Zero Punctuation: Alan Wake

[lumenadducere]

I dunno... seems like minor irritations are being amplified for comedic purpose to badmouth what is essentially a really good game.

Definitely agreed. And I find it oddly disappointing that people seem to make their decisions on whether or not to buy a game based off of ZP. If the only games you ever bought were games that Yahtzee gave a favorable review to, you'd have...what, Psychonauts and Arkham Asylum? While they're both good games, I'd definitely say that one would be missing out on some good titles. People seem to not factor in the fact that this type of review is simply what Yahtzee does, and I think that's silly.

And while the criticism is accurate, I don't think it's enough to detract from the game as a whole. It's a fairly solid product and it's definitely enjoyable. Anyone who was thinking of picking it up, look into it a bit more and maybe watch the first bit of the game on YouTube or something. If you do decide to pick it up, play on Hard or Nightmare - Normal mode is basically easy, and I suspect that's the difficulty Yahtzee played it on.

 

[elricik]

Alan Wake is by far one of the best games to come out in a while. But even I had to laugh a few times. Especially during the line, "Alan flies into a blind rage when his wife expects him an actual writer to write.". Seriously that was one of the greatest lines in Zero Punctuation history.

 

[Kojiro ftt]

I liked the game. I liked the writing, and the atmosphere. Character design needed work. I agree with most of the complaints. One thing they should have changed is the health of the enemies, and work more on scaring the shit out of the player. If enemies had vastly varying amounts of health, even within the 3 or 4 classes of enemies they had, it would make it a lot more hectic.

I agree 100% on the enemy health; this is why myself and a few others are advocating that everyone play the game on Hard. Nightmare is even better, unfortunately it's not available right away. On Nightmare, the axe men have considerably more darkness and health. They take a long time to burn away and then it takes like 6+ bullets to kill them. They have plenty of darkness to move in on you, and the whole while the other Taken are flanking you. You still have the fast sickle guys that only take 2 bullets, but everyone else takes 4, 6, or more, with corresponding darkness protection as well. The result is that even a small group of 3 or 4 Taken, depending on your arsenal at the time, can be a hectic and anxious battle.

On a side note, the animations that show the guys coming I think worked great. When you get a gang of Taken coming for you, it's a little "oh shit" moment. But more importantly, it sets you up for the times when they *don't* announce their appearance. Sometimes you'll be running along and you suddenly realize there is another set of footsteps in the grass behind you and you panic and quickly dodge at the last moment. Awesome. But again, this only works because in the harder levels the enemies will actually fuck you up. In Normal, it would be like walking along and realizing there is a kitten following you home. So again, PLAY ON HARD. Remedy really screwed the pooch by making the game as easy as it did.

 

[ObsessiveSketch]

Couldn't believe he was being serious about the wife looking a cheap marionette, so I watched the opening on youtube.

Dear god, The original Half Life had better lip-synching!! Seriously!
This is about the gist of it:
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/01/hollywood/image/jibjab.jpg
Jaw open, jaw close...that's it.

 

[PAGEToap44]

Good review, although I thought the game was quite good. Might have something to do with the fact I'm a Stephen King fan. In my opinion, Alan Wake is a Marmite game. You either love it or you hate it.

 

[stefano_dinami]

In Australia that would be a Vegimite game...




I like Vegimite.

 

[Darth_Dude]

How does it come Yahtzee never reviews grand strategy games like Hearts of Iron 3? That would be pretty awesome.

Because not many people know about it, and while it's a great game, Yahtzee tends to stick to more well known games.

 

[The Noble Shade]

I've never read any of Stephan King's books, but this game seems to rip of off Silent Hill more than Stephan King.

 

[Delusibeta]

How does it come Yahtzee never reviews grand strategy games like Hearts of Iron 3? That would be pretty awesome.

Because not many people know about it, and while it's a great game, Yahtzee tends to stick to more well known games.

Plus he dislikes RTS games in general (see: Brutal Legend), so I'll imagine I'd play it for five minutes before giving up and moving on.

Not a bad show, although not his best, to be frank.

Excuse me while I go off topic and say: the advertised MMO. If I can't see the pricing without signing up for something, it can bugger off.

 

[baker80]

I've never read any of Stephan King's books, but this game seems to rip of off Silent Hill more than Stephan King.

Nah, the game doesn't have nearly enough of that "weird Japanese thing" charm for that. It's really very much like pretty much any Stephen King novel, including the part where you can't quite tell whether you're in the beginning or the end of the story or even which book you're reading, because every part is basically the same and the writer just couldn't figure out how to stop writing.

I really don't like Stephen King.

Plus he dislikes RTS games in general (see: Brutal Legend), so I'll imagine I'd play it for five minutes before giving up and moving on.

Also, Paradox games are basically glorified spreadsheets that bore even most strategy gamers out of their skulls, with hundreds upon hundreds of completely meaningless, superfluous details that do nothing but bloat the engine and add nothing to gameplay. Considering that Yahtzee is very outspoken about his opinion that "actually being fun" comes WAY before "realistic" he'd probably rather cut his wrists than subject himself to that.

Seriously, HoI3 and related games are for the absolutely obsessed hard core of strategy gaming, not your average "just wants to have some quick fun" gamer. Thinking about it, Paradox games aren't for most actual human beings. Paradox gamers are some kind of history-obsessed robots.

 

[cptRazz]

i was hoping for red dead but great review non the less

 

[aaronmcc]

gotta completely disagree with you mate. it's a brilliant game.

 

[wonkify]

Many thanks for your very funny mention of the wife's monster face, glad to know I wasn't alone in this opinion.

How green is your uncanny, and ugly, valley? Yikes.

 

[wonkify]

spot on.

For me alan wake stands proudly alongside heavy rain as biggest let downs of the year so far.

That's another game with odd looking female characters. I swear every single one looks exactly the same in that game. Weird and identical.

 

[Sparrow]

Before you plan to not get this game, know that Escapist gave it 10/10.

I use to think that he just doesn't like most games,but now I'm convinced he doesn't care if the game is good or not and always hates on any game.

But if the plot and pacing is half as bad as he says it is then I won't bother.

If you use Yahtzee's reviews as a source of reviewing, you must haven nearly no games at all. That's because HE'S NOT MEANT TO LIKE ANY GAMES, IT'S WHAT HE'S PAYED FOR.

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?

 

[Gladi]

Imo this is one of the best reviews in a while

 

[saiyanwarrior]

I enjoyed that a review a lot been waiting for yahtzee to review it for a while, sounds like the game is similar to alone in the dark, potential to be good but sadly misses the mark, rather like finaly fatasy 13, although I'm suprised it took nine bloody years to make it, took that long for the world to beat germany twice.

It actually took 5 years. Where anyone got 9 years from I don't know. The idea of doing a thriller may have been in Remedy's heads for 9-10 years, but development only started about 5 years ago.



Also, read a few more reviews before you make up your mind. Heck, the review here at the Escapist gave it full marks. Yahtzee is not really an objective reviewer. This game is leagues ahead of Alone in the Dark, there really is no contest.

Five years? lets see:
World War I was a military conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918
World War II, was a military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945

Give or take a few what weeks, months? thats either a nine or ten year conflict (with a break for that lovely 30's depression) as I said it took that long for the world to beat germany twice, I dont go off other reviews as they all tend to say the same things alright thier will be others that are differently worded, but by and large you will find common points and themes in any spread of reviews about anything be it books, games or films I come here for the articles, ZP, extra punctuation and the off topic threads.

 

[Musclepunch]

Is it just me or is he losing his touch.