Very interesting ideas and exciting story with an underwhelming ending and somewhat underbaked gameplay. Time powers are fun to use however the gunplay itself feels horrible: only able to shoot while aiming, low FOV, atrocious accuracy on machine guns and annoying auto-cover. I realise that the accuracy is probably like that because it encourages the use of time stop in order stack up bullets and make the enemy go boom, however I personally find it more of an annoyance. Besides, Advanced SMG exists which renders every other machine gun useless since it's the most accurate. That being said, the combat is a fun and dynamic spectacle with pretty satisfying sound design.... that's when you actually get to play. There's usually a pause between combat encounters in form of (very) light puzzle-solving, platforming and exploration. Some levels barely have any shooting and is mostly dialogue and exploration. I don't mind this necessarily as I do enjoy immersing myself in videogame worlds, however being interrupted by unskippable cutscenes and being restricted into slow movement is annoying to put it midly. It doesn't help that there is so many collectible notes in each level, you don't have to read them, of course, but not all of it is flavor text, a lot of it has important info about the game's events and characters. With gameplay in general, I wish there was more of it, but I also wish it was more refined and varied as it does get quite repetitive towards the end (a running theme with Remedy games, huh). Also want to mention that there are some asinine checkpoint placements with one in particular being broken (if you know you know).
Few words about the story. I quite like the ideas and themes. Closed-loop time traveling is confusing yet so fascinating to think about. The idea of Shifters and general horror of the Fracture and the End of Time is so interesting and I like the way it's visualised. I also like the character drama with Act 4 being the highlight of the story for me (incidentally it's the Act with least amount of combat). Unfortunately, most of the drama and characters either feel severely unexplored or underdeveloped. For example, I would like to see more of Jack's relationship with Will and especially with Paul as their conflict feels rather weak. Jack himself is a rather unremarkable character, even though reading notes about him makes an impression that he's supposed to be a sort of delinquient. A shy, quiet and naive type, perhaps, I just wish there was more to him. Doesn't help that the actor's performance is somewhat lackluster (or maybe that's just the way his character is idk). I actually enjoyed Liam's story in live action show and there was something interesting going on with Charlie - a slimey and almost unlikeable douchebag who in the end develops somewhat, though admittedly it's pretty cheesy. Also wish there was more to Martin Hatch as I still don't understand his motives.
Overall, even though I have many grievances and peeves with gameplay, for some reason I can't dislike this game. I appreciate the detail and effort put into it.

Again, I really wish this had RE4 combat design. Somehow even easier than the original game. There are changes and improvements like increased stamina, increased FOV during combat, faster recharge for health and flashlight, nerfed flashbang and flaregun (they only take down shields now) and of course more weapons, which are actually really fun, however some of the good stuff, like sawed-off, assault rifle and combat shotgun are unlocked towards the end of story mode. I guess it makes sense since those are rather OP, however the game doesn't pose much of a challenge anyway. The combat encounters are even less interesting than the original game, new enemy types are welcome but most feel a bit underdesigned. The Grenadier's grenades take too long to actually explode and have small AoE, new ravens can be stunlocked to death, Giants are simply bullet sponges. The only new enemy type that feels somewhat interesting in combination with regular enemies are the splitters who split into two if they get caught by light. Funny enough there are no axe throwers in this one, perhaps that's another reason why it's easier.
The 3 main levels, while visually pretty and a nice change from the original game, aren't very exciting. They seem big at first but there is really nothing else to do besides look for manuscript pages. Objectives are as boring as they get: go there, get that, do that and go back to the area's NPC. Even worse is having to through these areas 2 more times with minimal changes to encounters.
I actually really enjoyed the story in here. There are interesting additions to lore, Mr Scratch is entertaining there are hot ladies for some reason and the ending made me a little bit emotional. Stings that this is basically a fake pseudo sequel story.

diet survival horror
Jokes aside I really wish this was closer to RE4 or Dead Space action horror combat design. It's a bit silly to wish for it to be something that it is not however the game is really not that challenging since you are flooded with supplies constantly. Having some kind of serious resource managment design would enhance the experience in my opinion. I understand the game was not designed this way was so I'll take what I have. Now, the combat itself is actually fun, the gameplay loop is decent. The weapons are good and have nice sound effects and the impact feels great, flashbangs are my personal favorites. The game is rather long so the combat starts to wear thin at about mid point already. Combat encounters don't have that much variety and there is few enemy types (screw the ravens).
The story was definitely interesting, it was exciting to follow and unravel the mystery, cheesy and melodramatic as it was. It has that trademark campy Remedy humor and a bit of self-awareness. Not a fan of the TV format since it feels rather meaningless in a videogame setting. It's not too intrusive, least you can skip recaps, but it's still very jarring. Also not really a fan of manuscript pages spoiling future events, though I get that narritively that's kinda the point.
I want to mention that I also completed the two epilogue DLCs and in my opinion it is the best AW1 content. Story and visuals are at their peak having genuine sense of unease and fear. Combat encounters are harder but are also more creative.

Replayed this and MP2 before playing Alan Wake for the first time.
The sequel is one of my childhood games, I haven’t played the first game until much later. After replaying both, I think I like this a bit more. I still like both, each does its own thing in terms of narrative, style and gameplay, one does better things than the other and in my opinion the gameplay is much tighter and more challenging than the sequel.
Bullet Time is simple and intuitive to use as the central mechanic should be. I often play this game trying to be as stylish as possible, trying to take as little damage as possible and mixing up weapons, bit like a character action game. There is an interesting quirk that simultaneously gives an added bit of strategy and is also one of, in my opinion, game’s fatal flaws: the player is able to headshot enemies killing them instantly, which is cool and dandy, but the enemies can headshot the player, also resulting in immediate death, often from unreasonable distances. As you can imagine this can be incredibly frustrating, especially on Dead On Arrival with a limited number of saves, ludicrous damage taken, slow pill regeneration and tanky enemies. Even after taking this into account, it’s still not that hard as there are certain quirks and finesse to combat that are actually not that hard to grasp.
Let’s talk about the weapon roster as it’s important to the game flow. Most of the weapons are good and satisfying to use. Berettas are your go-to and prove useful even at the end. Deagle is a pseudo long-range option, personally never really liked it in this game. Pump shotgun is also a pseudo long-range option and I don't like it much either, it's not very powerful on higher difficulties because of increased enemy health. Sawed-off, however, is one of my favorite close-range weapons because it reliably headshots and just has a nice sound effect. Ingrams are beasts in this game. Commando is the best overall thanks to its accuracy and plentiful ammo and magazine size. Jackhammer is probably the most powerful close-range weapon, which is probably why you only really get a chance to use it the most at the very end. Not much to say about the sniper rifle, it reliably one shots most of the time and has a nice sound. The slow mo cam is a bit gimmicky, though what’s interesting is that the bullet physically travels during it, rather than being an almost instant hitscan if hipfired, and time moves slightly, so there is an added bit of finesse to lining up your shots. Grenades are very useful and you get a surprising amount of them, it helps that the enemies have no perception of them. Molotovs are kind of useless however it’s funny to do style kills with them. M79 grenade launcher is great at clearing groups of enemies however it’s set back by a massive self-damage radius so it’s better not to use it half the time. There is also a strange quirk with the way explosion damage works: it seems that if shot into a corner the explosion damage doesn’t get registered.
In terms of style and atmosphere, it’s moody as hell. Playing this just as winter is about to start is great. Story is much more tongue and cheek than I remember and just overall really cheesy. It’s filled with references, meta jokes and self-deprecation since it’s so ridiculous and over the top. It is, however, well-written, memorable and funny.

One of the more stylish CODs however I feel that it's not as strong and tightly designed as Infinity Ward campaigns. Treyarch loves doing gimmicks in order to spice things up, which is respectable, and it's definitely a better attempt than COD3. Still, it often feels shallow... on the other hand, how can i be mad at being able to shred with an MG42 and a Browning?!
Here, Treyarch is also dabbling with storytelling more, and i feel they've hit the spot with Soviet campaign, however i didn't care much for the Pacific.
Enemy and friendly AI really suck. The AI isn't really special in other games, but at the very least your teammates can more or less hit the target, while enemies can... well, shot ya. Here, neither can hit shit, especially at close range. In a way it's a blessing because it makes Veteran a lot easier.
And speaking of Veteran, it's not quite as legendarily hellish as I thought it would be, but the last few levels really come close thanks to the frankly insane grenade spam, with Heart of the Reich being absolute nightmare.
Still, there is a lot i like about the game. It has a gritty, kind of a nasty aesthetic, a unique atmosphere further enhanced with a hard hitting soundtrack.

Played this in 2011 or so when i was wee lad and the dday mission was the first thing i tried since my brother made some progress and it blew my mind. Always look back on this game fondly and recently i've finished it for the first time properly in many years.
Decided to play on Veteran and it was really fun! Surprisingly doable, it takes a while to actually die and you can easily react and get in cover reliably... unless you encounter a machine gunner, then it's a 50/50. This makes the second to last mission the hardest in the game because you get little to no cover and enemies pour from every corner. Another problem is the insane screenshake whenever you get shot, making it difficult to even see anything.
Game's a fun romp however it really starts to get repetitive by the last third since there is little else you do other than murder nazis. Still, i like the set pieces and atmosphere of the game.

Fun little game. Not exactly deep or difficult, though I can see myself doing a no death high score run in the future. Would be nice to have an end rank for mission mode considering there is one for training level that also gives you unique cutscenes depending on how well you do. Story isn't anything special, but the cutscenes are well made and cute. Overall the game is much closer to manga in terms of mood and style, making it stand out from all the other GITS adaptations. English voice acting is very corny but also charming I suppose. Music is banging also