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My name is Alan Wake. I'm a writer. |OT|
- Thread starter BruceLeeRoy
- Start date
I don't know whether I hate this game or like it. When describing it to friends who ask, I list about 100 complaints and realize "Damn, I must not like this very much". Yet, I continue to play it, but I think only for the core story. I'm at the
in Chapter 5, so I will save my overall assessment until I finish the game, but here are my thoughts so far...
The game had potential but was borked, I lay that at the feet of the fact this was developed by the guys who made Max Payne. I thought Max Payne was awful, but apparently a lot of people really enjoy terrible dialog and everything else but can overlook it due to slow motion jumping and shooting.
ANYWAY, I like the atmosphere of the game...it's spooky I guess. It'd be a lot spookier if there weren't ridiculous "Night Springs" episodes on the TV that completely ruin any sense of tension or terror that's going on (I know you don't have to watch these). The things the Taken yell are just sometimes laughably horrible and instead of being scared I find myself LOLing. It's like the game couldn't decide if it wanted to be a scary thriller, or a cheeseball romp through the woods. Which brings me to my next complaint.
, but after this game I never want to go into the woods ever again...in real life or in a game. Alan Wake has officially ruined forests for everyone, making them monotonous and predictable. I couldn't be more excited the few times I actually didn't have to play in the woods.
I might have been bored to death of the trees and quit playing.
I enjoy the forest setting, it's just...the game's linearity killed it for me. I had assumed watching preview vids from a while back the game was more free-roamish and that's my fault for still assuming it was. But...there's like no choices to be made here. Point A to point B, no diversions unless you go hunt for coffee thermoses (wtf? these things are annoying.) I know you don't HAVE to collect them, but still. Speaking of, what a way to throw a wrench into any sort of tension building/story telling when you run off into the woods toward the darkness to look for a thermos. I think that was a horrible idea. The manuscript pages are fine, they at least provide something to the story.
The combat - awesome for Chapter 1, but then I realized that's all. There would be no variation, no new weapons, no new tactics. I can deal with that, but it doesn't help the game's linearity and monotony.
If it weren't for a very interesting core storyline, I probably would have gotten rid of the game by now. The voice acting is awful, with a few exceptions, the character models and animations leave something to be desired for a third person cinematic game. And the lip synching...my god...if you can even call it that. Half the time the characters mouths open up and a voice falls out with little to no movement. The manuscript pages sound like they were written by a Jr. High English class and seem really cheesy. The writing is just awful. And
Again, I will finish the game and contemplate on it all but I doubt my opinions will change. How anyone can call this a game of the year contender is beyond me. Sure it's a good game - don't get me wrong. But it's not GOTY caliber stuff here, it just isn't.
I will never criticize MS for taking a chance on a new IP though, and I hope there is another Alan Wake title, I just hope they fix some stuff...a lot of the core game mechanics are just dry and boring.
So far, Chapter 5 is better than anything else yet. The beginning of Chapter 4 was good until you left the
.
Here's hoping it wraps up with a bang!
transformer yard
The game had potential but was borked, I lay that at the feet of the fact this was developed by the guys who made Max Payne. I thought Max Payne was awful, but apparently a lot of people really enjoy terrible dialog and everything else but can overlook it due to slow motion jumping and shooting.
ANYWAY, I like the atmosphere of the game...it's spooky I guess. It'd be a lot spookier if there weren't ridiculous "Night Springs" episodes on the TV that completely ruin any sense of tension or terror that's going on (I know you don't have to watch these). The things the Taken yell are just sometimes laughably horrible and instead of being scared I find myself LOLing. It's like the game couldn't decide if it wanted to be a scary thriller, or a cheeseball romp through the woods. Which brings me to my next complaint.
Fuck me
If it weren't for Chapter 5 so far and getting to run through the town
I enjoy the forest setting, it's just...the game's linearity killed it for me. I had assumed watching preview vids from a while back the game was more free-roamish and that's my fault for still assuming it was. But...there's like no choices to be made here. Point A to point B, no diversions unless you go hunt for coffee thermoses (wtf? these things are annoying.) I know you don't HAVE to collect them, but still. Speaking of, what a way to throw a wrench into any sort of tension building/story telling when you run off into the woods toward the darkness to look for a thermos. I think that was a horrible idea. The manuscript pages are fine, they at least provide something to the story.
The combat - awesome for Chapter 1, but then I realized that's all. There would be no variation, no new weapons, no new tactics. I can deal with that, but it doesn't help the game's linearity and monotony.
If it weren't for a very interesting core storyline, I probably would have gotten rid of the game by now. The voice acting is awful, with a few exceptions, the character models and animations leave something to be desired for a third person cinematic game. And the lip synching...my god...if you can even call it that. Half the time the characters mouths open up and a voice falls out with little to no movement. The manuscript pages sound like they were written by a Jr. High English class and seem really cheesy. The writing is just awful. And
the ball of white light floating around doing shit? Re. Tar. Ded.
Again, I will finish the game and contemplate on it all but I doubt my opinions will change. How anyone can call this a game of the year contender is beyond me. Sure it's a good game - don't get me wrong. But it's not GOTY caliber stuff here, it just isn't.
I will never criticize MS for taking a chance on a new IP though, and I hope there is another Alan Wake title, I just hope they fix some stuff...a lot of the core game mechanics are just dry and boring.
So far, Chapter 5 is better than anything else yet. The beginning of Chapter 4 was good until you left the
lodge. And I didn't really care for the whole rock concert stage thing. Again, kinda ruined the spooky tension by putting in something incredibly silly
Here's hoping it wraps up with a bang!
RedRedSuit
Member
Horsebite said:
Not so much....
just started last night, finished ep 1, doing ep 2 now
first thing, i'm sure this has been said before, the graphics are a blurry mess, too much bloom when there is light in contrast with dark, terrible low res textures
lighting, i didnt find impressive in a sense that this is what the devs where working on all this time
i finished ep 1 at 1 am last night, while it wasnt particularly scary, there was definitely a spooky vibe that i did not like because i wanted to do to sleep after
playing it in the evening now while there's still some light out, lol
like the episodes format, since i know when it's a good place to stop
first thing, i'm sure this has been said before, the graphics are a blurry mess, too much bloom when there is light in contrast with dark, terrible low res textures
lighting, i didnt find impressive in a sense that this is what the devs where working on all this time
i finished ep 1 at 1 am last night, while it wasnt particularly scary, there was definitely a spooky vibe that i did not like because i wanted to do to sleep after
playing it in the evening now while there's still some light out, lol
like the episodes format, since i know when it's a good place to stop
Circle Jerk
Member
Man I am just having a shitty time trying to get across the bridge in Chapter 6. Anyone have any tips here?
harriet the spy
Member
charsace said:
I know people love to throw that excuse, but no. As shitty as they are, King, Brown and Harris are so, so, so much more talented than Wake that it is perplexing to me that anyone would think otherwise. It's middle school level writing at best. The only thing I think could compare would be lovecraft at its very worst (which was horrendously bad, I'll try to find a quote if I have time). The scripts and twists in those books are also usually corny as well, but have a much better execution. The only thing Alan Wake reminds me of is a bad episode of Goosebumps.
I wish it had been good. I would have settled for so bad it's good. But I didn't even get that.
harriet the spy
Member
Bpatrol said:
I'll have one useful contribution to this thread. In the first parts, move slowly disintegrate the objects one by one. At the end of the bridge, just spam flashbangs. I thought that even in hard they somehow load you with ammo towards the end (can't speak for nightmare).
One reason I'm loving the game so much is because it reminds me of Twin Peaks, mixed with Twilight Zone...like you can smell and feel the sarcasm and more like the irony surrounding everything, but you can't point at it.. 
Love also the whole episode thingie..right when you solved something..something else appears..cuts..end of episode..would've loved if they threw credits at least for the voice actors and the music used in that chapter...
Love also the whole episode thingie..right when you solved something..something else appears..cuts..end of episode..would've loved if they threw credits at least for the voice actors and the music used in that chapter...
RedRedSuit
Member
Anony said:
Don't be. There's a shitload of ammo everywhere, and they constantly take away your guns. So, you might as well use them while you have them.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
On Chapter 2. Enjoying it so far. Worst lip syncing in the history of videogames.
Just finished the game. I did enjoy myself, although the facial animation was pretty terrible.
Ending spoilers!
Ending spoilers!
From what I understood Alan basically sacrificed to the darkness to save alice. I guess he was the balance he was talking about. I'm assuming the ending was sort of cliffhanger like, with the ellipse(and the statement at the end of the credits). I'll be getting the DLC episodes. Hopefully they keep the quality up with them.
RoadblockTDX
Member
After completing the game last night am I the only one wondering what all these years of development time and release delays achieved. I can deal with the bad lip syncing, resolution issues and, linearity but somehow they managed to create a game with little to no suspense, a complete lack of "shock" moments, and heaps uninteresting writing.
http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/110/1100969p1.html
In the hands of MS for the sequel. I really do hope they can do another title here especially with an 18 month turn around and all they have learned from the first. Buy those episodes folks!
Oh yea those are some nice new screens.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
There was a Taken monster-truck in Chapter 6. =3
I know I'm about to finish it..but I don't want to. :lol
At least there's a new episode in around a month; then another one later..plus the book in the limited edition seems interesting; but every time I check around it I stumble in some spoiler from the game..so I'll read it when I finish the game. :lol
At least there's a new episode in around a month; then another one later..plus the book in the limited edition seems interesting; but every time I check around it I stumble in some spoiler from the game..so I'll read it when I finish the game. :lol
Adam Prime
hates soccer, is Mexican
I'm selling my DLC code for $5 if anyone is interested in the upcoming DLC and didn't get one when they purchased the game. Shoot me a PM
mr stroke
Member
final thoughts after finishing the game-
+
+Story and Atmosphere
+Amazing lighting
+Sound track
+Game broken into episodes TV style
+Voice acting is above par
-
-Ugly Graphics(Bad textures, pop in, tearing, etc..)
-Poor shooting mechanic
-Level Design(how many times can you run through the dark forest?)
-Final Boss and ending
Its unfortunate because the game is boarding on awesome(Chapter 5) but most are lame(running through the dark forest over and over)
I would like to see a PC release to clear up the graphics and hopefully a sequel to flesh out the story.
+
+Story and Atmosphere
+Amazing lighting
+Sound track
+Game broken into episodes TV style
+Voice acting is above par
-
-Ugly Graphics(Bad textures, pop in, tearing, etc..)
-Poor shooting mechanic
-Level Design(how many times can you run through the dark forest?)
-Final Boss and ending
Its unfortunate because the game is boarding on awesome(Chapter 5) but most are lame(running through the dark forest over and over)
I would like to see a PC release to clear up the graphics and hopefully a sequel to flesh out the story.
4 videos of the Signal;
http://www.relyonhorror.com/latest-news/alan-wake-the-signal-4-exclusive-gameplay-videos/
http://www.relyonhorror.com/latest-news/alan-wake-the-signal-4-exclusive-gameplay-videos/
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
Finally beat it on Nightmare. I love this game sooooo much.
The pacing the combat and atmosphere have combined to make this one of my favorite new franchises this gen.
Do we have a release date for The Signal? I need to add it to the OP.
The pacing the combat and atmosphere have combined to make this one of my favorite new franchises this gen.
Do we have a release date for The Signal? I need to add it to the OP.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
derFeef said:Must not watch!tell me, is it awesome? It is, right?
27th of July.
Glad you liked it on nightmare
Thanks derFeef. The only thing I wish they would do is make it so that on nightmare it wouldn't zoom out to reveal where the shadows are coming from.
Yup, I agree. There are often moments when this does not happen though and then those sneaky bastards scare the shit out of me with hitting an axe in Alan´s back.BruceLeeRoy said:
Looking forward to my 3rd playthrough before the DLC hits. I have yet to collect all manuscripts. I do not care for the thermoses and so on, but the pages are important to me because they are part of the story.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
derFeef said:
:lol I know. I love the parts where you run up to what you think is a safe haven with the lamp signal and you open a chest to get some more goodies and you turn around and with no visual cue at all 3-4 guys are running up on you. Ive dropped my controller when that has happened.
Jeff Stephen
Member
I'll be starting my Nightmare run sometime this weekend and a question regarding the manuscripts. Will all pages be visible or just the ones marked for Nightmare mode only?
Speedymanic
Banned
Jtyettis said:
Look awesome and just as crazy as the final chapter.
Barry. :lol
les papillons sexuels
Banned
just watched a bit of the videos.
Looks like some major concerns about enviroment are being met. And there's some really nice touch ups, both graphically, and other...
Looks like some major concerns about enviroment are being met. And there's some really nice touch ups, both graphically, and other...
liked how he said the signal was going haywire and the indicator was flipping around everywhere.
I just thought I'd post my impressions after finishing the game last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it, easily the best game I've played all year
.
-Loved the combat. Was a little confused about the gunplay at the start as I didn't know the dark aura had to fully removed in order to hurt/kill the Taken. The gunplay was solid (except for the autoaim grrr) and the dodging mechanic was very very satisfying.
-The atmosphere. I'm not much of a horror/thriller gamer so this was something new for me. I played the game mostly during the wee hours of the night so this added to the tension. You never felt you were fully alone/and or safe. I only experienced a few OH SHIT moments though, far less than what I was expecting.
-I found the story to be pretty engaging, found it a little confusing at times and especially during the ending
If there is a link? that summarizes everything a bit more clearly I would love to give it a read.
-The Soundtrack. Some great tunes during cutscenes and exploring. tbh I didn't recognize any of the licensed stuff during the individual Episode credits, being so young and all that. However I found myself listening to Space Oddity again after the credits rolled, it's quite a nice song.
My main complaint would be the characters. I liked Alan the most, although that isn't saying much. Everyone else just sucked. Barry is the X360's Zeke.
Awesome game otherwise.
although I still haven't got into RDR and ME2 so that could change
-Loved the combat. Was a little confused about the gunplay at the start as I didn't know the dark aura had to fully removed in order to hurt/kill the Taken. The gunplay was solid (except for the autoaim grrr) and the dodging mechanic was very very satisfying.
-The atmosphere. I'm not much of a horror/thriller gamer so this was something new for me. I played the game mostly during the wee hours of the night so this added to the tension. You never felt you were fully alone/and or safe. I only experienced a few OH SHIT moments though, far less than what I was expecting.
-I found the story to be pretty engaging, found it a little confusing at times and especially during the ending
The doppelganger, the window behind Rose during the parade
-The Soundtrack. Some great tunes during cutscenes and exploring. tbh I didn't recognize any of the licensed stuff during the individual Episode credits, being so young and all that. However I found myself listening to Space Oddity again after the credits rolled, it's quite a nice song
.My main complaint would be the characters. I liked Alan the most, although that isn't saying much. Everyone else just sucked. Barry is the X360's Zeke.
Awesome game otherwise.
finished ep. 2 yesterday... I like it but the combat is not that interesting or fun... it is solid. I like the Night Springs TV show... how many are there? They keep me going since the mission design is fairly linear... my mission is to watch all TV shows now
Also the creepy waitress is great. Uncanny valley works wonders here...
(graphics are fine... don't understand the hate)... story is quite interesting... how will it get together...?
Also great: you read the pages before events happen ... I like that
Don't like: the chainsaw dude. I let him kill Alan to compare to Resi 4... no head chopping here :-( makes me sad... In Resi4 I had to laugh when that happened. Here just indifferent slaughting
Don't like: It is also fairly derivative ... too much cut and paste from TV and cinema... why was Twin Peaks great? They were original... David Lynch and Mark Frost had an agenda.... Alan Wake not so much. They copy, but do not invent... so emotions for the game will stay lukewarm...
Also the creepy waitress is great. Uncanny valley works wonders here...
(graphics are fine... don't understand the hate)... story is quite interesting... how will it get together...?
Also great: you read the pages before events happen ... I like that
Don't like: the chainsaw dude. I let him kill Alan to compare to Resi 4... no head chopping here :-( makes me sad... In Resi4 I had to laugh when that happened. Here just indifferent slaughting
Don't like: It is also fairly derivative ... too much cut and paste from TV and cinema... why was Twin Peaks great? They were original... David Lynch and Mark Frost had an agenda.... Alan Wake not so much. They copy, but do not invent... so emotions for the game will stay lukewarm...
NemesisPrime
Banned
Finished the game yesterday.
Pretty awesome experience. TBH I think it is really a bit more for the older gamer. You have to understand that it is a bit of a spoof, just like Max Payne.
Combat was not that easy... and the atmosphere just right. A lot of people complain about the endless forest section, but in the end I think Remedy really tried to add different location to the game.
I hope they make a game with this engine. There are some really cool things they can do.
Pretty awesome experience. TBH I think it is really a bit more for the older gamer. You have to understand that it is a bit of a spoof, just like Max Payne.
Combat was not that easy... and the atmosphere just right. A lot of people complain about the endless forest section, but in the end I think Remedy really tried to add different location to the game.
I hope they make a game with this engine. There are some really cool things they can do.
Finished it a few minutes ago, such a fantastic game. I just have one question,
Now to start on my nightmare run, and look forward to the dlc.
what was the deal with obviously still possessed Rose holding the lantern at the parade and the fbi agent in the window? I assumed that Alan sacrificed himself to save his wife and wrote everything back to normal?
Now to start on my nightmare run, and look forward to the dlc.
Jeff Stephen
Member
It seems that I missed one of the manuscripts in Chapter 4 on Nightmare, so is it possible to go back and replay the chapter without it effecting my save?
I'm not sure if the game calls for each episode to be played consecutively rather handpicking a chapter of the game.
I'm not sure if the game calls for each episode to be played consecutively rather handpicking a chapter of the game.
RedRedSuit
Member
Jeff Stephen said:
Yes, that's fine.
I am a huge fan of the genre and I beat the game few weeks back, and here are some thoughts:
I think the game overall is good, but was a huge disappointment to me. The repetitive nature of the game really suck out a lot of the atmosphere. I can actually accept those repetitive combat and enemies much more so than many others, but when 85% of the game is in a dark forest it really feels like a drag.
The game also heavily focused on collect-a-ton. I mean A TON. I know many of those are not required, but the game is set up in a way that encourages you to pick up every manuscript, TV show, treasure box, ammo, Radio, Thermos etc. That really makes it into a chore.
Now onto the story. As a fan of the genre, I understand gameplay is usually the biggest weakness to this kind of games. Usually it's the story (usually by cutscene or notes scattered around) that captivate me to push forward. However, the story usually only present during the very beginning or the end of a chapter. The stuffs that are presented through manuscripts are mostly just generic stuffs that you, as a player, will actually go through later in the game. While it sounds intriguing, they don't really push the plot forward but simply re-describe your action through words. In other words, it makes the story itself into another 'repetitive' element. I don't know if it was the cause, but it also made me feel the game lacks a climax.
I remember reading somewhere in the past that Remedy originally planned this as an open world game. I can't believe I would say this, because I was glad with their choices when I heard about it and thought an open-world game would dilute the story (as most open-world games do), but now when I finished this game and think about it a little, the game day and night mechanic would actually be amazing had the game push on with that open-world idea.
I think the game overall is good, but was a huge disappointment to me. The repetitive nature of the game really suck out a lot of the atmosphere. I can actually accept those repetitive combat and enemies much more so than many others, but when 85% of the game is in a dark forest it really feels like a drag.
The game also heavily focused on collect-a-ton. I mean A TON. I know many of those are not required, but the game is set up in a way that encourages you to pick up every manuscript, TV show, treasure box, ammo, Radio, Thermos etc. That really makes it into a chore.
Now onto the story. As a fan of the genre, I understand gameplay is usually the biggest weakness to this kind of games. Usually it's the story (usually by cutscene or notes scattered around) that captivate me to push forward. However, the story usually only present during the very beginning or the end of a chapter. The stuffs that are presented through manuscripts are mostly just generic stuffs that you, as a player, will actually go through later in the game. While it sounds intriguing, they don't really push the plot forward but simply re-describe your action through words. In other words, it makes the story itself into another 'repetitive' element. I don't know if it was the cause, but it also made me feel the game lacks a climax.
I remember reading somewhere in the past that Remedy originally planned this as an open world game. I can't believe I would say this, because I was glad with their choices when I heard about it and thought an open-world game would dilute the story (as most open-world games do), but now when I finished this game and think about it a little, the game day and night mechanic would actually be amazing had the game push on with that open-world idea.
