Alan Wake

SirLemonhead

I regret not getting the limited edition now.. Anyone got it who'd want to swap for a normal copy + cash by any chance?

calex71

SirLemonhead wrote: »

I regret not getting the limited edition now.. Anyone got it who'd want to swap for a normal copy + cash by any chance?

I've used the codes for the avatar stuff etc on mine but..... I could be tempted to part with it

gizmo

SirLemonhead wrote: »

I regret not getting the limited edition now.. Anyone got it who'd want to swap for a normal copy + cash by any chance?

Or you could just get it new online from Play or Amazon?

Just finished Episode 4 tonight and I'm still absolutely loving it.

Sarky

Watched my flatmate play it until a few minutes ago. It reminds me of Painkiller in a way: It doesn't bring anything really NEW to its genre, but it does what it does with bucketloads of style and atmosphere. I particularly like the songs at the end of each episode. You'd be a fool to skip them. Also, Tor and Odin are my new heroes.

Picking it up this week, really looking forward to it, sounds like my kinda thing

johnny_ultimate

Finished chapter 3 now, and still thoroughly enjoying it, despite some minor flaws. Gameplay can be a bit repetitive when walking through a forest again and again, but they usually make up for it with a fun setpiece along the way. Despite breaking up the gameplay, the manuscript pages are a great idea, especially when they give you a 'spoiler' of what's coming next - surprisingly, dark corners are as scary when you know what might be around them.

The Twin Peaks / Stephen King references can be a bit full on (even the diner uniforms are identical to Twin Peaks!) but it's more flattery than copying IMO. Alan Wake is creepy and effective in it's own way, as well as successfully embracing the strengths of what came before it. Yeah, the driving sections are basic and the gameplay sometimes repetitive (sometimes extremely tense and effective too!), but the atmosphere and storytelling is superb. Plus, the dark has never been quite so threatening.

whitetrash

Finished it yesterday, enjoyed it a lot. In terms of plot / dialogue / acting I think it captured the Stephen King / Twin Peaks / X-Files vibe perfectly. The combat is repetitive, but I still enjoyed it all the way through.

I would recommend playing on hard difficulty though; I constantly had full ammo all the way through on normal, and while I did die a few times that was usually my fault for allowing myself to get surrounded.

I started another playthrough on nightmare difficulty and it makes it more survival-action than just action, which I think fits the plot more. Having said that, I'm someone who has played through Resident Evil 4 and 5 twice so I'm used to that kind of crowd control combat

The only other problem I had with it was the ending, I really couldnt tell what happened right at the end, and, unless I missed something, they seemed to leave characters made out to be important earlier wholly unexplained

Agent Nightingale

.

I realise they have the second "series" mapped out, but most american series that it seems to be emulating would have 22 episodes a season, not 6. And you would have a year or so wait for the next season, not a few years like for most games. Hopefully, since they spent so long on the tech, they're just going to use the same tech for the sequel and can get it out a lot quicker...

gizmo

I've noticed a lot of people comment on the Stephen King and Twin Peaks influences but personally I get a strong Sam Raimi / Evil Dead vibe from the game too. The forest itself really seems to be alive and almost out to get you and, while not physically attacking you ala Evil Dead, it definitely gives that feeling. The way the Taken also bark at you in their semi-human voices also reminds me of the Deadites from the ED movies. Either way, I love it

super_furry

Only about an hour into it but I'm really loving it. So far it's everything I wanted Heavy Rain to be with good controls.

Shiminay

Damnit, I was pondering this having seen it in action yesterday in HMV and now some of the comments here have me convinced.

Will have to wait a couple of weeks though, I've got Skate 3 and FIFA World Cup to play and look at, not to mention no money

SirLemonhead

gizmo wrote: »

Or you could just get it new online from Play or Amazon?

Just finished Episode 4 tonight and I'm still absolutely loving it.

I already bought a copy, the standard edition.

Finished the game last night. The last episode dragged a bit and the ending..not sure what I think of it yet. Loved the game all in all though! Will be replaying it again soon on nightmare difficulty.

The music is indeed awesome, as is the level design and general atmosphere of the game. It's one of those games that's like a good film - leaves a lasting impression on you.

Nemanja91

Played it for the first time today but only for like 30 minutes due to stupid exams, my first thoughts are great and it has a very eery atmosphere, anything that moves in the forest scared the crap out of me and those bloody birds, as someone said it is like the forest is alive and the motion in it is great. I was like Floyd Mayweather weaving through the axes.

Soby

whitetrash wrote: »

Finished it yesterday, enjoyed it a lot. In terms of plot / dialogue / acting I think it captured the Stephen King / Twin Peaks / X-Files vibe perfectly. The combat is repetitive, but I still enjoyed it all the way through.
.

Ye the only negative thing i found was the combat being repetitive..Didnt put a step wrong apart from that

The only other problem I had with it was the ending, I really couldnt tell what happened right at the end, and, unless I missed something, they seemed to leave characters made out to be important earlier wholly unexplained

Agent Nightingale

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Liber8or wrote: »

My interpretation of the ending is as follows:

The game is heavily reliant on the idea of polarised metaphors. Light vs Dark, and the balance needed. Alan makes a reference to balance in the final cutscene where he sits down to write the remaining pages. I believe he makes a trade for Alice's life for his own. She escapes the darkness and he enters it under this idea of balance. That is why we see her swim to shore at the end and he remains in an alternate dimension of darkness.

Since Alan is now trapped in a dark dimension, I reckon the premise of the sequel will be about trying to escape. However, perhaps a spin off game involving Alice's attempts to find her husband could be in the works? Nevertheless, it would seem Nightingale has taken the place of Weaver as the link between both dimensions whilst possibly using Rose as a puppet for influence. This would be supported by what Weaver said before Wake grabbed her with the clicker; something along the lines of "Find another one to take my place". I thought it would be Wake, but it appears he is trapped and Nightingale is now the vassal for this presence in the real world.

Just my impressions anyway...

speedboatchase

Definitely getting the impression regular gamers appreciate this a LOT more than reviewers did - loving it myself

Chairman Meow

speedboatchase wrote: »

Definitely getting the impression regular gamers appreciate this a LOT more than reviewers did - loving it myself

Same here. I havent seen anyone really rubbish the game, and the complaints reviewers brought up really dont seem to have bothereed any actual gamers. I think overall the reception form gamers has been overwhelmingly positive.

Personally, id put it in my top 3 contenders for GOTY (metro 2033, call of pripyat, and AW). Its story is just so damn compelling, and so well told. Its a big difference to say, Metal Gear games, which usually start with an interesting story to begin with that just became a baffling, impenetrable ordeals by the end. And yes AW is confusing by the end too, but it never feels overblown or ludicrous.

And thats another reason i think why i honestly preferred this game to the likes of Uncharted 2, because the locations, and characters all feel so down to earth and jsut normal. Theyre so mcuh more believable than most game characters/settings. The soundtrack is fantastic too. I just loved everything about the game to be honest, its the best survival horror style game sicne silent hill 2, and its head and shoulders above any SH game since then. Hell, i even prefer it to RE4, as its not ridiculous high camp like that game was.

whitetrash

Soby wrote: »

Just my impressions anyway...

Actually in terms of

Nightingale I was mostly wondering why he was after Alan in the first place, acting so erratically etc he just shows up from nowhere does some stuff but has no real bearing on the plot, says a lot of things that aren't explained and then gets killed / taken. I can understand them wanting to maybe set him up as the new villain but I think he was still woefully under-explained. In terms of this game as a story, he's a character used to stretch out the plot but has no motivation or lasting impact, which equals bad story-telling to me. I can understand their wanting to set things up for the second series, like Lost and other Tv shows would but he's portrayed as too big a character to have his motivations completely unexplained.

Also,

I figured the whole Alan sacrificing himself for Alice (even tho that doesn't really make sense in terms of "balance"; Alan has to balance his actions but the Dark Presence doesnt? Seems to be if Alan is stuck at the bottom of the lake, but also Nightingale is the new face of the evil then we're down a person balance-wise). I really didn't understand his "ocean" comment right at the end.

I guess I should have been more specific about which parts I didn't understand

allanb49

gizmo wrote: »

I've noticed a lot of people comment on the Stephen King and Twin Peaks influences but personally I get a strong Sam Raimi / Evil Dead vibe from the game too. The forest itself really seems to be alive and almost out to get you and, while not physically attacking you ala Evil Dead, it definitely gives that feeling. The way the Taken also bark at you in their semi-human voices also reminds me of the Deadites from the ED movies. Either way, I love it

Did you get the oldsmobile reference

The Car in the game :P

5uspect

Just finished Ep.3
I'm taking my time and thoroughly enjoying this.

lol at the crazy game developer in the Lodge ranting on about Publishers and Writers

calex71

Just remembered the limited edition came with a book lol , if i recall it had a whole section on nightingale, must give it a look tonight.

As for the end the one part I need to go back and watch again was the bit with the

two alans and Tom said your friends will need him when you are gone

that was totally lost on me

koneko

calex71 wrote: »

Just remembered the limited edition came with a book lol , if i recall it had a whole section on nightingale, must give it a look tonight.

As for the end the one part I need to go back and watch again was the bit with the

two alans and Tom said your friends will need him when you are gone

that was totally lost on me

That's

"Mr Scratch". Zane says when Wake is gone, Mr Scratch will take his place, he will be with his friends. It's one of the Twin Peaksy elements of the ending that isn't fully explained but IMO is very interesting. It seems like while Wake is stuck in the other world, writing, that Mr Scratch will be taking his place, living out whatever Wake writes about himself. That's my interpretation so far anyway.

Zeouterlimits

Still can't stop listening to 'The Poet and the Muse'.
Loved the ending too, even if Chapter 6 was probably the weakest gameplay-wise.

cherryghost

Didnt buy the game. The PC platform MADE Alan Wake what it is today. Just a pile of backstabbings tbh.

jaykhunter

cherryghost wrote: »

Didnt buy the game. The PC platform MADE Alan Wake what it is today. Just a pile of backstabbings tbh.

whatcha mean?

i thought Xbox and PCs had some sort of deal with games since they're both MS (Gears and Halo being on PC, but not PS3 exclusives)

cherryghost

jaykhunter wrote: »

whatcha mean?

i thought Xbox and PCs had some sort of deal with games since they're both MS (Gears and Halo being on PC, but not PS3 exclusives)

It was penned 6 years ago as a Windows Vista excuslive. I remember being super excited :pac:

jaykhunter

cherryghost wrote: »

It was penned 6 years ago as a Windows Vista excuslive. I remember being super excited :pac:

Cool, didn't know that. *looks around, senses a crack at Windows Vista coming rolling into the thread*

Ah well. I'm sure it'll come out on PC whenever it has all the DLC given out and at a lovely price too.

Got stuck into this today

Liking it so far, halfway through chapter 2.

Hendon100

This is my first post on here

I dont see how people dont understand why Agent Nightingale was after Alan Wake or what the story was with his charachter because its central to whole plot. I dont think you fully understood the plot if you cant figure out why he was such a strange charachter. As you're playing through it, hes extremely strange but at the end he actually makes perfect sense.

As you will all know(but ill just recap for clarity). The story is centred around the mysterious Cauldron Lake which native americans believed was a gateway to the underworld.

This Lake contains the Darkness and the Darknesses increases it power by harnessing artists(such as writers like Alan) creativity to its own end. In Alan Wakes case, the Darkness hold his wife captive and tricks him into writing a story which gives it more power but Alan Wake realizes this and carefully writes his own escape into the storyline of his story. The story begins when you wake up in the car and EVERYTHING after that point was writen into the storyline by Alan Wake hence the manuscript pages which predict everything which happens. Thats where agent Nightingale comes into it, he was a plot device created by Alan Wake for the storyline. That explains why he is so strange like why you were wondering he was after Alan in the first place.

But actually, toward the end, you fully learn of Thomas Zane who was a very famous writer but wrote himself out of existense and any trace of himself except for a shoebox with the clicker and a page of a story about Alan Wakes childhood. Thomas Zane actually wrote Alan Wake either into the story or completely into existense and thats were the clicker comes into it. Thomas zane used Alan Wake as a way to Fight the Darkness.

See if you accept that the Alan Wake wrote everthing into existense after the car crash then the most of the story actually becomes infallable.

Sarky

None of that actually explains Nightingale. After the effort that went into the rest of the story I'm sure he has a purpose (And The Alan Wake Files in the special edition hint at more), but within the current game he's this pointless bad guy that shows up, chases you for a bit, but otherwise does almost nothing interesting.

johnny_ultimate

Sarky wrote: »

None of that actually explains Nightingale. After the effort that went into the rest of the story I'm sure he has a purpose (And The Alan Wake Files in the special edition hint at more), but within the current game he's this pointless bad guy that shows up, chases you for a bit, but otherwise does almost nothing interesting.

I'd agree. Narratively, Nightingale adds little or nothing to the story, although I'm fairly sure he's there for a reason which will be explored in either 'season two' or DLC. As it stands, I don't think his role had any significance in the way the story or gameplay progressed (apart from getting in the way for a while),

although the final image of him covered in darkness hints that he may play the role of the 'big bad' in the continuing adventures of Mr. Wake.

If we're going by the logic that Wake created this world, which he more than certainly did, than as an author I'd criticise him for adding a superfluous slightly pantomine character whose role didn't quite fit in with the overall tone, and added little to the story overall.

Edit: For fans of Twin Peaks (spoilered for those of you who haven't watched it, or quit when it went a bit **** in season two, and everyone who hasn't finished Alan Wake) one thing I'm curious about is how the story will progress, with a lot of ideas hanging. At the end of TP

Agent Cooper was left 'possessed' by an evil force, a cliffhanger never resolved due to cancellation. I'm hoping Alan Wake continues on as a 'series' as such, as a lot of the dangling threads (Nightingale and the Darkness, 'Mr. Scratch' etc...) are interesting and promising.

Hendon100

He defiantly going to have some role in the next game or maybe even in the DLC because of the closing scene but my point is that he was wrote into the story by Alan Wake and all his actions were Alans writings.

The Charachter which confuses me is Emil Hartman. Was he a tool of the Drak Presence I wonder? But he could'nt have been??