Alan Wake

Dertt · October 05, 2010, 12:26:43 PM

Apologies if there's already a thread on this, but if there is, it doesn't look like it's received a post since the game's release.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game, I must say. Very atmospheric, great story, lovingly-rendered, cinematic graphics, and the soundtrack (in addition to the original score) is brilliant.

Anyone else played this? I feel the need to get a discussion going.

Ruzu · October 05, 2010, 01:26:55 PM

I honestly watched some let's Play about it, the story is nice but it seems kind of repetive with the "Flash light once they aren't effected greatly by the light, shoot them!" thing kind of got boring for me but I stayed around for the story.

Holkeye · October 05, 2010, 06:47:13 PM

I liked it.

Dertt · October 05, 2010, 06:50:35 PM

Quote from: Ruzu on October 05, 2010, 01:26:55 PM
I honestly watched some let's Play about it, the story is nice but it seems kind of repetive with the "Flash light once they aren't effected greatly by the light, shoot them!" thing kind of got boring for me but I stayed around for the story.

Better dynamic than just plain "shoot them!"

Moss. · February 19, 2012, 01:14:13 AM

Bump because this is on PC, now. And on Steam, on sale. So I got it. And I LOVE it.

If you buy it right now (again, it's on sale) you get the collector's edition, which comes with creator commentary (in-game), a 130-page pdf illustration, and the soundtrack.

haloOfTheSun · February 19, 2012, 01:22:24 AM

I have this on Xbox. It's great.

Holkeye · February 19, 2012, 03:07:35 AM

I've been thinking about getting it, but I can't decide. I've been hearing that its a bit monotonous, but also that it has a good story. Tell me some stuff about it.

haloOfTheSun · February 19, 2012, 06:10:42 AM

The gameplay can be a little monotonous, but I don't think it's any worse than a lot of games. Or, to put it another way, it didn't get to the point where I was bored with it. I think using light sources as your main means of attack is a pretty cool idea. On the easiest difficulty setting you can pretty much kill anything, but on any other difficulty you're expected to preserve your ammo and actually run from some enemies rather than fighting everything. The atmosphere is great; the mood is set just right and it really draws you in.. As far as story, I think it's really good. If you like Stephen King at all, then you'll probably enjoy it. The writer also cited Lost as an inspiration, and you can definitely pick up on that.

My only complaint, being that I have it on 360, is that you have to buy the two DLCs to get the full story and ending. Kind of lame.

Sophist · February 19, 2012, 06:31:20 AM

I heard it was really neat, I want to get it. My 360 died when it came out, so I thought I was out of luck.

Moss. · February 19, 2012, 04:06:16 PM

Quote from: HaloOfTheSun on February 19, 2012, 06:10:42 AM
The gameplay can be a little monotonous, but I don't think it's any worse than a lot of games. Or, to put it another way, it didn't get to the point where I was bored with it. I think using light sources as your main means of attack is a pretty cool idea. On the easiest difficulty setting you can pretty much kill anything, but on any other difficulty you're expected to preserve your ammo and actually run from some enemies rather than fighting everything. The atmosphere is great; the mood is set just right and it really draws you in.. As far as story, I think it's really good. If you like Stephen King at all, then you'll probably enjoy it. The writer also cited Lost as an inspiration, and you can definitely pick up on that.

My only complaint, being that I have it on 360, is that you have to buy the two DLCs to get the full story and ending. Kind of lame.

This sums it up perfectly. The gameplay is monotonous in the same way the gameplay in Resident Evil is monotonous. You shoot things and solve puzzles, and that's about it, but the changes in terrain, close quarters, tension, sound design, atmosphere and need to conserve ammo keep it interesting enough to keep going and enjoy the (amazing) story. They do a LOT of really neat horror and psychological-thriller ideas that you see in movies of those genres all the time, and it's all very fluid, so you feel like you're in control instead of just watching a series of movies.

Dwarra? · February 19, 2012, 07:21:01 PM

I absolutely cannot stand any of the characters in this game. But it did keep me interested enough to get all the way through it, and the entire Norse Metal farm bit made it all up to me.

tSwitch · February 20, 2012, 07:19:23 PM

Quote from: Holk on February 19, 2012, 03:07:35 AM
I've been thinking about getting it, but I can't decide. I've been hearing that its a bit monotonous, but also that it has a good story. Tell me some stuff about it.

Stephen King: The Game

Roph · February 21, 2012, 07:27:50 AM

This game runs like shit, it's insanely unoptimized.

That's what you get when a game is a console port I guess. I can run Crysis 2 on DX9 High at 720p while simultaneously livestreaming it in H.264 in realtime and keep 30fps+, but alan wake drops to 15-25fps once gameplay starts. Derp.

Forcing lower settings and disabling features via ATI's control panel helps a bit, but dayum.

Esmeralda · February 21, 2012, 11:18:06 AM

Yeah, the game isn't running too flash on the PC. Currently playing through it and while the shooting is already feeling really tedious and bad the story is good enough to make me play through it.

Moss. · February 21, 2012, 03:22:00 PM

No problems running on my PC (which is a mac).

Holkeye · February 21, 2012, 03:44:04 PM

Yeah, every review says that this is the way a console port should be done, and it runs perfectly.

tSwitch · February 22, 2012, 03:25:14 AM

I've seen the same thing, Holk, so I have no idea where Roph is coming from.