Zero Punctuation: Alan Wake

[Jonci]

People shouldn't focus too much on the combat. Alan Wake is 80% about the story and 20% about combat. It is there to add challenge, and even on Normal difficulty can present you with some panic moments. Sure, most enemies will die after 2 shots, once you have destroyed their darkness with a few seconds beaming your flashlight at them. But you usually have, at least, two guys on common encounters so your attention gets split. The bigger fights can have 3-5+ guys, some that are much more powerful. There is a fair number of different enemies to put variety into your danger.

The combat system itself is very simple and I liked that. It didn't bog you down like some filler between cutscenes, but it didn't feel useless either. There was enough purpose and had a point within the story. Alan is just a simple writer afterall and not some elite soldier, so simple combat seems right on the money.

Alan's narrations come off a bit weird in the usual gaming sense, but considering you are living through a story he already wrote, it helps put into context that Alan is experiencing that story. Overall the story and the environment of the game put this into a must-play for anyone that finds a great story being more rewarding than jerking it to your latest Halo headshot. I'm looking forward to the DLCs that add new episodes.

Just about everything Yahtzee had to critize are also reasons to try the game. It's different and worth exploring.

 

[Casual Shinji]

It seems a lot of games these days have the "camera pan-in" program for the sake of stupids who don't know their ass from their elbows. God of War 3 had this to; showing you were to go and what to operate the second you enterd a new area. I fucking hate this, just allow me to figure things out for myself, please.

Maybe I'll check Alan Wake out when it's a little cheaper.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I am surprised Yahtzee didn't mention Silent Hill once during this review. Same kind of foggy atmosphere, same kind of, "stuck in town by self" plot, same bad combat, isn't Alan Wake even made by some of the same people as Silent Hill?

No. I think it was the Max Payne people.

Yeah and judging by the end joke I imagine he's a Max Payne fan. Can't wait for the Max Payne 3 review. Then he won't have to pretend he didn't enjoy it so much. And seriously are people STILL using these videos for to decide on if to buy a game? I really enjoyed the game it had the same sense of it's own cool/cheesyness Max Payne had and getting the guy from the Blade Runner game to narrate it was the icing on the carrot cake for me.

 

[dmcc85]

die zahl 5 schreibt man mit "Ü" 5=fünf oder fuenf.
just in case you want to write german language propperly.

 

[cornmancer]

damn my internet connection for being too awful so that I can't watch Yahtzee.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

After the Monster Hunter Tri review you should've done another Mail Bag Showdown. That would've been funny.
Anyway, good review. A little repetitive, but good. I love the little scenes during the end credits.

 

[Hendzis]

Well the game is good with the atmosphere but the talking really yust gets on the nervs .

 

[Naminator236]

The bear made me LOL real hard.

Great episode.

 

[Catalyst6]

My my, that book gets plugged more than southern oil leak.
I suppose for good reason though.

I would by Alan Wake, and I might even enjoy it, if suddenly Microsoft didn't decide to do the whole "platform dedication" thing. Why couldn't they whore themselves out to every passing system like they usually do...

 

[maximara]

I was wondering how Yahtzee was going to view this game. Sounds like the difficulty is dialed down for the mass-audience. Maybe I'll wait for it to drop to the 30 dollar range before buying it.

It sounds more like the difficulty kept being dialed down after the mass-audience level had been reached so that 'where's the on switch' crowd could play it.

 

[sievr]

I am surprised Yahtzee didn't mention Silent Hill once during this review. Same kind of foggy atmosphere, same kind of, "stuck in town by self" plot, same bad combat, isn't Alan Wake even made by some of the same people as Silent Hill?

I have been surprised for a long time (actually, since 2001 or whenever I first heard about this game) that no one has been comparing it to Silent Hill. Sure, Silent Hill was very much inspired by Stephen King itself, but it was the first video game to really capture that atmosphere of "town where something has gone horribly wrong but not quite sure what". And let's not forget that Harry Mason was a writer, too.

 

[WayOutThere]

Doesn't the camera panning to the bad guys when they show up only cut down on boo scares which Yahtzee doesn't even like?

 

[Hiroshi Mishima]

Captain Scarlet!

Cor,I remember that.

Well,ok,vaguely but still,it remains a fond memory.

Wow, it's good to know I'm not the only person who remembers that show. Damn, I wonder if they have it on DVD...

Anyways, this is one of those reviews that was not only entertaining, but infuriating because now I'm wondering if I should get the game just to see if it's as cheesy as Yahtzee says it is. I dunno, sometimes I like the games he makes fun of but don't realize they're even worth my time until he's beaten them into submission.

I guess it takes a REAL look at games (ie, not a biased "game was awesome get it" review like on most sites). So I guess that's why I like Yahtzee's reviews as real reviews more than anything else.

 

[cementino]

The best one in a long time. The wife joke cracked me up, but also the pun around whore and horse was nice

 

[VulakAerr]

I really enjoyed Alan Wake, and am not really feeling you on the whole scary faces thing. I thought the faces and animations were very good. That said, I do take on board the combat issues and crazy camera stuff. Either way, I enjoyed the review, despite not really agreeing with quite how scathing you were.

 

[k-ossuburb]

I liked the game, so I loved this review. There's something wrong with me where I actually enjoy the things I love being shitted on from a great height. This made me laugh, especially all the Stephen King bits, I remember them well.

Also, his wife has way too much teeth in that first scene in the car. The first shot I got was of her blindingly white grill grinning at me, which strangely enough was one of the scariest parts of the game.

 

[Kojiro ftt]

Man am I glad Yahtzee bashed this game. I'm really into the horror games and there hasn't been any intresting releases in that genre for a while except for this, but I don't have an Xbox360. I was even more dissapointed because this game was developed by the only game company in my country that actually matters, but after seeing this I don't really have to worry anymore...

Shit, I'm not even fooling myself. The game looks great to me and I've disagreed with Yahtzee before, and I think I could stand the forced SK references, too... It's not like I've got anything against the guy (I freakin' love The Shining, screw the film!).

I recommend borrowing a 360 from a friend so you can play the game. If you are into horror games, this not one to miss. Alan Wake is now one of my all time favorite games. If you remember being lost in the woods as a kid, you will appreciate the game.

 

[Suskie]

Judging from some of the comments I've read so far... when the hell did people actually start taking Yahtzee reviews seriously? I loved Alan Wake, and it's been getting extremely favorable reviews from nearly every major outlet (including a perfect score here at Escapist). That doesn't mean any of you are guaranteed to like it, but when the hell has Yahtzee's word ever been written in stone? He complains about EVERYTHING. That's why he's successful, because it's funny when he complains. If you only go by Yahtzee's recommendations, then enjoy playing two or three games a year.