ALAN WAKE

[Rock83]

This game reminds me so much of "Twin Peaks" it`s crazy.

 

[VALVOLINER]

I have received my copy today and Just finished de first 2 chapters... Man this game looks gorgeous!!

Graphics:

-The good:
Best lights effects ever seen to date, the atmosphere, mist and the forrest looks almost real, the daylight is even more Impressive and fotorealistic.
The water is simply UNREAL! Amazing work here

-The bad:
Good textures in general lines although some are very, very poor..But the worst thing is the low resolution,..not sure, but I think that Alan Wake Runs only at 540p and as a result, the image is blurred.
Minor tearing problems
some "blocky" corporal animations and some unconvincing facial animations

Gameplay:


-Good:
The controls are very easy, intuitive and pleasant even during combat situations. easy puzzles and collection of Book manuscripts, coffee thermos, radio, tv..

-The bad:
Too linear, with very default paths and less exploration than I imagined at first

History:

As I said before I have only beaten the first 2 chapters but the main history is incredibly well told....at least for the moment.
The game remembers me some classic Tv, shows, but above all : "Lost" and "Twin Peaks" and of course the writer Stephen King

Sound;

10/10---Perfect
Nothing bad to say ...Even you can hear the sound of the wind!!

I.m playing with the spanish dub and the voice acting is incredible.
The voice of Alan Wake is the same actor who plays/dub Agent Mulder in "X files" here and the others are from some tv series like "Lost" or "House". ..Not tried the English dub yet, but I think it is very good too.

 

[Ash Housewares]

Thanks for your impressions. Even though most of the reviews aren't as positive as I expected I am still really excited to play this game. Footage looks so good. Usually reviews can impact my decision on buying a game but I don't care about any of the negative points that have been made. Roll on next Thursday.

 

[VALVOLINER]

Thanks for your impressions. Even though most of the reviews aren't as positive as I expected I am still really excited to play this game. Footage looks so good. Usually reviews can impact my decision on buying a game but I don't care about any of the negative points that have been made. Roll on next Thursday.

I think Alan Wake is a great game but with some flaws and perhaps the hype was too high (One of the most anticipated games for 4 years ) ...anyway I'm on Chapter 3 and I have not finished it yet so I will wait to rate it properly later too.

 

[Matt S]

Thanks, Valvoliner. How linear is this game? Any exploration allowed during daytime? Just being able to run around, or are there invisible boundaries?

 

[VALVOLINER]

Thanks, Valvoliner. How linear is this game? Any exploration allowed during daytime? Just being able to run around, or are there invisible boundaries?

Yes. precisely during the day the game allows you much more exploration than during the night.
Basically during the day you,ll have to explore places, specific locations, and search for clues, talk to some people or do certain tasks but you can,t go where you want...only where the game tells you must to go (can drive a car at some point too)

Yes, unfortunately there are invisible (minor) and visible boundaries..
Alan Wake was initially intended as a huge "sandbox" (like GTA) but sadly Remedy discarded the idea because was too ambitious... (and perhaps would have to wait 4 more years to see that game )


summarizing:

Day and night are two different realities and opposite gameplay in Alan Wake:

-daylight: Relax- exploration- Talk to people- search for clues - find locations - interact- easy puzzles -quest - NOT COMBAT OR ENEMIES

-Night: Fight against many enemies + combat and some exploration


PS: The passing of time is,nt in real time..
I think there are 6 chapters in total.

 

[Patient Zero]

I just finished this one up. I would not purchase this, it is more suited for a rental. The story is great, and I love the narrating. But there is not much in terms of gameplay. It is really repetitive. You pretty much fight the same bad guys over, and over. There is not even any bosses to fight. Most of the game is just spent running around shining your flashlight, and picking up stuff. There are only a few weapons, and they are not even upgradable. As for other upgrades, well.....There are none. I would consider this a playable novel more than an action game, if that makes sense. The game looks great, and the story is great, but that is all the good things I can say. It is also pretty short. If you think turning on a switch is a puzzle, this game is for you. It was not hard or challenging, and I would not replay it again on another difficulty. I would give this one a 5.5/10.

 

[Matt S]

Yes. precisely during the day the game allows you much more exploration than during the night.
Basically during the day you,ll have to explore places, specific locations, and search for clues, talk to some people or do certain tasks but you can,t go where you want...only where the game tells you must to go (can drive a car at some point too)

Thanks, appreciate it. From the sound of it, I should have a lot of fun with this one

 

[-jay-]

From the sound of it, I should have a lot of fun with this one

Yeah same here all these mixed views haven't put me off at all.

 

[Matt S]

Yeah same here all these mixed views haven't put me off at all.

Exactly, and most of the reviews have been in the 80-90ish range...

 

[-jay-]

Exactly, and most of the reviews have been in the 80-90ish range...

Yeah that's true and i mean 80-90% are great scores even though some think it sucks unless it's 100% each and every time.

 

[Matt S]

i kmow, right? when did an 80-something become a bad score? Some of the fanboys on the Remedy forums are just loco

Metacritic average is 85& based on 40 reviews....I expect that percentage to increase if anything..but you never know

 

[FQRizzo]

Usually, when something scores in the 80s and I'm not a big fan of it, I'll just wait for the eventual price drop (which has been happening much more frequently as of late )

 

[hairlesswookiee]

Yeah that's true and i mean 80-90% are great scores even though some think it sucks unless it's 100% each and every time.

IMO what's the point in having a 100% score?? That's considered perfect right? I have yet to play ANY game that is 100% perfect. I understand that reviewers need some way to measure the rating, but I usually only buy games that get scores of 85 and above. Less than 80 and its always a renter.

 

[Darth Caedus]

Goldeneye N64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time were both 100%s for me, the last games to get them from me...but that's offtopic.

If I think a game's interesting, it doesn't matter if it gets a 10 or a 1 (well, maybe a 1). I've enjoyed the CRAP out of games that get scored a 5, so I'm not too worried about score.

 

[Tiny Eli]

Usually, when something scores in the 80s and I'm not a big fan of it, I'll just wait for the eventual price drop (which has been happening much more frequently as of late )

I'm also surprised how fast games will drop price. Ubisoft games seem to drop the fastest.

As for for game scores, a number of games I have found fun have scores in the 40-60% range on meta-critic. I don't usually let a bad score dissuade me from getting something.

 

[plasmid303]

A lot of reviewers and publications say that 100% or 10/10 or 5 stars doesn't necessarily mean a game is perfect, instead those numbers represent the highest scores the reviewer can give the game. Same deal with film reviewers, i.e. Roger Ebert could give a movie a full four stars in a review, but he might express some criticisms in the text portion.

No such thing as a perfect game. Or perfect anything, for that matter.

Still looking forward to Alan Wake. It'll be my mature game for the week before Super Mario Galaxy 2 releases.

 

[VALVOLINER]

when you're playing through the game and pay very careful attention to the graphics you,ll notice many graphic flaws like: many poor textures, fuzzy image, not very detailed character models (look Wake,s hair ), lower resolution than 720p, minor popping and tearing ....but if you see the "Overall image" in motion, then the game is simply AWESOME!!

Some daylight pictures ingame I took yesterday:

The atmosphere during the night is the best I have experienced in a single game: , the fog, the trees moving in the wind, the vission depth , the moonlight, smoke, real time light & shadows, the flashlight, The grass, the water, physics...when you see the whole show on the screen, running smoothly (30 fps + blur motion), then you shalt say: OMG this is gorgeous!!

 

[Darth Caedus]

The dusk shot is amazing looking, lighting on the game looks phenomenal

 

[wofford29]

Looking at those screens it's one of the best looking games I've ever seen. I like the resolution as well. Makes it look more stylized and film like.