Comments on: Alan Wake Remastered Review (or is Alan Wake a jerk?)

By: Kat Clay

Kat Clay — Sun, 15 Dec 2024 12:48:42 +0000

In reply to Eric. Barry is life! Although I hear he's not in Alan Wake II (sad).

By: Kat Clay

Kat Clay — Sun, 15 Dec 2024 12:48:15 +0000

In reply to Jay Versluis. Hey Jay! Thanks for the thoughtful and super interesting comment. I found moments in the game quite difficult, and I'm usually the person putting things on high difficulty settings. But that always differs between games, hey? Alan Wake II was on deep discount on the Epic Games store recently, but I missed the sale (doh!). A story mode is a great idea for the game, because sometimes you just want to cruise through a game and enjoy the storytelling. So glad you stopped by to leave your comment - these kinds of things keep me going writing my little game reviews. Kat

By: Jay Versluis

Jay Versluis — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 02:30:02 +0000

I remember buying Alan Wake on the Xbox 360 back in 2010. It was one of the first “digital” releases on the console, and it felt weird not having a disk on my shelf for the full price I paid for it. I didn’t regret it, but I had an awful time with Alan back then: even on easy, the game was hard as hell. The janky controls (dodging works properly about 20% of the time), constantly running out of ammo or batteries, falling off cliffs and of course the bear traps didn’t sit well with me. All of it overshadowed the really intriguing story, and the way it was told.

Fast forward to 2023 when Alan shows up remastered as part of my Playstation subscription. I was excited to pick it up again, and it was great for the nostalgia aspect. The game hasn’t changed a bit, aside from better textures and many improved meshes. Even the steam from the coffee in the diner is as overkill as it’s ever been! From what I gather, they’ve used the same custom engine as back in the day, which I thought was a great approach.

While I’m certainly better now at playing games than I have been back in the day, I still find easy mode infuriatingly hard. I had the same problem with Control, and really don’t understand why there’s no “story mode” in these games. Story is such an integral part, and Sam Lake’s writing is fantastic, yet half the players never get to see the end of the story. So many other developers cater for the “non-hardcore gamer”, yet Remedy proudly proclaim “we don’t care and it shows”. Could this be the reason why Alan Wake 2 hasn’t made it’s money back, let alone turned a profit even one year after release? Would it kill them to let casual players just enjoy the story?

I guess it would. I’m currently replaying the PC version of Classic Alan in the hope that I’ll make it to the end before the year is out (or should I say, “in my lifetime”). I’d love to invest in both Alan Wake 2 while it’s on sale, and pick up the remastered version for PC, but I’m torn: I love the combined “Alan/Control” universe, but the extreme level of difficulty isn’t for me. I might feel better not giving Remedy any cash this season (for my own sanity’s sake).

I enjoyed reading your review.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 23:54:52 +0000

Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of Alan. He is a jerk. I liked Barry though.
Honestly, I found the game fairly underwhelming with its repetitive flashlight gameplay. I think the game is just a product of its time, hopefully Alan Wake 2 is better.

By: Jase

Jase — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 23:21:28 +0000

Interesting – I’ve not seen another reviewer comment on this.
I’ve just started Chapter 2 and already I feel I don’t like Alan, I’m not particularly routing for the character I’m playing. First thing that jarred was his reaction to Alice setting up a typewriter in the holiday cabin, flying off the handle rather than using his words to explain why he wasn’t happy.
Second was his comment about his fan (Rose?), calling her an airhead.
I mean, it’s probably (sadly) realistic but it doesn’t make him someone I can relate to or want to ‘be’.
Ah well, maybe it’s all intended and it’ll make sense later.