Zero Punctuation: Alan Wake

[Sparrow]

Here is a sample list of games that Yahtzee likes:

Prototype, Infamous, Resident Evil 4, Thief 2, Fallout 3, Psychonauts, Saint's Row 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Orange Box (Portal especially), Half-Life 2, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Silent Hill 2, Left for Dead, LEGO Indiana Jones, Painkiller, No More Heroes, Killer 7, Condemned, Gears of War 2, Monkey Island, God of War, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed 2, Guitar Hero franchise (to a point), Spiderman 2, Grim Fandango, Manhunt.

This proves my point even further that he is a not a good source of information. Some of these games are just down right terrible. I mean, LEGO Indiana Jones? Seriously?

Only a cynical gamer with a stick up their ass would call any of the LEGO games terrible. I mean, sure, they're repetitive and a bit formulaic, and far from being great games, but they're not terrible, and they're fun enough to play. This is exactly what this guy was saying to you. There, believe it or not, can be a, wait for this, MIDDLE GROUND. Shocking, I know. Yahtzee takes this middle ground far more often than you would think listening to retards like you.

...you try to take the high ground, then you insult me.

Niiiiiiice.

 

[Colodomoko]

Here's my question, Will I enjoy this game considering the fact that I enjoyed playing Deadly Premonition?

 

[sketch_zeppelin]

I actually had alot of fun with this game. I'm not gonna say that Yatzee didn't have some good points. I do think that alerting the player every time the enemies spawn was a bad idea and it would have been nice if you could play in more varied locations. However i liked how Alan narated the story as it happend and the setting and story was at least different.

Now lets be clear, i really liked Max Payne and this game is made by the same people and has a very similar feel to it (hell Max payne's voice actor plays the voice of one of the characters).

so i don't think it's quite as bad Yatzee makes it out, that being said i did enjoy his review.

when your in the past at his apartment, did you notice that when he read the manuscript for ihs other novel it was from max payne 2, and some of the books were "alex casey" and "Fall of Casey" and next to it were gold replicas of Paynes twin barrettas lol

Yeah and the voice of Alex Casey was Max Payne. I didn't realize the manuscript was from Max Payne 2, i thought it might have been from the upcoming Max Payne 3 game i heard about.

 

[cheese_wizington]

Funniest one of the year IMO.

 

[sketch_zeppelin]

Alan Wake was not that good, since they very quietly removed the free roaming from the game and turned it into Episodic, I think the game suffered horribly from it, it became too redundant and linear, which also translates to boring. I think Yahtzee is right on the money with his review.

If anyone thinks this game sounds good, save yourself money and boredom and get Deadly Premonition instead. It does the whole twin peaks thing much much better.

I'm playing deadly premonition now, It's SOOO BAD!!! but at the same time it's the most unique thing i've played in awhile. Its kinda like Killer 7 and No More Hero's in that the graphics and game play are horrible but the story and presentation are so strange that you keep playing to find out what happens next

 

[VampLena]

hehe thats the charm of Deadly Premonition, yes the graphics and controls suck, but the game world and storyline and the characters are great and unique, not to mention if your a Twin Peaks fan it makes you all nostalgic and feeling like your playing a Twin Peaks story of your own. This all comes together nicely in how it makes you want to see the whole thing through.

 

[gbemery]

Thank you I am glad you mentioned the rather uncanny acting of the characters. Their facial expressions and mouth movements were all weird and creepy in and of themselves. I also agree the forest was great...the first couple of times. They tried everything to keep you going back to it. Like one time when your are trying to get out and finally do only to be chased right back into it. I also find it rather dumb how Alan knows that bad things come in the dark so why does he always seem to only try and go out in the day light...when does he sleep except when he gets drugged? I believe the hype of this game was misleading and led me to believe that there would be more of a free roam atmosphere, and I don't mean free roam in a forest, which that really isn't free roam more linear than anything. Oooo look a light I better get to it.

 

[Zudarkness]

Played it again at a friends house just for the hell of it. The game is better when you have a couple of "drinks" and some "Ciggerates" etc. but still I got the same reactions. It's good but not what it should of been. Like Yatzee said even Nasa's space program is shorter than what Alan Wake was for making it. However the game did make me watch Schindler's list, read The Dark tower, watch Shawshank redemption and The Green mile so I guess the game had a little influence over me to enjoy Stephen king again.

On a side note: I also hate RE 4 for the Wil. The controls alone for the Wii makes the game a nightmere at time. Not all the zombies or whatever they are require head shots. Later on in the game with those freakish druids required well time chest shots and quick guinning actions that the Wii aiming controlers does not really have. The only real benifit the aiming control will have would be agaist a certain boss fight

Pokemon should juse die already as well!!! My god how many (pickachu) pokemon are there now. Forget trying to (charmander) catch them all! How about "Gotta kill them all!" Cause thats what I feel like doing with the Pokemon starting with Pikachu.

 

[yin_yang_and_games]

great video, probably won't buy the game though

 

[ICanBreakTheseCuffs]

LOL Stephen king part. i wonder if you're ever going to do red dead redemption

 

[ICanBreakTheseCuffs]

Alan wake's production was long Duke Nukem Forever's production was "forever"

 

[Waif]

Heh, actually, this looks like a pretty interesting game. Not sure why, though. I might end up getting this game in the near future .

Well worth it Get the Limited Collector's Edition if you can still find it at a reasonable price, it's well worth it.

Well I might consider it, depends on the bonuses that you get with the collectors edition. I'll look into it o~O!Though it's been awhile since I've played an Action Horror genre. Last one I played was Call of Cthulhu - Dark Corners of the Earth. I had fun with that game XD.

Alan Wake isn't anywhere near as disturbing as Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth was (it's closer to Stephen King than to Lovecraft, and Yahtzee did have a point, he is mentioned quite a lot in the first half of the game), but it has a unique tension of its own. Definitely skip over normal and play on hard first though. Then play Nightmare The difficulties are really well balanced, and they encourage tactical play (along with ratcheting up the tension massively) rather than just being a bit cheap like some hard modes.

The LCE contains a bonus disc with 3 documentaries, 2 themes, one avatar item unlocked by installing and activating the next item: a video in video director's commentary option. The same disc also holds some art galleries (including comparisons of actor to character, along with side by side comparisons of the cinematics to their storyboards).
There's also a soundtrack disc(not full, but excellent nonetheless), and 'The Alan Wake Files' which is a book full of character interviews, some of Alan's writing, etc, but to say more would be spoilers (so definitely read it AFTER playing the game).
It all comes in a case made to appear like a hardback book, and it frankly looks awesome on the bookshelf

It takes a little while to get into the game on it's own terms, but one it gets its nails into you you're hooked

Wow, thanks for the information. Hopefully the collectors edition will be available where I live. I expect that Alan Wake will be different from CoC, though I did like the feel of playing in a horror game. For this reason I would give Alan Wake a chance. Playing on hard does seem to be the best policy, as it would instill the appropriate feelings, and provide the challenge to be approached with the necessary skills. Thanks again for all your helpful information >~<!

 

[Rhatar Khurin]

What puts me off first thing about this game is the title. Alan Wake? Crikey that's a coma-enducingly boring name.

 

[Enigma6667]

I personally highly enjoyed the game. I agree with most of your points though. Especially the ugly facial animations and the incredibly annoying monologue narrations. However, as unscary as it is, it's still rather suspenseful. Manuscript pages do give lots of foreshadowing, but the aspect as to "when" it's gonna happen was rather nerve-racking. Not really a scary game, but has lots of great suspense. And there's no denying that the atmosphere is really good. Also, there were still a few moments when Alan wasn't in a dark forest (Like the Power Plant, and in the deserted streets of Bright Falls), but for the most part, yeah the scenery was rather samey.

However, one thing that I really wanted you to point out was the in-game advertising. It was about as ridiculous if not more ridiculous than the product-placement in Bionic Commando. Flashlights use Energizer batteries, Cars have SYNC installed into them, Motorola cell phones, and my personal favorite, two or three gigantic Verizon Wireless billboards in the final chapter.

Also, the combat is much more enjoyable in the harder difficulties, where you find that you're out of ammo and you have to start up a generator whilst baddies are slowly walking towards you. If you ever feel like playing it again (Which won't happen seeing how you didn't enjoy it) or if the planets align and you feel like giving it a second chance, then I suggest Nightmare difficulty. Insane shit there.

Still an incredibly funny episode. I loved the Stephen King bits, even though I'm personally a fan of his work.

 

[nutzzzzzzz]

I very much enjoy these reviews, but disagree in regard to this game. Alan Wake was the first game in a long time that didn't make me feel ashamed to be an adult gamer.

 

[Tribalism]

Gotta say, even though I'm coming in late and preaching to the converted, I really didn't like Alan Wake as a game. I played the first 2-3 chapters at a friend's house, since I don't have my own Xbox 360 any more. I went in with an open mind, because I was actually considering getting a new 360 and was seeing what one of the more hyped exclusives was doing right.

So I sat down and like any true gamer selected the hardest difficulty available. Then the game sprang to life, the dream sequence was just... awfully cliché. "I'm the darkness, Imma rape you, Alan" then running through a linear forest towards, if my memory serves me right, a lighthouse, but only after having guns descend from the heavens on a beam of light.

The combat can charitably described as "unintuitive" and bluntly described as "terrible". It felt like Stranglehold but within a horror setting and another game mechanic thrown in. Yahtzee hit the nail on the head with the "stun lock" thing and even on the hard difficulty setting, it was a case of running backwards and juggling the enemies with the flashlight before a few shots to the chest. I'd be lying if I said I used the dodge button all that often, too, which is disappointing on the high difficulty setting.

The characters weren't overly likeable (I couldn't hear Alan's voice through the scrotum of Stephen King muffling it). The forest sections were padded out so long that I often questioned what I was going through them for again and I applaud Remedy for making something as open as forests a linear thing.

The weapon selection was piss poor and I'm told it doesn't get much better, either. The "safe havens" of light are abusable if you run out of ammo, which you won't if you don't shoot at Taken who still have their darkness. The game is short (from reports 8~12 hours total, though the short amount that me and my friend played took a few hours at best and was nearly/at the halfway mark) and the DLC sounds like it'll be milking its fans quite a bit by adding a short addition to a share game for a disrespectful price.

The episodic theme was pretty terrible and the "PREVIOUSLY ON ALAN WAKE" didn't need to be done when I had just completely the damn chapter fDFGSDG. This is one of the few games where I've selected the Hard difficulty and actually thought to myself "that's the first combat death I've had yet.... wow" and I think this is one of the first games I've played at a friend's house where, even when he owns the game and has played quite a bit of it himself, I've said "Do you want a go for a bit?" instead of being hooked on the whole experience. If this is some of the best that the 360 has to offer in terms of exclusives, then I'm disappointed. Currently the only game series calling me to buy a 360 is Mass Effect 1/2 and Halo Reach (if only in the hopes that it could revive an online gaming experience akin to Halo 2).

Haters gonna hate, but that's my take on Alan Wake.

 

[Mako SOLDIER]

Heh, actually, this looks like a pretty interesting game. Not sure why, though. I might end up getting this game in the near future .

Well worth it Get the Limited Collector's Edition if you can still find it at a reasonable price, it's well worth it.

Well I might consider it, depends on the bonuses that you get with the collectors edition. I'll look into it o~O!Though it's been awhile since I've played an Action Horror genre. Last one I played was Call of Cthulhu - Dark Corners of the Earth. I had fun with that game XD.

Alan Wake isn't anywhere near as disturbing as Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth was (it's closer to Stephen King than to Lovecraft, and Yahtzee did have a point, he is mentioned quite a lot in the first half of the game), but it has a unique tension of its own. Definitely skip over normal and play on hard first though. Then play Nightmare The difficulties are really well balanced, and they encourage tactical play (along with ratcheting up the tension massively) rather than just being a bit cheap like some hard modes.

The LCE contains a bonus disc with 3 documentaries, 2 themes, one avatar item unlocked by installing and activating the next item: a video in video director's commentary option. The same disc also holds some art galleries (including comparisons of actor to character, along with side by side comparisons of the cinematics to their storyboards).
There's also a soundtrack disc(not full, but excellent nonetheless), and 'The Alan Wake Files' which is a book full of character interviews, some of Alan's writing, etc, but to say more would be spoilers (so definitely read it AFTER playing the game).
It all comes in a case made to appear like a hardback book, and it frankly looks awesome on the bookshelf

It takes a little while to get into the game on it's own terms, but one it gets its nails into you you're hooked

Wow, thanks for the information. Hopefully the collectors edition will be available where I live. I expect that Alan Wake will be different from CoC, though I did like the feel of playing in a horror game. For this reason I would give Alan Wake a chance. Playing on hard does seem to be the best policy, as it would instill the appropriate feelings, and provide the challenge to be approached with the necessary skills. Thanks again for all your helpful information >~<!

That's entirely alright as long as you don't go into it expecting horror (it's a thriller after all) you should enjoy it. I hope so anyway

 

[Mako SOLDIER]

However, one thing that I really wanted you to point out was the in-game advertising. It was about as ridiculous if not more ridiculous than the product-placement in Bionic Commando. Flashlights use Energizer batteries, Cars have SYNC installed into them, Motorola cell phones, and my personal favorite, two or three gigantic Verizon Wireless billboards in the final chapter.

I agree with most of your post but I feel like I need to point out that Alan's phone was not a Motorola. It was the Google (Well, HTC actually) Nexus One. No idea what SYNC is though. To be fair, the product placement didn't bother me. Remedy are a small company and can do with all the funding they can get. Also, the setting is supposed to be real-world, so fact that the products used in it are recognisable imo adds to the feeling of being in a real place. After all, Remedy are based in Finland and Verizon is an American network, so it's not like they chose products that jarred with the setting.

 

[ShakerSilver]

Awesome review.

I also loved the Max Payne reference at the end of the video. HA HA! You have way to much time on your hands...