Alan Wake marks the third Remedy game I’ve finished, and seeing how much I loved the first two Max Payne games, it’s safe to say I was pretty damn excited to jump into this.
Alan Wake introduces a new mechanic for Remedy that not only makes for a unique gameplay experience, but distinguishes its combat from that of Max Paynes run and gun style.
The introduction of flashlights to weaken your enemies was a really cool idea, and all of the light-based weaponry was fun to use. The combat was really difficult to get down at first. A lot of it feels stiff and uncomfortable more immediately as it’s very different from other games.
It took me about a quarter of the way through the game to really get the hang of things. But once that happened, I started to really enjoy myself. The variety in weapons could have been a little stronger, but it was nice to still be able to cycle through whatever I wanted to use.
Early on in the game, the level design is kind of dull, and I think that hurt the initial experience on top of the janky gameplay. I wasn’t enjoying myself as much as I would’ve liked to. What got me through it was the storytelling.
Yeah it can be overly referential, but it hardly bothered me most of the time. I liked how distinguished the storytelling was in this game from that of Max Payne. Those games utilize comic-like panels for their cutscenes, and it was refreshing to see something different here.
The mystery continued to pull me in early on, and I loved the pacific northwest setting. It really allowed for a cozy atmosphere whenever I wasn’t trapped in a woody hellscape. Fortunately the level design becomes more sophisticated and diverse later on. That really began to bring everything together.
The narrative ended on a pretty big high note, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here; though I would’ve been less satisfied had I not known there was a sequel coming soon. I mean god… people had to wait 13 years for a follow up to this?
The hardware can be limiting to the games experience, and some of the motion controls are still funky. And man, are the driving mechanics BAD… but despite it all, Alan Wake turned out to be another fantastic Remedy experience, and I can’t wait to play Control next!
Alan Wake introduces a new mechanic for Remedy that not only makes for a unique gameplay experience, but distinguishes its combat from that of Max Paynes run and gun style.
The introduction of flashlights to weaken your enemies was a really cool idea, and all of the light-based weaponry was fun to use. The combat was really difficult to get down at first. A lot of it feels stiff and uncomfortable more immediately as it’s very different from other games.
It took me about a quarter of the way through the game to really get the hang of things. But once that happened, I started to really enjoy myself. The variety in weapons could have been a little stronger, but it was nice to still be able to cycle through whatever I wanted to use.
Early on in the game, the level design is kind of dull, and I think that hurt the initial experience on top of the janky gameplay. I wasn’t enjoying myself as much as I would’ve liked to. What got me through it was the storytelling.
Yeah it can be overly referential, but it hardly bothered me most of the time. I liked how distinguished the storytelling was in this game from that of Max Payne. Those games utilize comic-like panels for their cutscenes, and it was refreshing to see something different here.
The mystery continued to pull me in early on, and I loved the pacific northwest setting. It really allowed for a cozy atmosphere whenever I wasn’t trapped in a woody hellscape. Fortunately the level design becomes more sophisticated and diverse later on. That really began to bring everything together.
The narrative ended on a pretty big high note, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here; though I would’ve been less satisfied had I not known there was a sequel coming soon. I mean god… people had to wait 13 years for a follow up to this?
The hardware can be limiting to the games experience, and some of the motion controls are still funky. And man, are the driving mechanics BAD… but despite it all, Alan Wake turned out to be another fantastic Remedy experience, and I can’t wait to play Control next!