The more I think about this game the more I regret not having played Max Payne - that’s not necessarily a complement. From my understanding in 2012 Max Payne was basically Remedy’s whole identity. Reading from this game, it’s a fact they must have resented. Being unable to escape their past successes, literally trapped by a fiction. The thesis of this game presents that they needed to balance the strengths of their Max Payne past while moving into new territory. It’s an interesting conflict, but not one I think is handled the most deftly here.
While I haven’t played it, the slow motion shooting of Max Payne has been acclaimed for decades. An appropriate fit for a hard boiled neo-noir. Alan Wake’s main mechanic is using light to dispel enemies' shields to make them vulnerable to gun fire. While perhaps thematically appropriate, gameplay wise it just communicates that they wanted to use flashy gun play because that’s what they know. That and some awful platforming leaves this game coming off as more confused than intentioned.
Don’t get me wrong this somewhat matches the theme. Them messily trying to balance their past and present, but the result ends up being more frustrating than insightful. The shame is that the game gets this a bit right with Alan having the stamina of an eighty-seven year old man or, very appropriately, an unathletic writer. He runs out of breath in about five seconds flat and while it’s frustrating, it’s a beautiful subversion that annoys me in just the right way.
Now let me be clear, I enjoyed this game immensely. I played it one episode at a time over the course of about two weeks and it felt like cozily throwing on an episode of Twin Peaks. I have a particular fondness for mountain towns, and while I don’t think they capture it as well as Twin Peaks, America through the lens of Fins was bound to be fun. I mean so many games have trouble tying their setting into the subtext, but Bright Falls is beautifully realized here. A somewhat removed place where shadows of industry loom heavy beneath the enclosing mountains just as Alan is being shadowed by promotional cutouts, posters, and rabid fans of his ended book series. It’s whip smart stuff. Alan Wake’s greatest flaw then is that it’s a game, not a show.
The strength of many games tends to be their ability to place you in a world as an active participant. This is best done through gameplay, but many games are content to use flashy graphics to overwhelm you into immersion, Alan Wake is unfortunately no exception. While I had a lovely time, I can’t find a way to intelligently resolve Remedy’s own conflict about being caught between the worlds of film/TV and computer games. Though rest assured, I am going to play ALL of their remaining games in the coming weeks.
While I haven’t played it, the slow motion shooting of Max Payne has been acclaimed for decades. An appropriate fit for a hard boiled neo-noir. Alan Wake’s main mechanic is using light to dispel enemies' shields to make them vulnerable to gun fire. While perhaps thematically appropriate, gameplay wise it just communicates that they wanted to use flashy gun play because that’s what they know. That and some awful platforming leaves this game coming off as more confused than intentioned.
Don’t get me wrong this somewhat matches the theme. Them messily trying to balance their past and present, but the result ends up being more frustrating than insightful. The shame is that the game gets this a bit right with Alan having the stamina of an eighty-seven year old man or, very appropriately, an unathletic writer. He runs out of breath in about five seconds flat and while it’s frustrating, it’s a beautiful subversion that annoys me in just the right way.
Now let me be clear, I enjoyed this game immensely. I played it one episode at a time over the course of about two weeks and it felt like cozily throwing on an episode of Twin Peaks. I have a particular fondness for mountain towns, and while I don’t think they capture it as well as Twin Peaks, America through the lens of Fins was bound to be fun. I mean so many games have trouble tying their setting into the subtext, but Bright Falls is beautifully realized here. A somewhat removed place where shadows of industry loom heavy beneath the enclosing mountains just as Alan is being shadowed by promotional cutouts, posters, and rabid fans of his ended book series. It’s whip smart stuff. Alan Wake’s greatest flaw then is that it’s a game, not a show.
The strength of many games tends to be their ability to place you in a world as an active participant. This is best done through gameplay, but many games are content to use flashy graphics to overwhelm you into immersion, Alan Wake is unfortunately no exception. While I had a lovely time, I can’t find a way to intelligently resolve Remedy’s own conflict about being caught between the worlds of film/TV and computer games. Though rest assured, I am going to play ALL of their remaining games in the coming weeks.