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Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 9:33 pm
by MKJ
morguen87 wrote:
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.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 11:29 pm
by 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.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:48 pm
by 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 :olo:
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 :o
they best release it on PC soonish.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 6:57 am
by Eraser
Quantum suicide :olo:

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:44 pm
by 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 :)

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 6:50 am
by 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? :)

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 7:33 am
by 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.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:10 am
by MKJ
odd camera? did you play it with one hand or what? :[

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:58 am
by 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.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 8:18 pm
by 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.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 8:47 pm
by Pauly
I thought it was rubbish. I was really looking forward to it too.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 6:34 am
by 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.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 7:25 am
by 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.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:08 pm
by 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

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:00 am
by Eraser
I saw you playing it. You finished it yet? What did you think of it?

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:45 am
by 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

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:16 pm
by 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?

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 9:43 am
by 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.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 9:53 am
by brisk
How did it sell?

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 10:05 am
by brisk
brisk wrote: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.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:29 am
by MKJ
Eraser wrote: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

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:53 am
by brisk
MKJ wrote:
Eraser wrote: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

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 1:19 pm
by MKJ
across all platforms, but yea, i read it wrong :owned:

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

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 7:55 am
by Eraser
Remedy confirm again that they want to do a sequel. It appears MS isn't convinced yet though.

Re: Alan Wake review is up

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:51 am
by 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.