Alan Wake 2 (XSX|S/PS5/Epic Games Store). Digital only. Gamespot 10.

Unlike the base game, I seem to remember thinking both Control DLCs were just kinda crap also.

Captain Kinopio wrote:Unlike the base game, I seem to remember thinking both Control DLCs were just kinda crap also.

Yeah, they were poor I thought the same.

The game itself was pretty good though.

There's some really strawberry floating annoying controller jank with this. Like the map button is super finnicky and 75% of the time just doesn't bloody work or opens the Case room not the map. The zoom in and pan are also layer out in a super weird way. It's almost intentionally annoying.

Fade wrote:
Memento Mori wrote:
Hexx wrote:I missed a tutorial? Anyone remember what the control input is for quick turn?

Control stick down twice in quick succession. There's a tutorial menu option with all the stuff though.

Fade wrote:I wanted to play the Alan wake dlc for control in preparation for this

But guess what. You can't play it till you get to mission 7.

Having spent today doing that and the other Control DLC, it's completely unnecessary.

The restriction they put on it?

No playing AWE before Alan Wake 2. You definitely need leviation for the DLC.

God damn, I need an album of the end of chapter bangers.

After about 10 hours with the game I really like it. I think the weak combat is holding me off absolutely loving it but it’s definitely got its hooks in me. The story for at least the 5 hours is very Mark Wahlberg in The Happening ‘huh, what’s going on, what is this’, to the point where it’s quite annoying. Thankfully that is fading as you start to get a grip of the characters and the supernatural stuff. Saga is an excellent protagonist to guide you through it all and a relief from the somewhat annoying Wake.

The different settings are really cool and the small town vibes give it a very Evil Within 2 vibe. The scale is very impressive and there’s gooseberry fool loads to explore. Switching between characters is a good mechanic but so far I’m a little underwhelmed by how similar they both are. It’s early days and I’m sure there’s story beats but right now I’m wondering if a full Saga game would have been better. Sadly the combat is letting the side down somewhat. The torch is very strawberry floating fiddily and the speed and damage some characters move can make it very frustrating. Add to that enemies don’t drop anything and I generally just try and avoid combat all together. It’s a shame because the game definitely needs the jeopardy of combat but what’s here just isn’t landing, though there have been a few cool moments.

It’s definitely got the fear factor, some truly disturbing themes and imagery and several good jump scares. I just got to a super cool moment, Federal Bureau of Control show up to take over and I am absolutely here for this tie in stuff. I hope they have a big role. Can’t wait to see how things go.

Picked this up last night so hoping to sink a few hours in tonight. I loved AW1 so I've got high hopes for this.

Minor spoilers

A few chapters in to this they do a chapter that is a Control style musical interlude, mixing gameplay and live action video that kind of recaps events from the first game.

Honestly it might be the best gaming moment of the year.

If this doesn’t win best soundtrack/audio at GOTYs it’ll be a travesty.

I am just running away from every combat encounter I can. I was exploring all the woods for collectibles in chapter 2 after the boss and realised that enemies will despawn from an area if you run into a safe room.

Saga's 3rd and 4th chapters done. Bit of a difference in length there

Think I'll switch to Alan now.

I'm still not sure there's much happening moment to moment but it's gorgeous and dripping in atomsphere even if gameplay is light

The jukebox doesn't play the coconut song anymore.

Literally unplayable.

Skarjo wrote:The jukebox doesn't play the coconut song anymore.

Literally unplayable.

Poets of the Fall?

Zilnad wrote:
Skarjo wrote:The jukebox doesn't play the coconut song anymore.

Literally unplayable.

Poets of the Fall?

I’d love to hear them cover it.

HE PUT THE LIME IN DE COCONUT!!!!!1

Skarjo wrote:
Zilnad wrote:
Skarjo wrote:The jukebox doesn't play the coconut song anymore.

Literally unplayable.

Poets of the Fall?

I’d love to hear them cover it.

HE PUT THE LIME IN DE COCONUT!!!!!1

I enjoyed the in-game explanation for what was clearly Remedy not wanting to pay for the rights again.

Xbox Series X v.s. PS5:

In terms of resolution, the Series X version renders at 1270p in quality mode, with a 4K FSR 2 output resolution. In performance mode, we're looking at a 847p resolution, with an output of 1440p. This makes it a match for the PlayStation 5 version, which extends to visual quality generally.

Frame-rates are where the two systems diverge. Series X, for its part, delivers a very smooth rendition of Alan Wake. In performance mode, it offers close to a locked 60fps, with uncommon exceptions. We can drop a frame or two sometimes during traversal, and there are a few spots that cause momentary frame-rate drops, but the game feels quite smooth in general play.

PS5 doesn't fare quite as well. Certain areas really struggle in the performance mode, with an unstable feel in typical play in the affected areas. The frame-rate delta against the Series X is surprising, with the PS5 consistently failing to reach its frame-time target in some missions. The same is true in the quality mode.

Series S:

Internally, the Series S is operating at or around 720p. That's down from the 847p resolution in the Series X performance mode. Output resolution, though, remains at 1440p, as the two consoles exhibit very similar clarity in stills - and the rare snippet of UI that isn't anti-aliased comes in at a 1440p pixel count.

Performance-wise, the Series S manages a pretty stable 30fps with an update that is a bit more consistent than PS5 but falls slightly short of its more powerful sibling. There are some occasional moments in tougher areas where it can drop frames, though it tends to be well-behaved elsewhere. For a cut-price console, I think the Series S is delivering a perfectly fine update here, and the excellent motion blur and slower-paced gameplay render the lack of a 60fps option less of an issue than it would be in many other titles.

https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundr ... n-series-s

God damn some of these chapters are supremely strawberry floated up :dread:

One of the very few next gen games where Series X shows the difference in power according to DF.

Had planned on buying this on PS5, but underwhelming Dual Sense support and better performance on Xbox has me thinking that I might well pick it up there instead.

Is it just me or is the 'Mind Place' case wall really clunky? It's really unintuitive putting stuff up on the wall.

Alan Wake 2 (XSX|S/PS5/Epic Games Store). Digital only. Gamespot 10.

Who is online

Affiliates