Alan Wake

[Fairweather Pure]

It's a great time to be a gamer. 2010, IMO, has been the best year for games as far as quanity and quality that I can ever remember. Gone are the dark days of the spring drought and winter overflow. Games seem to not simply trickle in throughout the year, but instead flood the market for all 3 consoles and PC simultaneously. May has been yet another great month for gamers with AAA titles like RDR, Alan Wake, and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Then you have the secondary games like Lost Planet 2 and Modnation Racers filling in the gaps.

I played the first 20ish minutes of Alan Wake this morning and let me tell you, this game is fantastic. Many seem obsessed with RDR right now (for good reason), but do not overlook this game. The lighting and environments are amoungst the best I have ever seen this generation. The production and presentation is very cinematic. The storyline is engaging and makes you want to see what hapens next. As a matter of fact, one of the hooks of the game is that each chapter ends in a cliffhanger that compels the player to immediately start the next chapter.

It's an action based shooter with puzzle elements, but the game is really taking survival horror games to the next level with it's presentation. The game is around 12ish hours long, so some may just want to rent it. Keep in mind that if you buy it new, you'll get a code to DL the first episode of DLC for free when it is released later this summer.

More info to follow when I get further into the game. I'm bracing myself for greatness!

[Funkmasterr]

1) Don't you dare call Lost Planet 2 secondary. It's better than any of the other games out this month hands down.

2)Everything I've read said there were 6 episodes for Alan Wake, and that unless you were completely inept you would finish each episode in about an hour or less. I wanted to play this game but I need to limit my spending right now and even if I didn't, 6 hours with no multiplayer is a bit beyond what I'll pay $60 for.

[Siji]

Having played through a bit of AW, I agree it's not a $60 game - barely a $40 game. It's not "bad" mind you, it's just not very exciting and the facial expressions of the main character are painful to look at. It really honestly annoys the shit out of me every time there's a cut scene with him in it. Maybe I just don't scare easily or something, but I don't get the whole "scary as shit game!" thing.

I'm not a fan of the recent string of <10 hr games being released at full price lately.

[Fairweather Pure]

Man, 10/10 game. Graphics, story, and the entire flow of the game is GOTY material. The lighting and smoke effects in the woods are off the hook!

Alan Wake is literally destroying my already high expectations. The game actually surpasses my love for Dead Space, which I figured would be my survival horror game of this generation.

I think the game clocks in at around 8-10 hours. It's the perfect game length for the story. Anything more would be padding the game for the sake of it. There is something to be said for a tight, well-controlled game environment that is used to push a story. Alan Wake is pretty much the best example of this gaming philosophy.

The game has been presented and executed like no game I have ever played before. It's truely been a unique and enthralling experiance, especially once you get into the second chapter. The story is actually presented a lot like a serialized TV show. Each chapter ends with a new cliffhanger-esque momment and the screen fades to black and a radio tune plays. When you start the next chapter, it gives you a summary of what happened previously. Very cool stuff.

[Fairweather Pure]

Having played through a bit of AW, I agree it's not a $60 game - barely a $40 game. It's not "bad" mind you, it's just not very exciting and the facial expressions of the main character are painful to look at. It really honestly annoys the shit out of me every time there's a cut scene with him in it. Maybe I just don't scare easily or something, but I don't get the whole "scary as shit game!" thing.

I'm not a fan of the recent string of <10 hr games being released at full price lately.

I wondered how anyone would give such a review to this game so I checked out your gaming history to see how far into the game you actually played. Weird. It's not in your gaming history at all! You must've played a friend's character or something, right?

[Funkmasterr]

Having played through a bit of AW, I agree it's not a $60 game - barely a $40 game. It's not "bad" mind you, it's just not very exciting and the facial expressions of the main character are painful to look at. It really honestly annoys the shit out of me every time there's a cut scene with him in it. Maybe I just don't scare easily or something, but I don't get the whole "scary as shit game!" thing.

I'm not a fan of the recent string of <10 hr games being released at full price lately.

I wondered how anyone would give such a review to this game so I checked out your gaming history to see how far into the game you actually played. Weird. It's not in your gaming history at all! You must've played a friend's character or something, right?

Funny that such a review would strike you as so odd. I know 4 people at work that got it and all said they wished they would have rented it because there wasn't any replay value and they didn't feel that it was worth 60 even though it was a good game.

[miir]

It's getting pretty decent reviews, but game length, difficulty and dull/repetitive gameplay are common criticisms.

[miir]

they wished they would have rented it because there wasn't any replay value and they didn't feel that it was worth 60 even though it was a good game.

That's the biggest burn when there's not even any multiplayer.
A 10 hour single player game is ridiculous... especially for a game that was in development for as long as Alan Wake (5+ years?)

[Fairweather Pure]

There are plenty of great 10ish hour games out there.

Off the top of my head that I own for this generation:

God of War 1-3
Dante's Inferno
Dead Space
Resident Evil 4
Bayonetta
Batman: AA
Ratchet and Clank games
Bioshock 1-2
Ghostbusters
Both Marvel Ultimate Alliances
Heavy Rain

Man, the list goes on and on.

Game length, while important to me is by no means the top standard that I expect out of a game. If I wanted a long game I would get something like White Knight Chronicles where you can get 60 hours of boring bullshit. But hey, it's 60 hours!

[Funkmasterr]

Shorter games aren't as big a deal to me if there is good replay value. From that list, the God of War games have great replay value, and pretty much none of the others do. Ratchet and Clank doesn't even belong on that list, because (at least the newer one) takes far longer than 10 hours.

[miir]

I suppose if you rush through the easiest difficulty level for Ghostbusters, BatmanAA, R&C, MUA2, Bioshock2 you could get through them in 10-15 hours... But games like Baynoetta, Dead Space, RE4 are closer to 20-25 hours.
I know I spent hours on single levels in Bayonetta trying for better scores.

Also, many of those games have decent replay value and/or multiplayer.

[Fairweather Pure]

Playing a good, shorter game is perfect for me after finishing a much longer game. I'm coming off around 40ish hours on GTA4, so I'm going to play some shorter games before moving on to RDR.

There also a great number of games out there that you never really finish at all thanks to multiplayer. Those games kind of pad my short games!

Personally, I think Alan Wake was easily worth what I paid. Obviously, ymmv, but don't pass up this game for a shitty one that just happens to be longer!

Remedy deserves some serious awards for this game. I can't belive they made this game with less than 50 people. Madness!

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

I think I am 30ish hours into RDR and around the 30% completion mark. I have not played Alan Wake, but I would not even bother buying it with a short gameplay. The biggest complaint I have with most of the games like Call of Duty is the short gameplay, but they at least have a multiplayer that makes it worth it. If I am paying $60 for 6 hours of gameplay, that is $10 an hour...and no way in hell am I paying that when I can rent it for $5.

My personal interest in games is that I need something that is going to hold my interest and keep me coming back for 50+ hours.

[Fairweather Pure]

I can only play a game for 50+ hours if the story warrants it. Fallout 3 is a great example. I played that around 80 hours. I could've played GTA4 for another 40 hours doing things like shooting birds, collecting stuff, or venturing into the multiplayer, but the game was over for me when the story was done. I also skipped many of the mission that I felt were there to pad the game time.

Video games take up a significant portion of my free time. I don't need to be playing the same games the whole time! As a matter of fact, since I quit WoW, the variety in my gaming has been a godsend! I just want a good experiance out of it, much like a movie or book. A good short story can be as good as an 8 book series.

You people should at least rent Alan Wake! It's awesome! My wife really likes watching me play. She made me wait to continue a chapter last night so she could take a shower. I asked her what she liked so much about it and she simply said "It's nothing lke the other games you play. It has a really good story and it's like watching a really long movie". So true!

[Boogahz]

Sounds a lot like D that came out shortly after the first Playstation. Except you HAD to have a certain amount of time you could devote to playing it. The only chance you had to pause was when you swapped to the second disk. I can remember playing it as several police officers searched the house for someone expected in a shooting, and they all stopped on the way out to watch. That was the excellent Garden City Kansas police force!

[miir]

IYou people should at least rent Alan Wake! It's awesome! My wife really likes watching me play. She made me wait to continue a chapter last night so she could take a shower. I asked her what she liked so much about it and she simply said "It's nothing lke the other games you play. It has a really good story and it's like watching a really long movie". So true!

Same with Heavy Rain!

[Fairweather Pure]

IYou people should at least rent Alan Wake! It's awesome! My wife really likes watching me play. She made me wait to continue a chapter last night so she could take a shower. I asked her what she liked so much about it and she simply said "It's nothing lke the other games you play. It has a really good story and it's like watching a really long movie". So true!

Same with Heavy Rain!

Funny you mention that. Heavy Ran has moved up my que just because Alan Wake is turning out so good. Did you know Heavy Rain just got optioned for a movie?

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

You better get all your short games in now......Fallout:Vegas is coming this fall.

For all your faults, at least you seem to have a taste in games that runs along mine.

[Dregor Thule]

How sweet, bipartisan gaming.

[Fairweather Pure]

You better get all your short games in now......Fallout:Vegas is coming this fall.

Seriously, Fallout: Vegas may be too much, to soon for me. I need a break from that world, at least for awhile longer. Maybe by the time it's released I'll change my tune, but if it came out tomorrow, I would pass. I do look forward to more info from E3 this year about the game. I should've waited awhile on Bioshock 2 for the same reason.

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

The biggest problem with Fallout is that there is so much you can do that you will never see it all. Forget doing different playthroughs on it...just try and hit it all once and you are looking at 80+ hours of gameplay. I am fairly sure that I had something over 12 days of playtime and still missed out on a significant chunk of the northern part of the map in 3.

Read Dead should keep me going until Vegas and Fable 3 are released in the fall. Fable is always a decent midrange game. I can get into it for a decent portion and if you know ahead of time that the game is not what it is hyped up to be, they are quite enjoyable. It is definitely a game you do not want to rush through a storyline or you will be finished way too fast.

[Fairweather Pure]

Finished the game. The only standout weak spot for me were the driving. It's like GTA4, only worse. It was also easy as hell. FYI, don't ever worry about saving ammo or special weapons for any reason. All weapons are removed frequently. Go absolutely nuts. I died maybe 5 times during the entire game and never once had to worry about ammo. The game is very, very generous with save points. You have one less than every 5 minutes apart. It autosaves, so you never even notice them. It's so linier that it's impossible to ever get lost or not know what to do/where to go next. I didn't mind that at all because it helped the story advance faster.

The game had a pretty satisfying conclusion but I'm going to look up some spoiler discussions later and see other people's interpretation of exactely what happened.