Review: Alan Wake – American Nightmare (PC – Steam) review ~ The Teasing End?

Wikipedia entry

So, before I begin at this article, I have to mention something for my readers. I found out that I made a mistake in the numbering of my reviews. I was off by 2 from number 15. So, I had some work fixing them all. But don’t worry, none of my URL’s changed. So, Remedy has released a sort of sequel to their amazing game Alan Wake. I haven’t written a first impression of this game, but I had written way back a first impression of the original. To be honest, you may call this game more of an extended DLC mission then an actual game. But I’m going to review it if it were a stand-alone game. If that’s okay with you. And if that isn’t okay with you, I’m sorry, articles don’t rewrite automatically like Alan Wake can. My apologies for that. Man, I haven’t even started with the actual review, and I’m already making references to the game. Anyway, my best buddy MiseryLC has watched an LP of this game. He found that this game was pretty sweet. But do I agree with my best buddy or are there some things in this game that make me dislike this game? Let’s see. Oh, like always, feel free to comment on this article and or the game. 

Compare it to the original? 

Would it be wise to compare this game to its original? Well, honestly that isn’t the best idea ever. Because there are a lot of things different in this game than in the original. While keeping the same formula, this game is nothing like the original.

Let’s first talk about the story. The story is told differently this time around. Real life actors played some cutscenes. While in the original, if I remember correctly, only small parts has been done with real actors. The acting scenes are extremely welcome and add to this game.

The story in this game is rather interesting. It aids the gameplay quite well. But the end of the story of this game is extremely weak. It was an ball to the wall action story with some little twists, but I feel like the first game had a way stronger story.

Let’s talk about the graphics for a moment. While my laptop couldn’t handle the highest settings very well, the normal settings gave extremely neat settings. The dark feel is back full force in this title then in the original. With some attention to detail, I barely have anything to complain about the graphics.

But, the collision detection is a totally different story. Some objects that you know can move, don’t. Yeah, ever had a chair that doesn’t move a pixel when you run against it? Thankfully, this issue isn’t that big and isn’t present with the enemies.

Nailed it!

I’m so sorry for the pun. Wait, you don’t understand the pun? Let me explain, there is actually a nail gun in this game. Yes, a nail gun. Remember my review of the original where I said that the selection of guns wasn’t the best? Well, this game totally fixes that!  The interface for selecting guns is a ton better.

There is also a use in game for collecting the pages. I don’t quite remember if there was a use in the previous game for them apart from getting the backstory. In this game they are used for unlocking guns. Interesting.

This game has some changes to the gameplay as well. Foremost, the health system works quite differently. You don’t fully get your health back. You can have 3 hits from the toughest enemy, and you die. But your health bar is now in three parts. So, when it’s somewhere midway the 2nd part, it will only fill the 2nd again instead of the third as well.

Also, the compass is quite useful. It has a bit more icons than in the original. You can’t see the full picture as far as I know, but certain clear icons appear when you’re close to ammo or light to regenerate health.

This game has also various new enemies. While the design of the enemies is the same then in the original, the new enemies more than make it for it. From enemies that duplicate when you shine light on them to enemies that can divide themselves into birds. It made the game more challenging, and I quite liked that.

Flaws

So, before we continue this review, I have to admit that I haven’t played the survival part of this game. It looks like fun, but it’s not totally my gameplay type. Yet, it’s a must-have addition to the game.

Anyway, the flaws of this game. For starters, the final part of the game is a tad bit too hard. Think back at what I said earlier, the game has an incredible weak ending. So in other words, you get a little reward for that high input.

The biggest flaw this game makes is that it’s extremely short. According to Steam, I finished this game in 5 hours. While I honestly don’t believe that, I can’t deny that this game is rather short.

Another thing that might turn people off is that there are very few settings in this game. Due to the nature of the story, you will see some locations several times. The variety in this game is rather low.  That’s a sad part.

Also, I have noticed three times that the scenery moved for no reason. And it didn’t get explained either. Why does a big cinema screen suddenly move from one side of the parking lot to another side? I’m sure I didn’t get turned around or anything.

So, before we end this review, notice how I didn’t talk about the animation, music and sound effects. If you’re interested in the game, check them out for yourself. And if you want to know my opinion, they are great. I just like to don’t talk about certain things of the game, so you have some surprises after reading this review.

Conclusion

The bad:

– Short.

– Weaker story than the original.

– Some repetition.

– Some things got unexplained that should have been explained, Dues Ex Machina’s and scenery that suddenly changes.

The good:

+ Classic Alan Wake gameplay with some tweaks.

+ Nice bonus story (while not perfect.)

+ Amazing design.

+ Unlockable.

+ Additional game mode survival.

+ Great soundtrack.

+ Great sound design.

Final thoughts:

If you want to buy this game, buy it on Steam. The low price of €9 is actually totally worth it. Don’t buy it for a larger price. Since this game doesn’t offer more value than that.

At the start of this article I talked about how this game should have been an expansion pack instead of a stand-alone. This would have increased my final score.

If you liked Alan Wake, don’t pass on this game. It’s a great game, sadly it’s short.

Score: 70/100.

Score, if it had been an expansion pack/DLC to the original game: 80/100

And that’s all I wanted to say about this game. Thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

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Top 10 games I played in 2013

Alright, let’s do this. I have my favorite music playing in the background and it’s time to write some articles. 2013 is nearly over and I need to study. A lot even. But anyways, in this top 10 I’ll write about the games I played this year. There is one catch though. I’m not allowed to list games I have played before 2012. So, games I have finished and I’m now replaying don’t count. Anyways, I want for lay-out sake that this introduction is as long as the image here. And since that’s the case already, let’s start with the list. Leave me a comment from your thoughts of the games I have choosen. And try make a list yourself. I’m quite curious. 

#10: Delver (Steam)

This game. It took me by storm. I bought it on Steam because it caught my eye. And seriously, I don’t regret it in the slightest. I even wrote a review on it. I love playing this game because it’s simple.

You can pick it up from time to time and continue where you left off. I also get the feeling of freedom I get from Minecraft. It’s just mindblowing.

There is a similar game out on Steam, called Eldrich. Yet, I think Delver is clearly the better game.

#9: Pokémon Y (3DS)

Oh yes, this might piss off some people. Why is Pokémon X & Y on such a low spot. I think I might see a rage incoming.

Yet, while I haven’t written an article about it yet, I do think that this game has some flaws that made this game not the extremely nice title it’s supposed to be.

I have to give it to Nintendo. They did a lot of things right with this game. The improvements they made are well placed and work perfectly. Yet, there are some parts I think that they should have presented differently.

I’m not really done just yet with this entry in the series but when I’m done I’ll review this game. Although that the planned co-op won’t be happening since college got in the way and I was unable to finish the article in time and I delayed it and I started to be distracted by other games…

#8: Legend Of Heroes – Trails In The Sky

This game is my favorite RPG on PSP. I’m so glad I discovered it. I’m nearly playing this game non-stop as soon as I start my PSP.

The writing in this game is excellent. The story is interesting and the gameplay is just great. The story comes close to a story I was writing on my forum in the past. I sometimes miss those days. Oh well, I’m glad I can write here on my blog and write for other things as well.

In the last months of 2013, I have been looking for games to play. And when I saw this game on the shelves, I was so glad I picked it up.

I even mentioned this game in my previous music article. The music is even worth listing to. Yet, it isn’t my favorite PSP game. I’ll talk about that one later.

It pains me to put this excellent game so low on the list, but oh well. I’m happy that I can include it. I would be ashamed if I forgot it.

#7: Broken Sword 5 – The Serpents Curse (PC – Steam)

Okay, this game was fully fan-funded. And I haven’t beaten it yet. I’ll soon though. I’m trying to finish a lot of games now. And I’m replaying a lot of games to write an article on my blog for.

This game got some recent updates as well. Yet, there are some things that should still be worked on. Like I told in my first impression.

This point and click game proves that Revolution Software has still the making of these style of games mastered. Their way of coming out to their fans is just excellent. I love how they made this game happen.

I’m enjoying this game quite a lot and I’m ashamed that I don’t give this game the love it deserves. And I secretly hope that I get the collectors edition for Christmas so that my whole collection of this series is complete.

Next year, the second episode will be posted. When I finished that, I’ll surely write a full review about it!

#6: Tomb Raider (PC)

This game. It’s the game I used to come back at the world of blogging and reviewing. Read my review about it here.

I still play the game here and there to make sure I’ll reach the 100% one day. And I’ll also replay this game next year in order to try and beat this game on hard.

This game was such a blast from start to finish and I was so sad when I had beaten it. It went by a bit too quick for me.

But thanks to this game, I have discovered my love for a bit more creepy games and I learned to play games I thought I would have hated.

Still, my urge to replay some old Tomb Raiders is big now. And I might start playing some old classic Tomb Raiders in the near future.

#5: The Legend Of Zelda – Link Between Worlds (3DS)

Wow! Hold your horses. NekoJonez is such a big Zelda fan and he doesn’t put the latest Zelda title on the number one spot?

Yes, I don’t. Since there are some games that changed my gaming life for good and this game didn’t do that.

While it’s one of the best Zelda titles to date, I have my doubts about some things in this game. And when I beat it, I’ll talk about it in my review. But I talked about my opinion already in this article.

Still, this game takes the spot for best game that didn’t change my gaming life. And congrats on winning the award of “Game Of The Year” on Gamespot guys. It was such a surprise!

#4: Phoenix Wright – Ace Attorney 5 – Dual Destinies (3DS – eShop)

This game changed my gaming life. It changed my views on DLC for good. I might have talked about it in a bad way in my review and my first impression. Shame on me for thinking all DLC is bad.

The additional case really added a nice case that makes this game worthy of a higher score. I wish there is a new case in the make for this game. One where we don’t have Simon as the opponent. Please, another one would be great!

If you haven’t played this title, it’s a great way to start the series. I restarted Miles Edgeworth actually after playing this and I might just write a review of that game soon.

#3: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon – Gates To Infinity (3DS)

This game is just worthy of a review. Oh wait, I already wrote that article. I finished this game already. And I wrote that long review off it.

Yup, this game got a more lengthy review from me and I think it was worth it. It learned me how a sequel can be both disappointing yet fun as well. There were some parts I thought they shouldn’t have cut out but hey, they gave us some great other options as well.

I still have to finish the post game. But you know me, other games that start to distract me. But what didn’t distract me was the ending of the game. I succeeded in making me cry once more.

Even when I could predict the ending of this story, I still ran into the trap of the ending being such a hit on my “FEELS”. Aw man, I wish I could restart this game without knowing what happened to experience that feeling once more.

#2: Corpse Party (PSP)

Without a doubt, this is the best PSP game ever made in my opinion. Although I might have lazily placed the box-art of the sequel here, I think it’s worthy to mention it as well.

As I’m nearly done with finishing the last chapter of the sequel, the original game made me start my first impression series. The article is here. And I reviewed it as well. That review can be found here.

This game is surely worth of a playthrough. This text adventure is actually scary. And yes, it’s even a freaking 2D game. It’s written in such a way it’s pretty scary. And I even had moments where I regretted playing this in the dark.

Even playing this game in full light, this game has the power to make people piss their pants. It once came to a close encounter for me.

But the sequel is on the list to review once I finished it. Man, I have a lot of games I want to play but I kind of refuse to play this game since I don’t want to end my adventure with this game.

#1: Alan Wake (PC)

Looking back on 2013, I have played a lot of games. 2013 was such a weird year for me. I had new experiences and learned a lot. But there was one game that made me love my passion of writing stories even more.

Alan Wake. It’s simply one of the best PC games ever made. The adventure is extremely well made and it even made me reading books again. And what a blast it is to read the novel based on this game.

It made me want to play the game without stopping. I have written two articles about it. My first impression and my review.

I’m so glad that I got this game as a gift from somebody of my forum. And yes, that’s a reason why this game might got the first spot on my list.

I’m playing the sequel now and I’m curious how the story will wrap up. I’ll keep you guys up-to-date.

Final words

This may or may not be my last article of 2013. Busy times are ahead. I’ll try to write a few new articles. I have some planned. And I hope that they get past the planning stage this time.

Anyways, I am glad that I finally was able to write this article. Since it was such a challenge to write this list. I played so many games, I didn’t want to exclude some games, but I had to not list some of my favorites.

I’m quite sure that there are a lot of games you guys haven’t played or never heard of. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much I had writing it. But before I leave, let’s list the games that just didn’t made the cut for the list.

Elebits (DS), Tales Of Monkey Island (PC), NickTunes Fight For Vulcano Island (PS2), The Stanley Parable (PC), The Novelist (PC), Animal Crossing – New Leaf (3DS), Ape Escape (PSP), Fragile Dreams (Wii) and various others.

Well, I might just wish you guys happy holidays. Since I’m sure that makes me cover everything you possibly could celebrate. And I hope to catch you in one of my further articles!

 

NekoJonez: Review #016: Alan Wake (PC) ~ Departure

Official website

You would have thought that I would write my 15th game review on my blog. Yet, I decided to write it here on ButtonSmashers. Why? Well, to thank the guys for the great times they gave me and because Q gives me sometimes some free games and I think that means I need to pay him back somehow. So, I write an article on one of the best horror/adventure PC games ever made, well in the recent years. Besides, for me it’s all about reaching the milestone instead of the location. Another reason why I write it on my friends blog here is that I actually got this game for free from somebody of Arpegi. And my first impression is already on my blog. So yeah. If you want to read my first impression of this game, you can do that here. Anyways, unlike Alan here, I’m not in the dark. My dark, well black, cat is sleeping in my arms, making the time I spent on this review a lot longer then I originally planned. Oh well, the two additional collector edition episodes will have to wait. I have a game to review. In my introduction I always make it clear how I got to this game. Well, I got this game as a present. I was allowed to choose between three titles for buying someone a game. I knew the title Alan Wake from seeing it on a YouTube channel called Lazy Game Reviews. I wanted to link his video but the highly trained monkey’s of Google failed to work. (Yeah, YouTube has been bugging out for me. So, after some 500 error’s I gave up.) Anyways, enough stalling of this! Let’s get on with the review. Nothing special for the 15th, just a plain old review. And my plain old invite for you to write a comment what you think about this game and/or review. 

Manuscript pages

This game blew me out of the water. One of it’s many stronger points is the writing. It’s just an amazing story. Don’t go spoiling yourself because the ending is somewhat open ended and ready for a sequel. Yet, I haven’t finished the additional DLC’s yet. So, maybe I get my answers there.

I actually bought myself the novel version of this game. And I’m pumped to read it. I can feel Wake’s pain. He’s a writer who lost inspiration. Sometimes I have that myself. But apart from a story with deep and rich characters, it’s extremely memorable. It makes a lot of twists and turns. Even Alan starts to doubt himself from time to time. It feels more human.

The presentation of the story is what made this game for me. What’s going to happen in the (near) future of a chapter is written out on manuscript pages, some are extremely well hidden. Some provide backstory to the characters. While the pages play a very important role in the game, it’s implementation is just brilliant and how it should be.

I’m so sad that I finished this awesome story and this is one that I wished I could play over and over again without knowing the story. Where is that reset button in your brain when you need it?

Well, let’s talk about this game’s gameplay. And is it something where many game developers can learn from. You play the role of Alan Wake, like I told earlier, a writer who is in trouble. This game is a mostly linear adventure game, at some moments there are two or more paths, and it’s a shooter as well. But with a big twist. Before you can hurt your enemies, you must shine your flashlight on them. I only wish that not all enemies where male. But this is such an extremely big nitpick.

Ammo?!

In the game you use several weapons. A pistol, shotgun and a flare gun. You sometimes have flares and flash bangs at your disposal. And when you explore you can have more ammo as your reward. The additional batteries I found for my flashlight came in extremely helpful.

Yet with this comes on of my few complaints with the game. The weapon selection is not that great. When you play it, you will understand me better. But it’s as simple as putting everything under the scroll wheel. So when you wish to switch your flash bangs to flares without switching your weapon, well though luck.

And your objective is nearly always the same. Go from point A to B. Yet, the journey is always extremely different. From fighting through ambushes to driving a car to an other location, the game never feels really repetitive. This game also haves some major horror mixed in. From being in the woods with a lot of bear traps and the Taken following you to being in a hospital that is consumed by darkness.

I also love how the creators of this game hid several QR codes to scan in the game. I uncovered some GIFs with it. I’m so curious with I’ll find on my second playthrough. Yes, you read it correctly, I’ll probably play through this game more then once. Not only since the highest difficulty provides all pages to find but also because of several paths I didn’t explore and I wish I did.

One other complaint I have is that the driving is a bit broken. It’s too loose. You sometimes feel like you’re riding on ice. And with sudden tight corners in the road, this game makes the driving not so easy. Plus, your car can break down. Excellent, yet a damage meter is nowhere to be seen.

While the ammo for your weapons is extremely scare, you’ll never be without bullets. If you don’t waste them that is. With a human jump and a limited sprint, this gameplay can’t be any more talked about I guess. On to the next segment! Like in the game. It’s also in parts. And when you reach the next part, a quick recap plays. This makes being up to speed with the story such an easy task.

Well lit room

Let’s first talk about this game’s soundtrack. I like almost every track. Some songs at the end aren’t really my style but I won’t talk bad on the game because of this. The set the mood like it should. The music gets tense when it needs to. And the music gets lighthearted when there is drama.

And the sound design is how I think it should be in all games of this genre. All weapons are such a blast to use because of this. Except, I miss a bit of a ticking sound for the flash bang. But that’s the only change I would do in the sound department.

And does this game gets tense. A full 100% yes please! The further you go, the more I got on the edge of my seat. This game provides a lot of challenge. One or two parts where a bit unfair but hey, that I can let slip.

The level design is excellent. I never really felt stuck and it was always clear in which direction I should head. Thanks to the ability to press “F” to focus on the part Alan was talking about makes that you have more control in your hands and that’s something I can only applaud. The only thin I should have dropped was the clicking to start an engine for light. One time it got a bit too difficult to remain fun.

Oh, now I suddenly remember that I should have mentioned in the gameplay section that there are various additional collectibles to find. Well, now that I mention it here, I can say that this games it’s length is great. I have beaten it on normal difficulty in 18 hours. Yet, I know that I skipped some parts and I haven’t finished the DLC. And I truly look forward to beat this game again with the developer commentary playing in my headset. Yeah, I advice you that you play this game with a headset, it makes the experience a lot better.

There are also parts in the game that you play with a side kick. And it’s AI is great. I had moments where I really was saved by the AI. And there where moments where the enemies really took me off guard. And I like how the animation helps you see enemies swarm you from different directions. This makes the possibility of cheap deaths go down so much. But before we talk about that, I want to say that I had to try some parts several times. Not because of cheap things but because I was truly taken off guard or I took the situation on with a wrong weapon. The bosses really require that you use the tactics of the weapons and ammo that you have.

So to finish this review, I’ll talk about the visuals and animation. And wow, the visuals are just mind blowing. The excellent voice work really shines through here. With nice and extremely well done locations, it’s a joy to walk around in this game’s setting. Nothing feels out of place and the developer really made it in such a way that this game might be real as well. The character’s detail is also well done.

I also like how you get a nice death animation when you kill the last enemy of the attacking group or when you die. The animation might have a hiccup here and there, it’s not really noticeable when you don’t pay attention to it or when you don’t look at it with a reviewer’s eye.

So, let’s wrap up this special longer review here and let’s get right to my conclusion, shall we?

Conclusion

The good:

+ Amazing story.

+ Great setting.

+ Nice gameplay.

+ Decent length.

+ Pretty epic soundtrack.

+ And much more.

The bad:

– The driving is a tad bit broken. A damage indicator and improved driving would be welcome.

– The switching of weapons isn’t the easiest thing to do.

Conclusion:

When even MiseryLC talks about this game, you may be sure it’s quality content. He didn’t play this game, he only saw a let’s play of the sequel. And I agree with my statement there. This game is a mindblowing experience. One that every one should play that likes adventure and horror games.

The presentation is unique. In terms of visuals and the story. It’s different yet familiar. It’s really worth to check this game out on Steam and play it right now.

I truly had trouble looking for negative parts of this game. This is one gem that should be high on everybody’s list. And it’s even a port from a XBOX360 game. Take that, a well made port.

Play this game, you won’t regret it.

Score: 95 / 100

First Impression: Alan Wake (PC) ~ Questioning Reality.

Official website

While doing research for this game I found something extremely odd. The official release of this game is 18+ yet the limited edition is 16+. Oh well, that’s the least of my concern. I don’t remember writing this first impression, yet it suddenly appeared on my blog. Alright, strange. Now something similar happened to me like to Alan. But thankfully I published some content on a blog that wouldn’t harm me as much as it did to Alan. He ran through the dark woods. Seeing a shack with a computer. On there, he bought a game for a friend of his on Steam. In return, he was allowed to choose out of a few games out of the inventory of that friend. He choose the Alan Wake Franchise since that was the game that interests him. (Personal note: that’s how I got this gem :3 ). Yet the nightmare started there. Scary things beyond his imagination started happening. He wasn’t able to finish a book in a long time. That poor writer. He felt he deserved a break and he set out to have a vacation. When his wife betrays that vacation and actually had a plan to get him back to writing, a kidnap happened. And it actually gets worse from there on out. (Feel free to leave a comment about your views of this game and/or your opinion of this “review”)

Legit scared

Out of the introduction you get the idea to where I wanted to go with this first impression. I actually wrote this first impression again since I actually found that it was too forced. This game is all about Alan’s latest horror book coming to live. Yet, he doesn’t remember writing it. He often sees visions of him writing it and talking insane. This all happens while he is looking for his wife.

If that doesn’t sound creepy already, well then just start playing the game. Only one or two games made me actually nearly “piss my pants.” One great example is Corpse Party. But this game just did it before I wrote this article again.

I normally talk about the story first in my reviews and first impressions. And I have to applaud the presentation of the story here. During the play, you find pages of the manuscript of the story Alan was working on. This hides information like character backstory or things that happen or even happened. This sounds already like a nice set-up for a creepypasta. But the thought of you writing the future yet not being able to control it is scary.

The story is amazing. It might get a bit confusing since it uses a certain way of making it thrilling that not many people like. It doesn’t explain a lot. But seeing that this game is heavily story based, does that destroy the replay value? Lucky us, no. You can replay the game on the highest difficulty to gain access to some parts of the manuscript which rewards players that go for the hardest of the hardest.

Creative burst

While playing this game, I got a vibe from a game. The gameplay felt a little bit like the latest Tomb Raider. Yet, this game is extremely far from it. But both games give off a similar survival and creepiness factor.

So, the story is extremely well done with rich and deep characters, what else does make this game worth it? I must have my reasons to back this claim up. I don’t post just for the fun on my Facebook wall that this is one of my favorite games on PC.

The graphical presentation of this game is just pitch perfect. Details everywhere. Crows that fly around, shaking screens, barely visible traps… The game is creepy when it’s supposed to be and the transition is seamless.

I heard a lot of complaints about the animation on several forums. Yet, I actually disagree. I think the mood of this game and it’s animation is well done. There were only two things that bothered me. One thing is the, according to the developer unfixable, bug at the start on the boat where the scene starts shaking if you have auto aiming on. (Which is an extremely big help by the way). And the second thing is how the animals in this game doesn’t look as smoothly created as the humans.

Finish me

I have actually one complaint with this game. I don’t really get into it’s soundtrack. The sound design is extremely well done. And it aids a lot when you play this game with a headset that supports good stereo sound. The further you go, the more faint voices become. But the music in some places is so cheesy I just wanted to finish and leave the area.

Okay, I might have yet one other complaint. And that’s how this game uses one or two jump scares. It made me jump. And in my opinion that’s cheap. Good horror shouldn’t relay on jump scares. I don’t see a monster waiting in the bushes thinking to him or herself: “Let’s wait for a second and jump in front of him and roar a bit and then attack.” Nah, it’s too cheap. And that is actually addressed in this game. The camera often zooms out when enemies are behind your back and you are at low health.

Adventure fans like myself will have to get used to some things like automatic opening doors and the jump being actually human. Yes, don’t expect being able to jump to ledges higher then you can in real life. This adds to the game an awful lot. This makes me think big time.

So, I haven’t finished talking about this game but I’m running out of time in this first impression. I try to keep these article around 1000 words to have a quick read if you are interested in the game. So, this means that for my opinion on the gameplay, length, difficulty, controls and voice work you’ll have to wait for my full review. So, thanks for reading and I hope to catch you with my next article. I’m going back to Alan, helping him finish his journey. I have spare pants ready neko’s. Don’t you worry!