Somehow someway, I’m finding content to talk about. What a time to be alive.
Hopefully, you all are doing well and staying warm since it’s that time of the year. It’s that time of the month where I recap what I’ve been doing, and first up, we’ve got an absolute masterclass on deck.
From start to finish, Alan Wake II is Remedy’s best work ever
Alright so this title might read a bit confusing, and it’s because I don’t know how to describe it.
By now, you’ve seen all the headlines, read all the articles and watched all the reviews, at least, if you’re interested in Alan Wake II. It’s got rave reviews and is nominated for Game of the Year, and surprise surprise, I rate it just as highly as the rest of the publications and voices on the web.
It’s crazy to think this year brought the remakes of Dead Space and Resident Evil 4, arguably two of the best survival-horror games of all time, with the former being one I truly love. Alan Wake II feels like a love letter to both, a psychological nightmare and a fight for your life amidst the darkness. I think it’s vaulted its way up to being in that pantheon of survival-horror GOATs, in my humble opinion.
There’s two stories to go through that run parallel to each other, as Alan Wake and Saga Anderson try to defeat the Dark Presence and survive a literal horror story. Alan’s trapped in the Dark Place, a gritty recreation of New York, all dark and dank, full of shadows haunting him at every corner. On the other hand, Saga travels through Bright Falls and its surrounding areas in search of answers on Alan Wake’s reappearance 13 years after the events of the first title.
The opening sequence really sets the tone, but it’s the mid point all the way to the to end blew my mind, as you’re in for a wild ride. One sequence has Alan traveling through an abandoned hotel, and as he travels deeper into the hotel, it becomes increasingly darker as blood and bodies litter the hotel floors. If I described it fully, it would spoil the whole thing, but believe me when I say, it’s so damn good.
Another sequence I truly adored involves Saga, and as you can imagine, what starts as a simple search and rescue mission turns into a fight for your life in some of the best horror I’ve experienced (totally biased since I don’t play a ton of horror games).
It was during this chapter I realized Remedy has nailed its craft of doing whatever the hell it wants incredibly well, something that’s been steadily improving over the years since the launch of Alan Wake, with Control (this review reads bad, but trust me, I liked it) being a standout. The world-building, the audio, the visuals, the story (couldn’t tell you what happened, but it was captivating); it makes sense why it took Remedy 10 years to make this.
The game doesn’t relent either since Remedy literally said “Fuck it, take this sequence, and then this, and then that,” creating something truly remarkable and will leave you wondering what’s next.
I’m trying not to word vomit, but Alan Wake 2 is a masterclass of a survival-horror title, and my hat is tipped extremely high to the developers. There’s a universe in the making here, and if Alan Wake II is any indicator, Remedy’s got plenty more good shit to deliver.
Despite Activision sending it to die, MW3 is good*
It’s a good thing it takes me so long to type these posts up, since it gave MW3 some breathing room to do its thing. By now, you’ve probably seen all the headlines: “MW3’s Campaign is the worst ever,” “SBMM this, SBMM that,” etc.
I’m here to try and spread the good word… MW3 isn’t actually that bad.
*runs away to my room*
Listen, despite the criminal entry point of $70 (yes, it’s very criminal,) MW3 might be one of the best CoD titles we’ve gotten in recent years. After decades (exaggeration) of asking for a return to basics, Sledgehammer Games finally delivered, and it’s a breath of fresh air after MW2 and Vanguard; the former an atrocity of a title, and the latter a clone of MW 2019 but in a WW2 setting.
We’re now in Season 1 of MW3, and the difference is palpable since this title’s first season contains nearly quadruple the amount of content MW2 received in its first season. There’s also the fact Sledgehammer has been exceptionally communicative of updates, thought processes and behind the scenes experimentation with the core of CoD, something Infinity Ward didn’t care to do. I know it’s a double-edged sword, and I don’t want this to come across as me ripping IW apart. It blows my mind how a single “Hey, we hear you, this is how we feel” discussion can go without the added “We aren’t changing it.”
That said, it’s also downright criminal how Activision gets away with treating its developers like shit, since reports surfaced that Sledgehammer only had a year and a half to make this game compared to the typical three year window.
It’s not really surprising given Activision has been slowly devolving into a villain over the past few years, and this process has only gained more traction since the Microsoft acquisition. The Overwatch League is dead and GameBattles is gone too, with the Call of Duty League possibly in hot water as well.
Everything Activision touches turns to crap, but MW3 is alright.
LONG LIVE UNCHARTED (sorry for the all caps)
Yes, I’m a bit of an Uncharted fan boy.
Look, I know The Last of Us (we won’t talk about the second one) is considered one of the greatest games of all time, and I can see why it’s loved as much as it is. However, I find Uncharted way more compelling, maybe because it’s more in line with Naughty Dog’s previous work Jak & Daxter: the lighthearted adventure game on the PS2.
I can’t describe it, but something about Nathan Drake, his painful dad jokes, the supporting cast of misfits, and how they get themselves in the worst situations possible just hooked me. The gameplay loop was simple, but it kept me hooked, as each story took you on a romp across the globe, minus the first game set on a single island.
If I had to pick a favorite entry, I’d say Uncharted 2: Among Thieves clears the rest because it was such a drastic improvement over the first game, with the opening moments serving as a tone setter that Naughty Dog wasn’t messing around. I replayed it a thousand times, and it still holds over extremely well in nearly every facet.
That said, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is growing on me hard, as I’m currently replaying the PS5 version with all the bells and whistles of next-gen. I haven’t played it since I beat it on release, and this feels like the complete version of Uncharted.
The gunplay is miles ahead of all the other entries, and the story feels like the most human depiction of the cast. I’m curious to see where the story would’ve unfolded provided Amy Hennig stayed with Naughty Dog after she “left,” but what’s here is still good.
Look, I love Uncharted, and I’ll stop rambling about it….. now.
Jk jk, please, give us remakes of the first 3. I’m talking from the ground up in all the beautiful glory of the PS5. And give us Tom Holland’s face like they did in Spider-Man!
Jk jk jk, don’t do that.
And… now, I’m done.
Thank you for being here, and keep on gaming!
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