Support NeoGAF

[fart town usa]

Trying to plow through AW and Control this holiday break because I really want to play AW2 by December.

A few thoughts so far, and I'm curious who will agree or think I'm being ridiculous.

It's a pretty vanilla/mediocre game, it's kind of boring and the character models are outrageously ugly. All I can see is George Lucas' bullfrog neck when Alan is facing the camera . The faces in this game are so ugly that it borders on being surreal.

Gameplay is fun, I like the combat but it's insanely linear. I remembered that too, but it's still kind of jarring.

Who the hell wears cowboy boots in the woods?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the game, it's fun and the atmosphere is solid, etc. It's nice to revisit it after all these years. I'm currently on Chapter 3 and the police chase was a nice scripted set piece. It made me think back to when things like that were quite mind blowing because it was still a new concept in game design. It's also the game that got me to buy a 360. Still have the console and the old copy. Because I've played all of these games within the last 12-18 months, here is the hottest of takes. Deadly Premonition, Silent Hill: Homecoming. , Alone in the Dark: Inferno are all vastly more impressive games than the first Alan Wake.

 

[bender]

The combat loop wears out its' welcome in the opening hours and it has to be one of the worst ever realized in game advertisements for a product as it basically says those batteries are horrible. The game has some of the better co-op AI partners we've seen in gaming. The perfect balance of holding their own and not being terminators. Barry is the highlight of an otherwise subpar experience.

 

[Vick]

here is the hottest of takes. Deadly Premonition, Silent Hill: Homecoming. , Alone in the Dark: Inferno are all vastly more impressive games than the first Alan Wake.

And here an even hotter one: Silent Hill: Downpour was by far the best of them all.

Nah I'm joking, not an hottake at all. Just a simple raw fact.

Not the biggest fan of the Alan Wake series in general when it comes to gameplay and mechanics, but I'm deeply charmed by many aspects of them. Remaster is full of artistic downgrades though and I felt the absence of American Nightmare which I really enjoyed on the 360.

 

[Hugare]

Remastered is the worst version. Cutscenes are all fucked up with bad sound mixing and stutters, missing graphical effects, terrible model changes and etc.
The original is still the best

The game is very linear but you never repeat the same level. It's very varied (varied considering the setting, that is)

Deadly Premonition is one of my favorite games. But to say that Downpour and Alone in the Dark (lol) are better games ...

 

[adamsapple]

, here is the hottest of takes. Deadly Premonition, Silent Hill: Homecoming. , Alone in the Dark: Inferno are all vastly more impressive games than the first Alan Wake.

And here an even hotter one: Silent Hill: Downpour was the best of them all.

Deadly Premonition is the only one I will give you guys. For the rest ..

 

[Luigi Mario]

Always good to see another Alone in the Dark: Inferno enjoyer.

 

[fart town usa]

And here an even hotter one: Silent Hill: Downpour was the best of them all.

There's always one of you.


Another thing I notice about the game, and I actually appreciate this aspect; the game doesn't guide you with yellow paint. I mean, there's yellow paint that lead to hidden caches but outside of that, there's no obvious visual indicator that guides you towards your objective. You do have a radar but for the most part you're wandering through relatively linear areas, and it gives you enough leeway to explore, get lost, turned around, etc.

I saw a comment on reddit where someone said they couldn't make it more than 10 minutes into the game because the game wasn't directing them enough. Honestly doesn't even make sense because the first 10 mins is purely tutorial.

 

[fart town usa]

Remastered is the worst version. Cutscenes are all fucked up with bad sound mixing and stutters, missing graphical effects, terrible model changes and etc.
The original is still the best

The game is very linear but you never repeat the same level. It's very varied (varied considering the setting, that is)

Deadly Premonition is one of my favorite games. But to say that Downpour and Alone in the Dark (lol) are better games ...

Downpour is all Vick

Maybe someday I'll boot up the 360 and play the OG. Got me curious to see the visual differences. I only played it the one time when it first released.

 

[fart town usa]

Deadly Premonition is the only one I will give you guys. For the rest ..

AITD: Inferno is legit amazing once you get a handle on the controls. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't got a redemption arc.

I think Homecoming is far better than people give it credit for. Not the story, but gameplay and atmosphere/OST. It's funny to toss it out there cause it always gets a reaction.

 

[Luigi Mario]

I think Homecoming is far better than people give it credit for. Not the story, but gameplay and atmosphere/OST. It's funny to toss it out there cause it always gets a reaction.

Definitely agreed on music. It was yet another great soundtrack by Yamaoka.
In comparison, Daniel Licht’s work on Downpour was completely forgettable

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

I couldn't possibly play Alan Wake again, once was enough of a slog but I did enjoy control much more so I'm still optimistic about AW2.

 

[Doom85]

Silent Hill Homecoming is one of the most creatively bankrupt entries in a video game franchise I’ve ever had the misfortune to witness. Even some of its own developers went on to shittalk it.

I could tolerate someone liking it, but claiming it’s better than Alan Wake?

 

[Sleepwalker]

Watch AW on youtube and skip to Control right away.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

Hotter take I actually enjoyed the Medium more

 

[adamsapple]

Hotter take I actually enjoyed the Medium more

I enjoyed The Medium too until it started trying to make you feel sympathy towards a child molester in the games narrative.

 

[fart town usa]

Silent Hill Homecoming is one of the most creatively bankrupt entries in a video game franchise I’ve ever had the misfortune to witness. Even some of its own developers went on to shittalk it.

I could tolerate someone liking it, but claiming it’s better than Alan Wake?

Gameplay wise it's better. There's so much more to do in Homecoming than there is Alan Wake. People get way too hung up on the story in Homecoming and overlook that the game is a solid survival horror experience by any standard.

In AW all you do is run through the woods and fight the same trash mobs over and over. The combat is fun but there's nothing remotely special about the gameplay. Most interesting thing in the game are the Night Springs episodes.

 

[WoJ]

Combat got boring but I thought they did a good job with the set pieces and making the levels more varied than they had any right to be. Atmosphere in the game is absolutely top notch.

And Barry is the GOAT. That alone makes me a fan of the original AW.

 

[MMaRsu]

Its not that great a game, might as well watch a recap

 

[Doom85]

Gameplay wise it's better. There's so much more to do in Homecoming than there is Alan Wake. People get way too hung up on the story in Homecoming and overlook that the game is a solid survival horror experience by any standard.

In AW all you do is run through the woods and fight the same trash mobs over and over. The combat is fun but there's nothing remotely special about the gameplay. Most interesting thing in the game are the Night Springs episodes.

Homecoming is awful gameplay-wise:

-it’s not survival horror, it’s action horror, with Alex Shepard doing “sick combos!” on the enemies with the “justification” that as a solider he would be better at fighting than the prior Silent Hill protagonists……and if you have finished Homecoming and know the “big plot twist”, then you know why this is all nonsense and makes the gameplay retroactively even more stupid than it already was. Even if that twist didn‘t exist, I should not be fighting Silent Hill enemies with a combat angle that feels like Legend of Zelda, like WTF
-the environments are awful, so much laziness, god the hotel has tons of rooms that are 100% identical. I knows it’s a hotel, but for fucks sake! Silent Hill on the PS1 offered entirely unique rooms, Homecoming is a PS3 game, there is no excuse for this bullshit
-all the enemies are lesser versions of prior games’ enemies, or forgettable ones. There’s like two good boss designs and that’s it. And when you fight the cultists, oh fuck off with this shit. “I’m going to stab you, boy!” “You’re dead meat!” Ah yes, nothing screams Silent Hill than enemies that trash talk you! In Alan Wake, it’s fine, it’s a new IP so it’s setting the rules, but this was the sixth Silent Hill game, so it doesn’t get that excuse
-I can’t comment on the music because the audio mixing in this game sucks shit. Way to disrespect Akira Yamaoka’s work!

Variety in Homecoming means nothing if all the variety sucks. Alan Wake might be simpler but it works. I’ll gladly take several orders of the exact same well made food versus a bunch of different foods that have all been out in the sun exposed for hours and are not safe to eat anymore.

 

[kiphalfton]

Remastered is the worst version. Cutscenes are all fucked up with bad sound mixing and stutters, missing graphical effects, terrible model changes and etc.
The original is still the best

The game is very linear but you never repeat the same level. It's very varied (varied considering the setting, that is)

Deadly Premonition is one of my favorite games. But to say that Downpour and Alone in the Dark (lol) are better games ...

He said homecoming.

But back to your point, I do agree downpour is a better game than Alan Wake.

 

[ADiTAR]

After the incredible Max Payne, I thought this game was very mid.

 

[N0S]

 

[fart town usa]

Homecoming is awful gameplay-wise:

-it’s not survival horror, it’s action horror, with Alex Shepard doing “sick combos!” on the enemies with the “justification” that as a solider he would be better at fighting than the prior Silent Hill protagonists……and if you have finished Homecoming and know the “big plot twist”, then you know why this is all nonsense and makes the gameplay retroactively even more stupid than it already was. Even if that twist didn‘t exist, I should not be fighting Silent Hill enemies with a combat angle that feels like Legend of Zelda, like WTF
-the environments are awful, so much laziness, god the hotel has tons of rooms that are 100% identical. I knows it’s a hotel, but for fucks sake! Silent Hill on the PS1 offered entirely unique rooms, Homecoming is a PS3 game, there is no excuse for this bullshit
-all the enemies are lesser versions of prior games’ enemies, or forgettable ones. There’s like two good boss designs and that’s it. And when you fight the cultists, oh fuck off with this shit. “I’m going to stab you, boy!” “You’re dead meat!” Ah yes, nothing screams Silent Hill than enemies that trash talk you! In Alan Wake, it’s fine, it’s a new IP so it’s setting the rules, but this was the sixth Silent Hill game, so it doesn’t get that excuse
-I can’t comment on the music because the audio mixing in this game sucks shit. Way to disrespect Akira Yamaoka’s work!

Variety in Homecoming means nothing if all the variety sucks. Alan Wake might be simpler but it works. I’ll gladly take several orders of the exact same well made food versus a bunch of different foods that have all been out in the sun exposed for hours and are not safe to eat anymore.

No offense but you just come off as a SH purist. Homecoming is a solid game all day. That's fine if you don't like it but it's perfectly sound when it comes to mechanics and it has good atmosphere, exploration, OST. I really don't care about the story and yes, the twist is retarded.

 

[Doom85]

No offense but you just come off as a SH purist. Homecoming is a solid game all day. That's fine if you don't like it but it's perfectly sound when it comes to mechanics and it has good atmosphere, exploration, OST. I really don't care about the story and yes, the twist is retarded.

Offense? Why, that’s a compliment!

I don’t know how you can say it has good exploration. Again, the hotel. Who enjoys going through the exact same room countless times?

 

[DirtyBast8rd]

Alan Wake is one of my favorite games. Finished it 5 times. Combat is fine imo, the story and setting are the game, combat is supplemental. Playing Control right now, which I put off from playing because it wasn't like Alan Wake. I love it and should have gotten it way sooner. Might finish my PS5 Alan Wake copy after Control to play the Dlc's again before dipping into AW2.

 

[Kupfer]

The mistake is playing the remastered version. If you have any way to play the original, do it.
The remastered version is a worsened improvement and does not do justice to the original.



The characters are not stunningly beautiful in the original either, but the game feels cohesive, it is more harmonious to watch.

 

[Skifi28]

Finished it recently, I thought it held up reasonably well for such an old game. The only thing I disliked were the areas with endlessly spawning enemies you had to rush through.

 

[Starbuck2907]

Alan Wake is one of my all time top 5 games. The setting, set pieces, atmosphere, all fantastic. I enjoyed the gameplay, plot, all of it really. The original KOTOR is another.

 

[Terenty]

Deadly Premonition, Silent Hill: Homecoming. , Alone in the Dark: Inferno are all vastly more impressive games than the first Alan Wake.

Haven't played Homecoming, but Deadly Premonition and Alone in the Dark absolutely, objectively are.

Alan Wake is when Remedy started to go downhill fast and never recovered.

 

[SCB3]

Wait are we talking Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare here? Cause that game is just straight up broken and shit

Alan Wake relies heavily on its story, I put the game on easy and enjoyed its atmosphere and plot more than anything, the difficulty adds nothing except you take less hits to die, thats it,

However, Alan Wake 2 is a masterpiece and improves on the first game and Control so much

 

[Windom Earle]

I think the game is really good for about the first half, then it gets insanely repetitive. The very concept of the game is to annoy you (via the dark presence) and it greatly succeeds in that. Nothing is ever easy, there is always something that gets in the way and you have to travel ridiculous distances and keep fighting the same stupid enemies over and over and over.

Still better than AW2 though.

 

[Synless]

Alan wake will always go down as one of the most boring, repetitive games I had ever played during the Xbox era.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I loved Deadly Premonition 1 and 2. Even with all the faults with 2 it’s one of my favorite switch games. My hot take is that I’ve been enjoying switch 3rd party exclusives more than their first party games.

 

[VolticArchangel]

Bro just turned into Grey Fox from Metal Gear just because the darkness is chasing him.

 

[Dazraell]

Wait are we talking Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare here? Cause that game is just straight up broken and shit

The next one, that one which was primarily set in Central Park

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Replaying it as we speak. It’s so basic but a good time overall. A nostalgic charm to it that some may dislike. I am having fun with it but only through episode 3, played on the 360 originally and I really enjoyed it but it’s certainly showing its age even with the remaster. 60fps makes it feel so much better but that’s a given.

 

[Hudo]

Alone in the Dark (lol)

The OG Alone in the Dark from 1992 is awesome, tho.

 

[Little Chicken]

Quantum Break is underrated and better than all of them. I just reinstalled it on Xbox and it's amazing how well the visuals hold up against Alan Wake 2.

 

[SCB3]

The next one, that one which was primarily set in Central Park

oh god, thats the one I meant, its so bad, interesting premise though

 

[Dazraell]

oh god, thats the one I meant, its so bad, interesting premise though

Yeah, I also liked the premise and soundtrack. But damn, the game was just awful

 

[SCB3]

Yeah, I also liked the premise and soundtrack. But damn, the game was just awful

It’s one of the few Collectors editions I regret buying lol

 

[balls of snow]

Yeah but they dont have bangers like this at the end of each chapter.

 

[balls of snow]

Quantum Break is underrated and better than all of them. I just reinstalled it on Xbox and it's amazing how well the visuals hold up against Alan Wake 2.

Best part, in a certain way

Spoiler: Mega spoiler

Alan Wake 2 is a sequel to QB. Martin Hatch is totally Mr Door if you think about it.

 

[Porticus]

Good to see that finally people are seeing through the trash.

 

[Windom Earle]

Throwback to the atrocious 360 version (Heavy tearing + SD + bad fps in some areas) lmao

 

[scoobidoo112]

But to say that Downpour and Alone in the Dark (lol) are better games ...

I'll never forget my first time playing Alone In The Dark.

At some point during the opening bit, you're supposed to set fire to a door in order to progress.

The game, however, decided that this was the time for the physics engine to spazz out, and all the loose objects in said room caught fire, and started frantically flying around, causing me to die in a chaotic frenzy.

I nearly died laughing, god it was so stupid, I could barely believe it was real.

Never did fininsh that game either. I think I quit after the driving sequence made me want to break my controller in half.

 

[VolticArchangel]

It's a game series not for everyone, but has a passionate fanbase, and I understand they're getting a sequel after more than a decade, so I don't wanna shitpost much.

Relies too much on being narrative driven, with below par gunplay, repetitive enemy design, lack of diverse arsenal, annoying battery mechanic, and a stupid system where the player gets tired after running very short distances so you had to wait a few seconds to sprint again (Silent Hill 2 did this without breaking the immersion of not slowing down the player significantly, like Alan Wake does).

It's like Silent Hill 2 from wish.com, but also inspired by the TV show, Twin Peaks.

I initially fell into the hype and bought that big book Collector's Edition for the 360, just because it's a few bucks more than the Standard Edition disk, and it comes with the first of 2 DLC's for free, and ended up hating the entire purchase after completing the game.

Don't even get me started on those asinine thermos flask collectibles scattered throughout Bright Falls. Lmao.

 

[indigoSociety]

I miss when people enjoyed a game for artistic intent instead of being technical analysts

 

[Bartski]

I replayed it before the sequel. Combat aged just horribly, 90% of damage you take is shit you can’t see hitting you from off screen, as you try to work focusing on single targets to take their shield off mechanic while getting ganked. But then I’ve seen posts here claiming it’s better than AW2 so what do I know

 

[BigLee74]

the game doesn't guide you with yellow paint. I mean, there's yellow paint that lead to

there's no obvious visual indicator that guides you towards your objective. You do have a radar

I remember enjoying this on first playthrough way back in the day, but on any attempt to replay it I have bowed out early (boring, repetitive gameplay).

The main reason I have given Alan Wake 2 a wide swerve.