Alan Wake & American Nightmare review - GU] Krelian
Game : Alan Wake & Alan Wake's American
Nightmare DLC
Platform : PC
Launcher : Steam
Price : Rm30 ish during steam sales
Release date : 2010 & 2011 Respectively
Machine : My Machine :
Ryzen 5 3600,MSI ventus GP edition RTX 2060 Super, 32gb DDR4 3200mhz ram
(for you tech spec nerds that jack off to these things). Playing at 1440p
at 60 FPS.
The Review
Bought this game on steam last month I think. I retroactively played this after the amazing story and the fact that it’s connected to Control and it expanded the AW lore even more. This is a review of both the original and the DLC. Think of it as a twofer.
Graphics
The graphics of the original AW was amazing for its time and
still holds up to the newer games now. It shifted from bright and beautiful to
dark, malevolent & ominous. Character models looks good albeit if you look
closely it is dated (if you like to nitpick). The huge expanse of Bright Falls
is a wonder to behold and you could actually explore around a bit as the game
was originally intended to be a free roam open world kinda deal. Bottom line it
is gorgeous.
American Nightmare’s (AN) graphics follows the original closely thought to me
personally it did feel slightly more limited when compared to the original. But
its still pretty good. Alan’s character model is a direct port of the original
with new clothes. There’s not much of an open world here as the game is stuck
in a time loop and has limited locations. But overall still good.
Sounds
From the growling and snarling of the Taken to the whooshing effects of objects possessed by the darkness to the gun shots and ambience, the sounds helps move the mood of the games along perfectly.
Music
It’s a remedy game. There’s so much rock in here from Old gods of Asgard to Kasabian, sometimes I just don’t want the levels to end just so that I can keep enjoying the song while shooting stuff.
Gameplay
It’s your typical 3rd person shooter/survival horror game for AW. Alan himself has shit cardio as he will run out of breath after running a very short distance. The focus here is more towards the malevolent atmosphere and the limited amout of ammo you have to fight off the taken. But unique gameplay mechanics keep it fun and not boring.
As for AN. The core mechanics of the original are all here but somehow in this iteration the game leans more towards action shooter. Also Alan’s cardio has improved a lot here as he can run for longer before running out of breath.
Both are fun in their own way.
The Story
Alan Wake’s story is probably one of the best I’ve ever experienced in recent memory. I know the game is pushing 10 yrs old now but hey better late to the party than never right? It’s full of suspense, horror, drama, noir and other elements that makes you want to delve deeper into this universe.
American Nightmare’s story however was a bit flat. It tries to be like the original but due to its limited scope it doesn’t have enough time to fully develop the character relations and other dynamics. BUT if you take it as a supplement to the AW lore then it is more than adequate to be a good game.
Verdict
Alan Wake - 9.5/10
American Nightmare : 9/10
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