I am a grown-ass man who buys myself things when I want them. But, my parents like to get me Christmas presents, so I gave them a list of random games for Christmas 2010, this was on it, and they bought it for me. I am primarily a FPS/RPG player on the computer, but I do have an Xbox 360. Alan Wake has sat unopened next to my Xbox 360 for over a year. Should I bother playing it, or not? Is it worth a playthrough? It looks like a survival horror game, but I hear it's more shooter-ish? So kinda like Gears of War? Or maybe Resident Evil 4+5? I played Deadly Premonition because of GB's endurance run of it (call me york, everybody calls me that), so how does it compare to that?
Alan Wake
Game » consists of 14 releases. Released May 14, 2010
- Xbox 360
- Xbox 360 Games Store
- PC
- Nintendo Switch
- + 4 more
- Xbox One
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation 5
- Xbox Series X|S
When famous novelist Alan Wake goes on vacation with his wife Alice, he has no idea that the idyllic town of Bright Falls will soon be the site of a terrible battle between light and dark that could threaten everything, even Wake's own sanity.
Should I bother playing this?
Alan Wake has great atmosphere and style. It's a bit of a survival horror, but in my opinion it's more of a shooter. The gunplay feels more like Resident Evil 5 or Dead Space than Gears of War. Compared to Deadly Premonition it has less quirky charm, but it plays much much better. You should definitely give it a try at least.
Honestly I think it is worth your time. I kind of hate console games in general but I pulled out my Xbox specifically to play this and loved almost every second. The atmosphere is amazing, story is actually kind of interesting and gameplay did not feel that bad. Also it really isn't too long.
I definitely think it's worth a playthrough. The atmosphere is great and the characters and story are pretty decent, too (plays out like a Stephen King book; I'm pretty sure they quote him in the first line of the game). The actual combat (shine dudes or objects before you can shoot them) is pretty cool and can make for some tense moments, but the problem is that it never really evolves and becomes a bit tedious. Because of that I reached a point where I was trying to get through the combat parts as fast as possible to see the next story part. The game isn't that long though so it won't take up too much time.
It is definitely more of a shooter when you compare it to traditional survival horror games. The best way I can describe this game is a thriller shooter. It isn't really scary, but as I said there are definitely some tense moments. With the feel of the combat, the closest comparison is probably Dead Space. I chose Dead Space over Resident Evil and Deadly Premonition because the shooting here is really solid and very snappy. You never feel restricted or that you are fighting with the controls, something I can't really say for RE and DP. The Quick Look does a great job of showing what this game is all about, so I recommend you watch that. It should answer all your questions about how the game actually plays.
Hell yes you should.
It's definitely way more shooter then horror. Combat might get tedious as it's the same enemy over and over, but it's not that big of a deal. Characters are great and the story is pretty crazy. Probably one of the better examples of a game putting you in a place. The atmosphere it creates is fucking dope, yo. It's also probably the only game besides Bioshock that actually gets me tense. That's probably more a personal thing though.
I'm with everyone else here in agreeing that the game was very atmospheric. If you're a 'Stephen King' fan or even a 'Twin Peaks' fan, I would definitely recommend you give it a try. It does seem to have nice little references to them both.
That being said, even if you aren't either of those (like me), you'll hopefully still find a lot to love. Yes, the gun-play gets a little repetitive towards the end, but the game presents everything else really well and has some brilliant music to top it off.
So yeah, I'd recommend it.
@KevinK said:
I am a grown-ass man who buys myself things when I want them. But, my parents like to get me Christmas presents, so I gave them a list of random games for Christmas 2010, this was on it, and they bought it for me. I am primarily a FPS/RPG player on the computer, but I do have an Xbox 360. Alan Wake has sat unopened next to my Xbox 360 for over a year. Should I bother playing it, or not? Is it worth a playthrough? It looks like a survival horror game, but I hear it's more shooter-ish? So kinda like Gears of War? Or maybe Resident Evil 4+5? I played Deadly Premonition because of GB's endurance run of it (call me york, everybody calls me that), so how does it compare to that?
If you spent time playing Deadly Premonition, then play Alan Wake. Its a good game.
It's about as far from Gears of War as a third-person shooter can be, but if you played Deadly Premonition I say go for this. Like Deadly Premonition it has a great story, but it has far better visuals and gameplay than Deadly Premonition. Really though, if you know this little about a game I recommend checking out some videos and reviews first.
Very much worthwhile. If you have an afternoon/evening to kill and a few beers definitely give it a shot.
The atmosphere is second to none.
I loved it, but whatever you do, don't pay attention to the horrible lip-synching in that game because it's really bad. Other than that it's pretty cool, great for 30 or 45 minutes spaced out over a few nights because it's presented in an episodic format. Like between each level there's a "previously on alan wake" summary iirc.
Hell yes. One of my favorite games of this generation. Great atmosphere, good characters, amazing FMV twilight zone type tv shows to watch, and a solid story. Like others said the combat can get repetitive but I never really had a problem with it.
If you already have it you might as well at least try it, and if you don't like it send it to CharlesAlanRatliff to put it in The Giant Bomb Community Game Giveaway.
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