Alan Wake Review

Alan Wake Review

"I know everyone says this, but Mr. Wake, I am your biggest fan."

Game: Alan Wake
Developer: Remedy
Rating: Teen
Platform: Xbox 360
M.S.R.P: 19.99

This is another game that I am late to the party on. However I have just recently purchased a 360 and felt compelled to review what is apparently a cult exclusive for the system. Taking the genre of survival horror to a new perspective, Alan Wake promises to be a game you will never forget. Is this game truly something to remember, or is it b rate game with the same gags over and over.

Story:

The story of Alan Wake follows a successful writer who is plunged into these unfortunate circumstances. Times are hard for Mr. Wake as he has had writer's block for several months now and can't seem to even be able to write a page. He then decides to go on vacation with his wife to a quiet little mountain town to recharge his creative chi. Upon traveling to his destination Mr. Wake has a dream that he accidentally hits someone with his car. The person turns out to be a character from his novels and then proceeds to chases him with an axe. A light intervenes telling him that the man is possessed by darkness and only light can save him.

Mr. Wake then wakes up and finds that he had been napping, and he and his wife have arrived. Upon going to their lodge, while Alan is outside during the night he hears a struggle and his wife screaming. He soon cannot find her, and on top of that the power and telephone lines are down. Alan must venture into the forests to reach the town to get help, but in the forest people are waiting, shrouded in darkness to kill him. Alan must brave these people who are possesed by darkness if he has any hope of saving his wife.

This is an interesting story, I will give it that much but it is VERY reminiscent of "Silent hill". Silent hill if you are unfamiliar is a popular game in the survival horror genre, in which an ordinary individual is trapped in a foggy town of sadism, blood and macabre. Alan wake carries that same feel but more....g rated. When enemies are around the world gets dark and hazy, almost fog like, just like in "Silent Hill" and even the set up itself is essentially the same as the first "Silent Hill" as well. A man trying to find his wife yada yada yada. There are many more similarities that I won't go into, but so far nothing feels completely genuine about the game.

Grade: C

Gameplay:

The gameplay, at least to me feels broken to a fault, but is still playable. Alan has a few simple actions, jumping, shooting, and flashing his light from his flashlight at enemies. The game also calls for some quick time event actions when doing things like starting generators and moving objects but that's about it for the controls.There are no health items but Alan can recover health by standing under a street light for a few moments, because he is surrounded by darkness and darkness possessed enemies lights are the only "safe havens" in the game.

The shooting style slightly reminds me of Shadows of the damned, except more annoying. To even do damage to an enemy Alan must flash his flashlight at an enemy for a good couple of seconds until the darkness has completely left their body. Then you have to immediately switch over to your gun to shoot at the enemies a good couple of times before they die. It just strikes me as a really annoying and time consuming way to kill enemies, the flash light idea is cool I will admit, but how long it takes....isnt.

Now the reason I found the gameplay broken is that in every enemy scenario it is either ridiculously easy or obnoxiously hard. In most games a player has the choice to run or fight the enemies head on, yet that is not the case in Alan Wake. When enemies appear the game usually alerts you from afar giving you ample time to get the drop on enemies making them nothing more than a slight inconvenience.There is no challenge because you can do so much damage from so far. And yet, if one wants to conserve their ammo and instead run past them into the light the enemies are relentless. If you have more than one enemy coming for you and you didnt shoot them from far away, and are running from them, consider your ass grass. I died on multiple occasions from waiting too long to fire my gun in the hoops of just running past the combat. If all you are supposed to do is shoot things and run then its not a survival horror, its just an unconventional shooter.

Grade: C-

Graphics and Sound:

Here is where I have to admit Alan Wake does alot of things right. The graphics for the game are beautiful, the landscape is very life like and believable and all the tiny detail in the game's enviornment really shine. There is some oddity with the character models as the faces do look real when still, but when animated such as talking, or walking it is impossible to not be aware that you are playing a game.

The game thrives on the atmosphere it creates of the dark silent mountain town. I found myself turning around with my flashlight and gun ready to what I thought was an enemy, but turns out it was only just a tree. The environment is truly something deserving of praise, its just a shame the rest of the game doesn't live up to it.

Sound is alright, there's nothing to memorable about the music as it is a horror game. The games sound effects while effectively creating the ambience of an evil town, just gets annoying after a while. Hearing the wind blow heavily and almost statically caused me to turn down my speakers after a while because it wasn't luring me in more, just bugging me.

Grade: B

Verdict:

If your a fan of the genre I say check it out. However I'll be honest, I was bored. It didn't engage me for the entire run through, and while it does alot of things right I couldn't help but say, "so....what." Alan Wake does what other games have done before, and doesn't even do them better, it does them slightly worse. The enivornment is the only thing this game has going for it, and its a shame it was wasted on such a poorly executed game such as this.

Final Grade: C

Is it worth your money: Even at 19.99 I feel kinda cheated. I mean if you haven't played survival horror before then you can have a lot of fun with this game. But if you have...your better off just buying one of the new "Silent Hills".

UNO F.T.W

Everyone loves UNO, so why not play it online when your bored at work/ home! This F.T.W is "UNO ONLINE" brought to us by "HitPointStudios"

Online Game
Free
No age rating

In this version of UNO you play against 4 computerized opponents as you try to be the first person with no cards left. You play uno by stacking cards on top of each other based on either color or number. So if there is a yellow eight on the table and its your turn, you can put down an eight of any color, or a yellow card of any number. When you are down to your last card you have to hit the UNO button and then try to put your final card down.

No brainer if you played this before. Have fun!

ENJOY!!!!

You can play UNO online here:
http://www.gamehouse.com/online-games/uno-online

Fallout 3 Review

Fallout 3 Review

"War never Changes"

Game: Fallout 3
Developer: Bethesda Works
Rating: Mature
Platforms: Xbox 360 / Ps3 / PC
MSRP: 9.99

I do realize I am a bit late to the party on this one. Fallout was a game I was told about so much and I never cared to try it until recently. When "Skyrim" came out (a game by the same developer but set in a mystical dragon fantasy setting) I was told that If I liked "Skyrim" I would love "Fallout". Well I hated "Skyrim", but I found myself really digging "Fallout". Is this game worth your time? We'll find out right now.

Story:

Fallout's charm lies in its aethestics and story telling. The game itself is retro armagedon, in the sense that the style of the game is what the 50's thought the end of the world would be like. In this world, the cold war ended up with nukes hitting all the countries, ushering us into what humanity calls the wasteland. Nothing grows really, and survivors have to scavenge and fight each other to survive. Before the war began however the U.S government built safehouses or Vaults to keep a select few groups of society intact for when they would be needed to repopulate the planet. You play as an inhabitant of one of these vaults, the war has been over for at least 100 years but no one you know how dared to go outside. You, of course have to.

The character you control is speechless and of your own design. When talking to people the game gives you a wide list of things to say as a response to most things, meaning that you control the character's destiny, actions and story. In turn this engages the player to the story more because the game is trying to make you one with the character your controlling. The main quest of the game is to find your dad who escaped the vault and that simple task will take you on some wacky adventures until you find him. Fallout is the kind of game in which you reap what you sow, the more time you spend playing it, the more rewarded you will feel afterwards with the stories and events it throws at you.

Grade: B+

Gameplay:

This is by far one of the most violent games I've ever played, way past "Grand Theft Auto". As an inhabitant of this world you can explore the wasteland ruins of what was once Washington D.C and its surrounding towns and countryside. There are about 3-4 places that act as towns where you are safe and can get rest, and buy weapons. The rest of this world wants you dead, enslaved or to eat you. Everything in this game is your enemy, from radioactive flys, to overgrown crabs and even other canibalistic humans want your blood. And the game gives you an arsenal of weapons to fight back with, like Ak-47's, machine guns, grenades and bats. As the game goes on you can level up your character and make them stronger with certain weapons giving you a customizeable edge, but in the beginning most things can kill you easily.

Running with the plot the game implements a karma system. Depending on your actions in the world you can either by loved by the world, or feared by it. Most significant actions fall under the frames of good or evil and when you fall into the extreme of either category, perks happen. For example if your really good, people will bring you food and give you free items. Or even simply give quest objectives to you instead of having to run around for them. When your evil some of the bad characters instead of attacking you will revere you and people become easier to rob. Either way you choose to play the game is up to you, it is fun however to see that every action has a consequence in ways that arent clear at first.

Grade: B+

Graphics and Sound:

This is an incredibly gorgeous game to look at, even now. Released in 2008 all the detail in the game still shines as if it were made this year. There is some oddities with how humans are made however, when people talk to you they stay perfectly still and only their lips move, but aside from that most of the game seems very lifelike.

The music of the game is provided by a little handheld computer the character carries. Being that the bombs dropped in the 50's all thats left of the worlds music are hits from the 50's. The soundtrack has songs from "Billie Holliday" and the "Inkspots" to name a few. Dont know who they are? Play this game for a few hours and you will and you will love them.

Grade: B

Verdict:

This isnt a shock to those who already own this game, but Fallout is amazing. I'm late to the party I realize but it really is something that you don't quite get too often these days. While it may not be as expansive as "Skyrim" I found myself caring about this world and the setting alot more than I did about the former. This game is grand and if you haven't played it yet, go to gamestop right now and buy it.

Final Grade: B+

Is this game worth your money?: For 10 bucks its a steal right now.

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!! F.T.W

I don't usually like to do console games for my F.T.W's but this game is so quick, short and awesome I had to put it up. This is a game from the Xbox live arcade entitled , "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!" by "Independent Ska Studios" and it is awesome.

Xbox live arcade
1.00
No age rating

This is a simple shooter that gets needlessly complex over time. You begin the game by shooting zombies in a grass field, the zombies change into weird symbolic snakes, then into zombies then into weird seizure inducing diamonds. The background of the game itself becomes all techno like and it becomes incredibly hard to see while you are playing, in the sense that you cant tell what an enemy is from the background.

The game is simple but really fun. The highlight of the game, and the reason why I gave it a chance has to do with the song that plays in the first round. Rather than leave you with a two images, I'm leaving you all with a music video of the song that plays. It is awesome, and yes it was written by the games creator.




Did I also mention this game is just one man's project? Pretty sick.

Axon F.T.W

This game I came across while being bored and unemployed. Don't worry Im job hunting :D. This game has to have been made by science nerds, and yet it is so addicting and simple.  This F.T.W is called "Axon" brought to us by "WellcomeCollection"

Online Game
Free to Play
No rating

Axon is simply the tale of a neuron trying to get bigger. You control the neuron as it eats protein cells and fights against the other neurons to consume the most before it dies out. Yep.

The game is actually a really simple point and click game. When you devour a protien a circle appears, you need to click on another protein within that circle before the circle shrivels up and dies. So it becomes a fast reaction clicking game. There are protein "powerups" that will enable you to collect a massive amount of proteins in a short amount of time AND there are proteins that increase the size of your ring.

Its a cool game albeit dorky concept , and if you have a moment you should check it out!

ENJOY!!!

You can play "Axon" here:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/592325

Draw Something F.T.W

I found out about this on my last day at my job. And no I wasn't fired for gaming, I quit because I was starting to do shitty in all of my classes. Anyway my boss introduces this game to me and I may very well be the last person to jump on the bandwagon but I decided to put it up anyway. This game is called "Draw Something" brought to us by "OMGPOP"

Iphone App
Free
No age rating

This game is essentially pictionary. The game pairs you with another person playing the game (you can choose a friend with the app or a stranger) and then gives you prompts of what to draw. You choose one and draw it out.  That drawing is then sent to the other player and if they guess what you're drawing right, then you both win points. This goes back and forth and after a while you realize theres more fun in simply drawing than the points.

This game is simple and addictive. You use your fingers on your touch screen to draw, and the game gives you options on how you want the lines you draw to come out. (I.e; Thickness and what color) By getting more points you can unlock more colors, but I never cared to.

It's free to play so get to it.

Arkedo Pixel Review

Pixel Review

"Meow"

Game: Arkedo Series 003 Pixel
Developer: Arkedo
Rating: Unrated
Platforms: Xbox 360
M.S.R.P: 200 live points (5.00)

This time I decided to do something different and review some of the games from the Xbox live arcade. On a whim I chose the game "Pixel" because it looked funky. Now this isnt a standard game so the review is going to be shorter than usual but it should still be a fun little romp. Lets take a look.

Story:

In "Pixel" you are a cat going on an adventure. That is essentially it. I suppose in a sense it accomplishes what it needs to. Giving you an excuse to be cute running around a world.

Grade: C

Gameplay:

"Pixel" is essentially "Super Mario" through and through. You jump on top of enemies to kill them and try to make it to the goal at the end of the stage. There are no power-ups in "Pixel", however for killing 5 enemies in a row, the player gets a MEOWWW attack that kills enemies for you with the cats voice.

In the course of the game you travel through 6 levels, from a house to a garden, to a cave and etc etc. Now despite being a platformer there is a puzzle element to it. To get past certain areas you have to enter a kind of mini game, the mini game usually requires you to run through a maze and reach the goal before time runs out. They are quirky and cute, but can be unnecessarily hard from time to time.

Grade: B

Graphics and Sound:

This game looks like something out of an oldschool gameboy with a newschool feel. The environment and the characters are all made of white pixels against blue backgrounds and it looks cool. Simplistic but beautiful. Definetely a purposeful retro vibe.

The music is catchy in the first level, but thats about it. In terms of being something in  the background, the songs afterwards arent annoying, just not really memorable.

Grade: B-

Verdict:

This game is pretty cool as a fun minigame to have around on your Xbox, and believe me you can do alot worse than this game. If you have live points to spare, I say get it.

Final Grade: C+

Is it worth your money: For that price, yes Id say so.