Alan Wake 2 Is A Survival Horror Game
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- čas přidán 16. 06. 2024
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#gaming #memes #alanwake
0:00 Intro
01:36 Story & Premise
03:33 Visuals
05:55 The Gameplay
09:54 The Pacing
13:36 The Combat
19:35 Alan's Missions
21:43 Outro
22:40 Amazing Patrons - Hry
The multiverse lore thing was actually around almost a decade ago with Alan Wake and also the American Nightmare game. So I wouldn't really call that them hopping on the trend as much as just continuing the original narrative.
He often misses basic points like this.
the meta for the first game is not like it is here, so you two are missing basic points, but also, its not statistically likely for most people playing this to have play any of the previous games except maybe control.
@@wrathchildrocks Just to fit his narrative. Happens on a regular basis.
There's a difference between the first game having a simple "Mirra was here" easter egg message written on a wall from another one of their games, and this one having complete character cross-overs...
@datatsushi2016 Alex Casey, the Max Payne like character was in the first game, Quantum Break makes multiple references but nothing as solid, Alan Wake was literally in Control, I don't know what more you need.
I'm just impressed that this is the first game I've seen with an accurate depiction of reloading a crossbow lol
Yeah I completely agree, and it's cool how an extra string is added with the upgrade!
I love the tense moment when you shoot an enemy yet it either doesn't kill them or you miss and you have to reload and a Taken us running at you.
Love that.
@@Astartes-6969 ya I don't actually play it, it's far too artsy fartsy for me. I just like that they depict crossbow reloads accurately for the most part.
On the "Alternate Universe" thing, from what I remember it was in the first game, and a huge part of it. The whole "dark place" and how Alans writing affected the world and stuff. So I wouldn't call it "hopping on a trend" considering its established in the story.
Yeah I don't know what the fuck he was on about. Stick to reviewing boomer shooters
also the alternate universe trend was ALL OVER the 00s in gaming
Especially House of Dreams ARG (released around American Nightmare). Deals a bit into the alternate pocket dimension thing. It’s really cool how they mix sci fi, horror, and fantasy like this. Very Stephen King, fitting lol
There's been a shared universe since quantum break and alan was the author of max payne (ie alex casey)
Alternate Realm(Fantasy) is not Alternate Universe(Scifi).
Theres a bunch of Finnish stuff because Remedy is a Finnish developer.
Funny that as you mentioned everyone in the village looks finnish, the two dudes in the shot are actually modelled after Peter Franzen, a finnish film actor.
Sam Lake is Finnish...he actually changed his Finnish last name (which meant lake) to Lake.
There were also literal Finnish businesses there with Finnish names lol
as is every game they make
How does a Finnish person look different from any other White person from Europe or North America?
@@ajaxslamgoody9736 Sami Järvi is still his real name. Sam Lake's just an artist name.
The fact he thinks half the Shadows in the Dark Place as Alan can be "defeated" with just a flashlight shows a misunderstanding of the mechanic entirely.
To be fair, I only realised that you should just turn off the flashlight and walk past them near the end of Alan's campaign..
It's kind of a shame that the only time we really get to hear James McAffrey is through Remedy projects, semi-including Max Payne 3.
The man has a phenomenal voice.
Him and the fella who voiced Death in Darksiders 2 need to be in every game
@@slainemccool2875
Without Googling it, I remember the voice of Death being a somewhat known actor, though I don't know to what degree or if that was more in the past than now.
I do agree, though. His voice is pretty far up there with some of the best for that kind of role.
Stephen Russell ( Garett from thief ) and John J Dick ( Serious Sam ) are pretty underrated too.
@@saisameer8771speaking the truth
He can impregnate women just by talking to them.
Sam Lake in this game really brought back the nostalgia in me. It’s like Remedy knew, that we’ll get all geeky over him being a cop in this game.
Glad to see this video getting back up, because CZcams is really getting tiresome with their copyright laws. What's the point of doing a review if you can't review it in the best way possible? It's especially annoying when people try to review movies & TV shows.
What happened? I watched this video already and was confused to seeing it again, not knowing if I watched it already or not. He does not explain to what happened or if this is a reupload with changes. So can anyone else explain?
@@thingsiplay Because youtube cannot handle criticism and basically they took down the vid because of it
@@Eleyrica It's especially noticeable when people try to criticise modern entertainment. It's ridiculous.
@@Asaylum117 + They do that because they wanted to please remedy but like remedy are open to any type of critcism especially sam lake
It wasn't a copyright issue unless I am mistaken - it was flagged as "not suitable for advertisers" meaning there was something deemed inappropriate/violent which means it would not get the exposure it normally would.
I love max pain outfit casey wears in dark place. The grizzled edge lord cop. Was expecting him to swallow a bottle of pills and dive through a window
(21:43) In case you didn't know - those guys are actually the three leading members of the finnish rock band "Poets of the Fall" whose song "Late Goodbye" appeared back then in Max Payne 2. In that game, the singer Marco also did the voicing for the main antagonist Vladimir Lem.
they make music for a ton of remedy games not only MP2, when they work for remedy they are know as Old Gods of Asgard
They also made music for the first Alan Wake. They made "The Poet and the Muse".
Thanks stranger in the comments, that’s a fun fact I didn’t know
Calling the otherworld "The Dark Place" just constantly reminds me of the criminally underrated British comedy Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. Expecting Alan to say "You and he were, buddies, weren't you?" at any moment ahaha
Subtext is for cowards
Criminally under viewed. Everyone should see Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. I'm seeing a live reading, by the Dreamweaver himself, of his next book next month. I cannot wait.
@@Blood_Aple hope you have a great time! I missed him coming to Sheffield and need him to come back! Knowing I missed him makes me feel like a disembodied head laying a pool of blood, my blood.. blood, blood, blood.. and bits of sick
What exactly happened between you and this Renwick customer?
Women like you are the reason my lovely chicken is late in the first place!
I love Alan wake 1 but I’m of the opinion that the first game has the opposite problem, where there was way too much combat. The scares and atmosphere started to wear off about halfway into the game and it basically just became an action shooter with scripted combat sections you could see coming from a mile away.
Even when playing on the hardest difficulty, I was running around levels with full ammo in all my guns and this was on top of the fact that the first game had way more combat.
first game when we got the storm light and how they throw flash bang like candy....
yeah i ain't fear shits
If you explore the game might actually have too much combat. It was kinda annoying how often wolves would spawn in the trailer park
I agree with you Gman 150 percent. As much as I do enjoy Alan Wake 2 it can a bit frustrating at times and those jump scare flashes is just about to piss me off.
@@toomuchdeeAlan Wake 2 just really wasn’t scary at all
Yeah, i think so too. This game never really made it obvious, when it was time for combat, unlike the first game.
"When I had DLSS frame generation turned off, it halved my framerate" Yes Gman, that is what frame generation is supposed to do. thanks for pointing it out
No, it's just cheap lazy cutting-corners from the developers to actually optimize their game WITHOUT the need for DLSS. You know that damn well
@@rvh1702 yes I know, but literally the point of frame generation is that it doubles your framerate by adding ai generated in-between frames
me when turning on frame generation gives me more frames
@@rvh1702 the point of frame gen is that it doubles ur frames by putting ai frames in the middle of real frames... it runs very well (on a 3070 idk about other gpus) and if u really want truly next gen games, games should start using new features and push hardware...
Yes but it must not be a requirement to comfortably run a game on a high-end PC.
I mean this game was introduced as we're not doing an action horror, this one will be a survival horror. So being able to run past enemies and having a slower pace is expected.
Yeah but most survival horror games are actually scary lol
@@Funko777 no the fuck they arent lmao are you crazy
Whatever you got to tell yourself
@@Funko777Almost like what's scary is different for everyone. I played Evil Within 1 and 2, games I see people constantly say are scary and was only ever creeped out by one of them twice. I played Darkwood and am now playing Alan Wake 2, and have been creeped out by both numerous times just by walking through the woods because of the sound design.
I feel lots of people/ reviewer kinda spoiled with RE4, Dead Space remake and other action horror, they expect Alan Wake 2 be one too (like "Control")
It's not really a multiverse/alternate universe in the Dark Place, my guy. You should look more into the story/concepts and the first game.
The Dark Place is subjective and infinite, ever changing. He's not multiverse hopping, he's in the same place. It's LITERALLY the whole point of the plot lmao he's stuck there.
Gman is kind of an idiot when it comes to depth or nuance.
“You spend more time watching the game then actually playing it.”
*Metal Gear series left the chat **
The difference is that the interactive bits in MGS games are really well crafted, varied, nuanced, maleable and endlessly replayable.
@@JustFun-ho6qyIf you say so
@@JustFun-ho6qyCan't say I felt the same
Every Sony exclusive too
@@benwilliams7930 I wouldn’t go that far
After playing the game, this review doesn't make much sense in a lot of aspects, while on others I agree.
1) "This is supposed to be a fictional American town and half the population seems to be Finnish". You just contradicted yourself there (emphasis on fictional). Plus, if you listened to the story carefully, they say Watery was founded by Finnish immigrants. Bright Falls still seems very American. I did like the ABK sketch because at times it felt a bit like that, but in a fun way.
2) The Silent Hill comparison is perhaps warranted in a few places, but I think the game is ultimately doing its own thing.
3) "And on some levels is on par with that decade old first game". Are you serious? There's clearly a huge difference in engine work and details. Having played the originals I know they are clearly different in detail. The first game was ahead of its time in terms of graphics, and this one is on another league of detail.
4) "The environments are just all forests, beaches and more forests". You forgot that these are self contained areas in a fictional rural Washington. Watery is about 35% forest and has a habitated area, the Coffee World fair, the Lighthouse area and the trailer park, while Cauldron Lake is about 95% forest but then Bright Falls is about 45% forest. So saying it's all forest and beaches is off by a few hectars at least.
5) "Most areas are just dark and not all that impressive". You do realize you're playing a survival horror based in a rural town, right? I personally thought being stuck in a forest at night with wolves and all sorts of Taken got my heart pumping a little. And not every town with fog is a Silent Hill tribute now. In fact, the fog in the town that inspired Silent Hill was not created by weather patterns, while forests like in Watery and Finnish towns usually have dense natural fog and the easiest explanation is often the correct one.
6) I was actually worried about the specs and that's a good point. I think the game isn't polished to the point where scenes and gameplay stall without being pre-processed. It's weird since the original never stalled on me and modern SSDs and GPUs have a hard time with the game as I've been told. It still plays smooth most of the time and I haven't encountered any major issues. I also found a few bugs like weird light sources and shadows.
7) Facial expressions are really polished. I remember the original being so good for the time that now I feel old.
8) The gameplay was fun, but some creative choices could've been better - The detective work felt like a placeholder at times, but it was nice to have a sequence of events to trace back to. Doing actual deductions would've been nice, but I can see why Remedy wanted to make this a linear experience. You're still rewarded for extra clues you find like the nursery rhymes and the cult stashes (the lunchboxes not as much). The padlocks are fairly easy to unlock, at least for me, but there are a couple of hard ones that require lateral thinking or observation (there are also some that require some mathematical magic, but they are fairly easy). The writing board could've been better by establishing a relation of cause and effect between characters and scenes, but if you want to focus on action, you should thank this gimmick.
9) We all know the Remedy Multiverse is a thing, but it has been a thing long before Alan Wake 2 and Marvel. Fans always acknowledged that there was a link between the original and the world of Max Payne (or Alex Casey). Yes, the multiverse thing can be a huge rabbit hole, but Alan Wake was innevitably going to clash with Alex Casey and Thomas Zane. Doing it through Control's premise was not bad, but I wonder why the Oceanview Hotel event looks so different between games.
10) "You're watching more of the game than playing it". The original was also like this and being immersed is a big part of the story. Did they sacrifice the pacing a little? Maybe, but they always compensated it with decent chunks of actual gameplay. I would say resource management can be clunky if you're paranoid about it like me, but it's actually a bit tough to get the perfect balance between weapons, healings and throwables and the Taken are so much faster and unpredictable, feels like the original RE3 again.
11) Quantum Break was still more cutscenes than gameplay in comparison with AW2. I rarely felt that way with this game, just like I did with the original. I still got to explore and collect things before moving on with the story. And even when you move on, they made sure to keep a lot of well spaced gameplay sections. You can bypass most enemies, but some areas can be a nuisance if you don't take care of them. However, it is slower than the original because it's a survival horror trope. Back in the original you could run, now you can only jog. I guess it's one of those things they should've kept from the original's action horror experience, but AW1 and AW2 are completely different genres of gameplay. I also miss the driving sections a little, even though they were a bit clunky.
12) "On some levels this is a horror game if you want to fall asleep". For someone who played survival horror before, that's a pretty big claim. Survival horror is usually a slow burner and when you kill the enemies it's typically a breeze walk (unless it's a game like Code Veronica). In this game, there are a few tense unexpected moments in the story paths alone but if you plan on doing exploration for resources, that's when you rarely feel safe due to the atmosphere and the enemies that keep respawning randomly. You don't notice it as much in the earlier parts of the game (apart from the Dark Place stuff). The original also did the jumpscare imagery thing a lot (but they weren't as reliant on it back then).
13) Again, action horror is not survival horror. If you expect this game to be the original, it's not. Remedy made that clear. But there's still plenty of the original in this one. Also, I saw that you were using keyboard and mouse: One thing I can say is that guns feel better on the mouse, but inventory management on the run feels better overall on the controller.
14) Yes, I agree that the hand flare tactic is similar to RE's counter mechanic. I think it's a good way not to get beaten every time and actually helps you stay in the fight with the hand flare radius, so it's actually a creative improvement on the counter that wasn't discussed here.
15) I don't think it was discussed this, but there's different animations and timings for different healing items. I thought that was good, it makes you over reliant on painkillers and trauma packs, but the medkits are too cumbersome to use in battle and they advise you against using them.
16) "It was a misfire to not let you acquire those bigger and better flashlights". I guess it's a valid point, but the biggest problem with the game is how easy it is to waste multiple charges when aiming at a Taken. And if they're powerful Taken, you can waste more if you're not aiming correctly at the hit box. I prefer the original mechanic because it felt dynamic and you never felt completely naked when you lost all the batteries, making sure you can always fight back. I guess it's realistic to have no power left, but losing ammo is bad enough, losing the flashlight focus is worse when you're ambushed. Thankfully, I never had that problem.
17) The axe throwing guys are really toxic, but I agree the poltergeists in AW1 are just as bad.
18) "They forgot about that [haven] mechanic entirely". No they didn't. Don't forget it behaves like a survival horror trope, so the experience is less linear and you're forced to go to specific areas to save and get your inventory sorted, meaning you have to save often. There's no point for each haven to be a checkpoint because of those reasons and makes you rely more on small haven spots for temporary survival. There are also upgrades to slightly improve these havens, but I was hoping they would heal a percentage of my health, not just in critical situations (although it's kind of fair since you have a huge variety of healing items and healing upgrades). Additionally, there are also plenty of checkpoints throughout the entire story that are not necessarily havens making this criticism completely unjustifiable.
19) Wait, actually story that progress plot is now exposition too? Most of the story was actual plot, the only exposition comes in the form of the usual manuscripts you find and the mind place board which made previous information obvious. I think I didn't find more infodumps in the game other than those. Most of it was actual writing work and it even made me question about obvious stuff and character intentions. Many of them become obvious to fans after a while, but not to Saga because she's just finding this stuff along the way.
20) I agree that the balance needs to be tweaked on some elements but I never felt they screwed up the formula and Max Payne is being developed alongside Rockstar, so it's not just Remedy involved. Remedy did the survival horror tropes justice imo, it's just that Alan Wake never needed some of these changes because the action horror side of its gameplay was already brilliant and tense in the first place.
I still think it's a brilliant game and very much on par with the original, though I hope the next installment will take notes from what went right with both games because there's a lot of stuff in the original that worked (like pacing, dynamic atmosphere and some fighting elements that made it smoother) and there's plenty of new survival horror stuff that was well cooked (tense exploration, inventory, upgrades, puzzles and a feeling of dread/horror).
Holy fuck dude...
@@SerbStar2011 I know, huge text. I tried my best to keep it short but there were a lot of points to cover that I felt needed to be addressed...
Totally agree!
You did a great job explaining your counter points etc. And as I was listening to the review, what you wrote was what I was thinking 9 times out of 10 lol. Enjoyed reading it.
@@sean8102 Thank you for reading my opinion piece and for the kind response ❤
I never expected it to get any kind of attention because it's a bit of a "half-rambling, half-discussion" kind of thing and quite long since it covers almost every point in the review. I just felt I needed to add my own two cents in there. Glad you enjoyed it.
I watched this yesterday, but I'll gladly watch it again, especially considering how CZcams screwed you over.
What's different now?
@@HunterTinsleythe title
it used to be titled "Alan Wake 2 is a bizarre fever dream, idk what else changed tho i had it added to watch later list. @@HunterTinsley
@@HunterTinsley he basically did a whole new video because yesterdays was so out of touch. He was very salty and said the game was terrible.
@@brentschmogbertlmao younsound like the salty one. games mid bro
Alan Wake is one of my favorite characters in gaming.
There was an X-Files game in the PS2/GameCube era that this reminds me of. With aspects of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer game called Choas Bleeds from that same era. With a bit of N64 Shadowman mixed in.
Saying the music level is bad or to long is criminal that shit was absolutely amazing to the point until now i havent heard anything but people loving it.
istg that's one of the best levels in gaming, absolutely loved it
That’s a sign you live in an echo chamber.
@@zzodysseuszz Its probably just from people who played Control (which more people should play imo). There's a musical section there too called the Ashtray Maze. The music level here is essentially the Ashtray Maze dialed to 11 and I think anyone who liked Control would love this one too.
@@zzodysseuszzOr they’re desperate Wake fans in denial lol.
@@HonkHonkler it’s literally a good game, why can’t you say it’s good with a firm smile? Lmao
I can smell the ESG score from this game.
Welcome to new era of gaming 😅
The game is called Alan Wake 2... yet you play as Saga 60% at the time compared to only 40% for Alan Wake himself.
Should have called it Alan Woke.
@RAD-1979 Playing as a black woman is considered woke?
Congrats on writing the stupidest comment of the day.
@@Throbingkcoctouch grass
Huh, was that sheriff Iceman (Shawn Ashmore)?
Man, it's kinda nice to see Remedy is fond of a couple of actors and keeps bringing them back.
Looks like it
But he's barely in it 😔
Remedy don't have the rights to quantum break but they still use the actors from the game
"6/10. It's just Silent Hill but with Max Payne. Can't wait to play Robocop next month" - Gman in a nutshell
Just shows how much shitty taste he has
Because Robocop will surely be a fast innovative first person shooter with fantastic story, and complex non-repetitive combat loop.
He likes games that are linear, repetitive and require maximum hand holding training wheels.
@@WholesomePotato1it is a fast innovative fps with non repetitive gameplay 🤣 it's out now if you preorder. Story is ok but the gameplay is WAY better than this. I feel like you haven't seen any of that game lol
Some people just wanna play a game, not a movie. That's ok lol
@@master-dukecuthbert5061 I mean, you kinda have it rightish in the end. Gman said it himself, technically speaking combat in Robocop is repetitive. He just likes it more because the story is comparitively simpler and doesnt require him to think too hard.
Not that its a bad thing. I'm gonna play the shit out of robocop too.
Control and Quantum Break were both amazing. I know QB isn't beloved, but i really enjoyed the gameplay and thought the TV series was pretty good.
Quantum Break is way better than it gets credit for. I mean it wasn't perfect by any means but it had some great ideas lore and gameplay related, and I will never get enough of leaving enemies suspended out of time in the broken sections.
Quantum Break is an excellent game, in my opinion.
Quantum Break didn’t get the recognition it deserved only because it was an Xbox exclusive, it’s a shame how the game industry treats Xbox.
Give Alan Wake for example, an Xbox exclusive that didn’t really get recognition until it was remastered on all platforms.
I played that shit on the hardest difficulty and the only thing that was bad was the range on explosives, especially on the final boss...
And with there being no achievement for the difficulty and only beating the story was a bit...annoying.
@@MrDumpitout try playing games for the story and experience not achievements
The first couple of chapters where you have to explore the forest around the lake genuinely made me feel terror I haven't felt in a horror game in quite some time. The way the sun is setting in that section yet the forest is so dark and dreary made me feel suspense I haven't felt since I played P.T. back in 2014.
Remedy games are weird. They rarely do very well with wide audiences and reviewers, even I can admit they’re not spectacular successes, yet as games they’re incredibly intriguing and can draw you in well after you’ve played through them. I’ve already replayed Control several times as well as Quantum Break.
They are games that treat you as if you already know all the in-universe lore, I believe that is a turn off for some players.
For me, it is amazing how the story goes unfolding and how everything starts to make sense. Their storytelling is the best in the industry.
Remedy wants the player just as confused as the main protagonist is... It's kind of their calling card...
They have shit gameplay and no enemy variety.
That's because most gamers just wanna shoot people up in COD. It's just anecdotal, but it seems like that. Like for instance, the number of my friends that play deep story driven games similar to Alan Wake? 1 guy. The number of my friends that play COD every weekend with the bros? All of them. Again, it's just anecdotal, but it still means a pattern was recognized.
Honestly, I respect their hustle. At least it's not just another copy and paste "for the audiences" type of game
Alan looks like John Wick. Someone should add him to the Max Payne remastered as a mod.
RIP Mona Sax still hurts to this day
I wish she showed up at the end of Max Payne 3 and for them to finally be together in peace
@@darthcinema4262remedy handled max Payne 1 and 2 as a co publisher with rockstar games
So therefore had rights to Mona sax. Remedy had no handle in max Payne 3 for some reason, it was rockstar that made it. Which is why it may have felt different and didn’t have her
And it’s also the reason why we aren’t getting a max Payne 3 remake included with max Payne 1+2
She survived the second game
The third game was just a shitty dream
"... and Tera Patrick"
MANDATORY *I see You're a man of culture as well* GIF
Holy shit its max payne...that columbian job got him hunting ACTUAL demons...good to see hes got himself back to his old NY self
And he doesn't swear like a sailor either.
I am actually curious about this aspect in games. There aren't that many "mature" games that don't swear a lot if at all.@@saisameer8771
@@saisameer8771I actually liked when he sweared like a sailor he was pissed in the third game. Love “YOU’RE TURNING PEOPLE INTO GLUE THAT’S MY FUCKING PROBLEM.”
@@xavierpeterson7139 Baghdad with G-Strings!
Another one of these cases where people think they know what the Word Mary sue means and goes on to use it on the most stupid way possible. Saga isn't a Mary sue, she's just a detective with something more on top of that. The story tells you straight on that she's receiving A LOT of help from Alan and even hint on Mr Door making sure she comes out alive of the story.
She has tons of reasons why she's the way she is in this game. But nah, that would not fit his "SUPER BLACK STRONG FEMALE DETECTIVE SOLVE EVERYTHING WHILE MEN ARE WEAK" narrative.
@@Circurose that wasn’t his narrative though, was it? 😂
@@Circurose that would be Remedy's narrative, not his.
@@rotoninja ok keep saying that. Im not here to argue.
@@Circurose No, you're just here to mouth off and then run when challenged.
So, it's basically like every other game made by Remedy. As a teenager, I remember being super disappointed at Max Payne 2 while I loved 1. My dad loved part 2, though. Years later, I remember when Alan Wake released, a lot of people disliked it and only saw its flaws. Same with Quantum and Control. All in all, some people love Remedy's games, some don't.
There's a reason these are cult classics and not mainstream
I do still enjoy em tho
I guess there is also a reason why some people enjoy Twin Peak even with its major flaws. Even tho I like Remedy I am not entirely sure if I see Twin Peak myself.
@@Deliveredmean42 Alan Woke 2 is nothing like Twin Peaks. Not even close.
Yep, it's kinda downhill since Max Payne 1. Max Payne 2 was good too but not the same as Max Payne 1.
It's been going downhill since then. Remedy is thinking they are going somewhere with their confusing and generic time travel and multiverse stories somewhere but they are not. They are just making it unfun like Bioshock infinite.
At least the world was much better in that game.
@@Deep_wolfAlan Woke 2 good god man touch grass
Everything you said about the writing being purposefully obtuse (and bad) could also be said about every Fromsoft souls type game, yet everyone jizzes their pants and claims everything from them is the best thing ever made. 🙄
Especially Elden Ring. Worst fromsoft story so far, imo
@@BrainBurnStudios elden ring is overhyped af. It's just another souls game. What story does it even have?
Played AW a couple years back and was impressed at how well it holds up. Also liked QB and Ctrl. Will certainly pick up this one down the road.
Remedy really just has to give up the ghost and make TV shows already.
I thought the subway level was an hommage for Max Payne 1
I just came off of beating this game myself and watched this. This was definitely a FAR slower experience compared to Alan wake or control. Especially in the combat department. But I got to say, I really enjoyed the puzzles this game had, while there solutions were very similar, finding a code or key etc. The different ways you had to solve them was surprisingly varied and at time challenging. It really spoke to me as someone who loves puzzles. Speaking of, I do also wish the case board was done differently it definitely needed to be engaging if they wanted us to use it as much as they did. Maybe provide some kind of reward for getting pieces of evidence correct 1st try or solving the case path below x amount of errors. I don't know give a skin for guns or some extra items. Really enjoyed the story personally. But the big issue I have personally, is to who ever decided to put the final chance. The bit before the penultimate act. Whoever decided to set it to nighttime! Messed up cause it makes finding things much harder on Saga's side.
Personal critique aside. loved the video G! Looking forward to more videos. Also, thought you'd be happy to know because of you I bought Return to castle Wolfenstein and I have been having a blast with it. Especially with the Real RTCW mod.
EDIT: Fixed spellings/ spacing and also sentencing.
Have beaten RTCW on Death incarnate with vanilla weapons. Was a fun challenge!
I work my 9-5 for a living I'm not getting scammed and my time wasted from this shitty game
It's basically a old school point and click adventure game with some action and light horror. I'm fine with that.
be careful my man, don't cut anyone with that edge, smh
What did you expect from a man who's eagerly waiting for the robocop game, undoubtedly goty material lol
This game is great, it’s a slower paced atmospheric story driven game not a shooting gallery and it’s all the better for it.
Yeah, God forbid the game actually TELLS A STORY. These idiots just want more Jap writing where you are EXPECTED to skip the cutscenes because the dialog and narrative are garbage
Saga Anderson's face looks like Giancarlo Esposito did the motion capture. Lol, anyone else think that?
I think Bright falls is in game referred to as "America's little Finland".
Tera Patrick, that brings back memories
Saga is not a Mary Sue, it's explained pretty explicitly that she's a "Seer". And it's implied that she's the daughter of Mr. Door. So of course, she would have powers like he does. She herself does not know that, so she just assumes that she's able to do the mind palace technique all on her own.
Even if I’m still gonna buy Alan Wake 2 since it seems right up my alley, I still really appreciate your reviews and your honesty. Thank you for reuploading!
Remedy games just aren't good gameplay experiences. You'll be watching a movie like any Sony game, and playing the same 5 minute repetitive gameplay loop in the exact same environment for 40 hours.
@@jarlwhiterun7478hey no one asked
@@jarlwhiterun7478 Bro this is the third time I see you saying this, first Skill Up, then Gingy, now here?
@@Leee275Why do people waste so much time doing this shit? Thanks for calling out this fool 🤝
@@jarlwhiterun7478 Both Max Payne games and Control have some of the most fun and satisfying gameplay in video games.
Good job being completely wrong.
To be fair though Remedy, with at least Alan Wake 1, and Control has been doing multiverse concepts for a while now. Alan Wake 1 came out in what? 2010?
1:26 A damn fine cup of coffee.
I love the memes referenced in the recent videos’ thumbnails
All reviews: 10/10
GmanLives: eh, it's passable
Reminds me of Deathloop. Every "professional" reviewer gave it a 10 and praised it as not only one of the best games ever but almost a spiritual experience. Then I played it and it was a solid 6/10.
If it needed to be multi protagonist.... For a game called "Alan Wake 2...." how the hell is it not Alex Casey??? I mean come on....Sam Lake with legendary James McAfee VO? That would have been a cool twist that Alan Wake is wanted and you played as Max Payne looking for him. But we get Saga, featuring Alan Wake.....
I dont want to play as a frizzy haired black female. And I wont be.
Yep. This is a bait and switch
@@ethanwright752Stop being weird.
That room where Alan sits with type machine looks like room from movie Knowing with N. Cage
I just got to Alan's first segment, and I gotta say that Saga is such a ridiculous character. She acts like a teenager sometimes with corny jokes. Like she witnesses a reanimated corpse, and people disappearing in front of her. But she shrugs it off and later says this case is exciting.
And the morgue scene in general was absolutely baffling. 2 officers dead. 2 FBI agents only ones left alive. Dead body is gone. Saga, in 10 seconds, explains this supernatural shit that took place and the officers are like, "oh really? Oh well. Good luck on your case". Like frig man, why isn't anyone in the police station the least bit suspicious of the outsiders?
@GmanLives just a heads up DLSS quality largely depends on how it is implemented in-engine and probably contributed to your blurriness. If you use dsr and upscale passed 1920x1080 this blurriness is often mitigated and very minimal frame loss in most games. Test it yourself!
You can just edit the m_fSSAASharpening parameter to like 0.5 in the render.ini located in %localappdata%/remedy/AlanWake2. This applies the DLSS sharpening filter after post processing. Post processing needs to be set to high for it to be applied after upscaling anyway which is surely a bug. RT direct lighting needs to be on in any case in order for reflections to work right in this game.
There are many things to turn on and off here that are not in the in game menu as well. These are my changed parameters that drastically make the game less blurry and give a very slight fps boost if you leave FOV at default. Film grain and motion blur also are off in game menu ScRGB should probably be set to true if you are using a HDR monitor instead of a TV with Hgig:
'm_bVignette": false,
"m_bDepthOfField": false,
"m_bLensDistortion": false
"m_bPreferScRGBHdr": false,
"m_fFieldOfViewMultiplier": 1.2,
"m_fSSAASharpening" 0.7,
I think the blurryness might have to do with using upscaling at 1080p too. Even at the high quality setting it's upscaling a 720p image, not exactly crisp by any means. At 1440p upscaling from 1080p you'll most likely get a sharper image.
@@toast180 They still use 720p in anything?
@@Crashed131963 That's how the upscaling tech works behind FSR and DLSS. It basically lets your gpu render the frames at a lower resolution and then it upscales it to your screen resolution. So for example if you use DLSS quality, it basically takes the res down 1 notch. So if you're on 1080p, that means DLSS quality renders the image at 720p and then upscales it to 1080p and then applies some sharpening magic so it doesn't look all that much worse than the native 1080p image. I hope that makes sense!
@@toast180 Ok , thankyou.
One thing I believe is happening here is the game is incredibly meta written, but I think we kind of didn't even scratch the surface yet. Like the whole show bit you mentioned and how it ties in Max Payne into the Remedyverse. Or how the FBC shows up and the Janitor, with his name and now all the allusions to water, can be very safely interpreted as an interpretation of a water God (swedish or finnish, I believe?). Also, to tie it in even more with May Payne, I believe Saga has some norse mithology roots in her. Didn't get to the end of the game yet, but I'm kinda in the camp that we are basically playing a version of "what if May Payne didn't lose his wife" storyline. Alan passed the threshold, found an altered item, eventually got the dark version of himself doing s**t everywhere. Something along those lines.
Haha scratch haha
sounds dreadful to me, meta now and again and handled well can be fun (like Scream, back when it was all over the place too) - but this? Apparently I need to play other games, moreso than with a normal sequel, and even that wont be enough.
I never did play any of those RE remakes, so that will be money better spent (and they will also look great and not have VS requirements).
I'm honestly getting sick with the metaness of it all. I wanted to like this game so much but it honestly feels like a masturbatory, self-indulgent, cluster-fuck. People keep telling me about Control and how I need to play that to understand...but why should I.... I wanted to play "Alan Wake 2" not "Control 2 - the Alan Wake Side Story". AW1 had a tons of charm with memorable and endearing characters, great pacing and while it was still a pretty trippy ride, it had personality, restraint and direction. With AW2 I feel like they're throwing so much random stuff at me with no real order, all under the pretense that it's connected in the Remedyverse.
I'm struggling and dreading to reach the ending because I feel it will again try to be too meta and wacky for it's own good.
Edit: I simply couldn't bring myself to continue playing and just looked up the ending... I hate this game with a passion now.
@@Necromortus It seem like the game try to be like Marvel Cinematic Universe with "Everything is interconnected so if you want to understand anything you have to watch all the show and movie and read the book etc" and it probably turn into convoluted mess later.
@@piegineer9130 It does feel that way and I could not digest it. The FBC from Control plays an important role now in Alan Wake lore which I could do without.
I loved how intimate and mysterious the story was in AW1 but now with the focus on the Remedyverse it feels diluted, and not that personal anymore.
It's not a bad game, necessarily, but it is unfocused, clunky, filled with bugs, and too in love with its own lore. Alan is a secondary character in his own story and while the rest of the game is ok, the ending is simply horrible, in my opinion.
I'm trying not to spoil things for anyone in case they want to play it or watch a playthrough, but the whole thing felt pointless in the end, even thought there were some interesting moments spread throughout.
I would not trust anyone giving this a 10/10 as even if you enjoy the story fully with all its references and tonal shifts, the bugs and sometimes infuriating combat should knock a few points off.
Happy to have the video back!
Love this game reminds me of true detective
Remedy does True Detective meets Twin Peaks and The Twilight Zone
Man, the feature that doubles my FPS, half's my FPS when it's turned off! It really shouldn't do that! 🙃
lol IKR
Remedy is one of my favourite developers, loved Alan Wake and Control and looking forward to this.
"Suomi hall" with "karaoke" sign right beneath. You weren't kidding about half the town being finnish for some reason.
Before, it was "Can it run Crysis?" and now it's "Can it run Alan Wake 2?".
You know what? actually fucking true.
😂😂 taking me back to the good ol days when me and my buddies would see who's computer could open up Crysis the most times.
Alan, wake up! Gman just uploaded! We got a video to watch!
so... is this the game people called "BEST HORROR GAME IN 2023"?
The story may potentially work on another layer of [meaning], Saga is one of Frigg's handmaidens in Norse pagan tradition.
Why would an African American woman be one of Frigg's handmaidens?
@@arynasabalenka3173 think more abstractly, it could be that the character arc for the main character follows the beats of her story, whatever that is
The nightclub Ragnarok in Max Payne 1 & 2 was owned by a Russian mobster. not Senator Alfred Woden (Odin stand-in)
So it COULD be interesting to see how Sam Lake adapted her story
Or it could suck and be SUPER jarring, for exactly the reason you mentioned. So people will always find it so.
@@arynasabalenka3173 she is half African American half Swedish (rise by her mother so mentaly and culture more in nordic folklore), her father is Mr.Door - everything is here for a reason.
Having to dumb down the title too. No longer a fever dream....just a kick in the balls
1:18 that’s good horror writing though the fear of the unknown, not the fear of the known
Yeah he completely missed the point lol
1: fk epic.
2: watching again m8.
Oi Oi Oi!
Stuff thrown at you from a place you can't see sounds like the arma3 experience.
I have loved it so far, it definitely is a sensory overload. If nothing else it does things with it's overlays of different scenes on top of the regular gameplay I have never seen.
Rose is the true sensory overload; she is among the class of women who get better with age.
that felt just like control to me not thats it bad but i was like yeah i remember this
It's fxcking sad how many people will defend this woke trash. Humanity is a fxcking disgrace on SOOO many levels, but now even ruining escapism. Yeah, this species can fxcking rot.
Saga sure got a mighty tan since 2015
Have to tick those diversity boxes to try to win the woke bafta awards!
@ethanwright752 I wish. No, the reality is that they have to comply or a bunch of fascists will ruin them financially by lowering their ESG score.
@@lorecow88 Yes they are going for ESG or something similar to that.. but people need to realize you cannot win a game award in 2023 if you don't feature a black or brown main character in the game to a certain percentage. It was a rule change a few years ago and it's ruining story telling in gaming
@@ethanwright752 Elden ring won GOTY last year. pokes a hole into your theory immediately. lol
@@TheDarkblue57 Don't shoot the messenger, wokie. Straight from the BAFTA website:
At least one of the lead characters is from an under-represented
group(s).
For non-narrative games where the cast is an ensemble - the total
roster of playable characters meets one, or more, of the below targets.
• A 50-50 gender balance
• 20% belonging to an under-represented ethnic group
• 10% LGBTQ+
• 7% D/deaf and disabled
• Significant amount of characters featuring regional diversity
• Significant amount of characters are from a lower socioeconomic
background
I’m having so much fun playing it and seeing all the connections it has with the Remedyverse
Sam Lake has a brilliant mind.
What an artist!
To be honest they should make Max Payne in the remakes look like James McCaffrey, just to keep continuity to Max Payne 3, as I generally think Max Payne looking like his voice actor adds more immersion
Oh, let's give props to Alan's voice actor: Will Scarlett O'Hara!
That was the exact reaction I had when I booted up Alan Wake 13 years ago :) . Awesome! "Well I haven't quite figured that part out yet" :D
@@Fenrir_Beernaert I'm just glad someone got the reference lol
What made eveyone so hyped for this? I don't remember there being any buzz about the first Alan Wake. Am i misremembering?
It got a following because aw1 was a cult classic. Similar to dragons dogma 2 popping off right now compared to the first game. Remedy has gotten super popular since control.
First video where I feel like Gman didn't understand the game at all. He didn't get it.
No, you’re just in denial.
@@HonkHonkler And you can get off Gman's nutsack since you buried yourself sixfeet under, judging from your numerous replies to many of the comments here. People here not agreeing with Gman's review does not mean they're on a defense crusade for this game. It's not the first time Gman had horrid takes in the past on certain titles.
@@HonkHonklerHow many comments do you need to make
Alan Awake.
Having new Main character on popular IP (with their Names on Titles) to takes over the spotlight reminds me of recent Indiana Jones, Thor, and Loki. Their names on it but the spotlight was for New characters.
Yep… Noticing the pattern, ALWAYS call it out.
Alan still remains an important piece of the puzzle, and a large part of the game is still on his side of things. The only difference is that Alan needed an ally in the story-someone with the same capabilities as he had. Couldn't be barry, and the Old Gods were too old. They also couldn't fit the role of a hero.
@@mrjtfang2Wait till they read lord of the rings and realize sauron is only in the story for three pages compared to alan wake who has half the game and probably the best produced sections at that.
You might wanna take out Loki after the season finale. God Of Stories bitches.
They should’ve stuck with the original idea where you play as Alan hunting down Mr Scratch who had stolen his identity and become a local legend (like Jason from Friday the 13th)
Instead they pulled a Deadly Premonition 2, which also sucked. Guess those ESG bucks were too sweet
Yes! I loved that concept and loved Mr. Scratch in American Nightmare. What they did with his character in this game is a criminal downgrade. He was somehow less interested than Barbara Jagger from the first game!
Yep
Not had many problems with the PS5 version just 2 glitches where a deer and a scaffold unit were stuck in place and I can just walk through them but apart from that so far I'm really loving the game
You're talking about in the bike shop, right? I think that happens depending on how you trigger the encounter.
During a particular fight involving water, I actually clipped through the wall and went under the whole level.
@iamabot607 yep and found some more playing as saga in the dark place and a npc t-posing on a chair 😂
It's cool that there's game model of peter franzen.
Man I bounced off Alan Wake 2 hard. Does Remedy wanna make a tv show or a video game? Why is there a blur over everything? Is needing glasses scary? Is this game scary at all? Why is the movement so clunky? Why do I get stuck on every single piece of geometry? Why is image clarity so bad? Why do the investigation segments investigate themselves? Why can't I investigate the murder? Why does the game do it all for me? Why does the camera get stuck on foliage every other time I dodge? Why is the picture so flat no matter what brightness I use or hdr on or off? Why does Remedy not want me to see what's happening in this joke of a game? Why is Alan Wake a side character in his own game? Why does the ai's difficulty come from respawning behind you? Why are there combat arenas just like the original game? Why hasn't Remedy evolved their combat design since Max Payne? Why do people like this game? Why is this thing 70 dollars? How in the fuck is this getting critic scores at the same level as RE4 remake? Why is this game so boring? Why is the combat so repetitive?
This game sucks for real, it feels like a dev team really wanted to make a tv series not a video game.
Why is this game pushing digital only Epidemic
Reminds me of naughty dog, wannabe movie directors
is asking a bunch of rhetorical questions meaningful criticism
The abstract and seemingly nonsensical storytelling was definitely inspired by Twin Peaks: The Return. Both are so random and over the top that I end up confused by the end lol
No mention of X-Files and Twin Peaks being an inspiration. I guess that's obvious though.
I love your reviews Gman precise to the point and most importantly honest
One of a kind if you've never watched Twin Peaks, played Deadly Premonition or read anything by Stephen King.
Well, didn’t you expect a survival horror to be a… survival horror?
Bcz this is not a horror game, ha
@slavakolba7er Alan Wake 2 is absolutely a horror game lmao wut
@@Arinisonfire isn't not absolutely horror lol kek, walking simulator. And fuck off
@@Arinisonfire
This games horror depend on random jump scares, bright flashes, and loud screams at random moments.
That's funny I like Alan's campaign way more personally, feels spookier and the higher amount of enemies, even if alot of them are just shadows, means you feel under presure more, and I'm in this constant battle of fighting my paranoia and not wasting my batteries on shadows. This review's good but one other thing I'd say is I feel like it's actually easier to get away from enemies now, I thought they were going to have a stealth system like evil within but you can still avoid enemies by taking routes around them it's just easier in some places than others.
I agree, but the shadows are really, really, REALLY annoying.
to be very fair
i don't think we're actually dealing with a multiverse in alan wake 2. all you do is just change the reality in front of you with alan's writing. after all, it is not the real reality so he could do anything.
maybe you got so tired of it that you're seeing it in places you probably shouldn't
Darn didn't know Alan wake 2 takes place in Northern Minnesota.
I really hope you are gonna do a vid on days gone one day such an underrated gem
Not surprised you didn't like it.
This game doesn't have tonns of worthless empty planets, heaps of pointless loot and sleep inducing characters & story like Midfield did 💀💀💀💀
Damn 💀
Nope, instead it has hours of just walking down a predetermined path, next to no combat, a click here to investigate and a put a picture on the wall minigame, all deductions are pre-made for the player and a convoluted narrative that ends in a head scratcher like all remedy games
Oh just bog off with this console wars bullcrap. No one wants it. No one likes it.
@@user-pc9ol8tb5f that's just all games now though. Watch a cutscene, listen to character, do objective like we intended or fail/don't progress. Simply horrible game design. But yeh, this game looks mid compared to the first one.
i think it would of been interesting if saga's gameplay had the typical crosshair and with alan they kept the flashlight as the sorta its own type of crosshair.
Garth Merenghi's Darkplace is still the best Dark Place ❤
Less enemy variety? As if the first had any. Lol
Waiting for a digital sale!!! Until then, AW2 is a dream lol No physical, no day 1 for me
What did he cut? For the youtube overlords
welp, time to rewatch it
would rather play as Alex Casey instead since he was literally written in to try and save Alan Wake but whatever i guess
Yeah, nothing against Saga. I actually did like her character, but I have to agree with you. I'm pretty sure the only reason she's the playable character is for her connection with Odin/Tor and being (they didn't outright say this in the game but extremely obviously) Mr. Door's daughter.
He wasn't, he's a real person that happened to have his life influenced by wake on accident, same thing happened to nightingale and his partner
Just so you guys know the reason why it "feels" like the game demands more than in shows when it comes to visuals is due to how game engine the game is made on calculates lighting and shadows.
True. Even if you have all RT features off its still doing software based RT for global illumination.
He (this comment) is probably referring to how the northlight engine, even if you have all the RT options off in the menu, uses software based RT for global ilumination. Also one reason the GPU requirements specifically were so high is the games use of mesh shaders. It will run on a GPU's that don't support mesh shaders (on the nvidia side that's anything that's not RTX 2000 or newer, IDK about AMD off the top of my head). It will run on say a GTX 1080 Ti, but you will get a message informing you your GPU doesn't support mesh shaders. And benchmarks done have shown as soon as you get to GPU's without mesh shader support performance decreases dramatically.
thanks
Glad they got James and Sam back from the first game
Dare i say, the last good Remedy game was Max Payne 2. Since then, Remedy has embraced the "Interactive movie" path, since Sam Lake wanted to be a director. i really wish i could enjoy Alan Wake and Quantum Break. Alan is kinda of an asshole on 1, and Quantum Break is a full show with some playable parts.
Asshole for a small portion of the game before he had what’s called a character arc*
Alan is not an asshole most of the game, what are you talking about.