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My name is Alan Wake. I'm a writer. |OT|

Plasma

Banned
supermackem said:
Yes mate, dont worry if the postman hasnt dropped it in mine came in the van its pretty heavy and i dont think it will fit in the letterbox.

Ah thanks for letting us know, just ran downstairs quickly before because I thought it had come and it turned out to be Sainsbury with the shopping ):
 

Sordid

Member
supermackem said:
Yes mate, dont worry if the postman hasnt dropped it in mine came in the van its pretty heavy and i dont think it will fit in the letterbox.

Can't see a van coming this late now :*(
 

Spookie

Member
My spoiler free impression of the game can be summed up like this:

I'm enjoying a sandwich from my favourite local shop. Only to find once I've eaten most of it there is mould on the crust. Then a worm pops out the other end.

Explained:
I fucking love Remedy, I did silly things to get hold of Max Payne 1 & 2 early on the PC. But much like Max Payne, the game is spoiled by some flaws that litter the game. Like a skid mark on a beautiful white rug. The latter half of the game drags out slower than Titanic & Avatar back to back. It totally over stays it's welcome due to the light mechanic going absoultely no where and the enemy design never deviating from what you met at the start of the game. Then there is the ending- if they pull a Prince of Persia. I'll go batshit.

Don't get me wrong. Flawed as it is I enjoyed the game until the last couple of chapters
5 & 6 for me felt like they were going nowhere quick
.
 
My mate who ordered with HMV just got his delivered there. But the rest of the mail he got at 10am or so. So still a tiny bit of hope for some of you!
 

conman

Member
Spookie said:
Don't get me wrong. Flawed as it is I enjoyed the game until the last couple of chapters
5 & 6 for me felt like they were going nowhere quick
.
I agree. But I loved the game regardless. :D

I think people's ultimate opinions of the game will come down to how they respond to the last two episodes.
 

Einbroch

Banned
Impressions after beating the game:

+ Gameplay is rock solid.
+ Atmosphere is amazing.
+ Environmental graphics are absolutely astounding (especially in "fog")
+ Soundtrack and voice acting range from okay to great.
+ First 2/3 of the game is paced well.
+ Story is interesting
+ Some battles are hectic and I was going "woo!" afterwards

- Last 1/3 of the game drags.
- Ending is too "wtf" for me.
- Lip syncing...so distracting
- Camera swinging around when using a flare at low health is the worst idea ever.
- Final battle was too easy
- Poltergeists are the cheapest and most frustrating things ever

Overall it was a very good game. A solid, solid rental.
 
Damn, forgot to preorder to CE the other day. For Gamestop, can you do it online and then pick it up in-store?
Obviously they don't let you pick up the CE without preorder.
 

Einbroch

Banned
BenjaminBirdie said:
So does that imply that the game leaves you with no interest in any future episodes?
Slight interest, but if the game concludes with the ending it currently has I would be satisfied. There's a slight cliffhanger, sure, but it's like a season finale of say...Dexter. There's that cliffhanger at the end, but the story has been told.

Or so it seems. I personally would not spend $60 on the game, but only because the game is short (I beat it in under 11 hours, and I was taking my sweet time), not because of the quality.
 
Einbroch said:
Or so it seems. I personally would not spend $60 on the game, but only because the game is short (I beat it in under 11 hours, and I was taking my sweet time), not because of the quality.

Well thats good to clarify. Did you play it on normal btw?
 

Einbroch

Banned
slasher_thrasher21 said:
Well thats good to clarify. Did you play it on normal btw?
Hard. I died a few times, but they were all my fault. This game is really about getting in the best positions so that you don't get surrounded by the enemies.

The only times I died where it was not my fault were when you get low health and pull out a flare. The camera, for some reason, spins around in dramatic fashion when you have low health and whip out a flare. It looks really cool, but makes escape nearly impossible.

Ammo was either really sparse or really abundant. A hint: use all your specialty weapons whenever you need them. I am a hoarder, but after every chapter you lose your weapons/items/etc, so I was wasting the best weapons.
 
Einbroch said:
Hard. I died a few times, but they were all my fault. This game is really about getting in the best positions so that you don't get surrounded by the enemies.

The only times I died where it was not my fault were when you get low health and pull out a flare. The camera, for some reason, spins around in dramatic fashion when you have low health and whip out a flare. It looks really cool, but makes escape nearly impossible.

Ammo was either really sparse or really abundant. A hint: use all your specialty weapons whenever you need them. I am a hoarder, but after every chapter you lose your weapons/items/etc, so I was wasting the best weapons.


Great. I plan on playing through at least twice for acheivements so should give me a good twenty some hours of play or more! :D
 

Einbroch

Banned
slasher_thrasher21 said:
Great. I plan on playing through at least twice for acheivements so should give me a good twenty some hours of play or more! :D
Oh for sure. If you're an achievement/collection person you will really, really enjoy this game. There's a ton of things to collect and do.
 
Einbroch said:
Oh for sure. If you're an achievement/collection person you will really, really enjoy this game. There's a ton of things to collect and do.

Did you try out nightmare difficulty at all? Haven't heard anyone really talk about if its much harder or what.
 

Einbroch

Banned
slasher_thrasher21 said:
Did you try out nightmare difficulty at all? Haven't heard anyone really talk about if its much harder or what.
Unfortunately I had to return it to my friend after I beat it on Hard. I don't know if he needs games back by a certain date or something, but unfortunately I did not.
 

Yoshi256

Banned
whatevermort said:
Another voice to add to the throng, but this LE is absolutely stunning. Easily the best I've ever seen.

I absolutely agree.


I played the firs two hours so far and until now it's really great. A lovingly crafted game.
 

Metalic Sand

who is Emo-Beas?
Einbroch said:
Unfortunately I had to return it to my friend after I beat it on Hard. I don't know if he needs games back by a certain date or something, but unfortunately I did not.

Alan Wake isnt even showing on your gamertag. Sure you played it? :)

Its funny seeing people say on multiple forums of borrowing the game from friends, Cant help but assume something else
 
Yoshi256 said:
I absolutely agree.


I played the firs two hours so far and until now it's really great. A lovingly crafted game.

And while it does have its faults from what many people who have played it now say... I still think its insane to think a team of only about 45 people made this game. Thats always so damn impressive to me.
 

Peff

Member
Hmm, any way to make all the sound come from a single source? I'm playing with the TV speaker and only the stuff that comes from behind is clearly audible, the directional sounds are very low.
 
slasher_thrasher21 said:
And while it does have its faults from what many people who have played it now say... I still think its insane to think a team of only about 45 people made this game. Thats always so damn impressive to me.

45 people made the game and it took them...what 4 years?

I think in the end everything balances out.
 
TheChillyAcademic said:
45 people made the game and it took them...what 4 years?

I think in the end everything balances out.

True but with having to scrap what they started at one point and creating their own engine, its still damn impressive to say the least. There is no downplaying that.
 

Einbroch

Banned
Metalic Sand said:
Alan Wake isnt even showing on your gamertag. Sure you played it? :)

Its funny seeing people say on multiple forums of borrowing the game from friends, Cant help but assume something else
You people and your proof. :lol

There we go, connected to Live. Should be there now.
 
slasher_thrasher21 said:
True but with having to scrap what they started at one point and creating their own engine, its still damn impressive to say the least. There is no downplaying that.

One might argue that's even more evidence that the team struggled due to its size. That being said, the atmosphere is certainly impressive indeed.
 
My only gripe with the engine is that it's an open-world engine but the game is a linear one. I think it could have been a much better looking game if it was entirely designed for the post-2006 Alan Wake. But on the other hand, we wouldn't have all these stunning panoramas then. At the end this game looks gorgeous, it's the only thing that matters to me.
 
TheChillyAcademic said:
One might argue that's even more evidence that the team struggled due to its size. That being said, the atmosphere is certainly impressive indeed.

Yeah no doubt I'm sure they struggled alot. Least it appears they did. Though I'm glad they have a sturdy engine to work with now.
 

Quincey

Banned
LordPhoque said:
My only gripe with the engine is that it's an open-world engine but the game is a linear one. I think it could have been a much better looking game if it was entirely designed for the post-2006 Alan Wake. But on the other hand, we wouldn't have all these stunning panoramas then. At the end this game looks gorgeous, it's the only thing that matters to me.

I think it would be awesome if Alan Wake 2 was open world, but i doubt they will.
 

derFeef

Member
Quincey said:
I think it would be awesome if Alan Wake 2 was open world, but i doubt they will.
Playing Alan Wake I am going to say this - no please not. It is what it is and it is great what it is. Iron out the flaws, broaden the possibilities, but please do not make this an open world game. The narrative, story driven experience is what I love here.
 

conman

Member
derFeef said:
Playing Alan Wake I am going to say this - no please not. It is what it is and it is great what it is. Iron out the flaws, broaden the possibilities, but please do not make this an open world game. The narrative, story driven experience is what I love here.
Exactly. The folks at Remedy are awesome at creating environments oozing with atmosphere and bits of narrative. Their "stories" are as much about the small environmental details as about the broad strokes like dialogue and cutscenes. Simply wouldn't work in an open world game.
 
Had a peep at the LE today and it looked really cool. Gonna have a play later on.

So apparently MS won't be TV advertising this (in the UK). Instead it's going to be online advertised according to MCV.

Not sure that's the best way TBH.
 
conman said:
Exactly. The folks at Remedy are awesome at creating environments oozing with atmosphere and bits of narrative.

Seriously though, Alan Wake boasts some of the most life-like and realistic environments I have ever seen.
 

derFeef

Member
Katana_Strikes said:
Had a peep at the LE today and it looked really cool. Gonna have a play later on.

So apparently MS won't be TV advertising this (in the UK). Instead it's going to be online advertised according to MCV.

Not sure that's the best way TBH.
No, it is really sad. This is a fantastic game and deserves big advertising. Maybe the Bright Falls series was their major plan? Hm, show them on TV!
 

Pooya

Member
Katana_Strikes said:
Had a peep at the LE today and it looked really cool. Gonna have a play later on.

So apparently MS won't be TV advertising this (in the UK). Instead it's going to be online advertised according to MCV.

Not sure that's the best way TBH.

The ads are pretty bad, just look at this:
awake-halfpage-pegi.jpg

the face is somehow.. :lol
what a shame really, I have seen a lot more ads for Halo Reach beta already, Does that really need advertising? There were a lot of xbox only ads for Final Fantasy XIII and now they are not going to advertise this, their own game that were in production for years, just look at Heavy Rain's success, without aggressive advertising it would have never sold that well.
 

Metalic Sand

who is Emo-Beas?
derFeef said:
No, it is really sad. This is a fantastic game and deserves big advertising. Maybe the Bright Falls series was their major plan? Hm, show them on TV!

Would probly have to combine them into a 1 episode thing. Good idea though!
 

legbone

Member
shepard?

i am so jealous of UKgaf and the like. i am dying to play this. it is my most anticipated title for 05/18. can't wait.
 
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