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Matt Returns!

The first Achievement Favorites by Matt post was such a hit that we asked him back for another edition! Matt’s unique way with words is both delightful and and insightful! The title Matt chose to highlight for this edition is the recently launched, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. Click Read More to find out more about Matt and to see which achievements made his top 3!

Here’s a brief intro Matt provided from his first post for those of you who didn’t get a chance to check it out yet.

Hello.

I’m Matt. And I love Achievements. Like, I really love them. They are my single favorite feature of Xbox Live, and they have changed the way I play games. I’ve been a gamer since way back in 1986 when I first laid my hands on a game pad and figure out what button made the dude jump. Achievements have taken the game to the next level, pardon the pun, by expanding on the idea of the high score with objective based gameplay.To say that again in a way that doesn’t sound like it was run through a marketing filter: it tracks what you do, and rewards you for doing it, and shares it with your friends. Awesome. And now the Play XBLA blog has grown on top of that to give us all a place where we can collect, share, and experience the joy of Xbox Live Arcade together. Also awesome. I’m honored to have this opportunity to write words onto it. Thanks, Alexis.

Welcome back Matt! We are Glad to have you! Now onto to your fantastic blog!

Hello again. Recently I set some time aside and got acquainted with one of gaming’s most interesting individuals. If I had to describe him, I would use words along the lines of enigmatic, creative, loyal, and driven. He’s pretty famous, a best selling author, and he used to drive a really nice SUV. I’m speaking of course of one Mr. Alan Wake. I’m so glad that I took the time to get to know Mr. Wake, and take a walk through his world in the original Alan Wake for Xbox 360 almost
two years ago. His story gripped me like few have, a page turner come to life that I could not put down. I not even sure weather I intended that pun or not. It was one of the most engrossing games I ever played, and one of the most interesting characters I’ve ever met. Remedy Entertainment knows a thing or two about creating characters. They are the house who introduced us to a man named Max Payne, and the story of his downfall, and ultimately his revenge. Alan shares a
common bond with Max in themes of loss and what that can do to a man.Like Max, Alan’s resolve is the keystone to overcoming his challenge, but the character’s respective paths are very different Frankly, Alan Wake is not a Super Cop. He can’t dive through the air dodging a hail of bullets. He can’t grit his teeth and shut out the pain, because he’s losing his grip on what is even real and what is fiction. He’s vulnerable, he’s human, he’s an everyday man who got caught up in a power struggle greater than himself. Despite that, he is willing to do anything and go to any length to save his loving wife.That resonated strongly with me, and I am so glad I took the time to get to know Mr. Wake.I am also glad that I recently got the chance to travel with him again, this time to Night Springs, Arizona in Alan Wake®’s American Nightmare on Xbox Live Arcade.

Here are my three favorite Achievements in Alan Wake’s American Nightmare.

 

One Day I’ll Buy a Stapler – 20G

Find all of the manuscript pages.

One of my favorite parts of the original Alan Wake was the manuscript pages. It was a collection quest with a purpose, and a reason to exist. As you start finding the manuscript pages, you begin to realize what is written on the pages is coming true; Fiction is becoming fact. These pages are being written by Alan, and Remedy used them in amazing ways throughout the original game. From providing simple backstory, to events creeping from the shadows that had not yet come to pass. The manuscript pages were awesome and I was exited to see them return in American Nightmare.Yes Alan, you should invest in a stapler. Maybe a three ring binder or some kind of container. Might I suggest keeping some digital copies and some backups around.

 

Split Splat! – 30G

Take out two Splitter spawns with a single shot.

The Taken have returned to haunt Alan Wake as he struggles to escape The Darkness, but they’ve got some new tricks up their sleeves this time around. Giant hulking abominations slip loose from the shadows, looking more mutant than man. But like all Taken they fear The Light, and these lumbering horrors will do anything to escape its beam.So vile and detested is The Light that these Taken will split in twain, becoming two smaller but equally abominable foes, sacrificing
their size and strength for a reprieve from Alan’s trusty flashlight. Keep the beam focused, and the now twins will split once more, becoming a quartet of ill intent. These are the Splitters, and they are only one of the new and interesting inhabitants lurking in The Darkness… in Night Springs.
Once you have broken one down sufficiently enough, it’s just a matter of dispatching two of them in one shot, and just like that you’ve netted

Rewrite – 10G

Rewrite reality for the first time.

On paper (this time the pun was intended) rewriting reality sounds like a tall order. For an old pro like Alan Wake, it’s really no big deal.See, Alan is accustomed to using his craft to bend reality to his will. He made a living of it as a best selling author with his Alex Casey series of books. He did it for real in Bright Falls, Alaska, where he was first confronted with The Darkness. This isn’t Alan’s first rodeo, and it doesn’t matter who the antagonist of the story is or what the
setting, he will rewrite reality itself to set things right. He will find the balance, and slay the demon. That’s just the kind of guy who Alan Wake is.

I hope to join you again soon, Mr. Wake. Sooner, rather than later. Maybe next time we can meet up in someplace a little warmer than Alaska, but not quite the scorching desert of Arizona. You know, some place a little more Ordinary? But I digress.

Until next time.

 

Huge thanks to Matt for taking the time to write up this fantastic and fun post for PlayXBLA!!!

Interested in having your own guest blog on PlayXBLA? All you have to do is send us an email! You can do this by clicking the “contact” tab on the home page, or sending it directly to;   playxbla@microsoft.com!

 

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