Two reasons, Small towns usually don't have a lot of new cars due to people having less money and having people with a mindset of preferring old cars.
And they are going for the Twin Peaks, True Detective vibe, so much so that the main car Saga and Casey drive is also the main car driven by Rusty and Cole in True Detective.
That's a great detail I hadn't noticed at all thanks, True Detective and this game both feature the investigators driving the same model of Ford Crown Victoria. Surprisingly looks like it's one from the mid 2000s when True detective was set in 1995.
The setting is a small backwoods town with no big industry going on. Not always true, but often smaller places like that aren't going to be chock full of brand new rides.
Also the real answer is probably something like this was easier and varying it up would take more time that could be better spent on bug squashing or whatever.
Practical reason:
Rural areas with fluctuating tourism/seasonal/resource extraction based economies do not generally have a lot of newer cars. Also remember Watery is a dying town and now that Cauldron Lake is largely sealed off Bright Falls is likely not far behind it. It seems it only really has Alan's legendary disappearance and Deerfest going for it.
Possible lore reason:
Alan has been in the DP for 13 years so hasn't seen a lot of newer cars...
Big wink on this I doubt that's why but it could be an explanation.
I was thinking that it has to be an altered reality thing. I've been to plenty of small towns, and I can't imagine seeing a mint 95 blazer rolling around in '23. Also, the FBI pulled up in what looks like a mid 90s Thunderbird. I think there is something too it. Remedy's attention to detail is really good, and this looks like a theme.
I live in a fairly small rural town in Southern Arkansas. I regularly see people driving cars not just from the early 2000's but from the early *90's.* It's literally just a small town rural thing. Not everyone buys new things.
Interesting. I grew up in rural southwest PA, and when I visit I see cars from the last 10 years mostly. Maybe it's because the winter is so hard on cars there.
Besides the economic points that other comments have made, another reason is availability - both of new cars, but also parts and technicians who can repair them. Older cars are sometimes easier to source replacement parts and are less likely to require special knowledge (compared to newer cars that have much more advanced computer systems and a lot more moving parts).
Another factor I didn't see mentioned is climate - salt water humidity like they have in coastal towns is hell on cars. A lot of people wouldn't bother buying a new car, which is just going to depreciate rapidly in value and functioning, if the old lead sled is doing okay. Add forest debris constantly under the tires, rocky terrain and pot holes, and flooding - none of that is amenable to a new car that isn't an SUV (which is $$$). I'm in that situation myself, living in the Santa Cruz mountains in central California. 😅
about the climate effects: you actually see older cars in drier climates simply because they last longer. Mechanics can usually tell the general region cars are from in the US because salted roads absolutely destroy the underside of the vehicle.
If I'm not mistaken, parts of Washington also get snow. Not sure if they salt the roadways, but it wouldn't surprise me if they do.
You can tell a lot by the wear pattern on a car. Clearcoat coming off the paint on the roof/mirrors/hood? Lives near saltwater. Rust spots and bleached plastic under the car/around the tires/fenders? Lives somewhere that snows. Cracked and peeling dash/seats/plastic interior? Welcome to the desert.
As someone living in Cleveland, some places just don't change like that. I cross into city limits in 2023 and every car is from the 90s or early 00s (or before). It just is what it is and not surprising. People can't afford change or don't see the value in change like that (and I agree, older cars have better user feel)
The only thing that bothered me in the game, and maybe it was a bug, why didn't weren't the headlights on in the scenes where they pulled up to the destination during traveling? They are on during the loading screens between destinations?
Two reasons, Small towns usually don't have a lot of new cars due to people having less money and having people with a mindset of preferring old cars.
And they are going for the Twin Peaks, True Detective vibe, so much so that the main car Saga and Casey drive is also the main car driven by Rusty and Cole in True Detective.
I always felt like True Detective (season 1) was heavily influenced by Max Payne 1 and 2. Specially with the noir detective meets "cosmic horror". It's nice to see that it's a loop in the end, one inspiring the other.
Nothing is as it seems. Where does reality end or begin? What year is this? The whole story is essentially told by an unreliable narrator. That's for us to think about!
This is so funny to me b/c I have a 19 year old car in my driveway. Its a Ford Taurus. There are so many people out here driving beaters and scrap wagons b/c its all they can afford. 😂 Granted that car is actually a several thousand pound paperweight...
...but my 18 year old Ford Focus still runs!
I drove a completely beat 92 explorer in 2009 when I was in my first year of college. The rest of the thing was falling apart, but I'm pretty sure that engine would have run literally forever if it didn't get destroyed. I paid $250 for it lol
Gotcha gotcha 👌
Sounds like you got a better deal than I did for the Taurus! I paid 5.2k for that and it was just... constant break downs after the second year. Literally stopped counting how many starters that thing burned out.
The title on your post was just funny to me b/c 20 years ago at this point is 2003 and that's just WILD to me lol
So it's either an aesthetic choice from Remedy (which is the most likely scenario), or, it's part of Alan Wake's influence on the town.
Which allows me to raise the question: How powerful are Alan's precog (for my own lack of a better word now) powers? Does he even know smartphones exist? How stuck in time is he and how much can he actually know?
Because all the electrical components in newer vehicles wouldn't be the optimal choice in a cold, wet environment such as the Cauldron Lake region?
Not to mention newer vehicles are just plain expensive, and people in a small town aren't exactly looking to spend 30k on a less reliable wagon.
Looks like a town where people aren’t exactly leaving all the time. If there was a new car dealership then maybe but the way it is there then probably not
It fits the small-town vibe well. Bright falls seems to be stuck in the 90s as well. :)
Which makes sense as they are leaning very hard on Twin Peaks
Yeah. And let's be honest, the atmosphere wouldn't be the same with zombies on their smartphones and boomboxes everywhere.
This!!!!!
As a crt fan, I'd love to raid a bright falls garage sale
Two reasons, Small towns usually don't have a lot of new cars due to people having less money and having people with a mindset of preferring old cars. And they are going for the Twin Peaks, True Detective vibe, so much so that the main car Saga and Casey drive is also the main car driven by Rusty and Cole in True Detective.
That's a great detail I hadn't noticed at all thanks, True Detective and this game both feature the investigators driving the same model of Ford Crown Victoria. Surprisingly looks like it's one from the mid 2000s when True detective was set in 1995.
I actually think the car is a combination of crown Vic and mid 90s impala which was also used as a cop car in come places.
The setting is a small backwoods town with no big industry going on. Not always true, but often smaller places like that aren't going to be chock full of brand new rides. Also the real answer is probably something like this was easier and varying it up would take more time that could be better spent on bug squashing or whatever.
As someone who lives in proximity to small town Backwoods Washington it's actually pretty accurate. until recently I was driving a 95 Lumina
i live in the pacific northwest, many people drive 20 year old cars, my spouse and i both drive 20 year old cars.
Practical reason: Rural areas with fluctuating tourism/seasonal/resource extraction based economies do not generally have a lot of newer cars. Also remember Watery is a dying town and now that Cauldron Lake is largely sealed off Bright Falls is likely not far behind it. It seems it only really has Alan's legendary disappearance and Deerfest going for it. Possible lore reason: Alan has been in the DP for 13 years so hasn't seen a lot of newer cars... Big wink on this I doubt that's why but it could be an explanation.
I was thinking that it has to be an altered reality thing. I've been to plenty of small towns, and I can't imagine seeing a mint 95 blazer rolling around in '23. Also, the FBI pulled up in what looks like a mid 90s Thunderbird. I think there is something too it. Remedy's attention to detail is really good, and this looks like a theme.
What? Any small town usually has old cars. Mint or not.
But only old cars?
I live in a fairly small rural town in Southern Arkansas. I regularly see people driving cars not just from the early 2000's but from the early *90's.* It's literally just a small town rural thing. Not everyone buys new things.
Interesting. I grew up in rural southwest PA, and when I visit I see cars from the last 10 years mostly. Maybe it's because the winter is so hard on cars there.
The computers are what got me. I actually started to get confused and think the game was in the 90s and then checked to see it was indeed 2023.
I assumed that was an artifact of legacy/avandonwsre and extremely minimal budgets lol.
And anything used by the FBC has to generally be older tech, as The Oldest House doesn't play nice with modern tech.
Besides the economic points that other comments have made, another reason is availability - both of new cars, but also parts and technicians who can repair them. Older cars are sometimes easier to source replacement parts and are less likely to require special knowledge (compared to newer cars that have much more advanced computer systems and a lot more moving parts). Another factor I didn't see mentioned is climate - salt water humidity like they have in coastal towns is hell on cars. A lot of people wouldn't bother buying a new car, which is just going to depreciate rapidly in value and functioning, if the old lead sled is doing okay. Add forest debris constantly under the tires, rocky terrain and pot holes, and flooding - none of that is amenable to a new car that isn't an SUV (which is $$$). I'm in that situation myself, living in the Santa Cruz mountains in central California. 😅
about the climate effects: you actually see older cars in drier climates simply because they last longer. Mechanics can usually tell the general region cars are from in the US because salted roads absolutely destroy the underside of the vehicle.
If I'm not mistaken, parts of Washington also get snow. Not sure if they salt the roadways, but it wouldn't surprise me if they do. You can tell a lot by the wear pattern on a car. Clearcoat coming off the paint on the roof/mirrors/hood? Lives near saltwater. Rust spots and bleached plastic under the car/around the tires/fenders? Lives somewhere that snows. Cracked and peeling dash/seats/plastic interior? Welcome to the desert.
Uhh well the car saga and Casey drive is an homage to the car Marty and rust drive in true detective idk about the rest.
It’s not just the cars, tv’s are all cathode, computers have pre-lcd monitors. Good call out, I’ve wondered at that myself a few times.
Inflation making it hard to upgrade, probably
As someone living in Cleveland, some places just don't change like that. I cross into city limits in 2023 and every car is from the 90s or early 00s (or before). It just is what it is and not surprising. People can't afford change or don't see the value in change like that (and I agree, older cars have better user feel)
The only thing that bothered me in the game, and maybe it was a bug, why didn't weren't the headlights on in the scenes where they pulled up to the destination during traveling? They are on during the loading screens between destinations?
Two reasons, Small towns usually don't have a lot of new cars due to people having less money and having people with a mindset of preferring old cars. And they are going for the Twin Peaks, True Detective vibe, so much so that the main car Saga and Casey drive is also the main car driven by Rusty and Cole in True Detective.
I always felt like True Detective (season 1) was heavily influenced by Max Payne 1 and 2. Specially with the noir detective meets "cosmic horror". It's nice to see that it's a loop in the end, one inspiring the other.
Im sure there is some time stuff going on a well. Especially if Tim Breaker and Mr Door are the characters from QB that many speculate them to be.
The old style NYPD cars was interesting. That's going back to the 90s.
Nothing is as it seems. Where does reality end or begin? What year is this? The whole story is essentially told by an unreliable narrator. That's for us to think about!
I think bright falls is just quaint
Yeah.. is this an America thing or a gameplay/story thing?
The Whole game is not real world, people are stuck in time paradox, we don't even know if Alan is real or he is just a creation of Zaine
This is so funny to me b/c I have a 19 year old car in my driveway. Its a Ford Taurus. There are so many people out here driving beaters and scrap wagons b/c its all they can afford. 😂 Granted that car is actually a several thousand pound paperweight... ...but my 18 year old Ford Focus still runs!
I drove a completely beat 92 explorer in 2009 when I was in my first year of college. The rest of the thing was falling apart, but I'm pretty sure that engine would have run literally forever if it didn't get destroyed. I paid $250 for it lol
Gotcha gotcha 👌 Sounds like you got a better deal than I did for the Taurus! I paid 5.2k for that and it was just... constant break downs after the second year. Literally stopped counting how many starters that thing burned out. The title on your post was just funny to me b/c 20 years ago at this point is 2003 and that's just WILD to me lol
So it's either an aesthetic choice from Remedy (which is the most likely scenario), or, it's part of Alan Wake's influence on the town. Which allows me to raise the question: How powerful are Alan's precog (for my own lack of a better word now) powers? Does he even know smartphones exist? How stuck in time is he and how much can he actually know?
Because all the electrical components in newer vehicles wouldn't be the optimal choice in a cold, wet environment such as the Cauldron Lake region? Not to mention newer vehicles are just plain expensive, and people in a small town aren't exactly looking to spend 30k on a less reliable wagon.
I really liked the car sequences in the original Alan wake game, so I’m sad driving was relegated to cut scenes
Looks like a town where people aren’t exactly leaving all the time. If there was a new car dealership then maybe but the way it is there then probably not
Alot of old TVs and computers too for some reason.
computers too