Review: Alan Wake
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
- Start date
Hmmm, If the story is highly recommended then I may very well have to give this a try. I recently bought and played through Borderlands so I am looking for something with a little more depth.
That said it's fairly expensive for a single player, story driven game (less re-playability) so I may give a it a little while to come down in price before buying.
That said it's fairly expensive for a single player, story driven game (less re-playability) so I may give a it a little while to come down in price before buying.
I still can't get over the fact that huge flying objects just casually bump off Alan.
Although it does look pretty schweet.
Although it does look pretty schweet.
Very, very tempting. A brilliant review, and mostly spoiler free. I happen to think that anything that happens within the first five minutes or so of a game isn't that spoilerific, like the Normandy getting wrecked in Mass Effect 2.
I know this may sound like a stupid question, but what it the aim-assist like in this game? While its a game I'd like to play, I don't enjoy playing shooters on consoles as I alway find aiming difficult. If its good I'l probably buy on release. If its bad, I'll wait and prey for a PC release.
Oh, actually, that's a really good question. Your flashlight acts as your aim, so whatever it's beam hits is what you shoot. It works beautifully. Of course, for weapons like the flare gun or the flash bang, you don't have to be nearly so precise.Plinglebob said:
Also, with regard to spoilers, in the review, I cover only the most basic, basic of plot. If you've read anything about Alan Wake to this point, you most likely already know the few things I mention. As for the video, the spoilers in it are gameplay-related, not story - you see things that don't become available until later in the game. You will also see Episode names. I don't reveal any plot points other than, again, the most basic premise of the game. They're very minor spoilers, in my opinion, but I prefer to over-warn than ruin someone's experience.
I was thinking of picking this up. The plot of the story and the tensions I've seen reviewers describe seem amazing. I've also judged the gameplay and it does look like a preety creepy game.
Now Alan Wake, or Nier? Dammit! I'm so conflicted!
Now Alan Wake, or Nier? Dammit! I'm so conflicted!
Thanks for clarifying. I've really been enjoying the Bright Falls mini series. It definitely effs with your head.Susan Arendt said:
Curious though, did you find the story predictable? I've been waiting so long for this game that I'd hate to be disappointed.
I've heard that while the story is structured and paced extremely well, that the diologe makes the characters seem stiff and awkward, did you ever have that problem?
Well, that depends on whether or not you go looking for everything. You can rush through Episodes fairly quickly by running from fights and just sticking to the path, but it's a far more interesting experience if you take your time. To be perfectly honest with you, though, I have no idea how much total time I spent in the game. All I can tell you is, I would look up and three or four hours would have gone by without me noticing pretty much every time I played. I don't think you'll feel cheated, though.Legion said:
Nope, though I also tend to put that "let me figure this out" part of my brain on hold when I'm really enjoying a story. I had some suspicions along the way, some of which were accurate, some which weren't. If you just let the story take you where it wants to go, I think you'll really enjoy it.aaronmcc said:
Can't say that I did, no. Well, let me clarify that. In some cases, you'll be near a character who continues to speak to you even after their "necessary" bit of dialogue with you is over. Example (not actually from the game): You walk into a hotel and ask the desk clerk for your room key. All he has to say is "Here you go, Mr. Wake" and give you the key, at which point, gamewise, you're supposed to walk away and go to your room. If instead you stick around, rather than have him standing there mute, he continues to make small talk.Not G. Ivingname said:
Those situations come up fairly frequently, and can sound a bit forced at times. But it never pulled me out of the experience or broke the immersion for me.
Thank you! My god this game has been bugging me forever. I keep hearing about it, seeing ads and just about everything else you can imagine but I had absolutely no idea what it was or what it was about. It was a bit of ignorance on my part but finally knowing exactly what it is I am very happy to know this is more then worth a nice 5 day rental and a few nights being scared of my cats glowing eyes.
Thanks Susan, I'll make this my May game purchase then seeing as Ubisoft screwed up the PC release of Splinter Cell.Susan Arendt said:
Interesting. You comment on the sort of out of context minigame/QTEs that pull you out of the experience and this got me thinking of the QTEtastic Heavy Rain. If the QTEs were more well integrated into the game experience, as they supposedly are in HR, would that have helped maintain the immersion or was it more the fact that they were QTEs in the first place?
Hmmm, well I have this on pre-order along with "Red Dead Redemption".
Truthfully this hasn't convinced me to cancel my pre-order, but I found some bits of the review fairly disappointing. I've never been a huge fan of chapter-based resets of equipment and accomplishments and such. What's more I tend to disagree with Steven King's statement quoted by Alan at the end of the review. Part of what impresses me about horror is when they come up with cool concepts and mythology, which by definition mandates explanation. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" endures and is constantly drawn from because it's both frightening, but detailed, and more or less consistant in of itself for example. I tend to view writers who argue in favor of keeping things unexplained and ambigious as hacks, looking for an excuse to throw wierd stuff out there willy nilly without having to bother to explain themselves. I *SERIOUSLY* hope that statement doesn't imply that they plan to just make the game randomly Bizzare without any eventual logic or resolution... I'll give it a shot anyway since the ride looks cool, but if they do that I'm certainly not going to rave about it.
Other than that, what the heck is the big deal about "Twin Peaks"? I've seen it, and it was decent for what it was, but it seems like now I've seen TWO games in rapid succession trying to emulate it's vibe (this one and Deadly Premonition). I don't think it was all that, being mostly original because it was done on TV, and used a setting and style more common to books than the screen.
I'm not saying that it's a bad idea, the change of pace is nice, but honestly I tend to look more towards the things that seemed to inspire Twin Peaks (like some of Lovecraft's writing and those he inspired) than that show specifically, especially seeing as even a lot of it's fans tend to talk about how it fell apart especially in the second season.
Truthfully this hasn't convinced me to cancel my pre-order, but I found some bits of the review fairly disappointing. I've never been a huge fan of chapter-based resets of equipment and accomplishments and such. What's more I tend to disagree with Steven King's statement quoted by Alan at the end of the review. Part of what impresses me about horror is when they come up with cool concepts and mythology, which by definition mandates explanation. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" endures and is constantly drawn from because it's both frightening, but detailed, and more or less consistant in of itself for example. I tend to view writers who argue in favor of keeping things unexplained and ambigious as hacks, looking for an excuse to throw wierd stuff out there willy nilly without having to bother to explain themselves. I *SERIOUSLY* hope that statement doesn't imply that they plan to just make the game randomly Bizzare without any eventual logic or resolution... I'll give it a shot anyway since the ride looks cool, but if they do that I'm certainly not going to rave about it.
Other than that, what the heck is the big deal about "Twin Peaks"? I've seen it, and it was decent for what it was, but it seems like now I've seen TWO games in rapid succession trying to emulate it's vibe (this one and Deadly Premonition). I don't think it was all that, being mostly original because it was done on TV, and used a setting and style more common to books than the screen.
I'm not saying that it's a bad idea, the change of pace is nice, but honestly I tend to look more towards the things that seemed to inspire Twin Peaks (like some of Lovecraft's writing and those he inspired) than that show specifically, especially seeing as even a lot of it's fans tend to talk about how it fell apart especially in the second season.