This happened at a videogame tournament with King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match (xbox live) where someone bought their 360 and same thing happened. Don't take my word for it though, my memory is bad. It's why I never use unlock keys and just buy the game and download it again.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
Beat it tonight. Enjoyed it much more than the original Wake game believe it or not. The replaying areas didn't bother me at all since they changed things up so much each time. Also the Asgard song rocked as did Emma.

Anyway good job Remedy, looking forward to your next project.
 
U

Uno Venova

Banned
This is good so far, it's good to come back to the Alan Wake combat, I'm having fun with the new firepower and enemies. The visuals are great too.
 
G

Grisby

Member
I finished the other night. I liked the game overall but don't think it was quite up to the Writer in terms of gameplay and fun variety. However, this was a great Alan Wake experience and it was so neat to have a different style/vibe. The repeating maps worked out story wise but it ended up feeling a little flat by the last go around. I also think that there was too much ammo, which lessened my enjoyment because this got rid of a lot of tension.

But more weapons though and Remedy knows how to make guns sound good. I liked all of the new characters although I thought it was interesting how they were all female. I think Serena was my favorite due to her recurring eh hem, 'issue'. Lots of funny dialog and the outside world stuff with the radios was well down. Overall it was a good story and a really awesome download.

Now to tackle arcade mode.
 
B

bubnbob

Banned
Why do some lights not turn on in Arcade Mode? I'm trying to set up a nice choke point on the left side of Cemetary, but it will NEVER activate the light next to the revolver. What the fuck, remedy. Fix this shit.
 
Xander51

Xander51

Member
bubnbob said:
Why do some lights not turn on in Arcade Mode? I'm trying to set up a nice choke point on the left side of Cemetary, but it will NEVER activate the light next to the revolver. What the fuck, remedy. Fix this shit.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it's designed that way to make Arcade mode more challenging. Only certain lights are on in each map, and once you use them that's it.
 
T

teraMEL0S

Member
bj00rn_ said:
Remedy: I'm very disappointed by the way you implemented DRM on this game.

My wife was trying to play this game with her tagname on the same Xbox that I bought the game on, but when we booted up the game she could only play the "trial" version of the game.. I don't get it.

I mean, I can't recall any other of my games having this kind of odd restriction. What are you trying to accomplish by doing this kind of thing?
Click to expand...

I dont know if you are still having any problems, but you should try having her sign in her gamertag as second player while you have yours signed in as first. Then have her access the game and see if it will let you guys play it in full.
 
B

bubnbob

Banned
Xander51 said:
I'm pretty sure it's designed that way to make Arcade mode more challenging. Only certain lights are on in each map, and once you use them that's it.
Click to expand...

I watched videos online and they actually use a whole plan around this single light.

I've tried restarting several times, I've tried using the other lights in hopes it randomly chooses it.
 
C

CadetMahoney

Member
bubnbob said:
Why do some lights not turn on in Arcade Mode? I'm trying to set up a nice choke point on the left side of Cemetary, but it will NEVER activate the light next to the revolver. What the fuck, remedy. Fix this shit.
Click to expand...

Probably a randomizer for "balance" purposes. Not sure I agree with it though.
 
D

daevv

Member
I find running through/using some of the lights when not needed will often make different ones come on at the start of a new wave.
 
B

bubnbob

Banned
Got Poetry in Motion thanks to NOT Cemetary, but Oil Field. The light that is needed would turn on every time. Still a pretty difficult achievement due to needing an entire no-miss run, but it's out of the way... just Survivor next but I'm pretty sure that's not as hard. I hit 50k without even trying.
 
P

pakkit

Banned
This game...is not nearly as good as the original Alan Wake. The campiness and rigid structure work against the suspenseful elements of the original. From a narrative standpoint, it almost feels like a completely different product altogether.

The gunplay has been wholly improved, however, and the diversity of enemies is appreciated. I'm enjoying my time with the game, but it's repetitive action makes this game much easier to put away than the original.

American Nightmare has served as a good appetizer to AW2, but it doesn't fully scratch that itch.
 
G

Grisby

Member



Yeah, finally starting to get 3 stars on nightmare maps. Unlocked the enter nightmare achievement and survivor one at the same time. Nothing like seeing the map light up with the break of dawn, such an awesome touch.
Neuromancer said:
Check out the Balance Slays the Demon music video in the extras menu if you haven't already. Good stuff.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Poets of the Fall gggggooooo. I also enjoyed the credits song a lot.
 
P

Phonomezer

Banned
Well I seem to be really taking my sweet time with a 4 hour game, only just made it up to the
drive through cinema
. The lighting composition in this area is terrific. I'm still scared of encountering the Taken, lol.
 
S

Sojgat

Member
Arcade talk a bit...

So I've been trying to get 3 stars on all non-Nightmare maps and here's an interesting, accidental tactic I "discovered".

At the very end of one of the maps, I was around ~40.000 points with ~10sec to go when I got another, huge wave. It was filled with enemies and those two big guys with chainsaws.
I was at 9x multiplier and I ran as hell whacking them as much as I could when the timer touched 0, they all "evaporated" and suddenly I was at around 80.000 points. w00t!

So...trying to get a 9x multiplier at the very end and deliberately keeping as much of them as you can before the sun hits seems like a good idea to massively boost your score.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

This is how I got the Survivor achievement. I try to use this strategy all the time, points also count for taken who follow you under lights. I love the arcade mode in this game, I would probably buy dlc maps for it if they had some achievements to work towards.
 
O

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
pakkit said:
This game...is not nearly as good as the original Alan Wake. The campiness and rigid structure work against the suspenseful elements of the original. From a narrative standpoint, it almost feels like a completely different product altogether.

The gunplay has been wholly improved, however, and the diversity of enemies is appreciated. I'm enjoying my time with the game, but it's repetitive action makes this game much easier to put away than the original.

American Nightmare has served as a good appetizer to AW2, but it doesn't fully scratch that itch.
Click to expand...

i... agree. huge AW fan and i must admit, after completing the game and sitting on it a few days, it isnt nearly as good as he original for the reason you mentioned. still, as a fan, a worthy purchase, but i would have preferred something more along the lines of the dlc content
 
W

wetflame

Pizza Dog
Really enjoyed the original game, may pick this up. The only thing holding me back is knowing that I've got ME3 coming in a week and so probably won't be able to put much time into this. Might wait for a sale somewhere down the line and re-play AW beforehand.
 
SRTtoZ

SRTtoZ

Member
I like the game, its pretty good and gives me more Alan Wake but all this game does is make me want Alan Wake 2. I mean its good in its own merits but you can really tell its an 'XBLA' game because of some of the meh graphics and the rehashing of levels and not much story (besides the manuscripts). For 15 bux its great, but yea, get your asses working on AW2 please...
 
S

SlasherJPC

Banned
Was finally able to download this at my work location (took forever) but I gotta say I love me some Alan Wake. I will admit this just only makes me want Alan Wake 2 more. I think with this being like a in between xbla game, it sorta gets the free range to go a little bit wild which I think it does as in the broken narrative, small story, (lots of guns and action) and repeated sections.. but they do throw in enough little tidbits of stuff thats occuring/occured after Alan Wake 1 and I'm pretty sure that this is just a "Well this is an event that happended between 1 and 2" yet its contructed and isn't really important to the overall story of the series thus, new comers can check this out and when Alan Wake 2 eventually is released we will not need to have played American Nightmare whatsoever to understand. I do hope though, in keeping with the style of the first, they have a extras feature in 2 with a previously on alan wake, which recaps the first game for newbies to the series.
 
F

Feindflug

Member
Phonomezer said:
Well I seem to be really taking my sweet time with a 4 hour game, only just made it up to the
drive through cinema
. The lighting composition in this area is terrific. I'm still scared of encountering the Taken, lol.
Click to expand...

The
Drive in
is such a beautiful area, game looks crazy and not only for a XBLA title...the post processing in the Nightmare Arcade levels is also amazing.

That being said I love the combat in this game so much, so much more refined and polished compared to the first game - from the new enemies to the new great weapons...even though I got all the achievements I can't stop playing the Nightmare Arcade Action levels.

I love this series so much...hopefully we'll see something from Alan Wake 2 soon. :)
 
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