Alan Wake review is up

[MKJ]

Eh, that argument has never held much water in my opinion. A movie and a video game are two different beasts. 12 hours just seems skimpy for a game that has been in development for so long, a game that at one point was hyped to be a sand box game, a game with no multiplayer, and a game - from what I've read, is going to be very linear and probably doesn't have much replay value if the linear game play holds true. Just reads like a solid rental and another over priced game out the door. Kinda meh overall

so, kinda like Avatar then. a movie for which you paid even more per hour.

[brisk]

Just finished Chapter 3 and getting into it a lot more. It's a bit of a rough diamond really... the atmosphere is so brilliant and it controls fantastically (minus the retarded jumping) but I just wish it didn't treat you like a 2 year old, especially with regards to the "puzzle" sections, which i'm sure a dog could work out.

I'd say it'd be awesome if they spent more time polishing it, but after 5 or so years in development, it seems to me it's probably been overproduced if anything.. and diluted from the original vision.

Anyway, despite all this it's very fun. I think the 8/10 scores are quite accurate.

[MKJ]

alright, got this game, just finished Ep 1

this is fucking awesome. I agree that the game tends to over explain events, but fuck this game breathes tension.
I like the numerous references to horror writers and stories - twilight zone spoofs on tv? yay. but Max Payne references? fuck yes
something tells me the character Alan Wake is the author of the Max Payne story. judging by a manuscript page i just found that is. Something about a city drenched in snow, painkillers and a nightmare that started with the words "Honey, I'm home".

guyblowki, you will appreciate this game
they best release it on PC soonish.

[Eraser]

Quantum suicide

[vesp]

Adds another dimension if your name is Alan, with all the creepy whispers ("save me alan, etc").
A friend of mine is experienceing this atm, it's creeping him out

[Eraser]

It's a brilliant game. I only just finished episode two and played the very beginning of episode three.

The Max Payne references are right there at the beginning of episode 2 eh? I read the manuscript and it speaks of "talking in metaphors again" as well. How obvious could that be?

[o'dium]

It could about as obvious as Saml Lake being on a chat show with the same damn face in the first game.... Oh wait, it does...

Anyway...

Beat it yesterday, took me a little longer as I haven't had the time just recently. The plot was a bit odd in places, they introduced this Thomas Zane character in an odd way without ever telling you who he was, he just "appeared" in the story.

Overall it was a great game, but not game of the year material sadly. There just wasn't enough polish there with the time spent on it. Odd textures, bad clipping and poor control, plus the combat at times was really bad (And that camera, it feels like a last gen camera).

I would say 8/10 is a pretty good score for it. If you look past its faults, its a damn good game, its just a shame there wasnt more polish.

[MKJ]

odd camera? did you play it with one hand or what? :[

[Eraser]

Yeah I had no real big camera problems, although on a few occasions the camera clipped through a rock formation, but only for a moment.

[brisk]

Camera and controls were fine. The only issue was with the retarded jumping system, which felt like it was always working against you... but it wasn't a platformer anyway.

[Pauly]

I thought it was rubbish. I was really looking forward to it too.

[Eraser]

Heresy! The game is fantastic! Gameplay might be a bit shallow, but the setting, the atmosphere and the story are all done very, very well IMO.

[Eraser]

The "Bright Falls" prequel to Alan Wake is of pretty decent quality for what it is.
It's a 6 episode live action prequel to the game and it's worth the time to watch it. Should only take 30 minutes or so.

All the episodes are viewable on your TV through XBox Live or on http://www.brightfalls.com. The website doesn't seem to have HD versions though, but they are available in 720p here:

episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4, episode 5 and episode 6.

[MKJ]

heh, the late show with alan wake as a guest.
again multiple Max Payne references, including another guest Sam Lake - the writer of the Max Payne and Alan Wake games - and Poets of the Fall as the performing band; the guys who did the max payne theme.

/outnerded

[Eraser]

I saw you playing it. You finished it yet? What did you think of it?

[MKJ]

beat it last night. i liked the ending sequence, with the conceptual world n such.

its clearly not a horror tho, but a surreal thriller.

would play again

[tnf]

Just finished it. It was obviously well developed with lots of atmosphere and attention to detail. I hated the combat at first, but eventually decided that it helped give the game the right feel. Since you are a writer the slightly clunky fighting made the fight sequences feel a little more authentic - I frequently had the experience of backing up as fast as I could while just throwing flares or flashbangs as fast as I could and unloading with my little POS pistol (reloading added to this as well - having to go bullet by bullet). It had some funny moments too - like Barry and the Christmas lights. And the battle on the concert stage was great stuff.

I thought there would be more sandbox style play.

Now, will the sequel take as long to be released as this one you think?

[Eraser]

A new DLC chapter will be released 28th of July. They've announced a further two chapters as well and they also said they'd love to do a sequel. So who knows.

[brisk]

How did it sell?

[brisk]

How did it sell?

http://www.vgchartz.com/game.php?id=13817

Less than 500,000 sold

I guess there won't be a sequel then. Shame.

[MKJ]

A new DLC chapter will be released 28th of July. They've announced a further two chapters as well and they also said they'd love to do a sequel. So who knows.

it ends the same way as max payne did; "alan wake's journey through the night will continue".
im sure theyll find someone willing to fund a sequel

edit; according to that site, tomb raider anniversary sold less than 70k. didnt stop them from cranking out new tomb raiders ey

[brisk]

A new DLC chapter will be released 28th of July. They've announced a further two chapters as well and they also said they'd love to do a sequel. So who knows.

it ends the same way as max payne did; "alan wake's journey through the night will continue".
im sure theyll find someone willing to fund a sequel

edit; according to that site, tomb raider anniversary sold less than 70k. didnt stop them from cranking out new tomb raiders ey

you mean 820,000

[MKJ]

across all platforms, but yea, i read it wrong

still, theres franchises out there that suck in sales figures yet keep on existing :l

[Eraser]

Remedy confirm again that they want to do a sequel. It appears MS isn't convinced yet though.

[brisk]

It needs a fucking PC release thats for sure. Assuming the port is painless and doesn't cost much, it's a nice little extra revenue for them and could nudge the sequel a little closer to reality.

It also won't get released at the same time as Red Dead Redemption. Easily the worst marketing mistake MS have made all year.