Tomi on 9/11/2019 at 22:40

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So I can cross another game off my neglected games list: Alan Wake

Goddammit, why do I have to be so stupid and play masterpieces like this almost a decade late? I had read all sorts of negative stuff about Alan Wake, and while I knew that it'd be a decent game at least, my expectations weren't sky high. What if the game hasn't aged well at all? However, after turning all the graphics options to the maximum (the default resolution was 800x600 or something) and getting used to the somewhat consoley controls (I had forgotten that Alan Wake came out on XBox before PC), it was an unforgettable ride.

The game got off to a slow start, but I was hooked by the moment I stepped into the dark forest. In the beginning especially I just loved the atmosphere. I had no idea what the hell was going on and what's going to happen next - being all alone in the forest at night felt almost intimidating. I can't remember the last time a game made me feel like that, it was kind of strange but great. Not necessarily scary, but damn I was happy whenever I found a light source, a safe place to calm down and gather myself.

The story is full of cliches, but the funny thing is that it works so well in this game. Alan Wake is a writer and he's kind of imagining things that then come true in his world; near the beginning of the game there's a scene where you're being chased by a crazy guy with an axe, it's like (intentionally) straight from The Shining but that's what makes it so great. I found the writing and the story in general pretty damn clever, actually. I don't think I've ever enjoyed finding readables as much in any other game as I did in Alan Wake (and there are quite a lot of readable documents to be found!) - they provide some genuinely interesting lore and useful information about what's going on and what is about to happen.

Sure, the game has its flaws, and I agree with some of the usual criticism. The game drags on for a bit too long, I think there's a bit too much filler content and it could have been a few hours shorter. Like I said, I loved the atmosphere and the action and pretty much everything in the beginning, but at some point in the game being all alone in the dark forest surrounded by creatures of the night stops being scary. To be fair, that's kind of supposed to be happen, because even the behaviour of the protagonist changes as the story progresses - he has got used to it all already and just wants to get things done - but in the end I just wanted the story to end too. The gunplay is simple but surprisingly fun, but towards the end it also gets a bit repetitive when the game becomes more of an action game than a horror game. I started to miss the survival game kind of approach from the first chapters.

Anyway, I'm glad that it's over now and I've got one less "essential" game to play, but it was a great experience and a great story. :) I also must give a few extra points to the game for having Roy Orbison and David Bowie on the soundtrack! I don't think I've ever heard Orbison on a game soundtrack before.

henke on 10/11/2019 at 07:00

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Errr, no. Most people liked Alan Wake, (https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/alan-wake) both critics and gamers. And, complaints about the initial XBox 360 exclusivity aside, (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109164&page=11&p=2027007&viewfull=1#post2027007) TTLGers liked it as well.

It didn't get much attention on initial release because it was a 360 exclusive and came out in the same week as Red Dead Redemption.

Starker on 10/11/2019 at 10:11

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Well, I stand corrected, but in my experience, nobody ever seems to have played the game, and when they have, they have invariably criticised it. I guess some of it had to do with expectations. I also remember it visually not being as impressive as what they showed in demos before it became a 360 exclusive and far more linear and less open world than I had thought.

Tomi on 16/11/2019 at 23:18

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I already did actually! The gameplay in the DLC episodes was more balanced and more fun, and they wrapped up the story quite nicely indeed, even though things got a bit too strange for my liking in the end. :)

Thanks to your recommendation, I finished that one right after the "main game". I didn't expect to like the Alan Wake action game that much, but it turned out to be a positive surprise! American Nightmare has got kind of a survival feeling that I really like, and there are more guns to play with too. The game also opens up the story of Alan Wake even more, which is nice. It only took me a couple of hours to play through it all, but that was just about the perfect length and I'm glad that it didn't last longer - things get too repetitive when you visit all the same places for the third time.

There's also the arcade mode that I tried quickly, and it didn't seem half bad either! You'll have to beat waves of enemies and stay alive for ten minutes, which turned out to be quite challenging. I played this one graveyard level, and it felt a lot like that one zombie-killing quest in VtM: Bloodlines, but done right this time, as it was much more fun rather than frustrating.