>> ^sillma:

Probably doesn't have the Max Payne feel because it's not developed by the same studio who did 1 and 2. Guessing it's going to be more of a GTA-esque max payne, looks a lot like the latest GTA.


Yeah, that's one reason. Rockstar are developers that just seem to watch movies. They watch movies, they write their games like movies, their games feel like movies.
Remedy on the other hand seem to read. Max Payne 1 and 2 was written to feel like a graphic novel. Alan Wake was written to feel like a novel. I bet Max Payne 3 will feature more in game movie-like cutscenes and less graphic novel cutscenes.

I'm near the end of Alan Wake and have really enjoyed it. Intriguing plot and bundles of atmosphere.

Mikeman, considering their work in open world environments, I have a feeling you will be doing alot of investigating of the scenes in complete 3d. More akin to alan wake?

The facial capture looks very good..but very..wierd. It almost seems like the face remolds itself rather then containing a skeletal structure and muscles that move. I keep getting drawn to the lips and they look like liquid, even to the point where they close up completely at times.

On the flip side for such detailed heads, I was unimpressed with the character models.

>> ^mgittle:

I'll just be here waiting patiently for someone to zero punctuation review the book.

That would be good, but personally I'm hoping that he'll do a Zero Punctuation review of his own book. THAT I would watch!

>> ^blankfist:

I can never tell if the game is any good after watching these reviews.


He's pretty spot on in his summary towards the end. Good atmosphere, pretty, nice spooky forest effect. On the other hand; terrible combat, terrible dialogue, mediocre plot, mediocre voice acting.

Usually we put up with b-movieish acting and story in games because the actual "game" part overshadows and makes up for it. Here the story is the focus, so it can't get away with sucking this badly. Worst of all, it's a "horror" game that is never willing to be scary or disturbing. (likely since they went for a "Teen" rating)

Your video, Zero Punctuation: Alan Wake, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

This achievement has earned you your "Pop Star" Level 3 Badge!

>> ^budzos:

>> ^NordlichReiter:
I was thinking of buying it. But not now.
When I bought Rainbow Six Vegas and I saw the add placement for Repo-men I was disgusted. Rainbow Six Vegas sucks too. The multi-player was horrendous.

What the hell could possibly offend you about this to the point where you're not going to buy the game? To me, having a real ad on the TV screen in an extremely realistic game only adds to the immersion. I know it's a fine line, but I seriously don't understand your reaction to this specific example.


For you it may make immersion greater, but for me it breaks the whole survival horror immersion.

It's like a salesman in a bright red leotard standing amidst the brown haze of a horde of zombies.

>> ^NordlichReiter:

I was thinking of buying it. But not now.
When I bought Rainbow Six Vegas and I saw the add placement for Repo-men I was disgusted. Rainbow Six Vegas sucks too. The multi-player was horrendous.


What the hell could possibly offend you about this to the point where you're not going to buy the game? To me, having a real ad on the TV screen in an extremely realistic game only adds to the immersion. I know it's a fine line, but I seriously don't understand your reaction to this specific example.

I'm looking forward to Alan Wake.. but I've done that for so long now, that it's just a habit.

>> ^Farhad2000:
Everything at E3 looked like shit. Bad economic times guarantees formulaic and safe games with sequels making the biggest showing.


In bad economic times, even the criticism becomes formulaic and safe.

The games industry has been all but recession-proof. In fact, up until very recently, the game industry seemed to be gaining momentum as people started staying home and curling up with videogames instead of going out.

The real thing that pushes games to be "formulaic and safe" is the same thing that always happens when there's really only a handful of companies with deep pockets competing with one another: they need to invest so much in individual products just to compete, it's hard to justify making a big bet on an unproven concept.

That said, "formulaic and safe" in the game industry usually means betting on the big name developers and development houses. Sometimes that means a sequel factory, other times it means God of War, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Brutal Legend, Resistance Fall of Man, and Halo come out, rather than just seeing the same IP getting dusted off year after year (Hey there Mario, Zelda, Metroid!).

That said, usually there's at least one title that gets announced at E3 that surprised me, and this year there was nothing.

As far as original IP from this year, look to things like Brutal Legend, The Last Guardian, Heavy Rain, Dragon Age, and Alan Wake.

If those don't qualify, what is the last game you thought was not formulaic and safe?

Looking forward to Modern Warfare 2, Alan Wake and Mass Effect 2, that's it. And, of those only MW2 got me excited.

Since I'm a huge fan of old-school adventure games (Lucas Arts in particular), I'm definitely going to have to go with the two new Monkey Island games, even though I'm not crazy about the art style in either of them.

Otherwise I'm pretty hyped about Alan Wake, Brutal Legend, Left 4 Dead 2 and the two new Mario games.

On my must have list after E3 are Crackdown 2, Alan Wake, Brutal Legend and Splinter Cell: Conviction.

Mass Effect 2 and Forza 3 also look pretty good but I'm not exited at all by Assassins Creed 2 and Modern Warfare 2, they look like they're just more of the same.



>> ^Fjnbk:
I'm most excited about God of War 3, if nothing else, because you can rip off the sun god's head and use it as a flashlight.

Don't you mean headlight?

>> ^thegrimsleeper:
You lucky bastard, I wish I could have been there.
The games I am most exited about after E3 are: Brutal Legend, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Crackdown 2


I lucked out by living in Socal. No way I would have flown out, but that's just me. >.<

Splinter Cell: Conviction fo sho! And I'll probably get the new Silent Hill, as well, but the demo they had was pretty dull. I didn't get a chance to check out Crackdown 2 while I was there, but that looks rad. I don't know what I'm going to do with my time any more... Honestly, this was a great E3, but definitely an overload. Even the so-so games looked hot, though I wish I had given more of them a play test.

Oh, and I have to mention for the Nintendo DS!!! It's a puzzle game where you write down the names of objects to spawn them in and help you beat levels. The database is immense and has nearly limitless possibilities. You need to get an item from the top of a tree? Write down "ladder" and a ladder is spawned to climb up. Write down "helicopter" and you'll fly in a helicopter instead. "Football"? You kick a football and knock the item down. Simple and amazing.

You lucky bastard, I wish I could have been there.

The games I am most exited about after E3 are: Brutal Legend, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Crackdown 2