Alan Wake...am I alone in being disappointed?

[darkman80723]

So a good friend of mine suggested Alan Wake, I took her up on it and loved the game. I liked the whole 'light based weapon' idea, the story, atmosphere etc....and being a Silent Hill fan I figured I was hard to please...but the ending to AW just totally let me down, maybe I just don't get it yet (I think either he truly DID dream it all up or he sacrificed himself for his wife and others...either way I vote BS)and with another play through/collecting all the manuscript pieces will shed some light, or did the story just run out of ideas and go for a cop-out? Anyone out there care to either help me understand, call me an idiot, or agree with me?

p.s. one more thing, really loved the soundtrack. I was happy that POTF could get some playtime =P

 

[ShakesZX]

I don't think the ending to Alan Wake was a cop-out. It was a deep satisfying ending that, like all the good TV series it was modeled after, leaves enough wiggle room to have a continuation added to the story. I think all the loose ends that really needed addressing were thoroughly wrapped up, and still left you wanting more.

If you couldn't tell, I am a fan of that ending.

 

[Nixzilla]

yes. yes you are kidding i didnt mind the ending

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

Well, Alan Wake is still my game of the year, and I really don't see that changing now that Reach has come and gone, so I think my response is pretty easy to figure out...

I loved the ending because of how ambiguous it is. Its so open to interpretation. I hope that Remedy gets to expand upon the story and Bright Falls (which I do fully believe could be the next Silent Hill. That town has a life of its own), because there are still so many unanswered questions, which I think is the signs of a good psychological thriller. You shouldn't know everything right away, and you should have to think about the end results and come up with your own conclusions. I can't really give you any advice to help you understand the ending, because everyone is going to see it some different way, but if you want to know how I saw it...

Spoiler

Its all Thomas Zane's story, and Alan Wake is just a character (who's taken on a conscious of his own) he's created as a way to fight the Taken.

At least you appreciate Poets of the Fall. We have no bad blood between us now.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

You are not alone my friend. While I do not think the ending was a cop-out, I was very annoyed with it. I would have been less annoyed if the producer hadn't promised that the ending will neatly wrap everything up, but still leave room for a possible sequel. I too call B.S. That was NOT a neat ending. And if this game isn't going to get a full sequel, this last DLC better set things right, or I will be very disappointed.
I'm sorry, but I want clear-cut resolution, not "oh, well the immediate town is safe". It would be fine to leave it so we know the Darkness is still out there, but I want the characters to live happily ever after. Yes, I know it's cliche and I know most people hate that. I'm a romantic, and if you're a good guy and still alive at the end of the story, you shouldn't be screwed over.

 

[Zhukov]

I didn't even get to the ending.

Got bored after about four hours. It was pathetically non-scary. The action was mediocre at best. And I couldn't give a damn for the story or any of the characters.

But it's okay, I found solace in the arms of a much better horror game.

 

[darkman80723]

Ok yeah I can see that. I didnt know about the DLC so I can see why it isnt all cut and dry. But Ive decided to give it another playthrough, and asap check out the extra content. I was under the impression that this was a one off game and the end was the end.

 

[Telperion]

I played the game one episode at a time, which you shouldn't do. The episodes are too long, so you lose that feeling of excitement when you flashlight + shoot an enemy for the 100th time inside a single episode. Also, I was disappointed by how the game didn't introduce anything creative in the way of creating light. Flashlight, bigger flashlight, even bigger flashlight... * yawn *... O' a flare gun! W00t! Not.

The game is way too combat heavy: there's not nearly enough exploration and thematic sequences to fill between shooting everything that approaches you with a melee weapon. Towards the end I felt burned out, and was glad to see the end texts scrolling. The final scene of getting back to the house was just so much more blah-blah-BLAH-blah-blah...Okay, let's just get this over with, already! If the pacing had been better I would have enjoyed the game more. A little more creativity wouldn't have hurt. And really, does the game have to be so combat heavy? Nnirvi also wrote about the flaws in Alan Wake's storyline in his column in last month's Pelit (www.pelit.fi) magazine. After reading that column I agree: there are too many plot holes and just bad writing towards the end of the game to make it a great game. As it is Alan Wake feels like a mediocre attempt at a good horror game.

 

[zombiesinc]

I enjoyed it, and it's one of the few ...horror-esque games that I've actually sat down and finished, within a few days.

But there were a few parts that really threw me out of the experience, or that shouldn't have been. Too many damn enemies, it started feeling like an action-orientated game. Well, I s'pose it was, wasn't it?

Not a bad game, not a great game either.

 

[Netrigan]

I'm about halfway through, but it's certainly one of those games that misses almost as much as it hits.

One thing that I'm finding distracting are the numerous scavenger hunts. Having a spooky game that encourages me to go wandering off into dark corners to find useless stuff... ummm, that's kind of failing on a primal level. A horror game should be making you *not* want to explore dark corners, because there's no telling what might jump out at you. But time and again, the safest place to go are the dark corners of the game map, because the only thing of note in that direction are supplies, manuscript pages, or various bits of string you're collecting.

But the game has atmosphere and manages to be a bit spooky in spite of its best efforts to disrupt immersion with all these silly side quests.

The constant narration and Stephen King name-checking would probably make Alan Wake a great drinking game.

 

[akibawall95]

The ending left me both wanting more and a bit disappointed. I heard that the DLC finishes the story but I no longer have the game. I really look forward the sequel.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

So a good friend of mine suggested Alan Wake, I took her up on it and loved the game. I liked the whole 'light based weapon' idea, the story, atmosphere etc....and being a Silent Hill fan I figured I was hard to please...but the ending to AW just totally let me down, maybe I just don't get it yet (I think either he truly DID dream it all up or he sacrificed himself for his wife and others...either way I vote BS)and with another play through/collecting all the manuscript pieces will shed some light, or did the story just run out of ideas and go for a cop-out? Anyone out there care to either help me understand, call me an idiot, or agree with me?

p.s. one more thing, really loved the soundtrack. I was happy that POTF could get some playtime =P

Wow, this thread is back from the dead. I apparently posted on it a long time ago. Anyway, if you still have the game and don't have the DLC yet, get it. It makes things much better.

 

[Netrigan]

So a good friend of mine suggested Alan Wake, I took her up on it and loved the game. I liked the whole 'light based weapon' idea, the story, atmosphere etc....and being a Silent Hill fan I figured I was hard to please...but the ending to AW just totally let me down, maybe I just don't get it yet (I think either he truly DID dream it all up or he sacrificed himself for his wife and others...either way I vote BS)and with another play through/collecting all the manuscript pieces will shed some light, or did the story just run out of ideas and go for a cop-out? Anyone out there care to either help me understand, call me an idiot, or agree with me?

p.s. one more thing, really loved the soundtrack. I was happy that POTF could get some playtime =P

Wow, this thread is back from the dead. I apparently posted on it a long time ago. Anyway, if you still have the game and don't have the DLC yet, get it. It makes things much better.

I am like the Re-Animator when it comes to reviving old threads about games I just played. It's either that are starting my own.

 

[JackRyan64]

I didn't hate the ending, but didn't love it either. I will say, however, that if there isn't an Alan Wake 2 after "The Writer"'s ending, I WILL go to Remedy and demand that they write me a script that explains what happens next.

 

[Netrigan]

Ending was a bit eh. Could see where they were going with it, but it didn't quite grab me.

Mostly I just have a problem with the endless narration of the game which did its level best to eradicate the spooky atmosphere.

My favorite bit was when you were heading to Norse God's farmhouse and you see a car driving down the road. And control gets wrestled away from you not once, but twice as Alan figures its his friend driving on ahead of him... or maybe not.

Seriously, you're going to break up the bird attack I'm in the middle of to play "I can see your house from here"?

Funny thing is I'm still not sure if it was his friend or not. It might have been... or maybe not. And it really wasn't important one way or the other.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I was more disappointed with the shitty, boring combat and cheap ass crows.

 

[Netrigan]

I was more disappointed with the shitty, boring combat and cheap ass crows.

Combat was boring... but every so often it did its job well. There were a few times when I had to run past a bunch of Taken with next to no ammo that the game was undeniably tense.

Honestly, I think that's really what the game should have been focusing on. Putting you in fights that you couldn't possible win where escape was the only option. The big stand-offs later in the game really did nothing to promote any sort of dread.

And I still think any horror game that encourages exploration has completely failed to do its job. You can still have collectibles around the game, but you should make players think twice before running after a thermos or manuscript page. Aside from a few weak ambushes late in the game, they made no attempt to use those items for traps.