[OLD SCRATCH]

three days ago i finally had the time to give alan wake's american nightmare a first try and i have to admit at first i was kinda disappointed. let's start one by one: the menu, the idea how "night springs" is involved and of course the new graphical look (way stronger and vibrant colourstyle) for this type of "grindhousestory" is a true pleasure in my eyes, but there where disturbing factors in that first personal hour of gameplay in my opinion. most of them can be excused due to the fact that wake is "playing" a role for himself this time ("champion of light"), but a bit of that "suitable for the masses" dull flavour remains - which can't be excused so easily in my (first) opinion:

i just love the non-existing stamina - alans bad condition (author, party-victim, lazy and rich couch-potato) from the original piece. true, could be hard some times and maybe a bit annoying too - but that's just appealing if you ask me. also the fact that alan hasn't got so many weapons in the original game... the gun cases and all the other gameplay changes, the shorter playtime and the new mechanics fit the theme here of course, but the original piece with having not just action and shooting most of the time, more realistic colours and feeling, longer lasting puzzles and that originalplot is just invincible i guess.

more from the original, that's what i wanted to see (again i guess).

alan wake's american nightmare felt just like the deadened, simpler, action-packed, colourfully, faster and shorter version of the original - i didn't come very far before the passion went away (i played like an hour as mentioned before).

-cut-

yesterday afternoon i started the game again and then it finally "grappled" me! sam, mikki and their mates created a beautifully, thrilling staging and a great story once again - especially i am taken with the "time warp" idea, the new enemys and the artistic realization but most of all the pages! there are two or three, that are divinely again. theres so much truth inside, social but also ubiquitous personal problems are handled - especially the reference to the "whole one", the big thing are represented in that good old alan wake style. who also knows something about occult gets messages beside that through different channels. analytically elaborated basics coupled with a beautiful writing style and a skilled connection to the wake universe... wonderful!

so i guess in this "review" you can see how the tide can turn... i just realized that my first impression wasn't the right one. that alan wake's american nightmare don't want to be alan wake 2, that it's okay in the chosen "frame" to do all the changes here, because it just fits well and is its own thing. a cheap rehash or even worse, a rushed real sequel isn't what we need! this is a nice addition, another story, a vehicle for our popular writer and his friends. i am glad that i realized that and had a real good time with this arcade (!) title.

i'll absolutely try out the survival mode in the next days and attempt to get that last missing page. it took me almost 7 hours to playthrough it (most of the so called aaa-fullprice titles can't beat that content in terms of playtime) and i am glad that the well-known...

"alan wake's journey through the night will continue"

appeared at the end again. can't wait for more remedy, thank you!

ps: please excuse my english.

edit: just tested the "arcade mode", earned some stars but didn't manage to get a nightmare map yet. have to say, i really like the mapping and the implementation of it - addicting. will have another round soon i think!

[RadiNightingale]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD SCRATCH

let's start one by one: the menu,

really? you didn't like the menu? I think that was literally the best menu I have ever scene

[AeddGynvael]

I liked the menu too, yeah. Wouldn't go as far as saying it's the best I've ever seen, though.

[GrumpyGamerLP]

I love this game. I never played the original. Because this game was a stand alone expansion I can play it without spending 30 bucks on the original. Now I want to buy the original.

I think the menu is cool. I love the clouds.

[OLD SCRATCH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RadiNightingale

really? you didn't like the menu? I think that was literally the best menu I have ever scene

you have to read carefully what i've written: "let's start one by one: the menu (...) is a true pleasure in my eyes (...)"

as you can hopefully see i praised the menu, my criticism was related to other things. is my english that bad?

[Pal88]

Shouldn't be to long now before I start on this game, getting the original fully complete and the other episodes done then I'll be buying this game. Cannot wait, have loved the first game

[SnowboarderX]

As for Alan's running stamina, I like to believe that he's just getting stronger and more athletic from all he's done. (Although that probably isn't true.)

However, I love to see characters develop over time. Alan is obviously mentally getting stronger, but I also want him to become physically stronger and not be such a couch potato anymore.