Report card style:

+ Visually great, lots of high res textures, great looking environments

- Weaken the bad guys with a flashlight?

- Awkward controls and animation

- Dodge button is dumb

- Underpowered guns

- What the hell is going on in this fucking story?

Guys I started playing the game and I really liked it. I gave it a chance, and I played though the first 3 'episodes' but when it got to the part where you have to defend the stage I just couldn't justify wasting anymore time on this game. It's literally just running from light source to light source, dodging and shooting the same enemies again and again etc.

I hate stopping a game when I'm past the half way point but god damn this game is jank city.

I respectfully disagree sir.

That's pretty much how you're supposed to feel throughout the game. Story has a lot of twists and turns which make it a bit convoluted.

I respectfully disagree with you opinion for why you don't like the game. From Night Springs..........

Actually, I had quite a lot of fun playing Alan Wake today.

I was just imagining the flashlight as my lazer of doom! Pew Pew*

Question: Were you playing on pc with keyboard and mouse? If so, that's where most of your issues lie

Also how can you not LOVE everytime this comes up

There are far more janky games out there than Alan Wake. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who actually enjoyed that game. The game is really special--unlike anything else in this medium; I really wish it would get a proper sequel so that they could polish the mechanics up.

Also, you actually don't mention my only two (notable) problems with the game: the facial animations and the collectibles.

I loved Alan Wake, but I can see why others wont.

I do love that. Parts of the game are okay but are you seriously telling me you didn't get sick of the shitty combat? The game is just one big corridor!

Maybe you're bad. Ever think about that? Huh? HUH?!?

There are technical problems that extend to some of the rigging and modeling looks like it was build in 2005 to some odd choices in the overall game like the coffee thermos thing to the over all way the story works. Sure that aspect is completely subjective but if the point is Alan Wake is kind of a crappy writer listening to his internal monologue in the style of a bad writer is a terrible idea.

The combat in particular is was the best part. The problem is the mechanics are only good for a section or two not a full 10+ hour game. It was ugly, bad, and boring and in the end I didn't finish it instead watching the end on Youtube. It is a subjective thing but I can't figure out where people think the good game is in here. They can clean up the technical issues but the design has some big flaws that I don't want to see in anything they follow up with let alone any other game.

PC version with 360 controller.

I haven't played it yet, but I heard that the story is inspired by Twin Peaks, so I can see why you'd be confused by it but that's the best part.

That defending the stage part was bad ass. I do think the game lost steam and I did check out of the story at some point but it was still a mostly awesome experience. Those songs that every episode would end with, so good.

I don't remember the weapons being underpowered and I played it on hard.

YEah agree it is probably Remedy's worst game so far. I also did not like that these stupid pages you find actually totally spoil the whole story It is getting very boring and the combat is pretty bad as well. When I first saw it I thought it would be actual an Adventure game like Twilight but in the end it was just a bad shooter.

As an aspiring writer I really appreciate most aspects of Alan Wake. I think the story can be confusing if you're not really examining everything you can, but take some more time exploring the fiction and I think you'll have a better time with the game.

As far as the comment about guns being underpowered, that seems like kind of a ridiculous complaint. Light is the real weapon, not the guns. Guns are just how you finish enemies off, and it rarely takes more than a couple shots. I don't see where you're coming from with that.

Anyway, I assume you picked the game up via the latest Humble sale, so at least you didn't spend a ton buying it.

@markm: I guess this game is just not your cup of tea.

You are allowed to have an opinion, even if it is wrong.

I liked the game's style and thought it felt pretty unique, but yeah I see what you mean.

There are like 3 types of enemy, and not much variation or progression of the torch-combat mechanics. If that stuff feels like a chore, then yeah I can really imagine this game feeling like a slow, boring to-do list.

I thought the weird, spooky surreal mystery stuff was fun, I thought the art was really good, I liked TRYING to follow the plot even though it doesn't make any damn sense, and I thought the shining-light stuff was fun and interesting enough to carry MOST of the game, but yeah you're right, it drags it's feet a lot.

And guys the guns might not be underpowered, but I'm sure if you were seriously bored of the combat and want it to be over with, then even 3 bullets per guy can feel like it's taking too long.

The game isn't one big corridor, but the combat does have a bit less finesse than other games. Also the combat sections are much longer than the pure exploration bits. The atmosphere in that game was so great!

But it's weird that everyone's picking up animation, cos I remember it being pretty good, or at least alright.

Now I'm looking up videos. It seems fine in-game, but alright, they do move a bit like toys in the cutscenes.

BOO THIS MAN

I still like it and am probably going to continue but the combat is terrible.

those fucking flying, like, wooden things? How am I supposed to deal with them if they can take me down in 3 hits and then sometimes the physics get me stuck in them and then I die and then ARGH.

I mean I'm fine with substandard 3rd person shooting (Binary Domain was one of my fav games last year) but this is worse than substandard.

I think I agree with this. I've just finished the first two chapters, and while I think the lighting is some of the best I've even seen, the combat is not very interesting or fun.

Almost every encounter is just holding down the flash light and then shooting 3 times... but sometimes you have to shoot more times. So much more could be done with the flash light stuff, which I expected to happen but after reading this thread that seems not the case. Also, aiming seems to barely matter, it just removes another thing that I have to think about.

I like everything about it except the gameplay. I'll probably keep playing for a while because I had heard good things about this game but if it continues being so similar I'll probably end up stopping at some point.

Well, eighty-three percent of people like it because it's good. (According to "Metacritic.")

Opinions: everybody has 'em and nobody's right.

Cool.

The flashlight makes it more interesting then your standard off-the-mill shooter.

The controls are great (on PC)

Dodge is alright. They obs didn't want bullet time again, so it's cool.

Guns are good.

Story rocks so far (ch.2) I like the mystery.

Man, if you call this game "jank city"(I assume that means something negative in a real language) then you should try playing games that are actually terrible when it comes to animation, story and overall gameplay.

@markm: Alright than let me say some other things

My perspective is that the gameplay, while not the best in the world, is completely serviceable to the excellent story/atmosphere.

And you don't know what's going on because you're half way through a game that has a huge hard on for david lynch and twin peaks; you aren't supposed to know what's going. Honestly, you don't even really know what's going on even once you beat the dlc episodes and american nightmare. It's just that type of story; where the mystery and intrigue is what makes it so great, not where it's all going to end up. You know, the journey being more important than the destination (David Lynch's whole career is centered around this concept).

I'm not going to make assumptions, but I've heard some people legitimately have problems with difficulty (as in, the game was too difficult for them). Does that seem to be a problem for you? If so, I could probably help explain some good strategies for getting through the game

If you really don't like the type of story it's trying to deliver, and the gameplay is really that big of a detractor, don't feel bad. We all are allowed to have opinions, even if it goes against a "consensus"

For example, I think Max Payne 3 is one of the best games this generation, the best game of last year, the best playing 3rd person shooter of all time, and one of the best written games I've ever played. Not many people hold this opinion, but I will never second guess it myself. Just as you don't need to second guess not liking alan wake. Sometimes it's just a gut feeling, and that's okay too.

Huh, personally I loved Alan Wake. S-ranked it, even (back when I though collectible achievements were somehow worth getting, god they're awful in that game). I actually thought the mechanics were really nice and tight, in sort of a loose, relaxed way, if that makes any sense, and really lent themselves well to the overall tension and atmosphere. Satisfying is how I'd describe the combat.

Ehh, I think the shooting in Alan Wake is really solid. The problem is in the enemies being numerous, bullet sponges and your movement speed not being good enough to deal with haunted objects all that well without constantly spamming the dodge button.

@colourful_hippie: I suppose but that's kinda semantics at some point (combat vs. combat scenario)

The combat gameplay is pretty terrible and repetitive, but I found story interesting enough to keep going and finish the game.

The shooting does not fit the mood it tires to accomplish.

@darji: That doesn't mean the shooting isn't solid though. The game just needed a lot less of it because any kind of shooting will get tiresome after a while no matter how solid it is.

True, I guess I was specifically talking about the shooting mechanics in the game which felt tight but also loose when it needed to be. Player movement was awkward though, it always felt like he needed more dexterity when in the more open parts of the game which was where you typically ran into the possessed object things

Eh, guess it's not for everyone... Hell, you think Alan Wake is jank city go find a copy of Deadly Premonition. Or better yet, just watch the endurance run.

You can be reductive about any game like that. Every game is 30 seconds of game play repeated over and over. The combat is serviceable enough and the environment engaging enough that I never had a issue with it myself.

No but this makes the game bad.

I'm glad someone agrees with me, I really didn't like Alan Wake on either the Xbox or the PC.

I definitely wouldn't call the game bad, but I also didn't really care for it that much. There was way, way too much combat. It was enjoyable at first but wore out it's welcome far before reaching the end. There wasn't enough else to the game to keep me interested. I thought the story was incredibly disappointing by the end for how great it was in the beginning. I was more interested in the original incarnation of Alan Wake than what it ended up being. Personally, I'm glad Remedy is moving past this onto something else rather than a sequel.

Well, that sucks for you. Alan Wake is a pretty unique experience and one that I enjoyed pretty thoroughly. The story ends up being pretty good in my opinion, but if I were to tell you why it can seem convoluted it would be Spoiler City. Seriously though, the narrative ends up being the strongest part of the game.

I can see how someone wouldn't like it, but man, the story and voice work in that game had me. Also one of the best videogame soundtracks I've ever heard. American Nightmare was a little rough however. I feel like the DLC and AN just keep creating more unanswered questions, and I can only hope we get an Alan Wake 2 at some point in the future.

I remember trying Alan Wake and quitting after about 3 or 4 chapters or what they're called. Can't really remember why, but then again thriller/horror/whatever you want to call it isn't really my type of game. I'm just gonna assume that it was yet another game that's all about the setting/story with tolerable gameplay. If you're not into it there's nothing else there for you, but if you are it's great.

Plus the amount of crazy extended fiction outside of the game is just fantastic.

Alan Wake isn't bad. It's just that you are flawed as a human being.

I understand where you might be coming from but I just never had that experience. Was Alan Wake's combat amazing? No but the controls and such were always tight and solid, it was in the enemy difficulty/balance that the game was a bit inconsistent. For that issue though, I would just turn down the difficulty and enjoy the rest.

Out of any game I played during that block (I can't remember when, Christmas or last summer) but it was my favorite out of all of them. Holy shit I love that game.

Thats awesome.