Alan Wake Did Not Fail

Alan wake the much touted heavy rain killer released with a massive marketing campaign from Microsoft with showings at E3 that attracted a lot of media attention. So far, how has Alan wake fared?

Judging by the story and plot, this psychological action thriller was a masterpiece.

[T9X69]

Well in terms of sales with the hype and what MS was expecting, yea it kind of did fail. On the other hand though, Alan Wake was a very good game, and I think was underrated. Only problem I had is there was absolutely no replay value what so ever, and it was to easy. I don't think it should have done the slow-mo thing when enemies spawned, it totally ruined the suspense, and scare factor of the game.

[proudly_X]

Unfortunately i wasn't expecting anything solid on the sales point, who should?

[Troll_Police]

Well, I was told Xbox exclusives sell.

@proudly_AFRICAN

Then what happened with the horrible sales of Metro 2033?

[Active Reload]

Metro 2033 and Alan Wake...didn't have a demo. If not both, then definitely Metro would have sold more if a demo was present. Its rather odd not to have a demo but hey, AW is $30 for Games on Demand...

Edit: And for the record...Metro 2033 is f*cking AWESOME!

[Unknow_Master]

well sony fanboy sais yes so i guess it true then!!

[NecrumSlavery]

I personally think the 360 isn't the best demographic for this type of game.

[Igneel]

360 not the Demographic for games like Alan Wake? There Was no Demo for the Game and No Commercials on TV whatsoever. This was Expected IMO. Online Advertising dont cut it.

[The real killer]

Becouse the most 360 players are FPS fanatic :)

[ProjectVulcan]

''Judging by the story and plot''

How about judging by gameplay. Judging by gameplay to me, the game was very repetitive and limited in the execution of what seemed like a reasonably good concept and clever premise.

Not a bad game, but not a masterpiece of a GAME which is what it is, regardless of the quality of its plot

[hoops]

And based on COD and KZ2 and ROF sales, PS3 owners are also FPS fanatics...

[Trebius]

It looked like a fresh idea that could've gone a long way.

It ended up not being nearly as scary as people expected it to be, the whole darkness thing was inefficiently applied, but it worked.

The game was average, but its potential was insane.

Sometimes I wonder what it would've sold like on the PS3, since Heavy Rain was so very well received.

Alan Wake seemed more focused on the storytelling than the gameplay.

[Active Reload]

If you went into AW expecting a horror game, then yeah, you'd be disappointed. I actually did that, until someone said its more of a psychological thriller...there is a difference. Its very Twin Peakish, for those who remember that TV series, and I appreciated it more.

[HolyOrangeCows]

It failed in many senses. It was short, had low res graphics, sold poorly, and required DLC to actually complete the entire story.

[Kleptic]

I hate it when 'masterpiece' is thrown around ignorantly...

It WAS NOT Remedy's best game...on any front...sales, overall quality, whatever...It had an interesting plot, with some interesting gameplay mechanics (although many argue its just bullet time with an emphasis on light)...but overall it didn't raise the bar like Remedy's past games did...

I'm not saying its a bad game...in fact i thought it was great...but its not better than either max payne by any means, and for fans of the developer its a let down being that its all thats been made since 2003...so its not a masterpiece...

I think overall alan wake's biggest problem was an identity crisis...It was marketed as a new game for adult audiences (similar to how heavy rain was marketed, hence the 'vs.' nature of the two titles, despite being completely different)...And was also promised to be 'very creepy'...

and what did we get?...an entirely unscary title with a T rating...doesn't bode well for the 'adult nature' promised through marketing...Add on repetitive gameplay (which is primarily what removed the creepiness factor) with merely average visuals for a platform exclusive...the gimmicky ending used to nail in a franchise...and thats pretty much it...

Again, i'm not saying that makes it a bad game...Its just both MS and Remedy didn't quite know what the game was overall, as the multiple delays and 'back to the drawing board' mid development problem caused it to release with higher than needed expectations...which were not met, but it was no one's fault but theirs...

MP1 and 2 where easily two of the greatest single player only titles of this decade...Alan Wake isn't close to the best single player only game of 2010...yeah, competition is higher now...but it did little to even stay relevant this year, let alone raise expectations of what a single player experience can be...

I'm saying this as a fan of Remedy...I don't care about what console it released on (hell it should have been PC only, and I guarantee the visual aspect of the game would have been ground breaking)...but when Remedy gets in bed with MS with an 'idea' and then fumbles around with it for nearly 7 years...and alan wake is the result...thats not a good thing for anyone...

[- Ghost of Sparta -]

This type of game would have sold much better on PS3. As you can see by Halo Reach and Black Ops sales, two first person shooters released very close to each other but still managing to sell more on 360 than all other platforms, what more proof do you need regarding the fact that 360 users only buy shooters? They don't deserve anything more from Remedy, and even Alan Wake itself was a disappointment after 6 years of hype. Short, cheesy dialogue, not even HD.

[Lifendz]

I don't use sales as the end all be all barometer for what's quality. And I kinda respect a company for giving us something different and new rather than just kicking out more of the same. Heavy Rain and Alan Wake were among my fav titles released this year because both were something new. I only played the first couple of chapters of Alan Wake but was very impressed. Once I get some more money I'm def going to pick it up.

[BillOreilly]

Really it doesnt matter what alan wake and metro 2033 sold they were two of the best games i have ever played. Alan wake was a masterpiece. Im happy i got so many good games this year. Lots of 360 games get no hype look at the dragon knight saga, best rpg of the year, NOBODY CARES. Oh well i enjoy these so i win.

[lowcarb]

Alan Wake was a let down for me but did have some great moments. Metro 2033 was the most underrated game ever and probably the scariest story driven game ever.

[ComboBreaker]

Yes, Alan Wake did fail. Failed Miserly.

[proudly_X]

not all xbox exclusives . . probably you were mis-informed . . the xbox is a beast for shooters, any fps will sell like hot cake on it

[ryuzu]

Around here if a console exclusive doesn't sell 4 gazillion on day 1 it's a flop.

Doesn't matter what game it is, whether its quality, innovative or whatever - sales are all that matter.

Madness huh? That's how every PS3 exclusive has been judged for the last 4 years....

How odd that gamers don't care about the games but only about the sales...

Anyway, in summary, Alan Wake = flop - it has to be, otherwise all those excellent PS3 exclusives are suddenly not flops either, and some people here can't stand that idea.

r.

[Mystogan]

Then why did

oblivion
Dragon age
Need for speed
GTA IV (a franchise that was exclusive to Playstation)

All sell better on 360?,Explain that to me.

I think Alan Wake didn't sell well because they didn't Market it very well.At least not as much as Fable,Halo or Gears

[number47]

Also, GTA isn't a Sony franchise. Its been on almost all consoles. NM, i keep forgetting most 360 owners have no concept of gaming outside of halo.

Alan Wake, much like Metro, Crackdown, & Banjo Kazooie, Ninja Blade, Splinter Cell, RacePro, all flop because the 360 audience is saturated in hype. If its not hyped, no one is going to buy it. And MS only has so much money invested in their titles to hype. Its mainly only been Fable, Gears, Halo, and whatever multiplat is the flavor of the week. It used to be mass effect, but now thats gone multiplatform since MS doesn't buy studios to offer 360 owners with a variety of exclusive content.

All Microsoft does it half-assedly pit games like Banjo against LBP.
Alan Wake against Heavy Rain/Uncharted/MGS4. Remember, AW was supposed to be an "AAA" title to showcase the 360's hardware.. (lol)
Prototype against Infamous.. all the time. It offers a place to play low quality games with better anti-aliasing & expensive online.

[Elven6]

number47: Protype is an Activision game and titles like Banjo Kazooie have been in development longer than the Sony "counterparts" you claim they are copying.

Splinter Cell, Race Pro, etc are also third party multiplatform titles and I believe Splinter Cell sold pretty well. And Crackdown as sold over 2 million units, I don't think Crackdown 2 did that bad either.

At least fact check before you try to make arguments.

[zeddy]

people with xbox's want shooters not adventure games.

[-MD-]

Sorry no. I'll take some more adventures games.

[JeffGUNZ]

funny you say that. Please explain to me why the number 1 and 2 games on the PSN are modern warfare 2 and black ops? Those are shooters. Maybe it has to do with the popular game type this gen. is FPS.

[number47]

And that rule has permeated through the media like some disgusting virus. Now that 360 exclusives outside of shooters can't hit those #'s, everyone is still latching onto that retarded logic, and applying it to 360 games.

Games don't need to sell 8 mill in the first hour in order to get a sequel. Sony has proven that & bigger quality sequels time and time again with minimal sales.

360 fans have hyped sales since day one of this generation due to Microsoft. But sales don't garner anything for the 360 audience outside of expensive peripherals/hdd/ and online. Where as short sales have produced the highest rated gaming/games this generation which have created the technical bar for console gaming as we know it.

360 owners, enjoy arguing about whether or not alan wake is flop based on its sales. The game sold fine, just didn't do halo #'s. and it was enjoyable. But it was the same thing PS3 owners have been saying since Resistance 1. Thats all that anyone has ever decided about a game in the past, but Microsoft poisoned this gen with Sales or FLOP.

Hell I couldn't tell you how many copies Shadow of the Colossus sold, but I sure as hell know it wasn't a flop.

You guys hung on sales, so this is what you get.

[BrianB]

its funny because when you compare AW to the hype of KZ2 a game which was hyped to do massive COD and Halo numbers, that game barely scrapped a million so you could call that a failure, AW in the other hand was hyped to be a great game nothing more, and guess what it is.

@below

its be cause you guys hype your games to be HUGE, like second comming of jesus, you don't notice it but nintendo, 360 and pc fanboys see it alott, you hype them like the 2nd comming of jesus, every week the hottest articles has at least one upcomming ps3 exclsive, but when there released they only sell a 1million yeah its not bad but there are 40 million ps3's out there and considering the ammount of hype that goes into them your exclusives are commercial disappointments. PS3 fanboys are full of hot air,
if your exclusives are gonna be amazing, huge, prove it speak with your wallets.

[Biggest]

For the record, no one should have hyped Killzone 2 to do Halo or Call of Duty sales numbers. I do remember the first Killzone getting the "Halo Killer" title from a magazine, but it was explained in gaming terms. The people hyped for Killzone 2 were not excited for the potential sales. Outside of people due to make money from sales, no one should care. We were hyped about a game that was able to combine excellent multiplayer with solid online, incredible graphics, and realistic (for it's time) AI. I don't care if Killzone 3 sells 4 copies (unless there are plans for more Killzones attached to the same story line) as long as I get one.

[Z501]

KZ2 was NEVER hyped to do CoD or Halo numbers. The hyped came in the form of reaching A graphical benchmark. That's it.

Sales don't make the product epic. The product makes the product epic.

If so. The Wii & Britney Spears are the greatest products ever.

[NateCole]

Its funny the advertising card is being used here by x360 fans.

When PS3 games dosent sell 1 million on day 1 they laugh and say PS3 gamers don't buy games when the truth is relatively PS3 games get nowhere near the advertisement x360 games get. Everyone with their cat and dogs know this. However when a hyped x360 game fails commercially they blame it on advertising. The hyprocracy here is hilarious.

Wasn't this game suppose to blow Uncharted graphically out of the water and bring the x360 on par with the PS3?. LMAO!. 5 year in the making with so much promise and hype and yet it didnt live up anywhere near to its hype. This is why its considered by many as a failure. Commercially and critically compare to what was expected it failed. Trying to say otherwise is stupid.

[chidori soukou]

Alan Wake is not a shooter, so 360 trolls wont pick it up. Unlike on the PS3. The games there are for everyone. Just look at Heavy Rain, everyone laughed said that it will flop while Alan Wake will sell more. Wonder where those people went?

[cb4g]

@T9X69: I agree, I thought the game was pretty good but I think the slow-mo enemy spawn was necessary for combat, otherwise you'd have gotten a lot of axes thrown at the back of your head.

I think the biggest problem was Alan Wake himself. He was a bit of a tosser.

[Blaze929]

So you know what Microsoft was expecting? Oh please, do tell what they were expecting since apparently you work there and know/knew.

---

Alan Wake was not a failure. MS clearly wasn't expecting too much either as they didn't even bother to advertise the damn thing in their biggest markets - especially the United States. They didn't even bother to release a demo (which could have been easily done with multiple levels since technically, everything is a damn cliffhanger).

Who knows what kind of deal Microsoft made with Remedy. If it's true that they are indeed working on a sequel for Alan Wake 2, then obviously the first was not a failure since a sequel would not even be in the mind of developers/publishers if something "failed".

Microsoft was not with this game since it's first day development. They only picked it up what, 1-2 years before it actually came out? With not a lot of money lost in it's insanely long development time and money saved in marketing, this was probably a successful game for them financially long before it even reached half a million copies.

Critically, an 83 on metacritic is a failure? If so, that's news to me.

So in what ways did this game fail? What is your definition of failure? (talking to anyone here)

[Babypuncher]

@ blaze:

"@T9X69 "and what MS was expecting"
So you know what Microsoft was expecting? Oh please, do tell what they were expecting since apparently you work there and know/knew.

---

Alan Wake was not a failure. MS clearly wasn't expecting too much either as they didn't even bother to advertise the damn thing in their biggest markets - especially the United States"

did you just try to call out TX9X69 for making an assumption and then just turn around and do the same thing?

[firelogic]

Considering how it did versus Heavy Rain, it was an utter failure. Remedy should have released it for PS3 as well or exclusively and would have done MUCH better. The 360 is not Alan Wake's audience.

[avengers1978]

If your only talking sales, then yes it failed... If your talking game quality, and enjoyablity then it's up to those who bought it to decide if it failed or not.

[shoddy]

they have 5 years to make yet it still subHD in the HD gen.

[meluvulongtime]

Alan Wake was failure to me and not just because of lackluster sales. It was over hyped. The gameplay while interesting at first offers no variety. There's always tons of ammo and tons of batteries. There's no purpose in saving ammo because you're just going to lose all your weps every chapter. You can't really play it as a survival horror because Alan is gasping for air after 5 seconds of running. So it's just trotting through the woods shooting up whatever you come across moving from checkpoint to check point to dig deeper into the story. There's no replay value after 1 playthrough unless you want to pick up the extra collectible pages.

[darksied]

I agree. It's not a great seller, but it was a fun game. I enjoyed it more than a lot of released on the 360 recently, to be honest, and it had a good soundtrack. I wish it would have sold more, though, because I like Remedy; I want to see more games out of them and NOT layoffs which is what happens when titles don't sell well.

[Hellsvacancy]

Well, teh sales sais it flopped *not my logic*

[units]

two are completely different games

[proudly_X]

i didn't say that, but gamers like both of us had the feelings that they share some similarities,

[IRetrouk]

2 compleatly diff games, both in how they play and what they are about, both were very good though.

[dragon82]

While Alan Wake is one of my favorite Xbox 360 games, it is not even close to Heavy Rain's league. I may get labeld as a Sony fanboy for this but it's not even close at all.

[NYC_Gamer]

Remedy just promised so much and couldnt deliver

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

I still wonder how Alan Wake would be on PC with open world or Sandbox version with DX10 or maybe DX11.

[Godmars290]

it just didn't sell.

[saumer]

That argument actually works? I always get yelled at when I try to say that...

I need to pick up allen wake. I love games like that, I just haven't had the time.

[Godmars290]

Introduced on a bleeding edge PC rig as a sandbox horror title. Of course the "final" version was going to disappoint after that kind of build up.

[Tru_Ray]

The game was commercial failure, but had modest critical success. In the end, nobody was talking about the game a couple months after its release. It was a failure in the sense that it did not have any kind of profound impact on the industry like many expected given the pedigree of the developer.

[tony6767]

no alan wake was not an fail..... it was an epic fail

[Active Reload]

...No...

[Supman]

This article makes me ROFL!
ALAN WAKE DID NOT FAIL! HAHAHA
LOL! yeah right! rofl!
hahaha!

[HeavenlySnipes]

game, I didn't play it, but MS only advertises shooters and games that have already established a fanbase (ME2) and give pennies to new franchises. Thats why games like Crackdown and Fable had less than stellar sequels. They aren't given as much attention as the halos, and Gears or Call of Duties so the sequels end up regressing.

IMO Fable the Lost Chapters > Fable 2 and 3.

[NateCole]

And so did HS but this dosent apply to PS3 games.

[dragon82]

Heavenly Sword still holds up today as far as graphics, gameplay, story and voice acting. The only downside is that if you run through it as fast as you can it can be beaten on "Easy" in around 5-6 hours. Because of this it was crucified by the press for being a PS3 exclusive when it was the "Cool" thing to bash anything PS3 related.

[mrbattle420]

"cool thing to bash anything ps3 related"

[Gamefan12]

you are comparing a launch game to a game that came out nearly 5 years after the launch and was HYPED big time.. nice man nice

[NateCole]

people dont know sarcasm even if it hits them on the head.

[Gamefan12]

you know there is no way to tell on the boards right ... and people are dumb enough to mean things like that here

would be best to do the /s =)

[mandf]

For 5 years investment, it failed big time. It wasn't a commercial success and for 5 years of development it may have not broken even. Big name video game websites called it the next coming of and wasn't. It may have been decent game but it did fail do to the hype(media and fan), its non aaa score, and its lackluster sales make it a flop. I didn't wish that on the game but it is what it is, a flop.

[KillerPwned]

The limited edition is $30 on amazon. I think its time for me to make a buy.

It seems like a good game but from what i hear it did fail in sales. I feel bad the game seemed to really be a gem i looked forward to it. If the support for PC was still in it i think that would of helped the game at least a bit.

[Workshyskiver]

You won't be disappointed. Brilliant game.

[CadDad]

I just bought it for $15 new (regular version, not collectors).

I'm glad it dropped in price, I've been wanting to play it.

-caddad

[Fishy Fingers]

"massive marketing campaign" I don't recall seeing a single advert (UK).

[Silly gameAr]

He probably means the short films on XBOX Live. That's the only thing I can think of, because I didn't see a single ad either.

[Workshyskiver]

People do seem to forget M$ did do the webisodes. that got shown nowhere....

[Der_Kommandant]

Are you suuuuuure?

[TheColbertinator]

If they came to hear me beg,they will be disappointed

[Masterchef2007]

Alan Wake isnt the type of game that most 360 owners are interested in anyways. I mean just look at the sales of Halo, COD and Gears on the 360 now those are the game that 360 owners are interested in

[mrbattle420]

why heavy rain killer?they 2 totally difrent games

[kurochi]

used copy of Alan Wake, Gears 2 and MAG at gohastings.com for 36 bucks total (with an online coupon code), I'm ready for some gaming this x-mas. there are tons of used games to buy and it's a lot better priced than gamestop.

[KillerCucumber]

Who cares? I enjoyed the game.

[xg-ei8ht]

When my Nephew was 11 i bought him Uncharted 1.(hadn't had the PS3 long) As i enjoyed the game so much i thought he'd love it also. And that he might want UC2 when it came out.

He played it awhile and then stopped.

When i saw him again a short while later, i said how are you getting on with the game. I'm not playing it he said - It's too hard. I laughed.

After speaking awhile he said he was playing COD WAW. And he loved it, easy to play and zombies and he loves FPS.(must be in boys/mens blood. And upto date, he is now playing COD Black ops.lol.

Alot of people don't like to think, work there way to solving a puzzle, flushing out the enemy. They just want to shoot and COD provides that.

All that type of thing bores me now, that's why i don't have Black ops.

I know games are meant to be fun, but just seems as though alot of genres are being passed up by people because of FPS. Which for me is a shame.

There are some great games out there and i'm sure Alan Wake is one of them. No game is perfect, but hey give them a chance.

One of the best games i've played and loved was Prince of Persia - sands of time.

[Z501]

shoulda put "inb4" number47's comment, lol!
Sounded like PRE-damage control.

T9X69 ~ "Well in terms of sales with the hype and what MS was expecting, yea it kind of did fail"

number47 ~ "Xbox360 fansBOYS started the 8 million day one or Flop rule" [fix'd]

number47 gets BUBBLES cuz it's true. XB fanboys this gen started the trend.

[Convas]

Commercially? Ughhh, still a little cloudy on that. I dun really trust VGchartz, and I DON'T believe that AW is still sitting at 700K sales. That being said, Microsoft did VERY little to promote Alan Wake besides internet advertising. The mini-series was awesome, they did have web banners and stuff, and Kotaku did a piece about some of the cool Billboards MS put up for AW.

But MS failed to do anything for Alan Wake on the biggest advertising medium of all, TV. Halo: Reach got ads, Fable 3 got ads, Black Ops, Splinter Cell, hell, even Crackdown 2, but not so for Alan Wake. So technically, the poor launch day sales are their fault. And a demo would've gone a long way too! Anyways, who's the genius that put AW down to launch with Red Dead Redeption? Because I'm SURE he/she got sacked.

Now, to the lot of people who say Alan Wake failed critically, that's a mixed bag.

(1) Remedy did screw up with the way they handled the PC version and going 360 exclusive. A simple, "we're doing this for 360-only because we've been commissioned by MS" would've sufficed.

(2) Idiots wanna say that it was hyped like the second coming. Yeah, by radical fanboys and a few over-zealous fanboys. Most of those fanboys have left in shame or been banned.

(3) Alan Wake was NOT concluded by the DLC, and I'm sick and tired of idiots saying that. The main story CONCLUDED at the end of Alan Wake, and obviously, if you're saying that it didn't YOU DID NOT PLAY THE GAME.

(4) On a technical level, Alan Wake did leave some to be desired. I won't lie, I too was disappointed when I heard that the resolution was 960p x 540p natively, but once I got the game, I became so engrossed in the story and in the game itself, that it didn't even matter. Alan Wake is a beautiful game, not the MOST beautiful game, and certainly not at the levels it could have been, but already, we've seen that Remedy is trying to ... remedy that. No pun intended.

(5) The 360 is not the right demographic for Alan Wake. WRONG! The 360 and the PS3 are BOTH shooter havens. The only difference being that the PS3 has a lot of variety of games to choose from, but even though that's so, COD still holds the crown on PS3 and it looks like only Gran Turismo 5 can change that. MS chose to cater specifically to shooters, and because there is very little choice in exclusives, that's what people buy. So hell, the 360 NEEDS more games like Alan Wake.

But don't fool yourselves, Alan Wake has a LARGE following of people. A lot of people don't get that. Remedy has received a lot of support from the Xbox community. Not Halo, or COD level support mind you, but a sizable share.

The thing to keep in mind is that Alan Wake is not an easy story to digest. Little Timmy and Robby who enjoy Halo and COD aren't going to be interested in a slower paced game focused heavily on story and atmosphere. Most of the support AW is getting, as you can go see on Facebook, is from upper aged teens and adults. It's a thinking man's game, and not for hyper twelve year olds with twitchy fingers or Football Joe who likes his yearly rendition of COD.

Sorry bout the rant, but people need to be informed. This article is correct. ALAN WAKE did NOT Fail.

[TheIrishBeast]

well said, I couldnt agree more

[oldjadedgamer]

It did not fail, but it didn't live up to what it was "promised" too.

I thought the story was good. Not great, but it just is a video game and I'll go to my book collection if I want an excellent story.

The mechanics were solid and the graphics were really good.

But the game really was too short and I'm glad I just borrowed it from a friend. As a full game, it would not have been worth the 60$ for a game I beat in two nights after coming home from class.

[giovonni]

there are a ton of factors that went into AW not selling well
it dropped on the same day as Red Dead which was getting all types of press. No one knew what Alan Wake's True potential was, no marketing blitz etc. Was it a flop, in sales maybe, but the game was very well put together. The episodic feature made it feel like a mini tv series. The only thing I didn't like about the game was boss fights..... mater of fact where there really any boss fights?

AW is a sleeper hit, in my opinion, and wish to see more companies make games of this nature

[SnukaTheMan]

same shadowed charachters...now and then they throw in a bus.....same weapons...and to add insult to injury the dlc that came free was the same as the regular game....I was very dissapointed in this game.

[Bounkass]

It failed. It's as simple as that. It TRIED to compare with Heavy Rain, but horribly failed...

[PandaJenkins]

worst troll comment of the day? Do you research before you make terrible comparisons.

[dragonelite]

It did not sell because of red dead redemption...
Every other exclusive wouldn't have sold a huge amount that time frame.

[TheIrishBeast]

It did not sell because of red dead redemption...
Every other exclusive wouldn't have sold a huge amount that time frame.

EXACTLY !

If Uncharted, Killzone, or any other average Sony exclusive game launched with Red Dead, it also would have been blown out of the water and flopped.

Red Dead was everywhere in the UK and all the COD, FIFA, GTA english chavs ate it up, no game stood a chance.

It was ROCKSTAR who delayed the game by a few months, so its not MS fault for releasing them together.

Alan Wake is a great game.

[PandaJenkins]

Still the 2nd best game I have played this year. I hope that its sales pick up over the holidays or during the earlier part of next year. I think most 360 owners were all nuts about RDR at the time of its release and then Halo and Black Ops were coming close and so a lot of people haven't bothered yet. Sad really, it is better than all of them :/ (and I love Reach might I add).

[stiggs]

I'm about 2/3 through this title and I think it's one of the most engaging experiences that I've had in gaming. I really enjoy "story driven" games and this one just oozes atmosphere and dread. The narrative is compelling, the graphics are outstanding and the sound design is absolutely top notch. Perhaps some of its detractors have not given the full game a chance or maybe they've played it under less than ideal circumstances. Alan Wake is a game that definitely benifits from a big screen, surround sound and a darkened environment. I can't wait to download the final 2 chapters.

[dkgshiz]

Yet very short. Also as stated above, every time the shadow men spawned to attack you it cut to an aerial shot of Alan and went slow mo. Completely ruins the scare factor.

[Buffniceguy]

@the title who are you trying convince? yourself?

[Clarence]

Alan Wake is a failure. It took 5yrs to make the game and it has not even broke the 1m mark. Its funny how he says poor sales of the KZ2 did not make it a failure than why is Alan Wake a failure. KZ2 has sold at least 3m copies. I can care less about sales, it was the 360 fans who said that if the game does not do Halo or Gears numbers its a failure. So by 360 fans standers, Alan Wake is a HUGE FAILURE! HUGE! I mean they should never ever make another game like this. What they should do is put a Alan and Master Chief together and make Alan Wake a FPS. Now you have a game that 360 fans will support.

[Seferoth75]

Sony fanboys always want to use sales for judging games except their own.
I remember many Sony fanboys and sites calling SMG a flop for only selling 4 million in a few months.
Yet the little fangirls on this site act like they are completely innocent and go out of their way to suppor exclusives.

Why is it MGS is still the best selling one when it launched 4 years ago? INStall base has double but exclusive sales havent.

Best selling games on PS3 are all shooters. LBP had to be given away, Modnation was a complete flop, 3d Dot heroes was also. Actually over 350 games failed to achieve HOTD Overkill sales and Sony fanboys are the ones who point it out as a Wii flop.

It is sad when you have to be spineless in order to own a PS3 this gen. How you cannot think for yourself or even form a long standing opinion because any day Sony could say something else and you have to change your opinion to match theirs.

[dj_drumc]

what did the all the coffee thermoses actually do? :s

[Charlie2688]

Currently playing it right now and at night with headphones its a fantastic experience and I am really enjoying it

[gamejediben]

As a PC gamer, I feel betrayed by Remedy. I loved Max Payne 1 & 2 and I had the money set aside for Alan Wake months in advance.

And then suddenly, "We feel that Alan Wake plays better on a TV screen" happened.

Two words, Remedy.

Fuck. You.

[Omega Zues]

I do agree it was under rated however I cant argue that it held very little replay value and personally think it would of done well on PC as many fans were hoping for that from the get go.

I read up on the DLC for Alan wake and it seemed top notch, high quality stuff. Its just shame that all of that couldn't of been originally included with the game. Maybe then you would of had a huge bang for your buck.

[AlienFodder]

To whoever put the link for that news piece: it no longer works. This is the message I've been getting:

403 Forbidden

Access to this resource on the server is denied!
Powered By LiteSpeed Web Server
LiteSpeed Technologies is not responsible for administration and contents of this web site!

(0)_(0)

[Ruggadagod]

seeing how i have not bought a single 360 game all year and bought 19 for my ps3 lol.

[Killzone3Helghast]

Is that the game is a one stand game where it's not like Metal Gear or has a huge story backing it and has little to no replayability and the same repeatitive shadow guys all over again which is a huge thumbs down for me when it comes to single player games

[kasasensei]

This game is amazing. Probably one of the best games year of the last years if you like games with real ambiance and a great story.

[climatrol]

I dont like Alan Wake because the plot is simple and boring.

[earbus]

I havent finished it but i like the suspence and panic so far.

[gypsygib]

The games wasn't bad, like Enslaved it was a perfect rental but not at all worth full price

[cky4987]

Regardless of sales. I personally really enjoyed this game. It was definitely one of my favorite games this gen. I felt some parts dragged on a little bit, but as a whole it was great. I don't remember the last time I enjoyed a specific part in a video game more than the Anderson farm. That was just plain awesome and fun.