Alan Wake

[Yog]

Alan Wake has for a long time been anticipated, and is now scheduled for spring 2010.

Here is some gameplay footage from E3 2009:

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Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Wake) - Official Site (http://www.alanwake.com/)

[Crusader]

Remedy spent too much time with 3D Realms...their release cycle is still way too long.

But I love Sam Lake's work!

[Dasquian Belargic]

I like the cinematic feel this has.. one to keep an eye on, I think.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

I really like the premise of this one for some odd reason.
Then again...I just kinda like spooky games.

Went and read some stuff on it...found myself more interested by the moment but it'll probably be one of those things I end up letting my friend who plays a lot of things rent and then have him give me the thumbs up or down since he's pretty much figured out what kind of games I actually like.

[Tear]

Games like this and Uncharted 2 are making that leap between cinematic adventures and games. That was like watching a movie. Great to see.

[Peter McCoy]

I've been following this game since I first heard about it in 2007. I'll check out the E3 demo later on when I get home (no way will it play on these rust-buckets!).

[Lykaios]

Games like this and Uncharted 2 are making that leap between cinematic adventures and games. That was like watching a movie. Great to see.
QFT

Shame to say this is the first time I've heard of this game...the first thing that comes to mind is Silent Hill and SH2, if this game is half as good as those, I'll be sure to check it out, Silent Hill was awesome and even though I haven't played in years, is one of my fave all time games

[Peter McCoy]

I'd quite possibly become a hermit if they created a free-roaming survival-horror game. Having a huge city teeming with zombies to explore and hide in would be superb. You could break into shopping centres for supplies and get them back to a safe house (which you have to choose and fortify yourself!!!). Then when you start to run out you gotta make another trip. It'd be awesome because realistically the power would eventually die, so while it's fine of a day, at night it's really dark except for the moonlight and whatever portable light source you can find. Imagine finding a car and starting it up in the dark, and as soon as the headlights kick in you get startled to find a group of zombies right in front of you. Rockstar, Volition/THQ and Valve should all team up to create a game - zombie survival horror in a huge city a-la GTA but with the destruction of Red Faction: Guerrilla (and the ability to board up/reinforce structures that are damaged, or not quite as strong as you'd like).

[Peter McCoy]

I bought Alan Wake at the same time as I bought Red Dead Redemption. While the Old West has taken up most of my time, I've just finished playing Episode One of Alan Wake and so far I'm engrossed. The location is very well realised and the visuals are jaw-dropping. I'm disappointed the free-roaming sandbox aspect has been removed, but since it's in favour of a compelling storyline I'm okay with it. I knew I'd be in safe hands with the studio who brought us the Max Payne series.

In a nutshell the premise is that Alan has travelled to the small quiet town of Bright Falls to relax in hopes of ridding himself of the bout of writers block plaguing him since his last novel two years prior. But shortly after arriving his wife seemingly falls into the lake and just as he dives in after her he wakes up in his crashed car. As you make your way through the woods to find help you discover pages to a novel apparently written by Alan - it's title is the one he planned to use for his next novel but he has no memory of writing it. The pages reveal events to the player before they happen - any more and I'll spoil details.

There was an end credits song playing once I'd completed the first section, and the next even opened with a 'Previously on Alan Wake...' cutscene which was very cool. And I've just found a sort of direct reference to Max Payne - though no names were mentioned the text was unquestionably refering to Max's story. That makes me think I may find other snippets that could possibly hint at what happens in the upcoming Max Payne 3 - awesome!

The atmosphere is very creepy - the darkness is used to great effect and the way you are alerted to enemies is done in a cinematic way. As I was running up a hill, the camera pulled back from me in slow-motion to reveal a shadowy figure coming up behind me.

The enemies are the 'Taken' - people consumed by a Darkness that is ever-present. They're invulnerable while enveloped in the swirling shadows so you have to use your flashlight to break down their protection before finishing them off with conventional weaponry. You can also use other light sources to aid you - stationary lamps and more powerful lights are dotted around for you to use as a safe haven, or you can lure the enemies into crossing through the beam to help damage them. The scarce flare gun ammo is excellent and very satisfying to use - a cool red flash sends enemies caught in the vicinity flying off to the sides - up to now they've died instantly but I guess there may be stronger enemies who will take less damage from the flare gun.

There was a cool part inside a wooden shack with a few TV's lying around, and there was a single ceiling light which was insufficient to illuminate beyond the centre of the room. A crazy axeman raged outside in the darkness but I couldn't see where he was through the windows. Suddenly the TV's came to life, displaying nothing but an evil eye surrounded by darkness - it was looking right at me!

People who like the Max Payne games will find a lot of fun similarities, but I assure you Alan Wake is it's own game, and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next!

[Dasquian Belargic]

Nice review, Peter. It definitely sounds like the kind of game I'd enjoy, but then I did love the Max Payne series.

[Dasquian Belargic]

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[Peter McCoy]

Sometimes I agree with this guy, other time's I have to wonder what planet he's from. But I just listened to his review of The Orange Box and I have to admit he grew on me since the Half Life series is one of my all-time fave's. And he actually had nothing but praise for Portal.

[Lykaios]

Finished the game yesterday and I was disappointed it was short.

Another great thing about the game is the soundtrack. Holy shit! Are there some good songs in the game or what? Some of them will play during the interludes between episodes, others will play on some radios scattered around town, but they're always fitting and even set the stage for what's about to come.

Peter's review is spot on, aside from the open endness of the game that was removed, the only thing I'd add to this game's cons is how the game takes you by the hand, letting you know what the objective is.

With that said, I think there's a high replay value, I'm actually about to give it a second go in Nightmare mode and gather some of the items I missed.

[Dasquian Belargic]

It looks like there is a sequel coming for this game.

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[Crusader]

Actually it seems like this will be no real sequel but a series of episodic spinoffs as DLC.

Since Alan Wake was already episodic you might want to argue that it could be just another season but the story is set in Alan Wake's very own Twilight Zone spoof, so the events are more or less an intermission to Alan Wake's real story.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Alan Wake is now available on PC : http://store.steampowered.com/app/108710/

[Dasquian Belargic]

http://www.gog.com/promo/alan_wake_series_gem_promo/

66% off both Alan Wake games today on GOG