Alan Wake Review (Xbox 360)

Wake Up:

Failing to unravel the strings directly scenario, we look at the
narrative that is at least as important. The developers have chosen to
tell the story directly by Alan, which works particularly well in an
adventure where the hero is himself in doubt as to his own lucidity.
Specifically, the player finds himself often confused, wondering if
swimming in a dream, or if the creatures that threaten are very real.
Alternation is also placed on the temporal plane with flashbacks that
will gradually show the character’s personality, and especially its
complexity. For if it is a successful writer, Alan Wake is not a happy
man and balanced for all. And in addition to survival, his relationship
and his own demons will gather, therefore, also on the carpet in this
story. Regularly lonely face his fears and his attackers, our hero will
however many meetings during his trip.

The characters, whether in the foreground or secondary, are remarkably
worked in Alan Wake, which is a definite plus for immersion. From Alice
to Barry, his best friend a little heavy, passing by many residents of
Bright Falls (Alan fans, local authorities, or redneck simpletons),
everyone has a role to play in the development of the plot. Meetings
will be harmless at first sight and sometimes a great importance on the
events. This architecture is that of Alan Wake, a game where the
scenario consistent advance in dribs and drop, to smoke out the spirit
of the player in a great big fog better to give him the keys to this
mystery through the chapters .

You will understand, in Alan Wake, the desire to discover the rest is
constant. The staging oscillates between good and excellent cutscenes
that are interspersed with perfectly between phases of play, they show
strong exchanges between characters, scenes where the hero seems almost
delirious, dollies or any Beauty to illustrate the course of Wake in
the mountains. Everything is done with the game engine, no real load
times, a result that flows from source, like a good thriller in which
one would be the hero. For the player finds it quite complicated in
this scenario, there are brief summaries of the previous chapter that
recall the very principle of successful U.S. shows, style 24.

Since all this happens to speak French voices played by well known and
quite convincing, the sauce is very fast. But the special flavor of
Alan Wake is also thanks to a multitude of small details that ensure
credibility and strengthen its universe. As fans of kitschy sci-fi
series of the 60/70 that the brothers Bogdanov, developers have
included many servings of the old series which are available for
viewing at any time of the mini-episodes in the game, simply by turning
on a television. In the same spirit, we also unearthed a number of
radios for listening to local programming, or news in recent times
treating Alan Wake itself. Our hero is a writer, the pages of his own
novel – providing further clarification on the timeline – will also be
collectible rummaging up in environments though not very reassuring.

The Village of the Damned:

Small town with quiet appearance, Bright Falls has two faces. The
first, peaceful and smiling, the city is revealed when the rays of the
sun caress his low buildings and wooden houses. The second, sinister
and potentially deadly, only appears at night adventurers, only those
who stray a little too much a source of light. Here the darkness is
evil, forces are constantly increasing, and contaminated by the horror
of the night, honest – if somewhat eccentric – people turn into violent
creatures, the Devils. More or less responsible for the situation, Alan
will have to repair the mess he has created. But, as attractive and
telegenic as it is, a New York writer who wears a tweed jacket with
elbow can settle accounts with a timeless and evil photophobic? The
solution lies in the light hand of the hero: a flashlight. Armed with
this essential accessory, it can blind and weaken the dark shadows that
stalk. Once lifted the veil of darkness that surrounds his enemies, he
has only to finish them with a gun or a gun found at the bend of a
road.

Rarer but more bluntly effective, the alarm pistol and grenades can
even combine flash light attack and attack and eliminate lethal one
blow all those who attack you. Although designed as an action game in
the third person, Alan Wake is not a piss-way cartridges Max Payne . On
the contrary, where previous titles Remedy invited you to leave behind
enough sockets to melt a battleship, this new work does not issue
weapons sparingly, chargers and batteries for your flashlight. For if
the latter breaks the shell opaque your enemies, you must "focus" the
beam, energy-consuming function. The batteries can be recharged
automatically, but if three or four opponents will darken over the same
time, you will inevitably, and unfortunately for your nerves, changing
batteries during the battle! This reduces inventory is obviously no
cases of the player, already largely under pressure from a very
successful staging.

Necessarily difficult to distinguish in the darkness around you, the
Devils appear suddenly and usually move much faster than you. Unable to
handle the pop-guns, they still play skillfully blades more or less
impressive, their tools, from the ax to the chainsaw. For their
survival, so you can remove them if resources permit, but also push
using flares or attempt to rally the halo of a streetlight savior. The
light is your best ally, but Remedy is a perverse pleasure in
multiplying the situations in which the bulbs fail, or generators
should be started while the horde sticks to Basque. Better, rather than
playing on the register of the first horror expensive Silent Hill and
Fatal Frame , two series that have largely combined fear of the dark
and failing equipment, Alan Wake evolves toward the fantastic soft but
scary at the U.S.. Despite the lack of monsters or disruptive to the
plastic sets that ooze blood and rust, the game puts you under constant
pressure and stunning moments of stress, sequences that require you to
cross, the charger almost empty, a nth undergrowth too dark to be
honest. The voltage drops alas as written the seductive scenario.
Seriously handicapped by game mechanics and construction dated, Alan
Wake rests after a few hours.

Before you go:

Alan Wake immerses us in an interesting story, worked, and it is
usually with a nice control. However, to design a video game anthology,
it is also the gameplay is at the height of such a coating. The
gameplay , precisely, is the point at which the baby Remedy
Entertainment does not take all his promises, and that for some simple
reasons. The first is the high redundancy situations where is Alan
throughout the adventure. The game is ultimately linear, contrary to
what one might expect, the player will spend much of his time running
down the mountain to get from point A to point B between two scenes,
with foes which appear regularly to try to make her skin, and a save
point so Resident Evil at the end of the road. Classic, yes. But too
many in our time, because the fights are not complex enough to
compensate for the linearity. The game does have a little originality
as to defeat the forces of darkness, Wake must first exposure to a
light source (lamp, flashlight, flares) to break their will, and
finally being able to screen the ball with a pistol or a rifle.
However, if there are moments when stress, literally encircled, the
player must juggle the evasions, the management of bullets or batteries
of his lamp, the mechanism is indeed the same from beginning to end .
It would have just a few simple tricks to deceive the weariness. More
weapons, more varied enemies, real boss … Whatever finally, as the
action sequences do not amount to achieve the same things over and over
again, with the variation of enemies more numerous or more sturdy over
hours of play

This first glimpse of the heart as controller in hand is not
flattering, and should focus on details that relativize this statement
because Alan Wake is not a bad gameplay , it is just stingy in this
area a product of this caliber, more is expected for an eternity. Some
complain example certainly slow the hero, not really able to defend
themselves in melee against the possessed, or running more than ten
seconds without slowing down. This kind of detail annoying in the heat
of the action serves to reinforce the "realism" of the experience
because our man is after all an intellectual, and unlike many games,
the developers were given by the presence of sense not to inflate their
character steroids without a valid reason. The weakness of the writer
complicates therefore due, and the leak will often be seen face to
groups of prosecutors who will disappear like magic to an area a little
too bright. In addition to repel enemies, the light also gives the same
health the player is saying how it is central.

Sometimes, Alan Wake will also face a real outbreak of mysterious
forces that will send him to include elements of the decor as dangerous
as rail cars, cans, or bulldozers inhabited by an evil spirit. Flocks
of crows would also take him regularly, for sequences rather
Hitchcockian very welcome, although fast repetitive too. In fact,
therein lies the weakness of Alan Wake. The elements of gameplay ,
situations are often recycled, which makes them lose some of their
charm at times, as if its creators had intended to artificially prolong
life by copying and pasting entire game footage, not always getting the
right mix well. Fortunately, the game offers much adrenaline, climbing,
and some memorable passages where the action up a notch. These
sequences play judiciously sprinkled throughout six chapters, ten
hours, work as good electrical discharges remotivent players stack at
the right time so the rate is not effete.

Playing Alan Wake is so dive in the heart of the night, lost in the
vastness of the region of Bright Falls. Lost, even though the game
itself is very linear (and scripted) but knows you do forget. In the
woods, even if you have a direction to follow, it is often possible to
divert the path to his peril, but never meet artificial walls, any
limit is accepted as entirely consistent and credible, it ‘s act the
edge of a cliff or a tangle of trees. One of the first things that hits
Alan Wake is the quality of its surroundings. Day or night, we surveyed
the mountains and forests. Although it is still the same type of
environment, nothing like ever. Every place is different. And feel free
to explore the remains of huts of trappers or residues of the glorious
past of the mining region. Better yet, all the sets on which the
distant gaze can arise "exist". At the foot of a rocky peak, it was
really the feeling of his imposing presence. At the edge of a canyon,
it was almost giddy. Feeling aggravated by the fact that Remedy has not
yielded to the fashion of invisible walls. If you are not watching
where you go, you can snap like a nozzle. It falls quickly under the
spell of this realistic and faithful reproduction of a vast, wild and
conducive to the imagination.

Besides, the cast of characters following this guidance. Each character
has met his personality, his manner of speaking, even if they are
brushed, Remedy has found a way to give them a story that knows
nothing, but is suspected. Again, the influence of films based on
novels by King, or some TV series Twin Peaks is felt. For if the
gameplay Alan Wake is pretty simple, everyone will have before it for
its atmosphere as it plays. Or rather, it plunges. Being attacked by
the possessed is already often a poem. If they happen to fall on you
from behind, you will also see it from afar, ominous shadows in the
mist, drumming remains of their past life. Those who were game wardens
will still use the lesson on permits, others will speak for some reason
saturated fats or camping equipment, incoherent but still in a
threatening tone, as if you wanted frightening, but without being able
to find the right words, just what they have left of yesteryear. An
absurdity to the account of Lynch’s influence no doubt. Oppressive,
they may compel you to flee the battle, running up an old generator
that we seek to operate before they get too close, hoping that will
clear out the light and she ‘s ignite before it picks up a shot pruning.

Too preoccupied with writing history and the staging of its
achievements in cinematic cool, Finns have apparently forgotten to
follow the latest action games since the release of Max Payne 2 . We
certainly do not regret the abandonment of the open world, a time
considered, which would certainly have caused the disintegration of a
carefully constructed plot. The journey follows large rail may be
pardoned, that this linearity will eventually be cut, and a double
repetition is far more reprehensible unwelcome. Indeed, the Nordic
production would probably be won and sold as such was designed: in
episodes. The six chapters of adventure and are thought to operate
relatively independently of each other. All begin with a video summary
of events previously experienced and adopt all basically the same
construction: a little blah, flight unarmed in a hostile place,
retrieving objects, actions, blah, action, close combat, blah, end
chapter.

 

The epic does not therefore lose in richness if sold
separately and at regular intervals. Instead, players would then have
time to digest their previous expeditions and the ultra-redundant game
happen more easily. Here, the accumulation of nearly identical
sequences eventually tired, as proved frustrating appearances /
disappearances of minor characters to express motivations
incomprehensible (special mention to the agent of the FBI). Alan Wake
is a pilot luxury for a saga that will certainly enrich considerably
(and, hopefully, soon) and could, as long as Remedy slightly modernized
gameplay, making everyone agrees.

Like many of his peers, Shadow Black tends to hover in this case, city,
or especially on the forest. Sometimes fog, sometimes tornado, you
often feel the presence in seeing off the trees collapse or when you
try to stop dropping in on you … wagon train! Presence disturbing it
lingered around you and remains a principal force of the heavy
atmosphere and detail of the game also when you visit indoors, you’ll
often find TV sets which, among other things, propagate live video from
a TV series mid-way between the 4th Dimension and the Beyond of the
Real. And as stated above, the various protagonists of the game are a
funny company. From untrustworthy Dr. Hartman to two former stars of
the metal through the waitress member of your fan club, the only true
friend and literary agent Barry seems to really keep my feet on the
ground. Stereotype of the Stooges, but effective in his role. The game
is full of detail and atmosphere that reinforce, thicken its identity.
If this is the kind of things we are sensitive, difficult to miss Alan
Wake.

It has been said that the environments enjoyed a striking character, it
goes without saying that the technical aspect of the game is so neat.
So no, Alan Wake is perhaps not the most beautiful game console, but,
in our opinion, one of those who offer the most attractive scenery. The
light management is also a feast for the eyes. We particularly
appreciate the varying lighting and glowing flares or even how some
sources of light in the night stand, small dot dazzling synonymous with
safe areas to which one rushes. However, all is not perfect, there are
some lip sync problems, indoors, it is clear that some textures are low
resolution and lack of finesse anyway but now we want it to linger on
such peccadilloes. See for yourself if you prefer the technical or
artistic direction. We have selected.

Nevertheless, one can only bow to the colossal work carried out by the
Finns in the atmosphere, served by lighting effects, fog, and shadows
counted among the very best any medium . It has been said, each pseudo
zombie must be neutralized by using light in addition to conventional
weapons. This invariably gives rise to effects mixing sumptuous light
beams, particles, explosions and the most beautiful effect, without
altering the flow. The weapons a little more advanced such as rocket
launchers are also excuses for slow rotations, cameras, and other
fireworks that capturing more of a jaw. The environments are no
exception, with a depth of field allowing bluffing often admire
beautiful valleys, lakes larger than life, or thick vegetation responds
to the sheet around in the wind, or storms. See a landslide come on
home, a tornado and take any action against you, and trees uprooted by
ten meters evil in person provide a feeling of smallness and discomfort
in the face of things totally beyond us. It is precisely in these
moments that Alan Wake is unique. Pity that this style worked so
consistent and is not accompanied by the gameplay exciting and profound
than we would have wished.

As for the soundtrack, it is not far behind. The original version is
excellent and is recommended if you can. VF said it is also excellent,
simply, English is a natural fit to the recovery of corn isolated West
Virginia. The sound effects are controlled from end to end and the
soundtrack is just fabulous. You’ll find some pearls composed for the
occasion from country music to hard FM but also a handful of licensed
tracks which we have no right to make a list, just to mention a Nicolas
Cave and Bad Seed or a David B that thinks it’s a man named Major Tom.
As it stands, the fourth piece is a bit of Heavy Rain for the Xbox 360
as an impeccably written, peopled with heroes extremely endearing and
enjoying a fabulous atmosphere (for those who love the great American),
but whose mechanical though far more playful than those imagined by
Quantic Dream , are not fully thought. Any player requiring just a
shame these choices. But, as with Heavy Rain , maybe even more in view
of the orientation of action and faster pace of this exclusive
Microsoft , any player wishing to live an incredibly immersive
adventure and the staging deck must try to Alan Wake .

Conclusion:

As Bright Falls, the town not so quiet that it stages, production
Remedy has two faces. Headset, Alan Wake is a title superbly realized,
subtly staged, which misleads heroes in complex environments and
ultra-licked multiplies distressing scenes. However, Remedy
Entertainment has outdone itself in the areas of directing, staging,
and the atmosphere. Items that are wonderfully deep and complex
scenario in which this "psychological thriller" takes us without
difficulty. Alan Wake brilliantly fulfills much of the contract by
telling a story more intriguing and frightening, but his playfulness
deserved as much care into the masterpiece that so many had hoped.It is
absolutely obvious that Alan Wake is a really big way as we must
acknowledge rich sequences never seen before and never experienced
before on a base play.

Pros: